Al-Shaykh Saad

An Egyptian stele, commemorating a campaign of Pharaoh Ramesses II, is locally venerated in a mosque as the "Rock of Job" (see below).Schumacher, 1891, p. [https://archive.org/stream/zeitschriftdesde13deut#page/142/mode/1up 142] ffHanauer, 1907, p. [https://archive.org/stream/folkloreholylan00unkngoog#page/n97/mode/1up 71].Van Kasteren, 1892, p. [https://archive.org/stream/zeitschriftdesde15deut#page/n227/mode/1up 196] ff The basalt monolith, measuring {{convert|7|x|4|ft|m}}, is split by a horizontal crack.Schumacher; Oliphant; Le Strange, 1886, p.[https://archive.org/stream/acrossjordanbein00schu#page/191/mode/1up 191].

Initially the city was known as Karnaim. During Aramaean and Assyrian rule, once the neighbouring city of Ashteroth lost its prominence, Karnaim annexed its name, becoming the capital of the land of Bashan under the name Ashteroth-Karnaim.

In the Hebrew Bible the city was mentioned as Ashteroth-Karnaim in {{bibleref2|Genesis|14:5}}, and Karnaim in {{bibleref2|Amos|6:13}}.{{citation needed|date=July 2018}}{{dubious|What proves that it isn't just a confusion between the older leading city Ashtaroth, and Karnaim/Ashteroth-Karnaim? What indicates that the two quoted Bible verses refer to this one city/site?|date=July 2018}}

During the Hellenistic period, the city was referred to as Karnein,Negev; Gibson, 2005, p. 277. a place held sacred by its local inhabitants. In the days of Judas Maccabaeus (ca. 165 BCE) who fitted out a military expedition against the region, the sacred precinct was burnt to the ground.Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, xii.viii.§4

It was mentioned by several Christian scholars and pilgrims, including Eusebius, Egeria and Jerome, as the city of St. Job.Pringle, 1998, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=2Y0tA0xLzwEC&pg=PA239 239]

During the Crusades, the town was part of the Principality of Galilee. In 1129 the town was ceded by William I of Bures, Prince of Galilee, to the Abbey of St. Mary of the Valley of Jehoshaphat.Röhricht, 1893, RHH, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/regestaregnihie00rhgoog#page/n40/mode/1up 32]-33 No. 131; cited in Pringle, 1998,

p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=2Y0tA0xLzwEC&pg=PA239 239] This transfer was noted in the records of Baldwin II in 1130, and of Pope Anastasius IV in 1154. In June 1187, before the Battle of Hattin, Saladin chose to assemble his troops in the town before starting his campaigns.

The village was visited by Syrian geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi in the early 13th-century, during Ayyubid rule. At the time, the village's name was Dair Ayyub ("the monastery of Job"). He noted that it was a village "of the Hauran, in the Damascus Province. This is where Job dwelt, and where Allah tried him. There is here a spring, where he struck with his feet the rock that was over it (and the water gushed out). Job's tomb also is here."Le Strange, 1890, p. [https://archive.org/stream/palestineundermo00lestuoft#page/427/mode/1up 427]

The town was later known by the name of a more recent and local Muslim holy man, Shaykh Saad. The sheikh, according to tradition, was a native of Sudanese origins who brought many African slaves to work in the town. Shaykh Saad then established a Muslim "monastery" for his black slaves, and later granted them their freedom.Schumacher; Oliphant; Le Strange, 1886, p. [https://archive.org/stream/acrossjordanbein00schu#page/155/mode/1up 155] A rivalry has since existed between the local fellahin who consider St. Job to be the patron of their town, and the descendants of the African slaves to whom Shaykh Saad was their saviour. The Africans also settled in Jalin.Schumacher; Oliphant; Le Strange, 1886, p. [https://archive.org/stream/acrossjordanbein00schu#page/188/mode/1up 188]

Under the Ottomans, the town became the capital of Hauran Sanjak for some time, and the residence of the local governor, or Mutasarrıf.Schumacher, 2010, p. 10. In 1596 al-Shaykh Saad appeared in the Ottoman tax registers as Sayh Sa'd, being in the nahiya of Jawlan Sarqi in the Qada of Hauran. It had a population of 3 households and 1 bachelor, all Muslim. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on wheat, barley, summer crops and rice; a total of 2,100 akçe.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 198

Gottlieb Schumacher surveyed the town in 1884, and recorded that it was "miserable looking place, containing about 60 huts built of stone and mud, many of them now fallen to ruin. It has a population of about 220 souls, all without exception negroes."Schumacher; Oliphant; Le Strange, 1886, p. [https://archive.org/stream/acrossjordanbein00schu#page/187/mode/1up 187]. In a bid to bring Hauran under further centralization, in 1892 the Ottoman government of Damascus pressed for the completion of land registration in al-Shaykh Sa'ad—still the regional capital—as well in other major towns in the area.Rogan, 2002, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=AMAbXGQDmDYC&pg=PA186 186]

In 1918, towards the end of the Arab Revolt during World War I, al-Shaykh Saad was captured by the Arab Army headed by T. E. Lawrence. The town served as their launching point for the subsequent battle in Tafas, where the Arabs defeated the Ottoman army.Schneider, 2011, p. 294.

The town was associated with St. Job since at least the 4th-century CE. Karnein was mentioned in Eusebius' Onomasticon as a town of Bashan that was said to be the location of the house of St. Job. Egeria the pilgrim relates that a church was built over the place in March or February 384 CE, and that the place was known as the "town of Job", or "civitas Job." According to Egeria's account the body of St. Job was laid in a stone coffin below the altar.

According to tradition, Hammam Ayyub is a fountain in the town where Job washed himself when he had leprosy, and is reputed to have healing powers.Schumacher; Oliphant; Le Strange, 1886, p. [https://archive.org/stream/acrossjordanbein00schu#page/194/mode/1up 194]

Another holy artifact in the town is the "Rock of Job," known in local folklore as the place where he sat when he was afflicted with the disease, and is housed inside a mosque dedicated to Nabi Ayyub. The rock has been identified as an Egyptian stele dedicated to Ramesses II (see above).

{{reflist|25em}}

{{refbegin}}

• Hanauer, J.E.(1907): [https://archive.org/details/folkloreholylan00unkngoog Folk-lore of the Holy Land. Moslem, Christian and Jewish]
• {{cite book

| last1= Hütteroth |first1=W.-D.|author-link1=Wolf-Dieter Hütteroth

| last2 =Abdulfattah|first2=K. |author-link2=Kamal Abdulfattah

| title = Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century

|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=wqULAAAAIAAJ

| year = 1977

| publisher = Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft

|isbn= 3-920405-41-2}}

• {{cite journal | first=J. P.|last=van Kasteren |title = Zur Geschichte von Schech Sa´d| journal = Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins | volume = 15-16 | pages = 196–204 | url =https://archive.org/details/zeitschriftdesde15deut| year = 1892}}
• {{cite book|title=Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500

|url=https://archive.org/details/palestineundermo00lestuoft

|first=Guy|last=Le Strange|author-link=Guy Le Strange

|year=1890|publisher=Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund}}

• {{cite book | first1 = Avraham| last1= Negev|first2=S.|last2=Gibson|author-link2=Shimon Gibson| title = Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land| year = 2005| publisher = Continuum International Publishing Group|isbn= 9780826485717 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=27nq65cZUIgC&q=%22Sheikh+saad%22+Hauran&pg=PA277}}
• {{cite book|title= The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: Volume II L-Z (excluding Tyre)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Y0tA0xLzwEC

| last= Pringle |first= D.|author-link=Denys Pringle

|year=1998|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-39037-0}}

• {{cite book|title=Frontiers of the State in the Late Ottoman Empire: Transjordan, 1850-1921|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AMAbXGQDmDYC |first=E.|last=Rogan|author-link=Eugene Rogan|year=2002|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-89223-6}}
• {{cite book|last=Röhricht|first=R. |author-link=Reinhold Röhricht|title= (RRH) Regesta regni Hierosolymitani (MXCVII-MCCXCI)|url=https://archive.org/details/regestaregnihie00rhgoog|year=1893|publisher=Libraria Academica Wageriana|location=Berlin|language=la}}
• {{cite book | first1 = James J.| last1= Schneider| title =Guerrilla Leader: T. E. Lawrence and the Arab Revolt| year = 2011| publisher = Random House Digital, Inc|isbn= 978-0553807646 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6kOtPvKlH-8C&q=Sheikh+Saad+Lawrence}}
• {{cite book

| first1 = G. |last1=Schumacher|author-link1=Gottlieb Schumacher

| first2 = L.| last2= Oliphant |author-link2=Laurence Oliphant (author)

|first3 = G.| last3= Le Strange|author-link3=Guy Le Strange

| title = Across the Jordan: being an exploration and survey of part of Hauran and Jaulan| year = 1886| publisher = Bentley|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SmYVAAAAYAAJ&q=Deir+Ayyub}}

• {{cite book

| first = G. |last=Schumacher|author-link=Gottlieb Schumacher

|title = The Jaulân: Surveyed for the German Society for the Exploration of the Holy Land| year = 2010| publisher = Cambridge University Press|isbn= 9781108017565 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bDHmCEtcEikC&q=%22Sheikh+Sa%27ad%22+hauran&pg=PA8}}

• {{cite journal

| first=G.|last=Schumacher|author-link=Gottlieb Schumacher

|title = Der Hiobstein, Sachrat Eijub, im Hauran| journal = Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins | volume = 13-14 | pages = 142–147 | url =https://archive.org/details/zeitschriftdesde13deut| year = 1890}}

• {{cite book | first = J.E.| last= Hanauer|author-link=J. E. Hanauer|title = Folk-lore of the Holy Land| year = 1907| publisher = London, Duckworth & co.|url=https://archive.org/details/folkloreholylan00unkngoog}}

{{refend}}

• [https://www.google.com/maps/@32.8388508,36.036229,14z Map of the town], Google Maps
• [http://www.nla.gov.au/apps/cdview/?pi=nla.map-vn745520-s20l Naoua-map, 20L]

{{Daraa Governorate|izra}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:shaykh saad}}

Category:Populated places in Izra' District

Category:Mausoleums in Syria