Masharah
{{Short description|Town in southern Syria}}{{Infobox settlement
| name = Masharah
| native_name = مسحرة
| native_name_lang = ar
| settlement_type = village
| pushpin_map = Syria
| pushpin_mapsize = 250
| mapframe-coordinates = {{coord|33.08|N|35.57|E|region:SY|display=inline}}
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = Syria
| subdivision_type1 = Governorate
| subdivision_name1 = Quneitra
| population_total = 3,200
| population_as_of = 2010 estimation
| timezone1 = EET
| utc_offset = +2
| timezone_DST = EEST
| utc_offset_DST = +3
}}
Masharah ({{langx|ar|مسحرة}}), also spelt Mashara, is a village in southwestern Syria, administratively part of the Quneitra Governorate.{{Cite web |title="مسحرة"... صلة الوصل بين "درعا" و"القنيطرة" |url=https://www.esyria.sy/2010/10/%D9%85%D8%B3%D8%AD%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D8%B5%D9%84%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%88%D8%B5%D9%84-%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%B9%D8%A7-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%B7%D8%B1%D8%A9 |access-date=2024-12-31 |website=www.esyria.sy |language=ar}}
History
Masharah is situated in the historical region of Gaulanitis.Julien Aliquot. Histoire et épigraphie de la Gaulanitide : le cas de Mashara (Syrie). Al-Bassel Centre for archaeological research and training, The Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums, Ministry of Culture. The history and antiquities of Al-Golan. The international colloquium 2007-2008, Al-Bassel Centre for archaeological research and training, The Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums, Ministry of Culture, p. 129 Archaeological findings in the modern town include architectural fragments, sculptured reliefs, altars, and column heads, possibly originating in the area's ancient Ituraean population.{{Cite journal |last=Barkay |first=G. |last2=Ilan |first2=Z. |last3=Kloner |first3=A. |last4=Mazar |first4=A. |last5=Urman |first5=D. |date=1974 |title=Archaeological Survey in the Northern Bashan (Preliminary Report) |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27925462 |journal=Israel Exploration Journal |volume=24 |issue=3/4 |pages=182–183 |issn=0021-2059}} Among the remains is a basalt lintel decorated with a high relief of two gods and a goddess, along with other decorations.{{Cite journal |last=Ben-Dov |first=M. |date=1974 |title=A Lintel from the Bashan Depicting Three Deities |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27925463 |journal=Israel Exploration Journal |volume=24 |issue=3/4 |pages=185–186 |issn=0021-2059}} Additionally, multiple inscriptions were found in the town, mostly made of basalt, featuring Greek inscriptions, and dating from the 2nd to the 7th century.
Transhumance shaped settlement in the Golan for centuries because of its harsh winters. The winters "forced tribespeople until the 19th century to live in hundreds of rudimentary 'winter villages' in their tribal territory. Starting in the second part of the 19th century, settlement in villages like Ghadir al-Bustan became "fixed and formed the nucleus of fully sedentary life in the 20th century Golan."Roy Marom, “[https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0zf1p3d1 Sukayk and al-Summāqah: Mamluk Rural Geography in the Northern Jawlān/Golan Heights in the Light of Qāytbāy’s Endowment Deeds],” in Kate Raphael and Mustafa Abbasi (ed.s), The Golan in the Mamluk and Ottoman Periods: an Archaeological and Historical Study: Excavations at Naʿarān and Farj, In Honour of Moshe Hartal, Yigal Ben Ephraim and Shuqri ‘Arraf, Annual of the Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology Hebrew Union College—Jewish Institute of Religion Volume xiv (2024): 69-70. According to the mayor, the first houses in the village were constructed in the 1920s, with a population of around 50 people. By 2010, the population had reportedly grown to approximately 3,200.
Sources
{{reflist}}
{{Quneitra Governorate}}
{{coord|33|08|12|N|35|57|50|E|display=title|region:SY_type:city}}