Al-Kiswah
Al-Kiswah (Arabic: الكسوة Al Kiswah also spelled Kissoué/Kiswe) is a city in the Rif Dimashq Governorate, Syria. It is located approximately 13 kilometres (8 miles) south of Damascus. It was the location of the 1303 Battle of Marj al-Saffar, and the childhood home of Adnan Awad.
Al-Kiswah
الكسوة Kissoué Kiswe | |
---|---|
Al-Kiswah Location in Syria | |
Coordinates: 33°21′N 36°14′E | |
Country | Syria |
Governorate | Rif Dimashq |
District | Markaz Rif Dimashq |
Subdistrict | al-Kiswah |
Elevation | 720 m (2,360 ft) |
Population (2004 census) | |
• Total | 43,456 |
Administratively, Al-Kiswah belongs to Markaz Rif Dimashq district. It is one of the largest towns of the district by terms of population.
History
The name "al-Kiswah" means “the garment”.[1] According to a tradition related by Yaqut al-Hamawi, this is because the king of Rum sent some messengers to demand tribute from a figure named King Ghassan; he had the messengers killed and then, at the site of al-Kiswah, he had their garments divided up.[1]
Yaqut and Ibn Battuta both described al-Kiswah as the first stage on the hajj route out of Damascus.[1] Abu'l-Fida similarly described al-Kiswah as a stopping place on the road south of Damascus and added that between the two places, the road went through a “beautiful pass” called the 'Aqabah ash-Shuhūrah.[1] He also wrote that it lay on a stream called the Nahr al-A'waj which flowed down from the “mountain of snow”, i.e. Mount Hermon.[1]
In 1838, Eli Smith noted it as a predominantly Sunni Muslim village.[2]
- Kiswe farms
References
- Le Strange, Guy (1890). Palestine Under the Moslems. London: A. P. Watt. p. 488. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
- Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. 148
Bibliography
- Le Strange, G. (1890). Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund. OCLC 1004386.
- Robinson, E.; Smith, E. (1841). Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838. Vol. 3. Boston: Crocker & Brewster.