14 Facts About Bosra

Bosra, spelled Bostra, Busrana, Bozrah, Bozra and officially called Busra al-Sham, is a town in southern Syria, administratively belonging to the Daraa District of the Daraa Governorate and geographically part of the Hauran region.

Bosra's inhabitants are predominantly Sunni Muslims, although the town has a small Shia Muslim community.

Bosra has an ancient history and during the Roman era it was a prosperous provincial capital and Metropolitan Archbishopric, under the jurisdiction of Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East.

Under the Roman Empire, Bosra was renamed Nova Trajana Bostra and was the residence of the legio III Cyrenaica.

Bosra was conquered by the Sasanian Persians in the early seventh century, but was recaptured during a Byzantine reconquest.

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Bosra played an important part in the early life of Muhammad, as described in the entry for the Christian monk Bahira.

Bosra held additional significance as a center of the pilgrim caravan between Damascus and the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina, the destinations of the annual hajj pilgrimage.

In 1596 Bosra appeared in the Ottoman tax registers as Nafs Busra, being part of the nahiyah of Bani Nasiyya in the Qada of Hauran.

Today, Bosra is a major archaeological site, containing ruins from Roman, Byzantine, and Muslim times, its main feature being the well preserved Roman theatre.

Bosra was recaptured by the Syrian Arab Army on 2 July 2018, following the surrender of the rebel forces.

Al-Omari Mosque of Bosra is one of the oldest surviving mosques in Islamic history.

Bosra's inhabitants are predominantly Sunni Muslims and are mostly divided between eight major clans.

However, the oldest clan of Bosra are the Hamd, They claim to be descendants of the ancient Roman governor of Bosra, although other townspeople believe they are of Crusader and Jewish origins.

Bosra has a small Shia Muslim community of some fifty families.