Sha’ara: An Ancient Basalt Village in al-Lajat

Sha’ara is a well-preserved ancient village in the north-west corner of the al-Lajat basalt field. Its Roman and Byzantine basalt buildings, bathhouses and a tall tower are still standing. The concrete houses of the modern village were deliberately built to the west, so the old fabric was left intact. Its ancient name is not known.

Where it is

About 5 kilometres south-west of Al-Masmiyah and some 70 kilometres north-east of Daraa. The ancient village and the centre of the modern one are in different places.

What to see

Inside the ancient village are an old mosque, bathhouses, a tall tower and fragments of sculpture. There are also cave tombs cut into the rock. South, south-west and east of the settlement, between 700 metres and 2 kilometres out, stand four temples, numbered 1 to 4 on the archaeological plan. Most of the pottery collected on the site is classical or Islamic.

What archaeologists found

A French archaeological team worked at Sha’ara for years. In 2007 Clauss-Balty published the village as an example of Roman and Byzantine rural housing. In 2011 Piraud-Fournet presented the site as a Roman-period village in al-Lajat. In many ancient villages of the Hauran, old and new houses are mixed together; at Sha’ara the two stand apart, and the old houses can be read as a whole.

How long it takes

About two hours: one for the buildings in the village, and another to walk out to the temples and back.

What not to miss

The temples outside the village. The buildings inside are easy to find, but the four temples lie up to 2 kilometres away, out on the stony ground.

Where it stands now

The north-west of al-Lajat was a conflict zone between 2012 and 2018. The present condition of the ancient village cannot be confirmed. This page tells you what Sha’ara is; it does not tell you that you can go there today.