Al-Shaykh Saad (Arabic: ash-Shaykh Saʿad; also Romanized Sheikh Saad; also called Karnaim or Dair Ayyub which means “The Monastery of Job”) is a town in southern Syria, administratively part of the Daraa Governorate, located northwest of Daraa on the Syrian-Jordanian borders. Nearby localities include Nawa, Jasim and al-Harrah to the north, Izra and al-Shaykh Maskin to the east, Tafas and Da'el to the southeast, and Adwan and Tasil to the west and Jalin to the southwest. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, al-Shaykh Saad had a population of 3,373 in the 2004 census.
During Biblical times the city was known as Karnaim. After the collapse of the neighboring city of Ashteroth, Karnaim became the capital of the land of Bashan, during the Aramaean and Assyrian era. The city was mentioned as Ashteroth-Karnaim in Genesis 14:5, and Karnaim in Amos 6:13. During the Hellenistic period, the city was referred to as Karnein, 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. It was mentioned by several Christian scholars and pilgrims, including Eusebius, Egeria and Jerome, as the city of St. Job.
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. 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.
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Author: Wikipedia
Keywords: Karnaim, Ashtaroth, Astaroth, Ashteroth-karnaim
Bible reference(s): Genesis 14:5, Amos 6:13
Source: This article uses material from the Wikipedia article “Al-Shaykh Saad,” which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.
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