Ajami, Syria Explained

Official Name:Ajami
Native Name:العجمي
Pushpin Map:Syria
Pushpin Mapsize:250
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Type1:Governorate
Subdivision Name1:Daraa Governorate
Subdivision Type2:District
Subdivision Name2:Daraa District
Subdivision Type3:Nahiyah
Subdivision Name3:Muzayrib
Settlement Type:Village
Unit Pref:Metric
Population As Of:2004
Population Total:1,646
Timezone:EET
Utc Offset:+2
Timezone Dst:EEST
Utc Offset Dst:+3
Coordinates:32.7361°N 35.9856°W

Ajami (ar|العجمي|al-ʿAjamī, also transliterated Ajamy) is a village in southern Syria, administratively part of the Daraa Governorate, located northwest of Daraa. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Ajami had a population of 1,646 in the 2004 census.[1]

History

The village was named, probably no earlier than the late 18th century, for the nearby maqam (mausoleum) of Shaykh Muhammad al-Ajami, local Muslim saintly figure. The tomb was rectangular, constructed partly of stone and in a poor state when Gottlieb Schumacher visited the area in the early 1880s. The name 'Ajami' was also given to the stream, Wadi al-Ajami, which supplied the village with water, and the stream's source, the Bahret al-Ajami marsh. Shumacher described the village itself as having been flourishing at one point but by then partly abandoned and consisting of about thirty stone or mud huts, twelve of which were still inhabited by some thirty impoverished residents. He noted a "well-arched gate of modern masonry" on the east side of Ajami, which had been the entrance to the village sheikh's garden.

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. https://web.archive.org/web/20191222071902/http://www.cbssyr.org/new%20web%20site/General_census/census_2004/NH/TAB12-6-2004.htm General Census of Population and Housing 2004