| Official Name: | Kafr Shams |
| Native Name: | كفر شمس |
| Pushpin Map: | Syria |
| Pushpin Mapsize: | 250 |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | Governorate |
| Subdivision Name1: | Daraa |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Name2: | Al-Sanamayn |
| Subdivision Type3: | Subdistrict |
| Subdivision Name3: | Al-Sanamayn |
| Settlement Type: | Village |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Population As Of: | 2004 |
| Population Total: | 12,435.[1] |
| Timezone: | EET |
| Utc Offset: | +2 |
| Timezone Dst: | EEST |
| Utc Offset Dst: | +3 |
| Coordinates: | 33.1167°N 43°W |
| Elevation M: | 800 |
Kafr Shams (Arabic: كفر شمس, also spelled Kfar Shams or Kafr ash-Shams) is a small city in southern Syria administratively belonging to the Al-Sanamayn District of the Daraa Governorate. It is 16km (10miles) northwest of al-Sanamayn, just east of the Golan Heights and situated between Damascus and Daraa. In the 2004 census by the Central Bureau of Statistics Kafr Shams had a population of 12,435.[2]
Kafr Shams experienced a construction boom during Byzantine Empire rule, particularly during the reign of Justinian I, mostly focused on large rural housing.[3] The town was dominated by the Ghassanids, an Arab Christian vassal kingdom of the Byzantines. The Ghassanids built a major Monophysite monastery there around 570 CE.[4]
In 1838, Kefr Shems was noted as a village in the el-Jeidur district.[5]
In 1897 German archaeologist Gottlieb Schumacher reported Kafr Shams had a population of 600 Muslims living in 120 to 130 huts. Ancient ruins and subterranean arches were noted in the village and the two Ghassanid monasteries were still largely intact.[6]
During the 1973 Yom Kippur War Kafr Shams was the scene of clashes between the Israeli Army and the joint forces of the Jordanian, Iraqi and Syrian armies.[7]
Many of the residents of Kafr Shams have participated in protests against the Syrian government as part of the 2011-2012 Syrian uprising.[8]
. Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century: pt. 1, Toponymy, Monuments, Historical Geography, and Frontier Studies. Irfan Shahîd. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. 2002. 0884022145.