| Official Name: | Sahwat al-Khudr |
| Native Name: | سهوة الخضر |
| Pushpin Map: | Syria |
| Pushpin Mapsize: | 250 |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | Governorate |
| Subdivision Name1: | as-Suwayda |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Name2: | as-Suwayda |
| Subdivision Type3: | Subdistrict |
| Subdivision Name3: | as-Suwayda |
| Settlement Type: | Village |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Population As Of: | 2004 census |
| Population Total: | 3,625 |
| Timezone: | EET |
| Utc Offset: | +2 |
| Timezone Dst: | EEST |
| Utc Offset Dst: | +3 |
| Coordinates: | 32.6022°N 36.7075°W |
| Grid Position: | 310/224 |
Sahwat al-Khudr (Arabic: سهوة الخضر; also spelled Sahwat al-Khidr or Sahwet el-Khodar) is a village in southern Syria, administratively part of the al-Suwayda District of the al-Suwayda Governorate, located south of al-Suwayda. In the 2004 census, it had a population of 3,625.[1] The village is named after a Byzantine-era church named dedicated to Saint George (known by local Muslims as "al-Khudr"). It was resettled by Druze in the mid-19th century after a period of abandonment.
This village is probably the center of Biblical "Kedar," a regional nation of nomadic shepherd-people who inhabited the general area.[2] The 19th century German visionary Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich mentions "Cedar" as also being a city, presumably this city (as verified by her detailed descriptions), to which Jesus visited, so she says, on an historically unrecorded journey.[3]
Sahwat al-Khudr receives its name from an ancient Byzantine church dedicated to Saint George, who is identified with "al-Khudr" by Muslims. An inscription on a monument in the church dates back to 306 CE.[4]
In 1596 it appeared in the Ottoman tax registers under the name of Sahut al-Qamh, located in the Nahiya of Bani Nasiyya of the Qada of Hawran. The population was 142 households and 54 bachelors, all Muslim. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 40 % on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, vineyards, goats and beehives; in addition to occasional revenues and a water mill; a total of 31,300 akçe.[5]
In 1838 Eli Smith noted that the place was located South of Juneineh and that it was in ruins.[6] Sahwat al-Khudr had been abandoned for a time, but was settled by Druze between 1857 and 1860 at the encouragement of Ismail al-Atrash, a prominent Druze sheikh (chieftain) in the Hauran.[7] In the mid-19th-century, Albert Socin, a European orientalist noted that Sahwat al-Khudr was "a dilapidated town with a castle and a church" surrounded by a forested area. The shrine of al-Khudr in the village was revered by all the religious sects of the vicinity.[8]
In the late 1960s, French geographer Robert Boulanger described Sahwat al-Khudr as "a very picturesque place" with an old mosque that was formerly a pagan temple in Antiquity.[9] The mosque's prayer room contained a column with Nabataean inscriptions.[9] The people of the village slaughtered sheep outside of the mosque annually.[9]
Nearby localities include Salah to the northeast, Miyamas to the north, Hubran to the northwest, Salkhad to the southwest and Orman to the south.
. Josias Leslie Porter. A Handbook for Travellers in Syria and Palestine. 2. Murray. 1868.