Zira'a Explained

Official Name:Zira'a
Other Name:Zerraa
Native Name:زراعة
Pushpin Map:Syria
Pushpin Label Position:bottom
Pushpin Mapsize:250
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Syria
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Type1:Governorate
Subdivision Name1:Homs
Subdivision Type2:District
Subdivision Name2:Al-Qusayr
Subdivision Type3:Subdistrict
Subdivision Name3:Al-Qusayr
Settlement Type:Village
Population As Of:2004
Population Total:2,250
Population Blank1 Title:Ethnicities
Timezone:EET
Utc Offset:+3
Timezone Dst:EEST
Utc Offset Dst:+2
Coordinates:34.4564°N 36.5769°W

Zira'a (Arabic: زراعة, also spelled Zerraa, Zirhagh or Zar'a) is a village in central Syria, administratively part of the Homs Governorate, located southwest of Homs. Situated on a hill just east of the Orontes River, nearby localities include Rableh to the immediate southwest, al-Qusayr to the north, Jandar to the northeast and Hisyah to the southeast. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Zira'a had a population of 2,250 in the 2004 census.[1] Its inhabitants are predominantly Sunni Muslims.[2]

The ancient site of Riblah was located on the site of the village and not in nearby Rableh after which it was named. Between the 7th and 9th centuries BCE Riblah served as the principal military and administrative center of the Assyrians in Syria.[3] Although a small place today, in the early 19th-century during Late Ottoman Empire rule, Zira'a was described as a village larger than al-Qusayr, which is now a city. It possessed an abundance of cultivated fields and trees.[4]

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. https://archive.today/20121204165131/http://www.cbssyr.org/new%20web%20site/General_census/census_2004/NH/TAB04-13-2004.htm General Census of Population and Housing 2004
  2. Smith, 1841, p. 176.
  3. Fritz, p. 412.
  4. Buckingham, 1825, p. 491.