# Jabiyah

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{{short description|Town of political and military significance in the 6th–8th centuries}}
{{Infobox ancient site
|name          = Jabiyah
|native_name   = {{langx|ar|الجابية}}
|alternate_name= Tell Jabiyah
|image=
|alt=
|caption=
|map_type      = Syria
|map_alt=
|map_size      = 250
|location      = [Syria](/source/Syria)
|region        = [Daraa Governorate](/source/Daraa_Governorate)
|coordinates   = {{Coord|32|55|8|N|35|59|48|E|display=title,inline}}
|type          = [Tell](/source/Tell_(archaeology))
|part_of=
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|builder=
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|abandoned=
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|cultures=
|dependency_of=
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|excavations=
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|notes=
}}
'''Jabiyah''' ({{langx|ar|الجابية}} / [ALA-LC](/source/ALA-LC): ''al-Jābiya'') was a town of political and military significance in the 6th–8th centuries. It was located between the [Hawran](/source/Hawran) plain and the [Golan Heights](/source/Golan_Heights). It initially served as the capital of the [Ghassanids](/source/Ghassanids), an [Arab](/source/Arab) vassal kingdom of the [Byzantine Empire](/source/Byzantine_Empire). Following the [Muslim conquest of Syria](/source/Muslim_conquest_of_the_Levant), it early on became the Muslims' main military camp in the region and, for a time, the capital of [Jund Dimashq](/source/Jund_Dimashq) (military district of [Damascus](/source/Damascus)). Caliph [Umar](/source/Umar) convened a meeting of senior Muslim figures at the city where the organization of Syria and military pay were decided. Later, in 684, Jabiyah was the site of a summit of Arab tribes that chose [Marwan I](/source/Marwan_I) to succeed Caliph [Mu'awiya II](/source/Mu'awiya_II). Jabiyah was often used by the [Umayyad](/source/Umayyad) caliphs as a retreat. Its significance declined when Caliph [Sulayman](/source/Sulayman_ibn_Abd_al-Malik) made [Dabiq](/source/Dabiq%2C_Syria) the Muslims' main military camp in Syria. It was located west of the city of [Nawa](/source/Nawa%2C_Daraa), [Daraa](/source/Daraa_Governorate).

==Etymology==
Jabiyah has a "curious etymology", according to historian [Irfan Shahid](/source/Irfan_Shahid).<ref name=Shahid97>Shahid 2002, p. 97.</ref> The name may be related to the [Arabic](/source/Arabic) word for "reservoir" or a [Syriac](/source/Syriac_language) word for "the Chosen".<ref name=Shahid97/>

==History==
===Ghassanid period===
Jabiyah was first mentioned in circa 520 CE in a Syriac letter of Bishop [Simeon of Beth Arsham](/source/Simeon_of_Beth_Arsham) in which he states that he wrote his letter from the camp of the [Ghassanid](/source/Ghassanids) king [Jabalah IV ibn al-Harith](/source/Jabalah_IV_ibn_al-Harith) at Jabiyah, which he refers to as "Gbīthā".<ref name=Shahih98>Shahid 2002, p. 98.</ref> The Ghassanids were an [Arab Christian](/source/Arab_Christian) vassal kingdom of the [Byzantine Empire](/source/Byzantine_Empire). The letter noted that there was a Ghassanid military camp nearby.<ref name=Shahih98/> According to Shahid, Simeon's letter reveals that Jabiyah was the place where foreign envoys and other dignitaries convened with the Ghassanid kings, indicating the town's importance.<ref name=Shahih98/> The town was again referenced in 569 in a Syriac letter noting the "monastery of [St. Sergius](/source/Sergius_and_Bacchus)" in Jabiyah.<ref name=Shahih98/> In 587, Jabiyah served as a meeting place for two [Monophysite](/source/Monophysite) groups, one led by the [Syriac](/source/Syriac_Orthodox_Church) Patriarch [Peter](/source/Peter_III_of_Callinicum) and the other by the [Coptic](/source/Coptic_Orthodox_Church) [Pope Damian of Alexandria](/source/Pope_Damian_of_Alexandria), that wanted to settle their religious disputes.<ref name=Shahih98/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.esyria.sy/edaraa/index.php?p=stories&category=ruins&filename=201101141250011 |title= "الجابية".. عاصمة الغساسنة وجابية الملوك}}</ref> The groups failed to reach an agreement, but the meeting of rival Monophysite factions in Jabiyah indicates its importance as a Monophysite center.<ref name=Shahih98/>

Jabiyah functioned as the capital of the Ghassanids.<ref name=Shahid96>Shahid 2002, p. 96.</ref> It was used by the Ghassanid kings for their residences.<ref name=Shahid96/> Jabiya was referred to as "Jābiyat al-Jawlān" (the Jabiyah of Gaulanitis) by the Ghassanid court poet Hassan. The city was apparently unscathed in the [Lakhmid](/source/Lakhmids)-led raids against Byzantine Syria and in the [Persian invasion of Syria](/source/Byzantine%E2%80%93Sasanian_War_of_602%E2%80%93628).

===Rashidun period===
During the [Muslim conquest of Syria](/source/Muslim_conquest_of_the_Levant), Muslim forces captured booty from the defeated [Byzantine](/source/Byzantine_Empire) army in the aftermath of the nearby [Battle of Yarmouk](/source/Battle_of_Yarmouk).<ref name=Lammens360>Lammens, p. 360.</ref> Afterward, Jabiyah became the main military camp of the Muslims in [Syria](/source/Bilad_al-Sham). The site was chosen by Caliph [Umar](/source/Umar) in 638 to hold a meeting of the principal ''[ṣaḥāba](/source/sahaba)'' (companions of [Muhammad](/source/Muhammad)) to determine the affairs of Syria.<ref name=Lammens360/> This included the distribution of war spoils, organization of the military administration of Syria and determination of the soldiers' wages. That same year, Umar made a speech, frequently mentioned in Muslim tradition, called ''khuṭbat al-Jābiya''; before a large gathering of generals and ''ṣaḥāba'', Umar decreed the establishment of the ''[dīwān](/source/Diwan-khane)'' (administrative endowments).<ref name=Lammens360/> Initially, it was decided that the local Arab tribes of Syria would be excluded from the ''dīwān'', but they were ultimately incorporated under pressure of their opposition.<ref name=Lammens360/>

According to ancient sources, Jews met with Umar in Jabiyah and, citing the harsh climate and plagues, requested permission to drink wine, but after suggesting honey, which they found ineffective, Umar allowed them to prepare a non-intoxicating dish from boiled grape syrup, which he remarked resembled camel ointment.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Amar |first=Zohar |author-link=Zohar Amar |title=Agricultural Produce in the Land of Israel in the Middle Ages |publisher=Yad Izhak Ben Zvi |year=2000 |editor-link= |location=Jerusalem |pages=113–116 |language=he}}</ref>

Jabiyah served as the initial administrative center of [Jund Dimashq](/source/Jund_Dimashq) (military district of Damascus).<ref name=Lammens360/> During the plague of [Imwas](/source/Imwas), which killed numerous Muslim troops, Jabiyah was used as a refuge for ill soldiers to recuperate due to its favorable climatic conditions.<ref name=Lammens360/> As a result, it became the site where soldiers' pay was distributed.<ref name=Lammens360/> A large mosque with ''[minbar](/source/minbar)'' (pulpit) was built in the town, which was a privilege putting Jabiyah on par with provincial capitals of the [Caliphate](/source/Rashidun_Caliphate).<ref name=Lammens360/> Between 639/40 and 660, Jabiyah served as the capital of Islamic Syria in its entirety under the governorship of [Mu'awiya I](/source/Mu'awiya_I).<ref name=Shahid96/>

===Umayyad period===
After the establishment of the [Umayyad Caliphate](/source/Umayyad_Caliphate) by Mu'awiya I in 661, Jabiyah would become a city that all Umayyad caliphs would pass through during their reigns.<ref name=Lammens360/> With the death of [Mu'awiya II](/source/Mu'awiya_II) in 684 and [Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr](/source/Abd_Allah_ibn_al-Zubayr)'s growing control over the Caliphate, the local Arab tribes of Syria convened at Jabiyah to maintain Umayyad rule.<ref name=Lammens360/> The summit was presided over by [Ibn Bahdal](/source/Ibn_Bahdal), the chieftain of the [Banu Kalb](/source/Banu_Kalb) and cousin of Caliph [Yazid I](/source/Yazid_I) (r. 680–683).<ref name=Lammens360/> The summit was not attended by the [Qays](/source/Qays)i tribes or the governor of Jund Dimashq, [al-Dahhak ibn Qays al-Fihri](/source/al-Dahhak_ibn_Qays_al-Fihri), all of whom supported or sympathized with Ibn al-Zubayr.<ref name=Lammens360/> Though Ibn Bahdal lobbied for Mu'awiya II's half-brothers to accede, the other Arab chieftains dismissed this suggestion due to the half-brothers' youth and inexperience.<ref name=Lammens360/> A chieftain of the [Banu Judham](/source/Banu_Judham), [Rawh ibn Zinba'](/source/Rawh_ibn_Zinba_al-Judhami), backed [Marwan I](/source/Marwan_I) for the caliphal throne, and the other chieftains followed suit.<ref name=Lammens360/> An agreement was finally reached whereby Marwan would become caliph, followed by [Khalid ibn Yazid](/source/Khalid_ibn_Yazid), then [Amr ibn Sa'id al-Ashdaq](/source/Al-Ashdaq).<ref name=Lammens360/> "In this way the unity of the Umayyad party was restored, and al-Jabiya became the cradle of the Marwanid dynasty", according to historian [Henri Lammens](/source/Henri_Lammens).<ref name=Lammens360/>

Marwan later changed the succession order agreed to at Jabiyah by designating his own son [Abd al-Malik](/source/Abd_al-Malik_ibn_Marwan) as his heir.<ref name=Lammens360/> During the latter's reign (685–705), Jabiyah was often used by the caliph as a month-long resort in the spring on his return to Damascus from his winter resort at [al-Sinnabra](/source/al-Sinnabra) on [Lake Tiberias](/source/Lake_Tiberias).<ref name=Lammens360/><ref>Kennedy 2004, p. 96.</ref> It was at Jabiyah that Abd al-Malik decreed that his sons [al-Walid I](/source/al-Walid_I) and [Sulayman](/source/Sulayman_ibn_Abd_al-Malik) should succeed him as caliph.<ref name=Lammens360/> Lammens and Shahid both described this as "the last great political event" that occurred in Jabiyah.<ref name=Lammens360/><ref name=Shahid102>Shahid 2002, p. 102.</ref> During Caliph Sulayman's reign (715–717), Jabiyah's role declined as the main Syrian military camp was shifted north to [Dabiq](/source/Dabiq%2C_Syria) near the [Arab–Byzantine frontier](/source/Al-Thughur).<ref name=Lammens360/> Nonetheless, Jabiyah remained the center of a district within Jund Dimashq.<ref name=Lammens360/> Its significance waned further with the rise of the Iraq-based [Abbasid Caliphate](/source/Abbasid_Caliphate) in 750.<ref name=Lammens360/>

===Modern era===
Jabiyah's decline beginning in the early 8th century has rendered it, in Shahid's words, as "entirely vanished" in the present day.<ref name=Shahid102/> Jabiyah's former existence is attested to in the nearby hill which carries its name, Tell al-Jabiyah, and the [Bab al-Jabiyah](/source/Bab_al-Jabiyah) gate of old Damascus. Tell al-Jabiyah was described by a 19th-century Western archaeologist as "the most conspicuous point of all the country around. It is a hill with two peaks, the eastern and the highest of which reaches an elevation of 2,322 feet above the sea. It commands a fine view over Northern [Hawran](/source/Hawran) and Jedur".<ref>Shahid 2002, pp. 102–103.</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book|title=The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates: The Islamic Near East from the 6th to the 11th Century|edition=Second|last=Kennedy|first=Hugh N.|author-link=Hugh N. Kennedy|year=2004|publisher=Pearson Education Limited|location=Harlow|isbn=0-582-40525-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kak0CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA79}}
*{{cite encyclopedia|title=Al-D̲j̲ābiya|first=H.|last=Lammens|author-link=Henri Lammens|editor1=Lewis, B. |editor2=Pellat, Ch. |editor3=Schacht, J.|encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Islam |edition=new |volume=II: C–G|publisher=Brill|location=Leiden and New York|year=1991|orig-year=1965|isbn=90-04-07026-5|page=360}}
*{{cite book|last1=Shahid|first1=Irfan|author-link=Irfan Shahîd|title=Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century, Volume II, Part 1: Toponmyny, Monuments, Historical Geography and Frontier Studies|date=2002|publisher=Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection|location=Washington D.C.|isbn=0-88402-284-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pfwAG3-rpzcC&pg=PA96}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.nla.gov.au/apps/cdview/?pi=nla.map-vn745520-s20k Boutmiye-map, 20K]
*[http://www.nla.gov.au/apps/cdview/?pi=nla.map-vn745520-s20l Naoua-map, 20L]

Category:Former populated places in Syria
Category:Archaeological sites in Daraa Governorate
Category:Ghassanids

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Jabiyah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jabiyah) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jabiyah?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.