Al-Mataaiya

Al-Mataaiyah المتاعية
Village
Al-Mataaiyah
Coordinates: 32°29′46″N 36°17′34″E
Country	Syria
Governorate	Daraa Governorate
District	Daraa District
Nahiyah	Al-Jiza
Population  (2004 census)[1]
• Total	2,734
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)

Al-Mataaiyah, also spelled al-Muta'iya or Mataeiyeh (Arabic: المتاعية), is a village in southern Syria, administratively part of the Daraa Governorate, located northeast of Daraa and west of Bosra. Nearby localities include Nasib to the east, al-Taybeh to the northwest, al-Jiza to the north, Ghasm to the northeast, Bosra to the east and the Jordanian village of Sama al-Sirhan to the southwest. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), al-Mataaiyah had a population of 2,734 in the 2004 census.[1]

History

Al-Mataaiyah was a khirba (ruined village) by the 19th century during Ottoman rule. However, the second half of that century saw a resurgence in grain cultivation and security in the Hauran region, of which al-Mataaiyah was part.[2] In 1892, a certain entrepreneurial local chieftain, Sheikh Khuntush, purchased the then-abandoned village for 1,000 Turkish gold liras.[2] Afterward, he moved farmers into al-Mataaiyah and built cisterns inside the dry village to collect rainwater.[2] In 1895, there were about 150 inhabitants and Sheikh Khuntush resolved to bring in more peasants. By 1905, the population grew to 200.[2] During the 1890s, some people from al-Mataaiyah also reestablished the village of Sama, 7 kilometers to the southwest.[2]

References

1. General Census of Population and Housing 2004. Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Daraa Governorate. (in Arabic)
2. Lewis, Norman (2000). "The Syrian Steppe during the Last Century of Ottoman Rule: Hawran and the Palmyrena". In Mundy, Martha; Musallam, Basim (eds.). The Transformation of Nomadic Society in the Arab East. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 40–41. ISBN 0521770572.