Attil, Suwayda

See also: Atil

Attil عتيل Atil, Ateel, ʻAtil
Village
Roman temple
Attil
Coordinates: 32°45′26″N 36°34′36″E / 32.75722°N 36.57667°E / 32.75722; 36.57667
Grid position	298/241
Country	Syria
Governorate	Suwayda
District	Suwayda
Subdistrict	Suwayda
Population  (2004 census)
• Total	4,193
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)

Attil (Arabic: عتيل, also spelled Atil) is a village in southern Syria, administratively part of the al-Suwayda District of the al-Suwayda Governorate. In the 2004 census, it had a population of 4,193.^[1] Its inhabitants are predominantly Druze, with a Sunni Muslim Bedouin minority.^[2][3]

History

In 1596 it appeared as Atil in the Ottoman tax registers, part of the nahiya (subdistrict) of Bani Nasiyya of the Hauran Sanjak. It had a population of 25 households, and 5 bachelors; all Muslim. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 20% on various agricultural products, such as wheat (3750 a.), barley (1350 a.), summer crops (2500 a.), goats and/or beehives (160 a.), in addition to "occasional revenues" (150 a.); a total of 7,910 akçe. A quarter of the revenue went to a waqf.^[4]

In 1838 Eli Smith noted 'Atil as being located in Jebel Hauran, and inhabited by Druze.^[5]

Archaeology

Atill has been identified with ancient Atheila and contains two Roman-period temples that have been surveyed by multiple scholars since the 19th century.^[6]

Religious buildings

• Maqam Al-Sheikh Gharib (Druze Shrine)

See also

• Druze in Syria

References

1. "General Census of Population 2004". Archived from the original on 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2014-07-10.
2. بلدة عتيل في منطقة السويداء. Alamama (in Arabic). 2025-08-01. Retrieved 2025-08-01.
3. "Druze communities in the Middle East". British Druze Society. Archived from the original on September 11, 2011.
4. Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 218.
5. Smith, in Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. 157
6. Segal, Arthur (2022) [2013]. "Attil (47, 48)". Temples and sanctuaries in the Roman East: religious architecture in Syria, Iudaea/Palaestina and Provincia Arabia. Oxford and Oakville: Oxbow Books. p. 2006-213 [207]. ISBN 9781842175262. Retrieved 7 July 2025.

Bibliography

• Hütteroth, W.-D.; Abdulfattah, K. (1977). Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century. Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. ISBN 3-920405-41-2.
• Robinson, E.; Smith, E. (1841). Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838. Vol. 3. Boston: Crocker & Brewster.