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Wilmington, North Carolina once had a thriving Black middle class and an elected interracial government. In 1898 white supremacists used violence to overthrow that government, kill Black residents and drive many others from the city.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
Salkhad
صَلْخَد | |
|---|---|
 Salkhad fortress | |
  Salkhad Location in Syria | |
| Coordinates: 32°29′30″N 36°42′40″E / 32.49167°N 36.71111°E | |
| PAL | 310/211 |
| Country |  Syria |
| Governorate | Suwayda |
| District | Salkhad |
| Subdistrict | Salkhad |
| Elevation | 1,350 m (4,430 ft) |
| Population (2004 Census) | |
• Total | 9,155 |
| Area code | 16 |
Salkhad (Arabic: صَلْخَد, romanized: Ṣalḫad) is a Syrian city in the Suwayda Governorate, southern Syria. It is the capital of Salkhad District, one of the governorate's three districts. It had a population of 9,155 inhabitants in the 2004 census.[1] In Salkhad, Druze make up the predominant population, while Christians and Sunni Muslim Bedouins represent a minority.[2]
It is located at 1350 metres above sea level in the central Jabal el Druze highlands.
The city is mentioned four times in the Hebrew Bible as "Salcah" (Hebrew: סַלְכָּה, romanized: Salkā), a settlement in biblical Bashan.[3][4] Beginning in the second century BC Salcah was a flourishing Nabataean city, where the gods Dushara and Allat were worshiped. A dedication to the goddess Allat, dated to year 17 of the reign of Malichus II, son of Aretas IV (AD 57), survives from the first century AD.[5]
Afterwards it was incorporated into the Roman province of Arabia, it was one of the important cities in Hauran during Roman and later Byzantine epochs, Salkhad is indicated in the Madaba Map of the sixth century.
Due to the strategic position of the city overlooking Hauran plains to the west, the Ayyubid dynasty built a fortress in Salkhad between 1214–1247 to counter a possible attack of the Crusades into inner Hauran. It has also been said that al-Afdal ibn Salah ad-Din was exiled here by his uncle and brother al-Aziz Billah.
The importance of the city decreased after the Crusades, and it was occasionally overrun by Bedouins seeking pasture in the summer for their flocks.
In 1596, Salkhad appeared in the Ottoman tax registers as Salhad (Sarhad) and was part of the nahiya of Bani Malik as-Sadir in the Hauran Sanjak. It had a Muslim population consisting of 55 households and 25 bachelors, and a Christian population of 50 households and 20 bachelors. The residents paid a fixed tax-rate of 40% on wheat, barley, summer crops, goats and beehives; a total of 36,500 akçe.[6]
In 1838 Eli Smith noted that the place in ruins.[7]
A number of Greek Orthodox Christians, of Ghassanid ancestry, successively remained in the region. The town itself was abandoned in the late 18th century, but was repopulated by Druze and Greek Orthodox Christian families from Mount Lebanon beginning in 1858.[8]
During Ottoman times, the city enjoyed a feudal-type autonomy like much of the Jabal el Druze area under the chieftaincy of Al-Hamdan family and later Al-Atrash family, many battles against the Ottoman Empire took place in this region by the Druze locals to maintain their autonomy.
In the early 20th century, the city was part of the 1921–1936 Druze state under the French Mandate of Syria, the state was gradually incorporated into Syria after the Syrian Revolution of 1925–1927 led by Sultan Al-Atrash.
The city now is the centre of Salkhad district of Suwayda Governorate, it is the southernmost district in Syria.
Salkhad has a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification: BSk). In winter there is more rainfall than in summer. The average annual temperature in Salkhad is 14.8 °C (58.6 °F). About 291 mm (11.46 in) of precipitation falls annually.
| Climate data for Salkhad, elevation 1,447 m (4,747 ft) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 8.5 (47.3) |
9.1 (48.4) |
12.8 (55.0) |
17.6 (63.7) |
23.0 (73.4) |
27.2 (81.0) |
28.5 (83.3) |
29.2 (84.6) |
27.2 (81.0) |
26.2 (79.2) |
16.6 (61.9) |
10.3 (50.5) |
19.7 (67.4) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 3.4 (38.1) |
5.3 (41.5) |
8.3 (46.9) |
12.6 (54.7) |
17.2 (63.0) |
21.1 (70.0) |
22.5 (72.5) |
23.1 (73.6) |
21.2 (70.2) |
19.2 (66.6) |
11.8 (53.2) |
6.5 (43.7) |
14.4 (57.8) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −1.8 (28.8) |
1.5 (34.7) |
3.7 (38.7) |
7.5 (45.5) |
11.5 (52.7) |
14.8 (58.6) |
16.3 (61.3) |
17.0 (62.6) |
15.3 (59.5) |
12.1 (53.8) |
7.1 (44.8) |
2.5 (36.5) |
9.0 (48.1) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 80 (3.1) |
62 (2.4) |
65 (2.6) |
27 (1.1) |
8 (0.3) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
10 (0.4) |
26 (1.0) |
60 (2.4) |
338 (13.3) |
| Source: FAO[10] | |||||||||||||
The fortress of Salkhad is the most important monument located in a hill inside the city, built between 1214 and 1247 by the Ayyubid dynasty as a part of their defences against the crusades. It is said that this fortress were built in the site of older Roman fortifications. A hexagonal basalt minaret still standing intact in the city's main square. Many Roman old time houses, still partially inhabited by locals. Nabatean, Roman and Ayyubid tombs are also there with decorative motifs.
32°29′30″N 36°42′40″E / 32.49167°N 36.71111°E
Capital: Suwayda | |||||||||||||||
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Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
Salkhad (Arabic: صَلْخَد, romanized: Ṣalḫad) is a Syrian city in the Suwayda Governorate, southern Syria. It is the capital of Salkhad District, one of the governorate's three districts. It had a population of 9,155 inhabitants in the 2004 census. In Salkhad, Druze make up the predominant population, while Christians and Sunni Muslim Bedouins represent a minority. It is located at 1350 metres above sea level in the central Jabal el Druze highlands.
Salkhad District (Arabic: منطقة صلخد, romanized: manṭiqat Ṣalḫad) is a district of the Suwayda Governorate in southern Syria. Administrative centre is the city of Salkhad. At the 2004 census, the district had a population of 60,375.
Salkhad (Arabic: صلخد) is one of the 60 electoral districts of the People's Assembly, the national legislature of Syria. It is conterminous with the district of Salkhad. The electoral district currently elects one of the 140 elected members of the People's Assembly. Due to being controlled by the Supreme Legal Committee, elections in Salkhad have been postponed and are not yet scheduled to take place (as of September 2026).
The capture of Salkhad refers to the clash between the Druze rebel forces of Sultan Pasha al-Atrash and a unit of the French Mandate based in Salkhad on 20 July 1925. It would become the first confrontation of the Great Syrian Revolt. Preceding the battle, on 19 July, al-Atrash's forces shot down a French reconnaissance plane, the first shots of the revolt, and captured its injured pilots. The next day, rebels captured Salkhad and its French garrison without facing significant resistance.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Madam C.J. Walker
