Jayrud

History

Excavations at the site produced microliths, blades, scrapers and other lithic tools dating back to the Natufian culture.
During Roman times, Jairoud was known as Geroda. The city is mentioned in the Antonine Itinerary which was written during the reign of Diocletian. In the itinirary the city is one of the stations on the Roman road between Palmyra and Damascus, and is at a distance of 16 Roman miles from Telsea (modern Al-Dumayr).
Jairoud was visited by Syrian geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi in the early 13th-century, during Ayyubid rule. He noted that it was "a village of Ma'loula in the Ghautah of Damascus."
Under the Ottomans, the city served as the centre of the Jairoud Nahiyah, and was the seat of a Pasha (Mohammed Aldaas Jairoudi Pasha) and an Agha (Saleem Aldaas Agha) In the 19th century, the city was described as affluent, hospitable and "unusually clean." The city was attacked frequently by Bedouin tribes that live on the edge of the Syrian Desert.

Geography

The city lies on the ancient merchant caravan route between Damascus and Palmyra, in the fertile plain of Jairoud on the foothills of the Qalamoun Mountains. The land is well-cultivated and is known for its produce of wheat and barley. The city lies to the western end of a large salt marsh called, "al-Mallahah".