Ataman, Syria

′Ataman (Arabic: عتمان‎), also spelled ′Atman, Athman, Osmane or Othman, is a village in southern Syria, administratively part of the Daraa Governorate, located 4 kilometers north of Daraa. Other nearby localities include al-Yadudah to the west, Tafas to the northwest, Da'el to the north, Khirbet Ghazaleh to the northeast, al-Ghariyah al-Gharbiyah to the east and al-Naimah to the southeast. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Ataman had a population of 8,929 in the 2004 census.[1]

Ataman

عتمان

Athman
Othman
Village
Ataman
Coordinates: 32°39′44″N 36°6′53″E
Grid position254/230 PAL
Country Syria
GovernorateDaraa
DistrictDaraa
SubdistrictDaraa
Population
 (2004)[1]
 • Total8,929
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)

History

In the Ottoman tax registers of 1596, it was a village located the nahiya of Butayna, Qada of Hawran, under the name of Atman. It had a population of 29 households and 15 bachelors, all Muslims. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 40% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, goats and beehives; a total of 8,000 akçe.[2]

In 1838, during Ottoman rule, Ataman was listed as a khirba (ruined or deserted village) in the Nukrah region by scholar Eli Smith.[3]

Archaeology

Ataman contains a few ancient ruins that were occupied by residents in the early 20th century.[4] According to orientalists Enno Littmann and Howard Crosby Butler, Ataman was likely not an ancient town, but rather "a group of fine residences, or villas, with a common monumental tomb".[4] Among the more notable ruins are an ancient bridge and a large mausoleum. The mausoleum consists of a large stone building topped by a square structure built in the Corinthian architectural form.[5] The mausoleum is the most preserved of Ataman's ancient remains. Just north of the building are ruined structures consisting of parts of ancient columns, large windows and doorways.[4]

References
  1. "General Census of Population 2004". Retrieved 2014-07-10.
  2. Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 215
  3. Smith; in Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Second appendix, B, p. 152.
  4. Butler, Howard Crosby; Littmann, Enno (1919). Syria: Publications of the Princeton University Archaeological Expeditions to Syria in 1904-5 and 1909. E. J. Brill.
  5. Boulanger, 1966, p. 503.

Bibliography
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