Al-Ariqah

Roman period

Ariqah has been proposed as the location of a Roman-period sanctuary based on several inscriptions and architectural remains. One Greek-language inscription, dated to 182 AD, records the construction of a building dedicated to an ancestral deity by a veteran and was found reused as a lintel in a modern building, suggesting that it may have belonged before to a monumental structure.^[3] The identity of this deity is uncertain. Another inscription found at the same location mentions the local deity Aumos, which has been proposed as a possible identification.^[3]

One inscription dated to 139–140 AD mentions the erection of a building, which scholars have suggested may have been associated with a sanctuary. A fragmentary statue of Al-Lat/Athena depicted wearing a peplos (Greek garment) and holding a shield decorated with a gorgon (female monster), is now preserved in the Suwayda National Museum.^[3]

Byzantine period

Historically ‘Arīqah was considered the centre of the inaccessible Lajat, many houses from the Byzantine epoch were found in the town and they are still inhabited by locals, there is also an old ruined Byzantine monastery in the town known as "Deir Ariqa".

Ottoman era

In 1596 Al-Ariqah appeared in the Ottoman tax registers as 'Ahiri and was part of the nahiya of Bani Abdullah in the Hauran Sanjak. It had an entirely Muslim population consisting of 18 households and 3 bachelors. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on wheat, barley, summer crops, goats and/or beehives and a water mill; a total of 6,500 akçe.^[4]

In 1838, it was noted as Ahiry, a Druze and Catholic village, situated "in the Lejah, south of Dama".^[5]