Dar'a

Daraa is an ancient city dating to the Late Bronze Age. It was mentioned in texts from the New Kingdom of Egypt of the reign of Thutmose III (1490-1436 BCE) as the city of Atharaa. The Hebrew Bible refers to it as Edrei (Biblical Hebrew: אֶדְרֶעִי, romanized: Eḏreʿi), the capital of Bashan, site of a battle where the Israelites defeated Og. According to Jewish tradition, Eldad and Medad were buried in Edrei. During the Seleucid Empire, and the Roman Empire after 106, the city was known as Adraa (Koine Greek: Ἀδράα), and appears on its coinage. It was incorporated into the province of Arabia Petraea. By the 3rd century, it had gained the status of polis or self-governed city. The Roman historian Eusebius referred to it. The area east of Adraa was a centre of the Ebionites. Adraa itself was a Christian bishopric. …

The city also contains a Palestinian refugee camp, known as Daraa camp. The city is divided into two sections; Daraa al-Mahatta, which is the northern portion, and Daraa al-Balad, which is the southern part of the city. Daraa has a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification BSk).

Before the outbreak of the conflict, more than 500 Christian families resided in the city of Daraa. In 2011, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church had approximately 800-1000 believers.