One of the oldest Muslim cemeteries discovered in Syria

27 June 2022

 

Archaeologists recently discovered a cemetery in Syria that is now rightly considered to be the oldest burial ground in the country.


“Scientists have discovered one of the oldest Islamic cemeteries in Shamat in an ancient site in southern Syria,” the IQNA News Agency reported, citing the magazine Nature.


The magazine says that the research carried out by an international group of scholars reveals that burials of the dead in this cemetery date back about 1300 years. 


The remains of the bodies found in the Tal Qara area of Suwayda province belong to two cemeteries dating back to the late seventh and early eighth centuries, to the Umayyad Caliphate.


Scholars say the results of radiocarbon dating and the type of burial indicate that this is one of the most ancient Arab-Islamic cemeteries in Syria. Notably, analysis of the remains of the bodies found showed that those people were genetically compatible with the people of Saudi Arabia rather than the people of Syria. Before burial, the bodies of the two dead were wrapped and their heads turned towards Mecca.


Researchers believe that their discovery generally provides more information about some funerary rituals among Muslims of the early Islamic period.

 


GSV "Russia - Islamic world"

Photo: marsalqatar.qa