Al-Bara

History

The settlement was established in the fourth century at an important trade route between Antioch and Apamea. Due to good location and excellent conditions to produce wine and olive oil, it flourished in the 5th and 6th centuries; this was aided by the plentiful underground water in the area. Agricultural development accelerated from the 5th century, with peasants digging to access underground springs rather than relying on waterfalls, the appearance of a network of wells and canals across the region, the cutting of private reservoirs in courtyards to collect rainwater, and the digging of large communal reservoirs. The site’s affluence is demonstrated by well-decorated stonework, industrial-scale olive presses and a small number of decorated monumental tombs from the 6th century. The settlement is one of the only mountain sites of the Dead Cities with more than a dozen hearths. A series of ruined monasteries are close to the southern edge of the site, with Deir Sobat in good condition and Deir Debbane and al-Deir in a poorer state of repair. At the height of the Byzantine Empire’s power, the emperors increased their control over sites like Bara, strategically positioned to both protect mountain access and survey the more contested plains to the east. The centre of the town was excavated in 2007-2010, revealing a large mosque identified thanks to its fully preserved mihrab. The excavation also uncovered a bath complex which had undergone four distinct phases of occupation: the construction of late Roman thermal baths, the conversion to hammams during the early Islamic period, their abandonment during the 11th century, and their conversion to housing during the Mamluk period. Later in the 12th century, after a severe earthquake, the town was abandoned. Later, in the…