Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
Damascus countryside, SANA-The caves spread in the Qalamoun region, especially the city of Yabroud in Damascus countryside, document multiple historical eras and play an important role in the history of civilization, as they were a home for ancient man and a safe haven for animals in other eras. Currently, they have become important tourist landmarks and historical sites for conducting research and documenting them, according to the Director of Antiquities in Damascus countryside, Jihad Abu Kahla.
In a statement to SANA reporter, Abu Kahla said that studies and research by archaeologists have shown that the caves and shelters in Yabroud and the cave of Qarnet Ghra in Saidnaya provided all the factors of life, including water and food, indicating that in more recent eras, man was able to develop his tools and adapt his environment to suit him, so he built houses and abandoned the caves to become only burial places for humans in classical eras, such as in Maaloula, Yabroud, Ain al-Sahib in Halboun, Souq Wadi Barada, and Jabadeen.
He added that some other caves became in the Byzantine era a place of worship and a refuge to escape the brutality of the dominance of the followers of the old religion with the followers of the new heavenly religion, such as the Cave of Saint Thecla in Maaloula, the caves of Saidnaya and Ras al-Maara, and the caves of Darbal and Hina located below Mount Hermon, noting that some caves have historical connotations in terms of their names, but that there is no scientific evidence for this, such as the Cave of Moses in Bloudan, which is considered one of the most important tourist attractions in Zabadani area.
For his part, a researcher in Yabroud’s heritage, historical and cultural affairs,Marai al-Baradei, pointed out that most of Yabroud’s caves are natural and are located in the valleys of Iskefta, Haraya, al-Mashkouna and Qurayna. They have wide doors and are not very deep. They appeared after the water receded from this area, which had been submerged for more than a million years.
He pointed out that a number of collective royal graves were dug in the Greek era, which did not bear names known as valleys, such as the caves of Ain Koshel and Nabe’ al-Dabour in al-Mashkouna and al-Khail in Iskefta. They are a large cavity in the mountainside like a rocky crown.
Al-Baradei said that the largest caves in Yabroud are spread in Iskefta Valley, noting that ancient man lived in Mashkouna Valley, 250 thousand years ago, according to the German archaeologist and researcher Alfred Rost.
In Mashkouna Valley, the ancient man lived about 120 thousand years ago, according to the German researcher Nicholas Conrad, who conducted studies on Stone Age man in the Nabe’ Al-Dabour cave.
Journalist Safira Ismail
Translated by Muhammad Ibrahim
