Alma, Syria

Alma or Elmah is a village in the Daraa District of the Daraa Governorate, Syria. According to the 2004 census, the population was estimated at 6,297 people.
It is located near Khirbet Ghazaleh and belongs to a sub-district of a same name.

History

Alma is identified with the ancient Jewish village of Helam or Alema, a place in Gilead mentioned in 1 Maccabees.

In the Ottoman tax registers of 1596, it was a village named Alama, located the nahiya of Bani Malik al-Asraf, Qada of Hauran. It had a population of 12 households and 7 bachelors, all Muslims. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 40% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues ; a total of 8,060 akçe. 1/3 of the revenue went to a waqf.
In 1838, its inhabitants were again noted as being Muslim, located south of Al-Shaykh Maskin.