Attil, Suwayda


Attil is a village in southern Syria, administratively part of the al-Suwayda District of the al-Suwayda Governorate. In the 2004 census, it had a population of 4,193. Its inhabitants are predominantly Druze, with a Sunni Muslim Bedouin minority.

History

In 1596 it appeared as Atil in the Ottoman tax registers, part of the nahiya of Bani Nasiyya of the Hauran Sanjak. It had a population of 25 households, and 5 bachelors; all Muslim. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 20% on various agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, summer crops, goats and/or beehives, in addition to "occasional revenues" ; a total of 7,910 akçe. A quarter of the revenue went to a waqf.
In 1838 Eli Smith noted 'Atil as being located in Jebel Hauran, and inhabited by Druze.

Archaeology

Atill has been identified with ancient Atheila and contains two Roman-period temples that have been surveyed by multiple scholars since the 19th century.

Religious buildings