SUWAYDA', AS-

also spelled Es-suweida, town, southern Syria. It is situated at the eastern margin of the Hawran region in the foothills of Ad-Duruz Mountains. Believed to have been founded by the Nabataeans in the 1st century BC, it came under Roman rule in the 1st century AD. By the 5th century it was the seat of a bishopric. As-Suwayda' is now a local agricultural market centre. It has ruins of a 3rd-century Roman temple and a 5th-century Byzantine church. Most of the area surrounding As-Suwayda' is sparsely populated and of little economic value. Pop. (1985 est.) town, 49,973.