Qanawat

Qanawat or Kanatha is an ancient Syrian city located northeast of Sweida, at an altitude of more than 1250 meters above sea level.

The city is divided into two parts: a southern upper city and a northern lower city, built entirely of black basalt, giving it an attractive and strange appearance. The name Kanatha, the ancient name of the city, was found on ancient Roman coins and inscriptions, as it was associated with the names of the emperors who ruled the region, such as Emperor Septimius Severus.

The activities of the city's inhabitants extended to various parts of the Roman Empire, as a monument was found in France mentioning a merchant from Kanatha. A Syrian-German mission excavated the area, and discovered many ancient temples, ruins of Christian temples dating back to the Byzantine and Roman periods, in addition to rock carvings indicating the life of those civilizations.

They also discovered a small theater that could accommodate more than three thousand people, and northern tombs containing many artifacts such as pottery, glassware, silver and copper coins, jewelry, as well as Greek statues and inscriptions.