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The prehistoric period

A few, small flint tools have been found near Tell Shihan, to the north of Shahba, and on Tell al-Jimal and tell Ghrara, to the west, These scrapers, saws, daggers, lance-heads. Etc, were the everyday tools used by the inhabitants of this area

These prehistoric sites probably date to the end of the Neolithic period and were never re-occupied. This shows that human presence in this region is very old.

The Shahba area has been continuously inhabited from the third millennium B.C onwards. The two major settlements of this early period are Labweh to the north dating from the Early Bronze age, and Tell Debbeh to the south, from the middle Bronze age. The small ruin , possibly a fortified house, at Kôn, which lies at the entrance of the Nemré valley, a few km east of Shahba, is probably also of this latter period.

The Hellenistic period

In 333 B.C., Alexander the Great and the Macedonians occupied Syria, including Jabal al Arab, and introduced Hellenistic culture to the region, a trend that was continued during the Roman period. Numerous Greek inscriptions have been found in the area by travellers and were recorded by W.H. Waddington in the 19th Century and the Princeton University Archaeological Expeditions to Syria at the beginning of the 20th century. The explorations of R. Dussauud and F. Macler added hundreds more and their search has been continued to present times by M. Sartre. However, there are few Hellenistic remains at Shahba, for it was only during the Roman period that it came to prominence.

The Nabataean period

The Nabataeans, an Arab tribe originally from North Arabia, settled in Transjordan and southern Syria, establishing their capital at Petra, near Wadi Musa “the valley of Moses”. In 88 B.C., under their king Arethas III, they occupied Damascus and Jebal al-Arab. Before this, , probably during the reign of Obodas I, the Nabataeans had confronted the Seleucids in a fierce battle at Mothana, which is thought to be close to present Qanawat. It was during this battle that the Seleucid king Antiochus was killed and his troops routed. Following this defeat, the Seleucids empire broke up and the Nabataeans occupied the whole region including  Shahba. However, so far no remains from the Nabataean period have been found at Shahba.

Shahba during the Roman period

The Roman general Pompey, conquered Syria in 64 B.C., arriving from the north across the Taurus mountains. Jabal al – Arab was also occupied by the Romans but at first, they showed little interest in Shahba. It was only when Philip the Arab became the Emperor of Rome in 244 A.D. that his native village received the title of “Colonia Romana” and was named Philippopolis. The emperor wanted to turn his native village into a city which could hold its own with the great metropolis of the Roman world. Even though he reigned for only five years, he spared no expense to make his home town as important as some of the greatest cities of the day. The remaining ruins today, testify to that.