page_title: Qanawat
section_title: Hellenistic and Roman history
hierarchical_section_title: Qanawat / History / Hellenistic and Roman history
caption_attribution_description: Temple previously believed to be to Helios, but now known to be dedicated to local God Rabbos - see Qanawat article
context_page_description: Qanawat is a village in Syria, located 7 km north-east of al-Suwayda. It stands at an elevation of about 1,200 m, near a river and surrounded by woods. Its inhabitants are entirely from the Druze community. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Qanawat had a population of 8,324 in the 2004 census.
context_section_description: The ancient Hellenistic-Roman city of Canatha (also Kanatha, Κάναθα in Ancient Greek), is mentioned for the first time in the reign of Herod the Great (1st century BC), when Nabatean Arab forces defeated a Jewish army. It remained an issue of contention between the two powers. From Pompey's time until Trajan's, it was a city of the Decapolis, a loose federation of cities allowed by the Romans to enjoy a degree of autonomy. In the 1st century AD it was annexed to the Roman province of Syria, and in the 2nd century it was rechristened Septimia Canatha by Septimius Severus, a Roman colony, and transferred to the province of Arabia.
caption: Temple of Rabbos
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