Swaida, Southern Syria,(SANA)-Shahba is an ancient Roman city that was built by Emperor Philip the Arab between 244 and 249 A.C and it is an integrated archeological city whose ruins talk today about its prosperous great civilization.

Shahba Theatre, located within a huge compound at the center of the city, is one of its most important archeological monuments, said Director of Swaida Antiquities Department Wasim al-Shaarani.

The Theater has been severely damaged throughout history, particularly its stage while the orchestra and audience places are covered with sand and rubbles and excavations have started to unearth them since the second half of the twentieth century, he pointed out.

The 42-diameter theater is divided into two parts; the first of which is for acting while the second is a separated huge stage for audience and behind it you can see a facade that contains three entrances, the biggest of which lies at its center.

At the biggest entrance, the facade is decked with niches and behind it, you can see the coulisse which is a corridor extending along the stage that has two entrances at its sides.

Audience stage consists of two-story amphitheater heading southward in addition to the passages and tunnels that were built to allow the audience reach the places assigned for them.You can also see seven entrances that are consistent with the internal yard and stairs.

You can pass through Shahba theatre to the Philipon Cemetery that is a square imperial tomb built of solid basalt stones and at its corners, there are skillfully carved stone bases ; each one of them carries four crested square pillars.

To the south of the tomb, you can see the Roman theatre, while to the east, you can see the main street.

One of the archeological temples in Shahba is the pagan temple that is located at the northern side of the court street and it has six pillars, three of which have stood fast against the harsh conditions to the present time.

To the north-east of the public square, we can see the major archeological house baths that were the biggest of their kind in the third century A.C .

To the north of these house bathes, there are huge stone bases which were used to draw water through their spillways from al-Taiba region (16 kilometers far from Shahba city).

The bath houses consist of three parts according to water temperature and they also include halls for sport, reading and entertainment in addition to yards surrounded by pillars.

Emperor Philip the Arab built a rectangular stone wall to protect the city against enemies .It includes defensive towers with four main gates, each one consists of a big passage with two 2, 5-meter vestibules at its sides.

Dar Shahba (Shahba House) is a 28-room palace built of basalt stones where excavations unearthed four mosaic paintings displayed at Shahba Museum.

Ruaa AL-Jazaeri/Kh.Aridi