Al-Sarkha, Bakh'ah or Bakh'a ( - , or ) is a depopulated Syrian village in the Yabroud District of the Rif Dimashq Governorate. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Al-Sarkha had a population of 1,405 in the 2004 census.General Census of Population and Housing 2004 . Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Rif Dimashq Governorate. The village, inhabited by Sunni Muslims of Aramean descent, was vastly damaged during the Syrian Civil War, and all of the inhabitants fled to other parts of Syria or to Lebanon as refugees. As of 1 February 2025, the village is still completely uninhabited. It was one of the only three remaining villages where Western Neo-Aramaic is spoken, alongside Maaloula and Jubb'adin.
Following their conversion to Islam in the 18th century, the inhabitants of Bakh'a underwent a religious transformation, shifting from being exclusively Christian to entirely Muslim.
Demographics In 1838, American missionary and scholar Eli Smith noted Al-Sarkha as being populated by Sunni Muslims and Antiochian Greek Christians.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. 172
In 2004, according to the Syrian Central Bureau of Statistics census, the village had 1,405 inhabitants.
In March 2014, all of the village's residents were displaced to Lebanon and other parts of Syria as refugees due to the destruction during the Syrian Civil War.
As of 1 February 2025, the village remains uninhabited.
See also Western Neo-Aramaic
References
Bibliography
External links Samples of spoken Western Neo-Aramaic at the Semitisches Tonarchiv (Semitic Audio Archive) Bakh’a dialect Jubb'adin dialect Maalouli dialect