Murdok () is a village situated in the Shahba District of Suwayda Governorate, in southern Syria. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Murdok had a population of 2,891 in the 2004 census.General Census of Population and Housing 2004 . Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Al-Suwayda Governorate. Its inhabitants are predominantly Druze. History Murdok is identified with the ancient village of Mardocha, which is attested in inscriptions found in the Roman-era sanctuary of Aumos, a local sun god, located a few kilometers away at Dayr al-Laban. An individual from Mardocha attested in these inscriptions is recorded as belonging to the tribe of the Audenoi, which is also attested in the nearby Borechath Sabaon.

In 1596 the village appeared in the Ottoman tax registers named Mardak, part of the nahiya (Subdistrict) of Bani Nasiyya in the Hauran Sanjak. It had a Muslim population consisting of 23 households and 4 bachelors; a total of 27 taxable units. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 20% on agricultural products, including wheat (4500 a.), barley (900 a.), summer crops (600 a.), goats and beehives (250 a.), in addition to "occasional revenues" (150 a.); a total of 6,300 akçe.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 218

In 1838, Eli Smith noted that inhabitants of Murduk were predominantly Druse and Christians.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Second appendix, B, p. 157

Religious buildings Al-Mahdi (Druze Shrine)

See also Druze in Syria

References

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