Located 80 km south of Damascus in the northern section of the Province of Daraa, its name appears in the Tell Amarna letters, documents which were exchanged between the Egyptian and Syrian rulers in 1334 B.C.

Ancient inscriptions left by the Romans after their occupation of the Bashan area evidence the importance of the town.

[5] The historian Ismail Abulfida described in his book Taqwim al Buldan that it was “to be one of the major capitals of Hauran, 18 miles from the region of Sanameine”.

In 1596 Izra appeared in the Ottoman tax registers as Madinat Zura' and was part of the nahiya of Badi Sarma in the Qada of Hauran.

The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 40% on various agricultural products, including wheat, barley, goats and/or beehives, in addition to on a water mill and jizya; a total of 124,120 akçe.

[6] In 1838, it was noted (under the name of Ehhra), located in "the Luhf, west of the Lejah", having Muslim, Greek and Catholic Christian inhabitants.

[7] In 1840 the Egyptian governor Ibrahim Pasha took over the region and bombarded the church, causing great damage to the walls and dome, but failed to occupy the city.