Palestinian
Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
town in the
Nablus Governorate
The Nablus Governorate ( ar, محافظة نابلس ') is an administrative district of State of Palestine, Palestine located in the Central Highlands of the West Bank, 53 km north of Jerusalem. It covers the area around the city of Nablus ...
of the
State of Palestine
Palestine ( ar, فلسطين, Filasṭīn), Legal status of the State of Palestine, officially the State of Palestine ( ar, دولة فلسطين, Dawlat Filasṭīn, label=none), is a state (polity), state located in Western Asia. Officiall ...
, in the northern
West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
, located 18 kilometers south of
Nablus
Nablus ( ; ar, نابلس, Nābulus ; he, שכם, Šəḵem, ISO 259-3: ; Samaritan Hebrew: , romanized: ; el, Νεάπολις, Νeápolis) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a populati ...
. According to the
Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS; ar, الجهاز المركزي للإحصاء الفلسطيني) is the official
statistical institution of the State of Palestine. Its main task is to provide credible statistical figures a ...
(PCBS), the town had a population of 2,301 inhabitants in mid-year 2006.
Location
As-Sawiya is located 15km south of
Nablus
Nablus ( ; ar, نابلس, Nābulus ; he, שכם, Šəḵem, ISO 259-3: ; Samaritan Hebrew: , romanized: ; el, Νεάπολις, Νeápolis) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a populati ...
. It is bordered by
Talfit
Talfit ( ar, تلفيت) is a Palestinian village in the Nablus Governorate in the northern West Bank, located southeast of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) census, it had a population of 2,824 in 2007.
1 ...
and
Qaryut
Qaryout ( ar, قريوت) is a Palestinian people, Palestinian village of nearly 2,500 in the Nablus Governorate in the northern West Bank, located southeast of Nablus.
According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), Qaryut had ...
to the east,
Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya
Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya ( ar, اللبّن الشرقية) is a Palestinian village in the northern West Bank, located 20 kilometers south of Nablus, in the Nablus Governorate of the State of Palestine. The town has a total land area of 12,075 d ...
to the south,
Iskaka
Iskaka ( ar, إسكاكا) is a Palestinian town located in the Salfit Governorate of the State of Palestine, in the northern West Bank, 27 kilometers southwest of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, it had a populati ...
and Al Lubban ash Sharqiya to the west, and
Yatma
Yatma ( ar, يتما) is a Palestinian town in the Nablus Governorate in northern West Bank, located 15 kilometers south of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the town had a population of 2,981 inhabitants i ...
,
Qabalan
Qabalan ( ar, قبلان) is a Palestinian town in the Nablus Governorate in the eastern West Bank, located southeast of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the town had a population of 7,130 inhabitants in 2 ...
and
Yasuf
Yasuf ( ar, ياسوف) is a Palestinian village located in the Salfit Governorate of the State of Palestine, in the northern West Bank, northeast of Salfit, southwest of Nablus and adjacent to the Israeli settlement of Kfar Tapuach. According to ...
to the north.
History
At the village site,
sherds
This page is a glossary of archaeology, the study of the human past from material remains.
A
B
C
D
E
F
...
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
or the early
Hellenistic
In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...
period,
Crusader era
The Crusader States, also known as Outremer, were four Catholic realms in the Middle East that lasted from 1098 to 1291. These feudal polities were created by the Latin Catholic leaders of the First Crusade through conquest and political in ...
/
Ayyubid dynasty
The Ayyubid dynasty ( ar, الأيوبيون '; ) was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultan of Egypt, Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. A Sunni ...
,
Mamluk
Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...
and early Ottoman era have been found. In the 12th and 13th centuries, during the Crusader era, As-Sawiya was inhabited by
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
s, according to Ḍiyāʼ al-Dīn. He also noted that followers of
Ibn Qudamah
Ibn Qudāmah al-Maqdisī Muwaffaq al-Dīn Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh b. Aḥmad b. Muḥammad ( ar, ابن قدامة المقدسي موفق الدين ابو محمد عبد الله بن احمد بن محمد ; 1147 - 7 July 1223), often re ...
lived here.
Ottoman era
As-Sawiya was incorporated into the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
in 1517 with all of Palestine, and in 1596 it appeared in the tax registers as being in the ''
Nahiya
A nāḥiyah ( ar, , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level division w ...
Nablus
Nablus ( ; ar, نابلس, Nābulus ; he, שכם, Šəḵem, ISO 259-3: ; Samaritan Hebrew: , romanized: ; el, Νεάπολις, Νeápolis) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a populati ...
. It had a population of 40 households and 2 bachelors, all
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 33.3% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, occasional revenues, goats and beehives; a total of 8,610
akçe
The ''akçe'' or ''akça'' (also spelled ''akche'', ''akcheh''; ota, آقچه; ) refers to a silver coin which was the chief monetary unit of the Ottoman Empire. The word itself evolved from the word "silver or silver money", this word is deri ...
. All of the revenue went to a
Waqf
A waqf ( ar, وَقْف; ), also known as hubous () or '' mortmain'' property is an inalienable charitable endowment under Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot of land or other assets for Muslim religious or charitabl ...
.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 137.
In 1838
Robinson Robinson may refer to:
People and names
* Robinson (name)
Fictional characters
* Robinson Crusoe, the main character, and title of a novel by Daniel Defoe, published in 1719
Geography
* Robinson projection, a map projection used since the 1960 ...
noted As-Sawiya being situated on a hill, located in the ''Jurat Merda'' district, south of Nablus.
In 1870
Victor Guérin
Victor Guérin (15 September 1821 – 21 Septembe 1890) was a French intellectual, explorer and amateur archaeologist. He published books describing the geography, archeology and history of the areas he explored, which included Greece, Asia Mino ...
found that it had three hundred inhabitants, and that the villagers had a
mosque
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...
.
In 1882, the PEF’s ''
Survey of Western Palestine
The PEF Survey of Palestine was a series of surveys carried out by the Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF) between 1872 and 1877 for the Survey of Western Palestine and in 1880 for the Survey of Eastern Palestine. The survey was carried out after the ...
'' described Sawiya as "a little village on a hill overhanging the road."Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p 287 /ref>
British Mandate era
In the
1922 census of Palestine
The 1922 census of Palestine was the first census carried out by the authorities of the British Mandate of Palestine, on 23 October 1922.
The reported population was 757,182, including the military and persons of foreign nationality. The divisi ...
conducted by the British Mandate authorities, As-Sawiya (called: Sawiyeh) had a population of 476, all Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table IX, Sub-district of Nablus, p 25 /ref> while in the 1931 census it had 128 occupied houses and a population of 596, again all Muslim.
In the 1945 statistics Es Sawiya had a population of 820, all Muslims,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p 19 /ref> with 10,787
dunam
A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; tr, dönüm; he, דונם), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area equivalent to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amount ...
s of land, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 4,394 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 3,412 used for cereals, while 40 dunams were built-up (urban) land.
Jordanian era
In the wake of the
1948 Arab–Israeli War
The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...
, and after the
1949 Armistice Agreements
The 1949 Armistice Agreements were signed between Israel and Egypt,Jordanian rule.
The Jordanian census of 1961 found 1,151 inhabitants.
post-1967
Since the
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...
in 1967, As-Sawiya has been under
Israeli occupation
Israeli-occupied territories are the lands that were captured and occupied by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967. While the term is currently applied to the Palestinian territories and the Golan Heights, it has also been used to refer to a ...
.
After the 1995 accords, approximately 14% of villageland was classified as
Area B
The Palestinian enclaves are areas in the West Bank designated for Palestinians under a variety of U.S. and Israeli-led proposals to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The enclaves are often compared to the nominally self-governing black ...
, the remaining 86% as Area C. Israel has confiscated 1,551 dunums of village land for the
Israeli settlement
Israeli settlements, or Israeli colonies, are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, overwhelmingly of Jewish ethnicity, built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community considers Israeli se ...
of Alie, and 376 dunams for Rechalim.
As-Sawiya is entirely dependent on its agricultural land. Prior to the
Second Intifada
The Second Intifada ( ar, الانتفاضة الثانية, ; he, האינתיפאדה השנייה, ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada ( ar, انتفاضة الأقصى, label=none, '), was a major Palestinian uprising against Israel. ...
, about 250 of the village's residents worked in Israel, but in 2004 only three continued working there.
The primary crops grown in as-Sawiya are wheat, olives, grapes, figs, and beans. The land is also used for grazing livestock. Some residents produce yoghurt from their cows and sell it. Local residents sell olive oil to nearby villages such as Lubban as well. Stone-cutting is the most important industry in the town after agriculture.As Sawiya Village Profile International Women's Peace Service. October 2004.
According to locals, village life has been "deeply affected" by harassment from Jewish settlers. "People cannot go and harvest their land. The settlers take our olives, they throw rocks at people."
Khan as-Sawiya (Khirbet Berkit)
Just north-east of the village researchers described the ruins of a '' khan'' (caravanserai), at a site known as Khan as-Sawieh or Khirbet Berkit.
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
pottery, old tombs and
cistern
A cistern (Middle English ', from Latin ', from ', "box", from Greek ', "basket") is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by t ...
s have been found in the Khan as-Sawieh area.
Denys Pringle
Reginald Denys Pringle (born 20 September 1951) is a British archaeologist and medievalist. He is best known for his numerous publications regarding Crusader castles and Crusader-era churches in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the 12th-13th century Crusa ...
lists the khan among the Crusader remains in Palestine. In 1838
Robinson Robinson may refer to:
People and names
* Robinson (name)
Fictional characters
* Robinson Crusoe, the main character, and title of a novel by Daniel Defoe, published in 1719
Geography
* Robinson projection, a map projection used since the 1960 ...
found the khan in ruins,Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 2, p 91 /ref> and so did de Saulcy in 1850. In the 1882 the PEF's ''
Survey of Western Palestine
The PEF Survey of Palestine was a series of surveys carried out by the Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF) between 1872 and 1877 for the Survey of Western Palestine and in 1880 for the Survey of Eastern Palestine. The survey was carried out after the ...
'' (SWP) described it as "a small square building, also a ruined Khan; the walls are standing to some height, and drafted stones are used at the corners. Rock-cut tombs exist just south, showing the place to be an ancient site. The name of the site is Khurbet Berkit."Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p 324 /ref>
Khirbet Berkit has been described by
Charles William Wilson
Lieutenant-General Sir Charles William Wilson, KCB, KCMG, FRS (14 March 1836 – 25 October 1905) was a British Army officer, geographer and archaeologist.
Early life and career
He was born in Liverpool on 14 March 1836. He was educated at ...
(1836–1905) as likely being identical with first-century CE Borceos, and a nearby ruin called ’Aina with Anuath; Anuath and Borceos are the border town or towns mentioned by
Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for ''The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly d ...
as standing at the border between
Samaria
Samaria (; he, שֹׁמְרוֹן, translit=Šōmrōn, ar, السامرة, translit=as-Sāmirah) is the historic and biblical name used for the central region of Palestine, bordered by Judea to the south and Galilee to the north. The first- ...
and
Judea
Judea or Judaea ( or ; from he, יהודה, Hebrew language#Modern Hebrew, Standard ''Yəhūda'', Tiberian vocalization, Tiberian ''Yehūḏā''; el, Ἰουδαία, ; la, Iūdaea) is an ancient, historic, Biblical Hebrew, contemporaneous L ...
.Wilson, c. 1881, vol 1, p 232 accessed 31 May 2018
Near the spring by the khan, Wilson describes a large oak-tree, ''ballut'' in Arabic, of a size very seldom found in what he terms as Southern Palestine.
Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem
The Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem (ARIJ; ar, معهد الابحاث التطبيقية - القدس) is a Palestinian NGO founded in 1990 with its main office in Bethlehem in the West Bank. ARIJ is actively working on research project ...
Haaretz
''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...