Khan Dannun ( ar, خان دنون, also spelled Khan Danun, Khan Dunnun or Khan Dhul-Nun) is a town in southern

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

, administratively part of the Markaz Rif Dimashq District of the

Rif Dimashq Governorate Rif Dimashq Governorate ( ar, محافظة ريف دمشق, ', literally, the "Governorate of the Countryside of Damascus", Damascus Suburb) is one of the fourteen governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in the southwestern part of the ...

. Located south of

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

, nearby localities include

al-Taybah Al-Tayba ( ar, الطيبة, also spelled Tayyiba or Tayibah) is a village in eastern Syria, administratively part of the Homs Governorate. It is located in the Syrian Desert, near the Euphrates River to the east and al-Sukhnah and the village of ...

to the west, Muqaylibah to the northwest,

al-Kiswah Al-Kiswah ( ar, الكسوة ' also spelled Kissoué/Kiswe) is a city in the Rif Dimashq Governorate, Syria. It is located approximately south of Damascus. It was the location of the 1303 Battle of Marj al-Saffar, and the childhood home of Adn ...

5 kilometers to the north and Khiyarat Dannun to the east. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Khan Dannun had a population of 8,727 in the 2004 census.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Rif Dimashq Governorate. Khan Dannun also contains a refugee camp with the same name and is one of ten

Palestinian refugee camp Camps are set up by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to accommodate Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA, who fled or were expelled during the 1948 Palestinian e ...

s in Syria recognized by

UNRWA The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is a UN agency that supports the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees. UNRWA's mandate encompasses Palestinians displaced by the 1948 P ...

. According to UNRWA statistics the camp had a population of 7,841 in 1998. According to UNRWA the population of the camp in June 2008 was 9,479 persons and 2,192 families.

History

Khan Dannun was originally a large ''khan'' ("

caravansary A caravanserai (or caravansary; ) was a roadside Pub#Inns, inn where travelers (caravan (travellers), caravaners) could rest and recover from the day's journey. Caravanserais supported the flow of commerce, information and people across the ne ...

") completed in 1376 by the

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'') ...

governor of

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

, Manjak al-Yusufi,Meinecke, 1996, p
46
/ref> during the reign of the Bahri Mamluk sultan al-Ashraf Sha'ban. The ''khan'' was designed by Ali ibn al-Badri, known as ''muhandis ash-Sham'' ("engineer of Damascus.") The name "Dan nun" is the

colloquial Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom normally employed in conve ...

version of " Dhul-Nun," a highly venerated 9th-century

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 ...

figure. He is considered to be the early patriarch of the

Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...

s.Newbold, 1846, p
334
/ref> Khan Dannun became a stopping point on the ''

hajj The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried o ...

'' ("pilgrimage to

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow v ...

") caravan route after al-Kiswah, and before Ghabaghib. The ''khan'', with exception of its vaults, was built in the traditional basalt masonry typically found in the old structures in

Hauran The Hauran ( ar, حَوْرَان, ''Ḥawrān''; also spelled ''Hawran'' or ''Houran'') is a region that spans parts of southern Syria and northern Jordan. It is bound in the north by the Ghouta oasis, eastwards by the al-Safa field, to the s ...

. It consisted of an open, square-shaped courtyard, the center of which had been occupied by livestock. Surrounding the courtyard were

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

s built atop lodging apartments which served as accommodation for visitors.Burckhardt, 1822, p
54
/ref> The courtyard was flanked by circular basalt towers. Inside the khan was a small prayer room with ''

mihrab Mihrab ( ar, محراب, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "qibla ...

'' niche which indicated the direction of

. A marsh was formed in front of the ''khan's'' gate as a result of an eastern-flowing rivulet. When traveler

John Lewis Burckhardt Johann Ludwig (also known as John Lewis, Jean Louis) Burckhardt (24 November 1784 – 15 October 1817) was a Swiss traveller, geographer and Orientalist. Burckhardt assumed the alias ''Sheikh Ibrahim Ibn Abdallah'' during his travels in Arabia ...

visited the site in the early 19th-century, the ''khan'' was in ruins. Khan Dannun was one of the stops on the

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

line of the Hejaz Railway. In 1949, following the

1948 Arab-Israeli War Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form Britis ...

, a

called Khan Dannun was set up in the town.Khan Danoun Refugee Camp

Jerusalem Media and Communications Center The Jerusalem Media & Communication Centre (JMCC) is a Palestinian non-governmental organization based in East Jerusalem, which provides information about events in Gaza and the West Bank including East Jerusalem to journalists, researchers and i ...

(JMCC). 2007-01-01. In 2009 a new sewage project for Khan Dannun, funded by the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

, was finished.UNRWA Commissioner-General Visits Syria

. 2009-04-23.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * *

External links

Google-maps
{{Palestinian refugee camps Populated places in Markaz Rif Dimashq District Palestinian refugee camps in Syria