'Arura

‘Arura () is a Palestinian town located in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate in the northern West Bank, north of Ramallah. Most of the village is situated 500 meters above sea level.

History

Pottery sherds from the IA I, IA II, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Crusader/Ayyubid eras have been found here.Finkelstein, 1997, p. 466

Near, and within the village are three shrines dedicated to Sheikh Radwan, Sheikh Ahmad, and al-Khidr. Al-Khidr's shrine, in the center of the village, has no relation to al-Khidr, and his simply dedicated to a holy man with the same name. Al-Khidr or Saint George is revered throughout Palestine in several towns and villages. Sheikh Ahmad's shrine is to the west of 'Arura.Sharon, 1997, pp
121

123
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The Shrine of Sheikh Radwan bin 'Ulayl al-Arsufi, built during the Ayyubid rule of interior Palestine, is located to the southwest of the village situated on a hill roughly above sea level. Not much is known about Radwan, except that his family was from Arsuf and he was an important man in the area that died in Egypt and was transferred to 'Arura for his burial. Muslim scholars suggested that Sheikh Radwan was from the 'Ulayl family. An Arabic inscription written in typical rural Ayyubid style, on the shrine's surface reads that he was transferred to "blessed Syria" (in early Islamic times, Palestine was a province of Syria). A mosque was constructed adjacent to the shrine.

Pottery sherds from the Mamluk era have also been found here.

Ottoman era

In 1596 'Arura appeared in the Ottoman tax registers as being in the ''Nahiya'' of Quds of the '' Liwa'' of Quds. It had a population of 62 households, all Muslim, who paid a fixed tax rate of 33,3% on agricultural products, including on wheat, barley, olive trees, vineyards and fruit trees, goats and/or beehives; a total of 12,000 akçe. 1/6 of the revenue went to a Waqf.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 112

In the 17th century, the village received an influx of refugees from Beit Qufa near Lydda, who had to abandon their home due to unsettled conditions.

In 1838 Arurah'' was noted as a Muslim village, part of the ''Beni Zeid'' area, located north of Jerusalem.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p
125
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Victor Guérin visited the village in the late 19th century, and found it to have about 350-400 inhabitants. He also observed fragments of columns and other indications of an ancient town. There were also threshing-floors which appeared ancient.

Socin found from an official Ottoman village list from about 1870 that Arura had a total of 91 houses and a population of 300, though the population count included men, only.

In 1882, the PEF's ''Survey of Western Palestine'' described the village, called ''Arara'', as being a small, on high ground, and remarkable for having five sacred places on the west side of the village.

In 1896 the different parts of Arura was estimated to have about 237, 99 and 204 inhabitants; in all a population of 540 persons.Schick, 1896, p.
124
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British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, 'Arura had a population of 426 Muslim, increasing in the 1931 census to 566 Muslim, in 131 houses.Mills, 1932, p. 47.

The 1945 statistics found 660 Muslim inhabitants,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p
26
/ref> with a total land area of 10,978 dunams.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p
64
/ref> Of this, 7,095 were used for plantations and irrigable land, 787 for cereals, while 26 dunams were classified as built-up areas.

Jordanian era

In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements

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