Arraba, Jenin

Arraba (Arabic: عرّابة‎ ALA-LC ʻArrābah), also Arrabah, Arrabeh or Arrabet Jenin, a Palestinian town in the northern West Bank located 13 kilometers southwest of Jenin. It has an elevation of 350 meters above sea level and lies near Sahl Arraba, a plain that lies between Mount Carmel and Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) census, Arraba had a population 9,920 in 2007.

History

The lands of Arraba include Khirbet al-Hamam and Tel el-Muhafer, either of which believed to be the site of the Canaanite town Arubboth from the Books of Kings (Rubutu in the Egyptian documents) and the city Narbata of the Roman period.Tell Dothan is located just north-east of Arraba.

Ottoman era

Arraba, like the rest of Palestine, was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517, and in the census of 1596, the village was located in the nahiya of Jabal Sami in the liwa of Nablus. It had a population of 81 households and 31 bachelors, all Muslim. Taxes were paid on wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, occasional revenues, goats and beehives, and a press for olives or grapes.

Jenin

Jenin (/dʒəˈniːn/; Arabic:  جنين ‎ Ǧinīn) is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank. It serves as the administrative center of the Jenin Governorate and is a major center for the surrounding towns. In 2007 the city had a population of 39,004. Jenin is under the administration of the Palestinian Authority.

Etymology

Jenin was known in ancient times as the village of "Ein-Jenin" or "Tel Jenin". Tell Jenin, is located at the center of what is today Jenin's business district. The word "'ayn" means "water spring" in Arabic and Hebrew, and the word "Jenin" might be related to the Hebrew word "גַּן" ("gan") and the Arabic word جنّة (janna), both of which mean "garden". The Arabicized name "Jenin" ultimately derives from this ancient name. The association of Jenin with the biblical city of Ein-Ganim was recognized by Ishtori Haparchi.

History

Jenin has been identified as the place Gina mentioned in the Amarna letters from the 14th century BCE.

Four terracotta lamps of Phoenician origin dated to the 8th century BCE were discovered in Ain Jenin by archaeologist G. I. Harding, and are interpreted as attesting to some form of contact and exchange between the residents of Jenin at that time and those of Phoenicia. During the Roman era, Jenin was called "Ginae," and was settled exclusively by Samaritans (Heb. כותים). The people of Galilee were disposed to pass through their city during the annual pilgrimages to Jerusalem.

Jenin (disambiguation)

Jenin could refer to the following places: