Aqraba | |
|---|---|
| Arabic transcription(s) | |
| • Arabic | عقربا |
| • Latin | 'Aqraba (official) Akraba (unofficial) |
 Aqraba | |
  Aqraba Location of Aqraba withinPalestine | |
| Coordinates:32°07′35″N35°20′37″E / 32.12639°N 35.34361°E /32.12639; 35.34361 | |
| Palestine grid | 182/170 |
| State | State of Palestine |
| Governorate | Nablus |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipality |
| • Head of Municipality | Jawdat 'Abd al-Hadi |
| Area | |
• Total | 34,659 dunams (34.7 km2 or 13.4 sq mi) |
| Population (2017)[1] | |
• Total | 10,024 |
| • Density | 290/km2 (750/sq mi) |
| Name meaning | Scorpion[2] |
Aqraba (Arabic:عقربا) is aPalestinian town in theNablus Governorate, located eighteen kilometers southeast ofNablus in the northernWest Bank. According to thePalestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), Aqraba had a population of 10,024 inhabitants in 2017.[1]
According toApplied Research Institute–Jerusalem since 1967,Israel has confiscated 1,425dunums of Aqraba andYanun's land for use forsettlements, Israeli Military bases and for theWall Zone.[3] According to Kerem Navot, 3,265 dunams of mostly cultivated land were seized per military order T12/72 and transferred to the settlement ofGittit.[4]Nearby hamlets surround the village and are considered to be natural extensions of Aqraba; they are thekhirbets of al-Arama, al-Kroom, Abu ar-Reisa, ar-Rujman, Firas ad-Din and Tell al-Khashaba. The total population of these hamlets was estimated to be 500 in 2008. The prominent families of Aqraba are Al Dayriyeh, Bani Jaber, Al-Mayadima, Bani Jame', and Bani Fadel.[5]
The origin of the name is Semitic - Canaanite or Aramaic. InArabic 'aqraba' means "scorpion".[2][6]
Potterysherds fromIron Age II,Hellenistic,Roman,Byzantine,Umayyad andCrusader/Ayyubid period,[7] as well as rock-hewncisterns have been found in Aqraba.[8] In 1874 surveyors found near the village rock-cutkokhim tombs.[9]
During theSecond Temple period it was an important town (seeMishna, Ma'aser Sheni 5:2), named byJosephus (37–c. 100) as Akrabbatá, the capital of a district called Akrabbatène (Wars 3:3, 5).[10]Eusebius calls the town 'Akrabbeim and the district Akrabbatinés.[10]
Ancient texts referencing Aqraba or the toparchy named after it include1 Maccabees,Book of Jubilees (Ethiopian version),Pliny,Josephus, discoveries fromWadi Murabba'at,Mishnah,Epiphanus' Weights and Measures (Syriac version), theTolidah, and KafPer.[11]
Aqraba was inhabited by Christians during theByzantine period. ASyriac document notes that the village contained two Byzantine-era monasteries named for saints Titus and Stephan.[12] According to local tradition and British scholars, the mosque was built over aByzantine-era church.[6][dubious –discuss]
The inhabitants of Aqraba became Muslim during the early Muslim period (630s–1099).[12] Shihab al-Din Ahmad al-Aqrabani, a follower of the noted Muslim juristal-Shafi'i, lived and was buried there in 180AH/796–797 CE.[13] The 14th-century historianIbn Hajar al-Asqalani mentions an 8th-century member of theLakhm tribe from Aqraba as among the transmitters of ahadith (Islamic tradition).[11]
Several medieval buildings and other remains described in the 1930s and 1940s were still visible in the 1990s. These include a fortifiedcourtyard building northwest of the mosque known as al-Hisn ("the castle") dominating the village from its highest point, an open cistern or pool (Arabic:birka) in the centre of the village,[13][14][10] and a domed building said to be Mamluk, probably a mosque, used as the village school[10][13] The mosque'smihrab was flanked by marble columns topped by capitals, both from theCrusader period.[14]
The villagemosque is built on the remains of a church, and in theSurvey of Western Palestine theGreek inscriptions found there on a lintel decorated by a cross, are described as similar to Crusader-period ones.[9]
Pottery sherds from theMamluk era[7] and a construction inscription in Arabic from 1414 have been found in the village.[7][10][12]
Aqraba, like the rest ofPalestine, was incorporated into theOttoman Empire in 1517, and in thecensus of 1596 the village was recorded in theNahiya (Subdistrict) of Jabal Qubal, part ofSanjak Nablus, with a population of 102 households, all Muslim. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 33.3% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, goats and bee-hives; vineyards and fruit trees, in addition to occasional revenues, and a press for olive oil or grape syrup; a total of 3,960akçe.[15]
During his travels in the region in 1838Edward Robinson mentions it, believing it was ancientAcrabi.[16] The French travelerVictor Guérin visited in 1870, and described it as a large town with 2,000 inhabitants. He further noted that it consisted of four quarters, each headed by asheikh.[17] In 1873-4Clermont-Ganneau visited, and was told of the governorel Kadery, who resided in Aqraba at the time ofJezzar Pasha. He is said to have erected considerable buildings in the town.[18]
In 1882, thePEF'sSurvey of Western Palestine described it as "A large village, surrounded with olives, of houses better built than most in the country. It stands on a saddle between two hills, one of which rises north of it 700 feet, the village standing at the mouth of a pass, through which the main road runs. The place crescent-shaped, whence perhaps its name, 'carved.' To the south is the fertile plain (Jehir 'Akrabeh). There is a mosque in the east part of the village, founded on the remains of a Christian church, and a second sacred place (er Rafai) on the south." The estimated population was 600 to 800 souls.[19]
In the1922 census of Palestine conducted by theBritish Mandate authorities, Aqraba had a population of 1,160; 1,158Muslims[20] and 2 Orthodox Christians,[21] increasing in the1931 census, where Aqraba (together with the smaller locationKh. Fasayil) had a population of 1,478, all Muslims, in a total of 309 houses.[22]
In the1945 statistics Aqraba (includingKh. Fasayil) had a population of 2,060, all Muslims,[23] with 142,530dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.[24] Of this, 3,383 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 19,732 used for cereals,[25] while 55 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[26]
In the wake of the1948 Arab–Israeli War, following the1949 Armistice Agreements, Aqraba wasruled by Jordan.In 1961, the population of Aqraba was 2,875.[27]
Since theSix-Day War in 1967, Aqraba has been underIsraeli occupation.
According toApplied Research Institute–Jerusalem Israel has confiscated 1,085 dunums of land from Aqraba/Yanun forGitit andItamar (where the land for Gitit was taken from Aqraba, while the land for Itamar was taken from Yanun.)[28] A later estimate states that the total extent of Aqraba lands amounted to 36,000 acres (145,000 dunams ), of which 83% were confiscated, leaving the 4,000 residents with 6,000 acres (25,000 dunams ).[29] The acquisition of land from Aqraba for the establishment of Gitit involved aerial spraying with poison.[30]
Some farmland nearYanun owned by 300 Aqraba villagers was classified as anIDF firing range in 1967, but exercises were customarily suspended for brief periods in the past to allow the villagers access to their lands, according to local Palestinians. Since then they claim, the area has not been used in as a firing range for two decades. Recently these villagers, who either farm or live there have been denied access. They claim that this restriction does not apply equally to anoutpost,Givat 777, of theIsraeli settlement ofItamar. They complain of settler harassment, the burning of vehicles, and of settler sheep flocks being led to graze on their wheat fields. The IDF has replied that both Palestinians and Israeli settlers are treated in the same way.[31]
In August 2014, the IDF brought in bulldozers to demolish 4 Palestinian homes on the outskirts of the town, in the al-Taweel neighbourhood, claiming that they were built without a permit. However, the villagers claimed that the houses had been there for a century.[32]
In October 2014, a village mosque was set alight in a suspected arson attack by Israeli settlers as part of theprice tag attack.[33] A similar arson attack took place in April 2018, with settlers also spraying graffiti on the mosque walls.[34][35]
The village's total land area is 34,700dunams, of which 1,783 is built-up area. Around 62% of the remaining land is covered with olive and almond groves, 8% with other fruits and vegetables and the remaining 30% for grazing purposes.[36]Sources of employment include public sector jobs, agriculture and industry.[36]
31% of Aqraba andYanun land are located inArea B, giving thePalestinian National Authority control over its administration and civil affairs. The rest, 69%, is inArea C.[37]
The town is governed by amunicipal council, consisting of eleven members including the mayor. In the 2005Palestinian municipal elections, theFatah-backed Future Palestine list won the majority of the seats (six) while theHamas-backed al-Islamiya list won five seats. Jawdat 'Abd al-Hadi was elected mayor.[38]
Fortifiedcourtyard building (al-Hisn) at highest point of the village, NW ofmosque, consisting of rectangular courtyard between two parallel rows of vaults, entered on E through arched gate flanked by projecting towers. Mosque contains Crusader capitals on fluted marble columns, flanking themihrab (1947). / PAM: Reports by Anon (15 Feb.1937) and S.A.S. Husseini (114 June 1947). Conder and Kitchhner 1881: II, 386, 389: Palestine 1929; 148: 116.
{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)The medieval buildings in 'Aqraba noted in the 1930s and 1940s included a fortified courtyard building (al-Hisn), abirka and a building with a dome and drum carried on pendentives (cf. Pringle 1997: 20. no. 18)
{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)
