Ein Siniya | |
|---|---|
| Arabic transcription(s) | |
| • Arabic | عين سينيا |
| • Latin | 'Ayn Sinya (official) Ayn Siniya (unofficial) |
 Ein Siniya from the south | |
  Ein Siniya Location of Ein Siniya withinPalestine | |
| Coordinates:31°58′21″N35°13′47″E / 31.97250°N 35.22972°E /31.97250; 35.22972 | |
| Palestine grid | 171/153 |
| State | State of Palestine |
| Governorate | Ramallah and al-Bireh |
| Government | |
| • Type | Local Development Committee |
| Area (1945) | |
• Total | 2,404 dunams (2.4 km2 or 0.9 sq mi) |
| Population (2017)[1] | |
• Total | 925 |
| • Density | 390/km2 (1,000/sq mi) |
| Name meaning | "The spring of Sinya"[2] |
Ein Siniya (Arabic:عين سينيا,‘Ayn Sîniyâ) is a smallPalestinian village in theRamallah and al-Bireh Governorate, 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) north ofRamallah,[3] and approximately 1km northeast fromJifna.[4] It lies in a valley surrounded with olive and fig-terraces.[5]
'Ein Siniya is located (horizontally) 8km east ofRamallah. It is bordered byYabrud andEin Yabrud to the east,'Atara andSilwad to the north,Jifna andBirzeit to the west, and Jifna andDura al-Qar' to the south.[6]
Numerous rock-cut tombs have been found around the village.[7]
Clermont-Ganneau identified Ein Siniya with BiblicalJeshanah andIsana ofJosephus, but modern authors place that atKh. el-Burn.[8] In 1872, arock-cut tomb with aHebrew inscription was found in the village,[9] and Clermont-Ganneau later deciphered its beginning as "Hananiah, son of Eleazar, son of...".[10]
Ein Siniya has usually been identified as theCrusader villageAineseins, which was one of 21 villages given by KingGodfrey as afief to thecanons of theHoly Sepulchre.[11][12][13][14] However, C. N. Johns, writing in 1939, thought thatAineseins was located by TelBeit Shemesh.[15]
Claude Reignier Conder andHerbert Kitchener wrote in 1882 that a smallCrusader fort appeared to have been situated there,[5] however, this has not been verified by later sources.[15] Additionally, Conder and Kitchener mention the tomb with a Hebrew inscription that was discovered at the location, as well as a gateway adorned door that they thought was ofArab Christian origin.[5][16]
DuringPalestine's rule by theOttoman Empire (16th-19th centuries), Ein Siniya was located in the sheikhdom ofBani Zeid, in theJerusalem Sanjak. In 1556, it was the smallest village in the sheikhdom, having under ten households.[17]Potsherds from the early Ottoman period have been found.[18] In the Ottomancensus of 1596, Ein Siniya was a part of thenahiya ("subdistrict") of Jerusalem, which was under the administration of the JerusalemSanjak. The village had a population of 12 households, allMuslim, and paid taxes on wheat, barley, olives, vineyards, fruit trees, occasional revenues, beehives and/or goats; a total of 4,300akçe.[19]
Prior to the1834 peasants' revolt, Ein Siniya belonged to the Bani Murrah tribe. After the revolt, the sheikhs were appointed byIbrahim Pasha.[20] In 1838, Biblical scholarEdward Robinson found the village to be surrounded with vineyards and fruit-trees. There were also gardens of vegetables, watered from awell.[21] It was further noted as Muslim village, located in theBeni Murrah district, north of Jerusalem.[22]
In 1870, the French explorerVictor Guérin visited the village, which he found to have two hundred inhabitants.[23]Socin found from an official Ottoman village list from about the same year (1870) that Ein Siniya had 57 houses and a population of 218, though the population count included men only.[24][25]
In 1882, thePEF'sSurvey of Western Palestine described Ain Sinia as a small village, but of "undoubted antiquity."[5] Early in the 20th century, Ain Sinya was "practically" the property of a wealthy Arab native ofJerusalem who influenced authorities to build a carriage road next to Ein Siniya to benefit the village.[4] In 1907 the population was Muslim.[4] At the same time it was noted that Ein Siniya, unlike other Arab villages in the area, grew mulberry and walnut trees in abundance instead of olive or fig groves.[4]
In 1896 the population of 'Ain Sinja was estimated to be about 237 persons.[26]
Moshe Sharett, laterPrime Minister of Israel, lived in Ein Siniya for two years, in 1906-1908,[27] after the family'simmigration from Ukraine.[28] During this period, Sharett's father and two uncles ran a farmstead which included an olive-oil press and a flour mill.[29]
In the1922 census of Palestine, conducted by theBritish Mandate authorities, the population numbered 114, Muslims,[30] increasing in the1931 census to 288, in 59 inhabited houses. 15 villagers were Christian, the rest Muslim.[31]
In1945 statistics Ein Siniya had a population of 330 inhabitants; 310 Muslims and 20 Christians,[32] and a total land area of 2,724dunams, most of which wasArab-owned. Its built-up area consisted of 21 dunams,[33] while 2,404 dunams were cultivated.[34] 1,856 dunams were allocated for plantations and irrigable land, and 548 for cereals.[35]
In the wake of the1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the1949 Armistice Agreements, Ein Siniya came underJordanian rule.
The Jordanian census of 1961 found 431 inhabitants.[36]
Since theSix-Day War in 1967, Ein Siniya has been underIsraeli occupation.
After the1995 accords, 2,578 dunum of village land is defined asArea B land, while the remaining 618 dunum is defined asArea C.[37]
Much of the population fled during the war and only by 1982 did the population reach roughly what it was in 1945, 333. It grew to 482 in 1987,[3] and then 533 in the census carried out by thePalestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) a decade later. The main cause of the growth of Ein Siniya, which was nearly empty after the 1967 war, was an influx ofPalestinian refugees, who by 1997 constituted over half of the population (52.3%).[38] According to the PCBS, Ein Siniya had a population of 702 in 2004, rising to 753 in mid-year 2006.[39] In the 2007 PCBS census, there were 711 people living in the town.[40] By 2017, the population was 925.[1]
'Ein Siniya residents are from several families, mainly the Samaha, Ghanimah, Abu Al-Sheikh, Samhan, Ma'alla, Khater, Abu al Hajj, Dar Ali, Bazrooq, Mousa and Al Hallaq families ('Ein Siniya Village Council, 2011).
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