ar-Rihiya

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ar-Rihiya
Municipality type D (Village council)
Arabic transcription(s)
 • Arabicريحيا
ar-Rihiya is located in State of Palestine
ar-Rihiya
ar-Rihiya
Location of ar-Rihiya within Palestine
Coordinates: 31°28′13″N 35°04′30″E / 31.47028°N 35.07500°E / 31.47028; 35.07500Coordinates: 31°28′13″N 35°04′30″E / 31.47028°N 35.07500°E / 31.47028; 35.07500
Palestine grid157/097
StateState of Palestine
GovernorateHebron
Government
 • TypeVillage council
Population
 (2007)
 • Total3,949
Name meaningPossibly "The coiled-up snake"[1]

Ar-Rihiya (Arabic: ريحيا‎) is a Palestinian town located six kilometers southwest of Hebron. The town is in the Hebron Governorate southern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of over 3,949 in 2007.[2]

History[]

Ceramics from the Byzantine era have been found here.[3]

Ottoman era[]

French explorer Victor Guérin visited the place in 1863, which he called Khirbet el-Harayeh. Local fellahins inhabited ancient underground storage areas.[4]

In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described the place as being a "large ruin with caves and cisterns, appears to be an ancient site".[5]

British Mandate era[]

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, 'Al Rihiyeh had a population 231 inhabitants, all Muslims.[6] This had increased slightly at the time of the 1931 census to 243 Muslims, in 38 inhabited houses.[7]

In the 1945 statistics the population of Ar-Rihiya was 330 Muslims,[8] who owned 2,659 dunams of land according to an official land and population survey.[9] 136 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 1,093 for cereals,[10] while 25 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[11]

Jordanian era[]

In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Ar-Rihiya came under Jordanian rule. It was annexed by Jordan in 1950.

In 1961, the population of Rihiya was 555.[12]

Post-1967[]

Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Ar-Rihiya has been under Israeli occupation.

Footnotes[]

  1. ^ According to Palmer, 1881, p. 405, the name might also come from "A millstone", or "A plot of ground, about a mile square, above the water level".
  2. ^ 2007 PCBS Census Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. p.119.
  3. ^ Dauphin, 1998, p. 963
  4. ^ Guérin, 1869, pp. 211 -212
  5. ^ Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 377
  6. ^ Barron, 1923, Table V, Sub-district of Hebron, p. 10
  7. ^ Mills, 1932, p. 33
  8. ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 23
  9. ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 50 Archived 2009-07-20 at WebCite
  10. ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 94
  11. ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 144
  12. ^ Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 22

Bibliography[]

External links[]

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