Fahma () is a Palestinian town in the Jenin Governorate of the State of Palestine in the western area of the West Bank, located 15 kilometers southwest of Jenin. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 2,439 inhabitants in mid-year 2006 and 3,193 by 2017. Projected Mid -Year Population for Jenin Governorate by Locality 2004- 2006 Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
History Pottery sherds from early and late Roman, Byzantine, and early Islamic periods have been found here.Zertal, 2016, p. 410
In 1941, a carved stone with a relief of a Torah ark was discovered near the village's mosque, which previously was a Crusader church. This finding led scholars to believe that Fahma was a Samaritan settlement during Late Antiquity, and that the church and mosque stand on the site of an earlier Samaritan synagogue.
Just north of the former church lays a half-destroyed vaulted building, which has an opening with a lintel on the south side, it is possible the basement of a hall house, dating to the Crusader era.Pringle, 1997, p. 48
In 1179 the village was mentioned together with Ajjah (named Casale Age) in Crusader sources as being among the villages whose revenue were given to the Zion Abbey by Pope Alexander III.Zertal, 2004, p. 254Rey, 1883, pp. 282, 426; Röhricht, 1887, p. 223; Röhricht, 1893, RRH, pp. 153-154, No. 576; all cited in Pringle, 1993, p. 207
In the Mamluk era, it was a station on the road between Damascus and Cairo, used for the express bringing of snow. It also had beacons for conveying messages.Volney, cited in Zertal, 2016, p. 409
Ottoman era Fahma, like the rest of Palestine, was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517, and in the census of 1596 it was a part of the nahiya ("subdistrict") of Jabal Sami which was under the administration of the liwa ("district") of Nablus. The village had a population of 21 households and 2 bachelors, all Muslim. The villagers paid a fixed tax-rate of 33,3% on agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, beehives and/or goats, in addition to occasional revenues, a poll tax, and a press for olive oil or grape syrup; a total of 6,000 akçe.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 130 Pottery sherd from the early Ottoman era have also been found here.
In 1694, Abd el-Ghani, a Muslim traveler, passed by Famah on his pilgrimage.Cited in Zertal, 2016, p. 409
In 1838, Fahmeh was noted as being in the District of esh-Sha'rawiyeh esh-Shurkiyeh, the eastern part.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd app, p. 129Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, p. 150
In 1870/1871 (1288 AH), an Ottoman census listed the village in the nahiya (sub-district) of al-Sha'rawiyya al-Sharqiyya.
In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described Fahmeh as a small adobe hamlet; "on a saddle beneath the hill (Batnen Nury). It has a well and a fig garden towards the north."Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 154
British Mandate era In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Fahmeh had a population of 187; all Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table IX, Sub-district of Jenin, p. 29 increasing in the 1931 census to 238; still all Muslims, in a total of 38 houses.Mills, 1932, p. 68
In the 1945 statistics Fahma had a population of 350 Muslims,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 16 and the jurisdiction of the village was 4,498 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 54 Of this, 210 dunams were used for plantations and irrigable land, 2,173 dunams for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 98 while 14 dunams were built-up (urban) land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 148
Jordanian era In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Fahma came under Jordanian rule.
The Jordanian census of 1961 found 541 inhabitants in Fahma.Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 25
Post 1967 Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Fahma has been under Israeli occupation.
The village mosque is a former church, and it includes some elements (a stone door), possibly from a 3rd or 4th century Samaritan synagogue.Pringle, 1993, pp. 205- 206
Demography
Origin Some residents of Fahma have their origins in Yatta and as-Samu', both located in the south Hebron Mountain.Grossman, D. (1986). "Oscillations in the Rural Settlement of Samaria and Judaea in the Ottoman Period". in Shomron studies. Dar, S., Safrai, S., (eds). Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad Publishing House. p. 350
References
Bibliography
External links
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