| Bani Na'im | |
  Bani Na'im
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| Arabic | بني نعيم |
| Governorate | Hebron |
| Government | City |
| Also spelled | Kafr Barik (officially)
Bani Nu'aym (unofficially) |
| Coordinates | 31°30′57.39″N 35°09′50.35″E / 31.5159417°N 35.1639861°ECoordinates: 31°30′57.39″N 35°09′50.35″E / 31.5159417°N 35.1639861°E |
| Population | 20,084 (2007) |
| Head of Municipality | Issa Hassan al-Khdour |
Bani Na'im (Arabic: بني نعيم, Banî Na‘îm) is a Palestinian town in the southern West Bank located 8 kilometers (5 mi) east of Hebron in the Hebron Governorate. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Bani Na'im had a population of 20,084 inhabitants in 2007.[1] It has a higher elevation than most localities in the area with an altitude of 951 meters (3,120 ft).
The proportion of arable land is 11.3% of the total land area. Pastures take up 81% of the land while the built-up area makes up the remainder.[2]
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History
Bani Na'im was known as "Brekke" in pre-Ancient Roman times.[3] Biblical scholar Edward Robinson confirmed that the present-day Bani Na'im was the Caphor Barucha mentioned by Saint Jerome as the burial place of Lot in the 4th century CE. The modern town was built on the spot of this Roman village which was also known as Kfar Brosha. Jerome relates to Saint Paula, that, departing from Hebron, she stopped upon the height of Caphar Barucha and looked upon the surrounding region, remembering Lot. Abraham is said to have observed the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah from here.[4]
It became known after the Islamic conquest in the 7th century as "Kafr Breik" or "Kafr al-Barik".[3] Ali of Herat passed through the village in 1173 CE, noting that it was near Hebron and the burial place of Lot. 15th century Muslim geographer Imam al-Suyuti wrote that Lot was buried in Kafr al-Barik, and a cave west of the village, beneath an old mosque, laid "sixty prophets of whom twenty were Apostles". He noted that Lot's tomb was a site of "visitation and veneration from ancient times, the men of the age succeeding those who have gone before."[5]
The name "Bani Na'im" was first used to refer to the town by Nablus-born writer Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi in 1690. He wrote that the village had been known as Kafr al-Barik "...and now it is known as Qaryat Bani Nu'aym in a diminutive form." It receives its name from the Bedouin Arab tribe of Bani Na'im, also referred to as Bani Nu'aym, who settled there and in other areas in southern Palestine after migrating from the vicinity of Petra.[6] Robinson visited Bani Na'im, noting that it was probably the "very highest point in the hill country of Judah."[7] In the early 1860s, it was a small, nearly deserted village according to French traveler Van Guerin. Bani Na'im grew considerably in population during the early 20th century.[3]
In July 1938, Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni and local commander Abd al-Halim Jawlani led 1,000 of irregular Arab fighters against roughly 3,000 British soldiers—according to witnesses. They were defeated decisively by the latter force. In January 1939, the British Air Force bombarded the suburbs of the town. The residents of Bani Na'im housed Husayni's fighters and provided them with necessities. The battle reportedly lasted ten hours and dozens of Husayni's forces were killed.[8]
Geography
Bani Naim forms a generally rough rectangular layout, and widens in the northwest and southwest. It is 7 kilometers (4 mi) to 8 kilometers (5 mi) east of Hebron. To the south lies the town of Yatta, to the north is Sa'ir and ash-Shuyukh, to the south lies Hureiz, while Halhul and the forest of Hebron lie to the west. The village lands extend east to the mountains that overlook the Dead Sea.[2]
The percentage of Bani Na'im's agricultural lands reaches is 11.3% and increases as a result of land reclamation, while 81% of the land is used for grazing and lies mostly in the eastern areas. It is the area that is expected to be the natural protectorate according to Wye River Agreement between the Palestinian Authority and Israel. The economic capacity for the remaining 7.7% is limited and there is no irrigated land because water and artesian wells are not available.[2]
Tomb of Lot
Bani Na'im houses the tomb of the prophet Lot in the center of the town.[9] The tomb is located within a rectangular-shaped mosque with an inner court and minaret. The lintel of the mosque's northern gate is built from stones dating to the Byzantine era when a church had possibly stood. Lot's tomb is first mentioned by Saint Jerome, then by John of Wirtzburg in 1100, and Ali of Herat in 1173. In 1322, writer Sir John Mandeville writes "two miles from Hebron, is the grave of Lot, Abraham's brother." Muslim writers such as al-Suyuti and Mujir ad-Din wrote in the 15th and 16th centuries, respectively, that Lot was buried in Kafr Barik.[3] Tawfiq Canaan describes the golden embroidered writing on red silk cloth covering the tomb as reading, "This is the tomb of prophet Lut, peace be upon him."[10]
Islamic-era inscriptions on the front entrance to the mosque state that the Muslim scholar Abdullah bin Muhammad declared "the hills, the plains, the buildings, the paths, the gardens, the trees and the passage that transverses it [Bani Na'im]" as an endowment "for the prophet Lot, the son of Haran brother of Ibrahim (Abraham), the friend of the Compassionate (Allah), may the blessings of Allah be upon them..."[11] According to Muslim tradition, Lot lived in Bani Na'im before moving to Sodom.[12] The shrine encasing the tomb was restored in 1410 by the Mamluk sultan Nasir al-Faraj, son of Sultan Barquq. The restoration work was entrusted by him to Shams al-Din al-Ansari, a member of the prominent Ansari family which specialized in religious endowments (waqf).[11]
The tomb of his daughters are on an opposite hill nearby.[9] To the southeast of Bani Na'im is a shrine dedicated to Lot, known as Maqam an-Nabi Yatin ("Shrine of the Truthful Prophet"). Local legend claims Lot prayed at the site and imprints of his feet in a rock there are visible.[12] According to Muslim and Christian tradition, Bani Na'im is the place where the prophet Abraham, after the departure of the angels, saw the smoke of Sodom and Gomorrah "rising as the smoke of a furnace".[9]
Demographics
In a 1922 survey conducted by the British Mandate of Palestine, Bani Na'im had a population of 1,179 inhabitants, rising to 1,646 in a 1931 census.[2] By 1945, it increased to 2,160, according to a land and population survey by Sami Hadawi.[13] Under Jordanian rule, in 1952, the population surged to 5,778, partly due to large numbers of refugees who settled in the town as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.[2]
Later, the number of inhabitants declined due to the emigration of refugees from the town to other parts of the West Bank and Jordan. By 1967, there were 4,271 inhabitants in the town, gradually increasing to 6,703, while up to 9,451 immigrants from Bani Na'im lived elsewhere.[2] In 1987, the population rose to roughly 7,600 people.[14]
In the 1997 census by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), Bani Na'im had 13,535 inhabitants of which 604 were Palestinian refugees.[15] The gender distribution was 6,779 males and 6,756 females.[16] In the 2007 census, there were 20,084 people living in the town, of which 10,010 were males and 10,074 were females. There were 3,452 housing units and the average household size consisted of 6.5 family members.[1]
The largest families of Bani Na'im are the Manasra, Zeid and al-Khdour.
Government
Bani Na'im was established a village council in 1971. After Bani Na'im was transferred to Area A, giving the Palestinian National Authority full control of the town, it established a municipal council on May 20, 1997. The first council was formed from the old members of the previous village council. The municipal employees numbered 18 and there were 7 council’s members.[2]
The amount of municipal seats was expanded to 13 during the Palestinian municipal elections in 2005. A local group, the Bani Na'im Martyrs list, won the most seats: five. The Al-Aqsa list won three seats, Independent lists also won three and the Hamas-backed Reform and Change list won the remaining two seats. Gender-wise, females won two seats and males eleven. Issa Hassan al-Khdour, member of the Bani Na'im Martyrs, had the most votes (3,281), and thus became the head of the municipality.[17]
Education
Fourteen schools are located within Bani Na'im: Five for females, eight for males and three are co-educational. In addition, there are three kindergartens. The first school was established in 1929. Consisting of one classroom, the enrollment at the time number did not exceed 20 female and male students and the highest grade-level was the fourth grade.[2]
According to the 1997 census, 85.9% of the people over the age of 10 were literate and most of the illiterate population were females. In the census, it was recorded that 2,496 students were in elementary school, 1,671 in preparatory school, and 778 were enrolled in high school. Approximately 413 people received college diplomas, 19 of which were higher than bachelor diplomas.[18] The nearest universities and colleges are located in Hebron, such as Hebron University, the Palestine Polytechnic University, and the Hebron College of Technical Engineering.
Local infrastructure
There are 4,244 buildings in Bani Na'im, of which 3,452 are houses and 213 are working establishments.[1] Pipe water reaches more than 95% of the residents. The water pipe line, 2.5 kilometers (2 mi) in length, is linked to the main water supply of the Israeli settlement of Efrat, south of Bethlehem. Around 9 kilometers (6 mi) of main and sub lines inside the town were recently maintained and repaired. The cost of this project was roughly one million NIS.[2]
Generators previously operated for no more than five hours daily and for house use only, but in 1994, Bani Na'im was linked with electricity. Later, new factories were built and every building in the town is currently linked with electricity. The municipality have installed street lights since 1994.[2]
References
- ^ a b c 2007 PCBS Census Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. p.118.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Bani Na'im Area Bani Naim Charitable Society.
- ^ a b c d Sharon, 1997, p.12
- ^ Robinson, 1874, p.491.
- ^ le Strange, 1890, p.468.
- ^ Sharon, 1997, pp.12-13.
- ^ Robinson, 1874, p.490.
- ^ Bani Naim: Abdel Kader Husseini, the battle of Bani Naim (Arabic)
- ^ a b c Finn, 2008, p.290.
- ^ Sharon, 1997, p.18.
- ^ a b Sharon, 1997, p.17.
- ^ a b Sharon, 1997, p.15.
- ^ Hadawi, 1970, p.50.
- ^ Town Statistics and Facts Palestine Remembered.
- ^ Palestinian Population by Locality and Refugee Status Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).
- ^ Palestinian Population by Locality, Sex and Age Groups in Years Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).
- ^ Local Elections ( Round two)- Successful candidates by local authority, gender and No. of votes obtained Central Elections Committee - Palestine. p.28.
- ^ Palestinian Population (10 Years and Over) by Locality, Sex and Educational Attainment Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).
Bibliography
- James, Finn (2008), Byeways in Palestine, BiblioBazaar, http://www.gutenberg.org/files/22097/22097-h/22097-h.htm#page290
- Hadawi, Sami (1970), Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine, Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center, http://www.palestineremembered.com/Articles/General-2/Story3150.html
- Robinson, Edward (1874), Biblical Researches in Palestine, and in the Adjacent Regions: A Journal of Travels in the Year 1838, Crocker and Brewster, http://books.google.ca/books?id=nPAoAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA491&dq=Beni+Na%27im&lr=
- Sharon, Moshe (1997). Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum Palaestinae. BRILL. pp. 12–21. http://books.google.com/books?id=EPFDU8POrXIC&pg=PA12&dq=Bani+Na%27im&hl=en#PPA18,M1.
- le Strange, Guy (1890), Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500, Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund, http://books.google.com/books?id=ENANAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA493&dq=Lajjun+Guy+le+Strange&lr=&ei=-0MmScyML4TkygTn-J2KAg#PPP1,M1
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