Rameh

Rameh
  • רָמָה, ראמה‬‎
  • الرامه‎
Hebrew transcription(s)
 • ISO 259 Ráma
 • Also spelled Rame (official)
al-Rama (unofficial)
Rameh
Coordinates: 32°56′21″N 35°22′02″E / 32.93917°N 35.36722°E / 32.93917; 35.36722Coordinates: 32°56′21″N 35°22′02″E / 32.93917°N 35.36722°E / 32.93917; 35.36722
Grid position 184/260 PAL
District Northern
Government
 • Type Local council (from 2005)
Area
 • Total 6,118 dunams (6.118 km2 or 2.362 sq mi)
Population (2017)[1]
 • Total 7,580
 • Density 1,200/km2 (3,200/sq mi)
Name meaning "Lofty" or "Elevated"[2]

Rameh (Arabic: الرامة‎; Hebrew: רָמָה‬; also ar-Rame or ar-Rama) is an Arab town in the Northern District of Israel. Located east of Nahef and Karmiel, in 2017 it had a population of 7,580.[1]

History

Edward Robinson identifies Rameh with the ancient Ramah of Asher (Joshua 19:29), citing its location and ancient sarcophagi discovered on a hill outside the village as evidence.[3]

The village is situated on an ancient site, atop a hill at the edge of Beit HaKerem Valley. To the east are remains of Roman baths, dating to the 2nd to 4th century, and oil presses from the same period. South and southeast are remains of buildings foundations, including an Aramaic inscription on a lintel, which indicate a 3rd to 4th century synagogue. To the northeast of the Roman bath are the remains of a large basilica. This was excavated in 1972, and very large column bases were found, together with polychrome mosaics representing fauna and flora.[4]

Many remains of pottery vessels dated to the Late Roman period (fourth–fifth centuries CE) have also been found,[5] together with building remains from the Byzantine period.[6] Rameh was a major town during the rule of the Crusaders.

Ottoman era

In 1517, Rameh was with the rest of Palestine incorporated into the Ottoman Empire after it was captured from the Mamluks, and by 1596, it was a village under the administration of the nahiya ("subdistrict") of Akka, (Liwa ("District") of Safad), with a population of 96 households, all Muslim. It paid taxes on silk spinning (dulab harir),[7] goats, beehives, and a press that was used for processing either olives or grapes, in addition to paying a fixed, or lump sum.[8]

A map from Napoleon's invasion of 1799 by Pierre Jacotin showed the place, named as "Ramah".[9] The French explorer Victor Guérin visited the village in 1875, and found it to have 800 inhabitants, half Christian and half Druze.[10]

In 1881 the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it as "a village, built of stone, of good materials, containing a Greek chapel and about 600 Christians and 500 Druzes; it is situated in plains, with large olive-groves, gardens and vineyards; five perennial springs near the village, and several cisterns in it."[11]

A population list from about 1887 showed that er Rameh had about 1,125 inhabitants; 425 Druze, 125 Greek Catholic Christians and 575 Muslims.[12]

British Mandate era

It was one of the largest villages in the Galilee during the period of Ottoman Empire control. In 1923, Rameh became the first village in Palestine to receive self-governing status granted by the British Mandate and had the largest olive orchards in the area. It was granted permission to self-govern through a village council.[13]

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Al Rameh had a total population 847; 28 Muslims, 624 Christians, and 195 Druze.[14] Of the Christians, 474 were Orthodox, 47 Catholics, 102 Greek Catholic (Melchite) and 1 Maronite.[15] This had increased in the 1931 census of Palestine, when Er Rama had 254 houses, with a total population of 1142. Of these, 70 were Muslim, 746 Christians, and 326 Druze.[16]

In the 1945 statistics Er Rama had a population of 1,690; 90 Muslims, 1,160 Christians and 440 "others"(=Druze),[17] with 24,516 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.[18] Of this, 8,310 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 3,078 used for cereals,[19] while 56 dunams were built-up land.[20]

State of Israel

It was captured by Haganah forces in 1948, becoming a part of Israel, and later achieving local council status in 1954.

Demography

51% of the residents of Rameh are Christian, 29% are Druze and 20% are Muslim.

Notable residents

In alphabetical order by surname, article excluded:

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "List of localities, in Alphabetical order" (PDF). Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  2. ↑ Palmer, 1881, p. 92
  3. ↑ Robinson, 1856, pp. 64-65.
  4. ↑ Dauphin, 1998, p. 705
  5. ↑ Cinamon, 2009, Er-Rama
  6. ↑ Dalali-Amos, 2011, Er-Rama
  7. ↑ Rhode, 1979, p. 145 for the silk tax, and p. 5 for the date.
  8. ↑ Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 190
  9. ↑ Karmon, 1960, p. 166.
  10. ↑ Guérin, 1880, p. 453
  11. ↑ Conder and Kitchener, 1881, p. 204
  12. ↑ Schumacher, 1888, p. 174
  13. ↑ Survey of Palestine British Mandate of Palestine. Vol. 1, p.132.
  14. ↑ Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Acre, p. 36
  15. ↑ Barron, 1923, Table XVI, p. 50
  16. ↑ Mills, 1932, p. 102
  17. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 4
  18. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 41
  19. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 81
  20. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 131

Bibliography

  • Barron, J.B., ed. (1923). Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922. Government of Palestine.
  • Conder, C.R.; Kitchener, H.H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. 1. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
  • Cinamon, Gilad (2009-05-04). "Er-Rama Final Report" (121). Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel.
  • Dalali-Amos, Edna (2011-09-26). "Er-Rama Final Report" (123). Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel.
  • Dauphin, Claudine (1998). La Palestine byzantine, Peuplement et Populations. BAR International Series 726 (in French). III : Catalogue. Oxford: Archeopress. ISBN 0-860549-05-4.
  • Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics (1945). Village Statistics, April, 1945.
  • Guérin, V. (1880). Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine (in French). 3: Galilee, pt. 1. Paris: L'Imprimerie Nationale.
  • Hadawi, S. (1970). Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine. Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center.
  • Hütteroth, Wolf-Dieter; Abdulfattah, Kamal (1977). Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century. Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. ISBN 3-920405-41-2.
  • Karmon, Y. (1960). "An Analysis of Jacotin's Map of Palestine" (PDF). Israel Exploration Journal. 10 (3, 4): 155–173, 244–253.
  • Mills, E., ed. (1932). Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas. Jerusalem: Government of Palestine.
  • Palmer, E.H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
  • Rhode, H. (1979). Administration and Population of the Sancak of Safed in the Sixteenth Century (PhD). Columbia University.
  • Robinson, E.; Smith, E. (1856). Biblical Researches in Palestine and adjacent regions: A Journal of Travels in the years 1838 and 1852, 2nd edition. 3. London: John Murray.
  • Schumacher, G. (1888). "Population list of the Liwa of Akka". Quarterly statement - Palestine Exploration Fund. 20: 169–191.
  • van de Velde, C.W.M. (1858). Memoir to Accompany the Map of the Holy Land. Gotha: Justus Perthes. (p. 341)
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