Burqin
| Burqin | |
|---|---|
| Other transcription(s) | |
| • Arabic | برقين |
| • Also spelled | Birqin (official) |
 Burqin
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| Coordinates: 32°27′20″N 35°15′37″E / 32.45556°N 35.26028°ECoordinates: 32°27′20″N 35°15′37″E / 32.45556°N 35.26028°E | |
| Palestine grid | 174/206 |
| Governorate | Jenin |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipality |
| • Head of Municipality | Mohammad Sabbah |
| Area | |
| • Jurisdiction | 19,447 dunams (19.4 km2 or 7.5 sq mi) |
| Population (2007) | |
| • Jurisdiction | 5,685 |
| Name meaning | "Sandy soil covered with flint" |
Burqin (Arabic: برقين) is a Palestinian town in the northern West Bank located 5 km west of Jenin. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) census, its population was 5,685 in 2007. The majority of Burqin's residents are Muslims, and 20 Christian families live in the town. The Byzantine-era Burqin Church or St. George's Church is one of the oldest churches in the world.
Burqin is an ancient site, situated on a slope, with old stones reused in the town houses.
It was mentioned under the name Burqana, in the 14th century BCE Amarna letters, as one of several cities conquered by the Canaanite warlord Lab'ayu in the Dothan Valley and southern Jezreel Valley.
Pottery sherds from the Early Bronze I, Early Bronze IIB, Late Bronze III, Iron Age I, Iron Age II, late Roman, Byzantine, Umayyad/Abbasid, Medieval and early Ottoman era have been found.
In 1517, the village was included in the Ottoman Empire with the rest of Palestine, and in the 1596 tax-records it appeared as Bruqin, located in the Nahiya of Jabal Sami of the Liwa of Nablus. The population was 23 households and 4 bachelors, all Muslim. They paid a tax rate of 33,3% on agricultural products, which included wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, occasional revenues, goats and beehives; a total of 7980 Akçe.
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