Jammain | |
---|---|
Other transcription(s) | |
• Arabic | جمّاعين |
• Also spelled | Jamma'in (official) Jamma'een (unofficial) |
Location of Jammain within the Palestinian territories | |
Coordinates: 32°07′52″N 35°12′03″E / 32.13111°N 35.20083°ECoordinates: 32°07′52″N 35°12′03″E / 32.13111°N 35.20083°E | |
Palestine grid | 169/170 |
Governorate | Nablus |
Government | |
• Type | Municipality |
• Head of Municipality | 'Izzat Zeitawi |
Area | |
• Jurisdiction | 19,821 dunams (19.8 km2 or 7.6 sq mi) |
Population (2007) | |
• Jurisdiction | 6,225 |
Name meaning | "Company" |
Jamma'in (Arabic: جمّاعين) is a Palestinian town in the northern West Bank located 16 kilometers (9.9 mi) southwest of Nablus, 6 kilometers (3.7 mi) northwest of Salfit and 40 kilometers (25 mi) north of Ramallah. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 6,227 in 2007.
Jamma'in is situated on a high hill on the ancient site. Carved stones have been reused in village houses, walls, fencing and agricultural terraces. Rock-cut cisterns have also been found. 400 meters north-west are tombs carved into rock which contains one loculi and caves (called I-Qubay'ah). Late Roman and Byzantine ceramics has also been found.
A village in the Crusader era (1123 CE) named "Gemmail", has been identified with Jamma'in. It was referred to as "Jamma'il" in medieval Arabic sources. The village was home to the Bani Qudama clan, who moved to Damascus in 1156, during Crusader rule in Palestine. Their leader, and the khatib (Muslim preacher) of the village, Ahmad ibn Qudama, left Jamma'in due to fears of persecution by King Baldwin, who intended to punish Ibn Qudamah for preaching against Crusader rule. The hilly and uninhabited area of Damascus the Banu Qudamah settled became the al-Salihiyah suburb, which was named either after the family, who were known as "the pious ones" (as-salihiyyin) or after the Abi Salih Mosque, which the family was associated with. Throughout the 11th and 12th centuries, Jamma'in was a center for Hanbali activity. The medieval Syrian geographer Yaqut described the site as "A well in the hill of Nabulus, in the Filastin Province. It lies a day's journey distant from Jerusalem, and belongs to that city."