Kufr Khall

Kufr Khall كفرخل
Town
Location of Kufr Khall
Kufr Khall
Coordinates: 32°17′0″N 35°53′10″E / 32.28333°N 35.88611°E / 32.28333; 35.88611
Country	Jordan
Province	Jerash Governorate
Time zone	GMT +2
• Summer (DST)	+3 (UTC)
Area code(s)	+(962)2

Kufr Khall, (also written Kufur Khall, Kufr Khal) (Arabic: كفر خل‎‎), is a town in the north of Jordan, in the Jerash Governorate. The origin of its name, is from Syriac kafr meaning the village or the country and from Arabic khall that means vinegar, or more generally, grape. So the words Kufr Khall stand for 'the village of grapes'. Effectively, Kufr Khall is still famous for its well-known grape production.

Kufr Khall is located at the west of the main road connecting Jerash to Irbid. The village is built on three main hills; Jabal Snad, Jabal Ahed and al-Jabal al-Gharbi. Kufr Khall represents an important link between Ajloun Mountains and the large flat land of Houran. The total area of the village is estimated 6 km², of which 4 belonging to woodland areas.

Kufr Khall was no doubt an important rural centre since Roman domination of Jordan, and a complex of several tombs (discovered in 1981) clearly shows the importance of Kufr Khall in the Byzantine age. Umayyad and Abbasid presence in Kufr Khall is also witnessed by several ruins. Kufr Khall saw a moment of decline of its splendor in the 17th century; anyway, important documents proof the presence of Kufr Khall as a rural community in the early Ottoman age.

A number of stone-made instruments were found at one kilometer of distance from the town, and labeled as Neolithic. There are oral narrations about the presence of an antique Roman church (called the white church) in the past. Mosaics were also found in different locations. The Roman dominion of the zone is visible in three different places: al- Deyr, Hattin and in Kufr Khall itself.

Kufr Khall was conquered by Islamic Armies commanded by Sharhabeel ibn Hasana as a direct result of Battle of Fahl in 635 A.D. Mameluke ceramics were found in several sectors of Kufr Khall, and diverse houses built by Mamelukes were rebuilt on the rising of the Ottoman dominion of the zone.