Al Hashimiyya (; ) (formerly ''Fara'', or ''Farah'') is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in the

Ajloun Governorate Ajloun Governorate (alternative spelling Ajlun Governorate) () is one of the governorates of Jordan, located north of Amman the capital of Jordan. Ajloun Governorate has the fourth highest population density in Jordan (after Irbid, Jerash, and ...

of north-western

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

. The village is located northwest of

Ajloun Ajloun (, ''‘Ajlūn''), also spelled Ajlun, is the capital town of the Ajloun Governorate, a hilly town in the north of Jordan, located 76 kilometers (around 47 miles) north west of Amman. It is noted for its impressive ruins of the 12th-centur ...

, south of

Irbid Irbid (), known in ancient times as Arabella or Arbela (Άρβηλα in Ancient Greek language, Ancient Greek), is the capital and largest city of Irbid Governorate. It has the second-largest metropolitan population in Jordan after Amman, with a ...

and north of

Amman Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...

. It is near

Ajloun Castle Ajloun Castle (), medieval name Qalʻat ar-Rabad, is a 12th-century Muslim castle situated in northwestern Jordan. It is placed on a hilltop belonging to the Mount Ajloun district, also known as Jabal Auf after a Bedouin tribe which had capture ...

and Tell Mar Elias. The largest tribes are Bani 'Ata (بني عطا), Qwaqnah (قواقنة), Gharaibeh (غرايبة), Rababah (ربابعة), Za'areer (زعارير), Abu Sini (ابو صيني) and

Haddad Haddad (Arabic language, Arabic: حدّاد) is an Arabic surname meaning ''blacksmith'', commonly used in the Levant and Algeria. Hadad is the name of an ancient Ancient Semitic religion, Semitic storm-god.Spencer L. Allen (5 March 2015). The ...

(حداد). Hashimiyya is one of the three villages that are part of the Ash Shefa Municipality (بلدية الشفا) along with Halawah (حلاوة) and Al Wahadinah (الوهادنه). It had a population of 9,509 in 2015. The five major families (tribes or clans) in Al Hashimiya are: the Gharaibeh , Bani Ata, Zaareer, Rababah and Qawaqneh. It is famous for its Roman olive trees .

Geography and climate

Hashimiyya is located in the mountainous area that surrounds Ajloun. The town is situated on a ridge that leads eastward down to the floor of the Jordan Valley. The northern and eastern sides of Hashimiyya are bordered by small pockets of forest (Ras Al Khlail and Valley of the Wolves respectively). The climate is Mediterranean-like and similar to the nearby Ajloun Forest Reserve. Hashimiyya lies within the range of the

Fertile Crescent The Fertile Crescent () is a crescent-shaped region in the Middle East, spanning modern-day Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria, together with northern Kuwait, south-eastern Turkey, and western Iran. Some authors also include ...

making alluvial cultivation possible. Snow and rain are common in the winter months between December and February. The distinct location of Al Hashimiya represents the frontiers between the Jordan Valley in the west and

Mountains to the east. These frontiers are called Shafa.

History

The region around Hashimiyya has been settled since the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

, as evidenced by archeological excavations in nearby

Pella Pella () is an ancient city located in Central Macedonia, Greece. It served as the capital of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. Currently, it is located 1 km outside the modern town of Pella ...

and

Abila Abila, also spelled Abyla, may refer to: Places * Abila (Decapolis), Abila in the Decapolis, ancient city in the Levant * Abila Lysaniou, capital of ancient Abilene, northwest of present-day Damascus, Syria * Abila (Peraea), archaeological site in ...

. The Roman era saw increased settlement and population growth in the region as the

Decapolis The Decapolis (Greek: ) was a group of ten Greek Hellenistic cities on the eastern frontier of the Greek and late Roman Empire in the Southern Levant in the first centuries BC and AD. Most of the cities were located to the east of the Jordan ...

cities prospered. Though there is little archeological evidence of an ancient town on the site of modern Hashimiyya, the town contains an ancient

olive grove Olive Grove was The Wednesday F.C.'s first permanent football ground, home to the club for just over a decade at the end of the 19th century. It was located on the site of what is now Sheffield City Council's Olive Grove Depot, near Queens Roa ...

known locally as Al Maisor (الميسر). Furthermore, the village's ancient name, Farah (فارة), may be derived from Viera, a Roman town located in the area. Evidence from pottery found in the area indicates that there was a settlement on the site of modern Hashimiyya during the

Mamluk Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-so ...

Ayyubid The Ayyubid dynasty (), also known as the Ayyubid Sultanate, was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultan of Egypt, Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid Caliphate of Egyp ...

period. During the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

era the area around Hashimiyya was highly Christianized. Today, ruins from Byzantine churches are strewn throughout the Ajloun Governorate, most notably at Tell Mar Elias. Although Hashimiyya itself does not contain any churches, the Haddad family of Christians still lives in the town. Hashimiyya oil lamp

Ottoman era

In 1596, during the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, ''Fara'' was noted in the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

as being located in the ''

nahiya A nāḥiyah ( , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiyeh, nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level divisi ...

'' of ''

'' in the '' liwa'' of Ajloun. It had a population of 30 households and 3 bachelors; all

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 25% on various agricultural products, including wheat, barley, olive trees/fruit trees, goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues; a total of 3,000

akçe The ''akçe'' or ''akça'' (anglicized as ''akche'', ''akcheh'' or ''aqcha''; ; , , in Europe known as '' asper'') was a silver coin mainly known for being the chief monetary unit of the Ottoman Empire. It was also used in other states includi ...

. In 1838 Fara's inhabitants were predominantly

Sunni Muslim Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Musli ...

s and

Greek Christians Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Roma ...

Modern era

The Jordanian census of 1961 found 1,105 inhabitants in ''Fara'', of whom 81 were Christians. Jordan's 1967 war had a dramatic impact on the population of Hashimiyya. Before the war the town's population was so small that the oldest mosque, The Great Hashimiyya Mosque, wasn't built until 1949 by Hajj Ahmed Abusini. Most of the village's population lived in the western end, with Al-Maisor marking the village's eastern boundary. However, in the aftermath of the war many families from the Jordan Valley chose to move further inland into Jordan's border. By 2000, six more mosques were constructed to accommodate the population swell. Al-Maisor is now within the village's limits and houses reached more than a kilometer further east. As a result of this population influx, the more established western part of the village became the downtown area, with shops, bakeries, butchers, and blacksmiths. The municipal building expanded to include a health center, and later, a dentist’s office opened nearby. When paved roads were introduced in the 1970s, buses between Hashimiyya and Ajloun soon followed, making travel between Hashimiyya and

much easier. The town’s development was witnessed by a member of the royal family who visited in the 1980s. He was impressed by the growth that he reportedly said it could no longer be called ''Fara'' (meaning '

musk Musk is a class of aromatic substances commonly used as base notes in perfumery. They include glandular secretions from animals such as the musk deer, numerous plants emitting similar fragrances, and artificial substances with similar odors. ' ...

') and changed the name to ''Hashimiyya'' (meaning ' he place ofthe

Hashemites The Hashemites (), also House of Hashim, are the royal family of Jordan, which they have ruled since 1921, and were the royal family of the kingdoms of Hejaz (1916–1925), Syria (1920), and Iraq (1921–1958). The family had ruled the city of Me ...

, in reference to Jordan’s ruling dynasty.

Economy

Al Hashimiyya's economy relies on agriculture including: wheat,

pomegranates The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae, that grows between tall. Rich in symbolic and mythological associations in many cultures, it is thought to have originat ...

figs The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of tree or shrub in the flowering plant family Moraceae, native to the Mediterranean region, together with western and southern Asia. It has been cultivated since ancient times and i ...

fava beans ''Vicia faba'', commonly known as the broad bean, fava bean, or faba bean, is a species of vetch, a flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated as a crop for human consumption, and also as a cover crop. Vari ...

olives The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...

and vegetables. There are also a number of goat herders. Most people work in agriculture but also work in the Army or education to supplement their income. Many people have more than one job. People in Hashimiyya work in different places but many work in

, the capital city. In Hashimiyya there are four kinds of shops. The first type is supermarkets. Supermarkets have sweets, chips, oil etc. The second kind is restaurants. Restaurants have sandwiches, hummus and some snacks. The third type is electrical markets. They have computers, TV and electrical machines. The last kind is internet cafés where you can surf the net.

Education

Hashimiyya witnessed many developments in teaching that happened in synchronization with the establishing of the

Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

. The development appeared in the village's first basic and secondary schools. There are five schools in Hashimiyya, a primary/basic (k-6) and secondary (7–12) school for boys, a basic and secondary school for girls and a small coed basic school (k-4). Hashimiyya School for Boys was established in 1925 and many of the students who studied there are now teachers, doctors and politicians. The first girls school was created in 1960. All students study general science, math, Arabic, English, religion (

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

), geography, physical education and vocational training from 1st to 12th. Starting in 9th grade students study Earth science, physics and chemistry. After 10th grade they study general culture instead of history. The final two years of school (11–12) are called

Tawjihi Tawjihi or Al-Tawjeehi (امتحان شهادة الدراسة الثانوية العامة) is the General Secondary Education Certificate Examination in Jordan and Palestine. It is the last stage of school education. To sit for the exam, stud ...

Local Sites

File:Valley of the Wolves2.jpg , The trees in this valley have been removed to allow olive cultivation. File:Hashimiyya ancient olive tree3.jpg , Many trees like this can be found in Al Maiser. File:Hashimiyya 3 mosques view.jpg , View from Ras Al Khalail. File:Ras Al Khlail.jpg, Ras Al Khalail is shaped to look like the map of Jordan.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{refend

External links

Boys Secondary School Website

Satellite Images of Hashimiyya

by

Johann Ludwig Burckhardt Johann Ludwig (also known as John Lewis, Jean Louis) Burckhardt (24 November 1784 – 15 October 1817) was a Swiss traveller, geographer and Orientalist. Burckhardt assumed the alias ''Sheikh Ibrahim Ibn Abdallah'' during his travels in Arabia ...

Links in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

:
An account of Hashimiyya's history from a local writer

An article about Hashimiyya
published in the Al-Rai newspaper Populated places in Ajloun Governorate