Ash-Shuyukh or al-Shuyukh () is a

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

town in the

Hebron Governorate The Hebron Governorate () is an administrative district of Palestine in the southern West Bank. The governorate's land area is and its population according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics in mid-year 2019 was 1,004,510. This ...

of the

State of Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

, located 6 km northeast of the city of

Hebron Hebron (; , or ; , ) is a Palestinian city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Hebron is capital of the Hebron Governorate, the largest Governorates of Palestine, governorate in the West Bank. With a population of 201,063 in ...

. According to the

Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS; ) is the official statistical institution of Palestine. Its main task is to provide credible statistical figures at the national and international levels. It is a state institution that provid ...

, Ash-Shuyukh had a population of 12,052 in 2017. Like the rest of the Hebron area, ash-Shuyukh is an agricultural area. Primary crops include olives, figs, almonds, lentils, peaches and apricots. Olive groves cover 980

dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; ; ; ), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area analogous in role (but not equal) to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amo ...

s while grains and pulses cover 680 dunams. There are about 2,000 sheep and goats in the town raised as livestock.Shuyukh Agriculture, Economy and History
In Arabic

History

Ottoman era

During the

Ottoman era The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an 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 Central Euro ...

, in 1838, Edward Robinson noted ''esh-Shiyukh'' as “a well built village”. French explorer

Victor Guérin Victor Guérin (; 15 September 1821 – 21 September 1890) was a French people, French intellectual, explorer and amateur archaeologist. He published books describing the geography, archeology and history of the areas he explored, which included ...

visited in 1863, and noted that the village was situated on a high rocky hill. It had 200 inhabitants and a small

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

dedicated to a ''"Cheikh Ibrahim el-Hedmi."'' An Ottoman village list of about 1870 counted 33 houses and a population of 99 in ''Schijuch'', though the population count included men only. In 1883, the PEF's ''

Survey of Western Palestine The PEF Survey of Palestine was a series of surveys carried out by the Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF) between 1872 and 1877 for the completed Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) and in 1880 for the soon abandoned Survey of Eastern Palestine. The ...

'' described it as a "well-built village standing high, and visible from Tekua. There are a few trees round it, and caves. The water supply is from

cistern A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster. Cisterns are disti ...

s, and there is a spring to the north."

British Mandate era

In the

1922 census of Palestine The 1922 census of Palestine was the first census carried out by the authorities of the British Mandate of Palestine, on 23 October 1922. The reported population was 757,182, including the military and persons of foreign nationality. The divis ...

conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Al Shiukh'' had a population 792 inhabitants, all Muslims.Barron, 1923, Table V, Sub-district of Hebron, p
10
/ref> This had increased at the time of the 1931 census to 925 Muslims, in 180 inhabited houses.Mills, 1932, p
33
/ref> The first school was established in 1940 by Mohammed Mahmoud Eid. In the 1945 statistics the population of Ash-Shuyukh was 1,240, all Muslims,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p
23
/ref> who owned 22,091

s of land according to an official land and population survey. 1,713 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 3,365 for cereals, while 24 dunams were built-up (urban) land.

Jordanian Era

In the wake of the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war becam ...

, and after the

1949 Armistice Agreements The 1949 Armistice Agreements were signed between Israel and Egypt,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 ...

ian rule It was annexed by Jordan in 1950. The Jordanian census of 1961 found 1,660 inhabitants in ''Shuyukh''.

Post 1967

Since the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

in 1967, Ash-Shuyukh has been under

Israeli occupation Israel has occupied the Golan Heights of Syria and the Palestinian territories since the Six-Day War of 1967. It has previously occupied the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt and southern Lebanon as well. Prior to 1967, control of the Palestinian terr ...

. In 1986, Grossman wrote that the locals were landless, impoverished

Dervish Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from ) in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (''tariqah''), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage is found particularly in Persi ...

es, with some of them originating from the

Ashkelon Ashkelon ( ; , ; ) or Ashqelon, is a coastal city in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The modern city i ...

area.Grossman, D. (1986). "Oscillations in the Rural Settlement of Samaria and Judaea in the Ottoman Period". in Shomron studies. Dar, S., Safrai, S., (eds). Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad Publishing House. p. 368 Another school was built in 2002 and named in honor of a resident killed during the

al-Aqsa Intifada The Second Intifada (; ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada, was a major uprising by Palestinians against Israel and its occupation from 2000. Starting as a civilian uprising in Jerusalem and Israel proper, Israeli security responded wit ...

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * (p
185
*

External links

Shyoukh
Welcome to Palestine *Survey of Western Palestine, Map 21:
IAAWikimedia commons

Ash Shuyukh Town (Fact Sheet)

Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem The Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem (ARIJ; ) is a Palestinian NGO founded in 1990 with its main office in Bethlehem in the West Bank. ARIJ is actively working on research projects in the fields of management of natural resources, water m ...

(ARIJ)
Ash Shuyukh Town Profil
ARIJ
Ash Shuyukh Town Areal Photol
ARIJ
The priorities and needs for development in Ash Shuyukh town based on the community and local authorities’ assessment
ARIJ {{Hebron Governorate Hebron Governorate Municipalities of West Bank Municipalities of Palestine