ar-Rihiya

Ar-Rihiya (Arabic: ريحيا‎) is a Palestinian town located six kilometers southwest of Hebron. The town is in the Hebron Governorate southern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of over 3,949 in 2007.[2]

ar-Rihiya
Municipality type D (Village council)
Arabic transcription(s)
 • Arabicريحيا
ar-Rihiya
Location of ar-Rihiya within Palestine
Coordinates: 31°28′13″N 35°04′30″E
Palestine grid157/097
StateState of Palestine
GovernorateHebron
Government
 • TypeVillage council
Population
 (2007)
 • Total3,949
Name meaningPossibly "The coiled-up snake"[1]

History

Ceramics from the Byzantine era have been found here.[3]

Ottoman era

French explorer Victor Guérin visited the place in 1863, which he called Khirbet el-Harayeh. Local fellahins inhabited ancient underground storage areas.[4]

In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described the place as being a "large ruin with caves and cisterns, appears to be an ancient site".[5]

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, 'Al Rihiyeh had a population 231 inhabitants, all Muslims.[6] This had increased slightly at the time of the 1931 census to 243 Muslims, in 38 inhabited houses.[7]

In the 1945 statistics the population of Ar-Rihiya was 330 Muslims,[8] who owned 2,659 dunams of land according to an official land and population survey.[9] 136 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 1,093 for cereals,[10] while 25 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[11]

Jordanian era

In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Ar-Rihiya came under Jordanian rule. It was annexed by Jordan in 1950.

In 1961, the population of Rihiya was 555.[12]

Post-1967

Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Ar-Rihiya has been under Israeli occupation.

Footnotes
  1. According to Palmer, 1881, p. 405, the name might also come from "A millstone", or "A plot of ground, about a mile square, above the water level".
  2. 2007 PCBS Census Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. p.119.
  3. Dauphin, 1998, p. 963
  4. Guérin, 1869, pp. 211 -212
  5. Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 377
  6. Barron, 1923, Table V, Sub-district of Hebron, p. 10
  7. Mills, 1932, p. 33
  8. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 23
  9. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 50 Archived 2009-07-20 at WebCite
  10. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 94
  11. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 144
  12. Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 22

Bibliography
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