Azmut

’Azmut (Arabic: عزموط‎) is a Palestinian town in the Nablus Governorate in the eastern West Bank, located five kilometers northeast of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the town had a population of 2,724 inhabitants in mid-2006.[2]

’Azmut
Municipality type C
Arabic transcription(s)
 • Arabicعزموط
Maqam of Sheikh Bilal, confiscated by Israel for the Israel settlement of Elon Moreh
’Azmut
Location of ’Azmut within Palestine
Coordinates: 32°13′23″N 35°18′35″E
Palestine grid179/181
StateState of Palestine
GovernorateNablus
Government
 • TypeMunicipality
Population
 (2006)
 • Total2,724
Name meaningAzmut, from personal name[1]

Location

‘Azmut is located 4.6 kilometers (2.9 mi) east of Nablus. It is bordered by Deir al Hatab and Al ‘Aqrabaniya to the east, Al Bahdan to the north, ‘Asira ash Shamaliya and Nablus to the west, and Deir al Hatab to the south.[3]

History

One pottery sherd has been found from each of the Hellenistic and early Roman eras. Much more pottery has been found from the late Roman[4] and Byzantine eras.[4][5]

Ottoman era

Incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517 with the rest of Palestine, in 1596 the village appeared in Ottoman tax registers as being in the nahiya of Jabal Qubal in the liwa of Nablus. It had a population of 18 households and 2 bachelors, all Muslim. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 33.3 % on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues and a press for olive oil or syrup - a total of 4,000 akçe.[6]

In 1838, Edward Robinson noted Azmut as a village in the same area as Salim and Deir al-Hatab.[7] All were Muslim villages, part of the El-Beitawy district, east of Nablus.[8]

In 1870, Victor Guérin visited, after visiting Deir al-Hatab. About Azmut, he noted that it was: "a small village a little less in ruin the previous one. It must have succeeded also to an ancient locality, as is proved by a number of cisterns cut out from the rock, most of them without water, but one of which, among others, still serves the needs of the inhabitants. Two oualys are devoted to two different sheikhs."[9]

In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described Azmut as a "small village, standing on the slope of the hill, with cliffs on the west."[10]

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Azmut had a population of 283 Muslims,[11] increasing at the time of the 1931 census to 307, still all Muslim, in 70 houses.[12]

In the 1945 statistics, Azmut had a population of 410, all Muslims,[13] with 10,748 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.[14] Of this, 343 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 3,259 were used for cereals,[15] while 23 dunams were built-up land.[16]

Jordanian era

In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Azmut came under Jordanian rule.

The Jordanian census of 1961 found 615 inhabitants.[17]

1967, aftermath

Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Azmut has been under Israeli occupation along with the rest of the Palestinian territories.

After the 1995 accords, 59% of village land is defined as Area B, the remaining 41% is defined as Area C. The Israelis have confiscated hundreds of dunams of land from Azmut, primarily to construct military bases, in addition to 639 dunums of Azmuts land which went to construct the Israeli settlement of Elon Moreh.[18]

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References
  1. Palmer, 1881, p. 199
  2. Projected Mid -Year Population for Nablus Governorate by Locality 2004- 2006 Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
  3. Azmut village profile, ARIJ, p. 4
  4. Bull and Campbell, 1968, p. 24
  5. Dauphin, 1992, p. 772
  6. Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 135
  7. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, pp. 95, 102
  8. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 128
  9. Guérin,1874, p. 458
  10. Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 229
  11. Barron, 1923, Table IX, Sub-district of Nablus, p. 24
  12. Mills, 1932, p. 59
  13. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 18
  14. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 59
  15. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 105
  16. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 155
  17. Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 26
  18. Azmut village profile, ARIJ, p. 15

Bibliography
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