Shahma

Shahma (Arabic: شحمة‎) was a Palestinian Arab village located 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) southwest of Ramla.[5] Depopulated on the eve of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, the village lands today form part of a fenced-in area used by the Israeli Air Force.[2][6]

Shahma

شحمة

Shameh
Village
Etymology: from personal name[1]
1870s map
1940s map
modern map
1940s with modern overlay map
A series of historical maps of the area around Shahma (click the buttons)
Shahma
Location within Mandatory Palestine
Coordinates: 31°49′19″N 34°48′48″E
Palestine grid132/136
Geopolitical entityMandatory Palestine
SubdistrictRamle
Date of depopulationMay 14, 1948[2]
Area
 • Total6,875 dunams (6.875 km2 or 2.654 sq mi)
Population
 (1945)
 • Total280[3][4]
Cause(s) of depopulationInfluence of nearby town's fall

Location

The village was situated on the coastal plain, 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) southwest of Ramla, in a flat area that was slightly higher that the terrain to the south and southeast. Wadi al-Sarar ran about 1 kilometer (0.62 mi) southwest of it, and a secondary road linked Shahma to al-Ramla. During World War II, the British built RAF Aqir military airport just north of the village, Shahma military base lay to the north and east.[5]

History

In 1838, it was noted as a Muslim village, in the Er-Ramleh District.[7]

In 1852 van de Velde passed by Shammeh, and found two old ponds and "traces of high antiquity" there. He further noted that the village belonged to Sheikh Mosleh, of Bayt Jibrin.[8] In 1863, Victor Guérin noted the village just after he had passed a group of ruins, which he called Khirbet Merebba.[9]

An Ottoman village list of about 1870 noted Schahme south east of Yibna, in the District of Ramle. It noted 23 houses and 31 persons, though the population count included men, only.[10][11]

In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Shahma as a small village built of adobe bricks, whose inhabitants drew their water from a well to the south of the village.[12] On the SWP map drawn by Conder & Kitchener in 1878 the village located southeast of "Yebnah" is called "Shahmeh".[13]

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Shameh had a population of 107 inhabitants, all Muslims,[14] increasing in the 1931 census to 150, still all Muslims, in a total of 34 houses.[15]

The village was classified as a hamlet by the Palestine Index Gazetteer. It was divided into two sections, north and south of a secondary road. Some of its houses were built in part with stone remains from previous settlements.[5]

In the 1945 statistics the village had a population of 280, all Muslims[4] with a total of 6,875 dunums of land.[3] A total of 152 dunums of village land was used for citrus and bananas, 4,911 dunums were used for cereals, 33 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards,[5][16] while 11 dunams were classified as built-up public areas.[17]

Shahma (Shahme) 1930 1:20,000
Shahma 1945 1:250,000

1948, and aftermath

The Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi described the place in 1992: "The site has been incorporated into a fenced-in military airfield. It is marked by cactuses and bushes that are visible from the outside."[6]

gollark: I see.
gollark: `bcm2835_peri_write (paddr=0xb, value=104) at bcm2835.c:239`Well, this is more helpful, hmm.
gollark: Once it actually installs on this stupid thingy.
gollark: I will try gdb soon™.
gollark: `-g3` doesn't add more useful output.

See also
  • List of Arab towns and villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War

References
  1. Palmer, 1881, p. 273
  2. Morris, 2004, p. xix, village #262. Also provides cause of depopulation.
  3. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 68
  4. Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 30
  5. Khalidi, 1992, p. 414
  6. Khalidi, 1992, p. 415
  7. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 120
  8. van de Velde, 1854, vol 2, p. 160
  9. Guérin, 1869, p. 35
  10. Socin, 1879, p. 160
  11. Hartmann, 1883, p. 140 noted 18 houses
  12. Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 408 Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p. 414
  13. Conder & Kitchener (1878). "SWP map 16". wikimedia.org. -. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  14. Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Ramleh, p. 21
  15. Mills, 1932, p. 23.
  16. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 117
  17. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 167

Bibliography
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