Sakib

Coordinates: 32°17′7.61″N 35°48′40.59″E / 32.2854472°N 35.8112750°E / 32.2854472; 35.8112750

Sakib
ساكب
Town
Sakib
Coordinates: 32°17′7.61″N 35°48′40.59″E / 32.2854472°N 35.8112750°E / 32.2854472; 35.8112750
Country  Jordan
Governorate Jerash Governorate
Area
 • Town 4 km2 (2 sq mi)
 • Land 16 km2 (6 sq mi)
Elevation 900-1,200 m (4,101 ft)
Population (2015)[1]
 • Urban 11,586
Time zone GMT +2
 • Summer (DST) +3 (UTC)
Area code(s) +962(2)

Sakib (/sɑːkɪb/; Arabic: ساكب‎‎ pronounced [saːkb]), is a town in Jerash Governorate, Jordan. The 2015 census recorded its population as 11,586.[1] The town is situated approximately 6 miles (10 km) west of the city of Jerash and 34 miles (55 km) from Amman city centre.[2]

Sakib has been continually inhabited by a noble clan called the Ayasrah over many centuries. They took the name from Khirbet Aysarah (ruin), which formed the old northern part of Sakib during the 16th century. Their lineage is traced back to Banu Hashim, and they are among the Hashemite descendants of the Prophet Muhammad.[3]

Etymology

The name of Sakib means "Water pourer",[4] where the rainwater and melted snow run down the descents of mountains. Alternatively, the name refers to a pleasant smelling flower grows in the town.

Sakib was known as "Seecip" during the Crusade and in the middle Islamic period.[5]

History

Byzantine period

In 2008, a Byzantine cemetery was discovered in the town, and it was considered to have a notable historical value.[6][7]

Umayyad Empire

During the time of the Umayyad Empire, a mosque was built in the south-west of Sakib (Umm Jozeh). In today's world, the area has some remains of the mosque.

The Crusade

Sakib (Seecip) was acquired by the Crusaders in 1100.[8] Later, it became the eastern border of the Kingdom of Jerusalem with the Seljuk in that area.[9][10]

In the year 1120, a garrison of forty men stationed in Jerash by Zahir ad-Din Toghtekin, atabeg of Damascus converted the Temple of Artemis into a fortress. It was captured in 1121 by Baldwin II, King of Jerusalem (1118–31), and demolished.[11][12] Then, the Crusaders immediately abandoned Jerash, and withdrew to Sakib; the eastern border of the settlement.[9][13]

Ottoman period

During the Sixteenth Century, the current town of Sakib used to be three villages: Sakib, Aysarah, and Be'na (Naqqiya) Al-Foqa.[14][15] The last two villages are in ruins.

The town was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517, and in 1538, Sakib appeared in the tax registers as being in the Nahiya (Subdistrict) of Bani Alwan of the Liwa (District) of Ajloun. (Sakib= 13 households and 1 Imam), (Aysarah= 7 households and 1 Imam), and (Be'na= 8 households and 1 Imam).[14]

In 1548 & 1596, the villages of Sakib, Aysarah and Be'na also appeared in the tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Bani Alwan of the Liwa of Ajloun. In 1596, It had a population of 12 households and 1 Imam (Sakib),[16][15] 7 households and 1 Imam (Aysarah), and 13 households and 1 Imam (Be'na).[15]

It paid taxes on a number of crops, including wheat, olives, barley, walnut, as well as on goats, beehives. The people were also paid for Waqf (charity).

Nineteenth-century travellers

Frederick Klein

Frederick Augustus Klein (1827–1903), was a Church Missionary Society (CMS) missionary in the Middle East. In 1868, he visited Sakib and the region of Jebl Ajlun. Klein illustrated that this beautiful country was once densely populated as he was told there are around 360 ruined towns and villages in the district of Jebl Ajlun alone, while now there are only around 20 inhabited villages in the district. Klein listed 17 of these inhabited villages including Sakib. He also said there was a single Greek priest to look to the spiritual affairs of the few Christian families who live in some of these villages.[17]

King George V and Prince Albert Victor

Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale and his brother Prince George of Wales (later King George V) visited Sakib in April 14, 1882, and they said:[18]

Next we passed Sakib village at 9.10, and entered the Wady Hamur (roebuck) at 9.30 ; long stretches of corn [wheat] were growing at the bottom, and the cliffs were wooded at the side with pines and oaks intermixed. A most enjoyable English-like morning as we ride along by the stream which goes gurgling over its pebble bed down the valley ; we cross it ever and anon, and dip in and out of the copses which cling to the hill-side and remind some of us much of Wales, and others of Scotland...

Claude Conder

Claude Reignier Conder

Claude Reignier Conder (1848–1910) was an English soldier seconded to the Palestine Exploration Fund. Conder was enabled to visit Sakib and the country north of Amman as far as Jerash in April, 1882, when he attended Prince Albert Victor and Prince George of Wales (later King George V) on their visit to the country beyond Jordan.[19] He said:[20]

...And by Sakib, on its cliff down which a stream falls in a long cascade, we gain the beautiful glens which run down from the rugged Ajlun to the green valley of Jordan. With exception of the woods of Tabor (now sadly thinned), the copses of Carmel, the oaks of Harosheth, and the groves of Banias, there is nothing in western Palestine which can at all compare with the beauty of the ravines of Gilead between Wady Hesban on the south and the Hairomax on the north. Beside clear mountain brooks the horseman wanders through glades of oak and terebinth, with dark pines above. The valleys green with corn [wheat], the streams fringed with oleander, the magnificent screens of yellow, green, and russet foliage, which cover the steep slopes, present a scene of quiet beauty, of chequered light and shade...

Population

Historical population of Sakib
Year Population
1538 13 households
1548 18 households
1596 12 households
1922 800
1994 8237
2004 10233[21]
2015 11586[1]

The population of the town at the 2015 census was 11,586.[1]

Geography

Neighbouring cities, towns, and places

[22]
City Distance km (mi) Site
Jerash 10 (6) East
Irbid 37 (23) North
Zarqa 54 (33) Southeast
Amman 55 (34) South

Climate

Sakib has a Mediterranean climate; cool winter and warm to hot summer. The average annual rainfall is about 422 mm (16.6 inches) per year. Its average annual temperature is 23.5 °C (74.3 °F) during the day and 13 °C (55.4 °F) at night.[23]

Climate data for Sakib
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 13.0
(55.4)		 14.0
(57.2)		 18.0
(64.4)		 23.0
(73.4)		 27.0
(80.6)		 30.0
(86)		 32.0
(89.6)		 32.0
(89.6)		 30.0
(86)		 27.0
(80.6)		 21.0
(69.8)		 15.0
(59)		 23.5
(74.3)
Average low °C (°F) 5.0
(41)		 6.0
(42.8)		 8.0
(46.4)		 11.0
(51.8)		 15.0
(59)		 18.0
(64.4)		 20.0
(68)		 20.0
(68)		 19.0
(66.2)		 16.00
(60.8)		 11.0
(51.8)		 7.0
(44.6)		 13
(55.4)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 79.0
(3.11)		 95.0
(3.74)		 69.0
(2.717)		 18.0
(0.709)		 24.0
(0.945)		 1.0
(0.039)		 2.0
(0.079)		 0
(0)		 1.0
(0.039)		 20.0
(0.787)		 42.0
(1.654)		 71.0
(2.795)		 422
(16.614)
Average precipitation days 12 10 8 5 2 0 0 0 1 4 6 9 57
Source: World Weather Online

Terrain

Sakib's terrain is typified by its mountains. The area's elevation ranges from 900 to 1,200 m.[24]

Fauna and flora

Sakib is famous for its olive, fig, grape and some other fruit trees. It is also famous for its thick forests where Oak and Aleppo Pine inhabit. In addition to the Oak and Aleppo Pine, the most common plants present in the area are Greek strawberry tree, Quercus ithaburensis, Mediterranean cypress, Carob, and Terebinth.[25][26]

The ground flora includes many kinds of species such as Anemone coronaria, Black iris,Orchids, Clover, Ragged-Robin, and Tulip.

The area is also a home to many kinds of wild animals, such as Wild boar, Jackal, Red fox, Striped hyena, Persian Squirrel, Hedgehog and Wolf. The notable birds are Jay, Tit, Merops, Goldfinch, Nightingale, and Roller.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "The General Census of Population and Housing result 2015" (PDF). Department of Population Statistics. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  2. ↑ "Sakib, Jordan - List of All Places". placebeam.com. Retrieved 2017-05-11.
  3. ↑ Sulṭān 2009, p. 409.
  4. ↑ Jobes, Gertrude (1964). Outer space: myths, name meanings, calendars from the emergence of history to the present day. New York: Scarecrow Press. p. 115. ISBN 9780231145541.
  5. ↑ Kareem 2000, p. 8.
  6. ↑ "The Byzantine cemetery in Sakib" (Press release) (in Arabic). © Alghad Newspaper. 2008-02-27. Retrieved 2012-06-06.
  7. ↑ Abu Abila 2008, p. 1-10.
  8. ↑ Tibble, Steven (1989). Monarchy and lordships in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, 1099-1291. Oxford: Clarendon. ISBN 0198227310. p. 156
  9. 1 2 Brooker, Colin H.; Knauf, Ernst Axel (1988). "Review of Crusader Institutions". Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins (1953-). 104: 187.
  10. ↑ Riley-Smith, Jonathan (1967). The Knights of St. John in Jerusalem and Cyprus, c. 1050–1310. ISBN 978-1-4039-0615-1. doi:10.1007/978-1-349-15241-4. p. 482 (Map 2)
  11. ↑ Boulanger, Robert (1965). The Middle East: Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Iran. Paris: Hachette. pp. 541, 542.
  12. ↑ Heath, Ian (1980). A wargamers' guide to the Crusades. p. 133.
  13. ↑ Schryver, James G (2010). Studies in the archaeology of the medieval Mediterranean. Leiden [Netherlands]; Boston: Brill. pp. 86. ISBN 9789004181755.
  14. 1 2 Bakhit & Hamud 1989, p. 83.
  15. 1 2 3 Bakhit & Hamud 1991, p. 187-188.
  16. ↑ Hütteroth, Wolf-Dieter & Abdulfattah, Kamal 1977, p. 164.
  17. ↑ Klein 1869, p. 94.
  18. ↑ Albert Victor, Prince Duke of Clarence and Avondale; George, King of Great Britain; John Neale Dalton 1886, p. 655-56.
  19. ↑ Conder 1885, p. 178.
  20. ↑ Conder 1885, p. 192-95.
  21. ↑ "Population of Sakib". WolframAlpha. Retrieved 2012-06-29.
  22. ↑ "Wolfram|Alpha: Computational Knowledge Engine". www.wolframalpha.com. Retrieved 2017-03-21.
  23. ↑ "Meoweather | Sakib weather history. Sakib average weather by month. Weather history for Sakib, Irbid, Jordan". www.meoweather.com. Retrieved 2017-03-21.
  24. ↑ "Google Maps". Google Maps. Retrieved 2017-03-21.
  25. ↑ AL-Eisawi, Dawud. "Conservation of Natural Ecosystems in Jordan" (PDF).
  26. ↑ "Jordan: Country Report to the FAO International Technical Conference on Plant Genetic Resources" (PDF).

Bibliography

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