By Emad Abdullah Ayasrah*
A part of great empires for many centuries, Sakib is now an important town within Jordan. For two years I have been looking at the town’s history from those periods all the way through to the present.
My study revealed the unique history of the town of Sakib, much of which was previously unknown. The study was motivated by the belief that Sakib’s roots stretched into the immemorial past, and that the territory has been host to many events which are still only vaguely understood; this lack of understanding is quite common throughout many villages in the country.
The research phase, which lasted for two years until this moment, proved difficult, as some important information was present only in hidden documents and manuscripts, often with dates being obscured. These findings were then organized into written accounts, which have since been published on several websites with my permission, such as Wikipedia. In fact, this was discussed in a recent interview conducted in Arabic.
Sakib is inhabited by a Jordanian tribe called the Ayasrah, who are direct descendants of the Prophet Muhammad. The town was originally founded as three villages during the late 16th century - Sakib (Arabic for “pouring water”), Aysra and Be'na (Beqia Al-Foqa). Ayasrah's family took the name from the village Aysra, which formed the northern part of the old Sakib.
During the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire), the town was home to a Roman mint, and was also a major center for the pressing of olives. This is evidenced by the large number of old Roman olive presses and by a large Byzantine cemetery.
The town was populated around the time of the Umayyad state in an area called Um Jozeh (south west of Sakib), as evidenced by the remnants of mosques present in the area.
Moreover, Sakib was known as "Seecip" from the middle to late Islamic period. Also, the name of Jerash was abandoned and Sakib came to mean both Jerash and Sakib. This was not, however, a permanent development, as the name "Jerash" reappears in Ottoman tax registers until the 16th century.
As mentioned in Ottoman documents, Sakib, as well as the settlements of Aysra and Be'na, joined the “Naheyat Ajloun” region of “Liwa Ajloun” in 1538, and later the “Naheyat Bani Alwan” region of “Liwa Ajloun”, in 1596. Later, the town belonged to an area called “Alme’rad”. The region was named "Alme’rad" ("resistance") due to its resistance against looting attacks by the Bedouin tribes. The local inhabitants led a resistance movement, which succeeded in defeating the Bedouin. Another reason for the name was the fact that the locals resisted the oppression of Ottoman rule.
My research shows that, in the late 16th century, the total population of the three villages was 33 households, including three Imams. The townspeople were required to pay a tax on both livestock and crops, as well as Waqf (charity due to Muhyiddin Ibn Sharaf al-Din Kharroub), all collected for the army. The total value of these taxes in 1538 for the three villages was 3,800 Akjh (one silver coin). This rose to 5,100 Akjh in 1596. This is an average increase of 22½ Akjh per year, indicating strong economic growth.
As per my findings, Sakib witnessed important military campaigns, including the campaign of Prince Ali Fakhr-al-Din II in 1612, when he led a military campaign on the orders of his father to pursue Farroukh Sandzak Ajloun to Karak and Nablus. Prince Ali was able to defeat him, after which he set up camp in Sakib and remained there. However, the Levant ruler Hafiz Pasha wrote to the minister Nassouh Pasha that Fakhr al-Din had besieged Damascus. Nassouh Pasha then set out on a major campaign to defeat Fakhr al-Din, who called on the help of his son, Prince Ali.
It is worth mentioning that inhabitants of Sakib and other ancient villages in Jerash region were among the founders of the modern city of Jerash in the early nineteenth century. Following the discovery of Jerash by German Orientalist Ulrich Jasper Seetzen in 1806, efforts were made to begin excavations. After the Ottoman-Russian war, a community of Circassians immigrated to Jordan from the land of the Caucasus. In addition, a large community of Syrians followed at the beginning of the twentieth century.
The Ayasrah family has made one of the most important steps that the religious consciousness when the family received Christian refugees from all over the Levant and provided protection to Christians in Transjordan. This triggered the sedition which began in 1860 and continued for many years. Prince Abdelkader El Djazairi is personally credited with saving large numbers of Christians by offering them shelter. The Ayasrah family attitude was to continue the work of Prince Abdelkader.
The Ayasrah tribe declared at that if any form of abuse or assault occur to any Christian, it would be considered an an attack on the tribe itself.
Rev. Klein, who visited Sakib in 1868, noted that some Greek Orthodox Christian families lived in Sakib side-by-side with Muslims, and stated that those Christian families produced tools needed by the farmers in exchange for a certain amount of grain. In 1869 the journal Church Missionary Intelligencer made a mention of Sakib, describing it as a beautiful, densely populated town, but lamenting the fact that there was a single Greek priest to look after the spiritual affairs of Christians in an area of 17 towns including Sakib.
However, Jewish settlements were not as fortunate. Sakib witnessed important meetings which intended to eliminate the idea of establishing Jewish settlements on the east bank of Jordan on the banks of the Zarqa River (Jabbok) in late 19th century. The tribes of Jordan held a war council in Sakib, and came to a decision to attack Jewish settlements in Zarqa River, which they were able to eliminate. I am currently researching this historical aspect; further new and never known details will be provided in a subsequent paper.
Importantly, Sakib was the focus of attention of England in the late nineteenth century. George, Prince of Wales (later King George V of England), and his brother Prince Albert Victor (Duke of Clarence and Avondale), visited Sakib in 1882 aboard Her Majesty's Ship "Bacchante", bound for the East. The two princes at that time took notes about Sakib, in which they said: “... We passed Sakib village at 9.10, and entered the Wady Hamftr (roebuck) at 9.30; long stretches of com 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 clung to the hill-side and remind some of us much of Wales, and others of Scotland ...”
The town was an important road to West, with inhabitants trading with towns and cities in the west (Palestine). Saying were there a bridge over the Jordan (river) the traffic from the east to the west side of Jordan would probably significant increase as former days. Already Acre and Haifa export corn at the rate of 200 cargoes a day, all September and October, and the only difficulty connected with the trans-Jordanic corn is its transit from these fields to the coast. Then the Princes mentioned a wide range kinds of trees, flowers, birds and animals, repeated they can scarcely believe themselves in Syria, everything looks so much like in England.
Interestingly, the British soldier and explorer Claude Reignier Conder also visited the town between 1881-1882, and described it in a very romantic way giving significant details. He said: “... 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, 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, of un-Eastern aspect which makes of Mount Gilead a veritable Land of Promise …”
He also mentions many kinds of animals, birds, trees and herbs, and tells that the region still remained a prey to the wandering Arab and the Turk. The Romans built cities, and made roads marked yet by milestones in these rugged ranges ; but with the fall of Italian power the country has reverted to the primeval nomad, who seems destined to outlive each conquering race which for a time makes Syria its own. Without a peaceful population like that of a Jewish colony would find but little opportunity for the development of the national industrious and trading spirit. The colonies would be exposed to constant apprehension of Arab attacks, and would live a life like that of the priestly Hyrcanus.
In conclusion, it can be said with confidence, that Sakib boasts a long and culture-rich history, the study of which is edifying as well as rewarding.
*Emad Abdullah Ayasrah holds a master's degree in political science. He has worked as an academic lecturer. He is currently a writer and a political analyst for Arab and global media. Ayasrah contributed this article to Ammon News English.
comment replay 