Huwwarah

Photo taken from East to West by Sinan Gharaibeh, July 2007

Huwwarah, also spelled Huwwara and Huwarrah, (Arabic: حوّاره) is a village in north . Jordan[] المملكة الأردنية الهاشمية It is situated in the Governorate of Irbid. It is one of many agricultural villages in the fertile mud plains of Houran (also spelled Hawran). The mud plains of Houran bridge the gap between the Golan Heights in the west and the Sham desert to the east. The southern part of Houran is in North Jordan. Huwwarah if flanked by the ancient sites of Ramoth-Gilead (Ramtha, Jordan) in Gilead to the east and Arabella (Irbid) to the west. North, it is bordered by Sal and Bishra, and south and southeast it is bordered by Sareeh.

It has a population estimated around 15,000. The two major families (tribes or clans) in Huwarra are: the Gharaibeh Family and Al Shatnawi Family. Other tribes/clans include: el Ghuzlan, el Haddad, el Karasneh (thought to be the original settlers of the village), el Lawabneh, el Shar' (or Shroo'), and el Tanash. Huwara is situated about 5 km to the East of Irbid. It is famous for its rich soil (rust colored mud soil) and wheat crops.

Geography

• Huwwarah in June 1991
  Huwwarah in June 1991
• Houran
  Houran

Huwwarah is in North Jordan. It is part of the Mud Plains of Houran. The Houran lies west of Jabal ed Druze and stretches from the outskirts of Southern Damascus to the Zarqa River in Jordan. It is part of Bilad esh Sham.

• Aerial picture
  Aerial picture

History

The history of Huwwarah is part of the history of Houran. See [1] for Burckhardt's (Johann Ludwig Burckhardt)'s account of a relatively recent history of the area (the winter of 1810). It is unknown when Huwwarah was permanently settled. Some of the older stone buildings in the village suggest the mid 1800s. However, mud houses must have existed long before that, based on the number of generations the elderly reported through oral tradition. It is expected that there lived at least 12 generations so far in Huwwarah, making the estimated date of settlement between 1700 and 1750 CE (AD). Nahiya Bani Juhma Mir miran wa za’ama wa timar Huwara Type of fiscal unit: qarya Khana/mujarrad (family heads [in effect families]/bachelors) of the Muslim population: 21/11 [around 150 people]. Percentage of taxation on agricultural products: 25% Tax details (in aqja) • Gamoh (wheat): 1500 • Sha’eer (barley): 450 • Mal Sayfi (summer crops including dhura, melons, beans, vegetables, etc. ): 700 • Bad-i hawa wa rasm ‘arus (occasional revenues, e.g. punishments, marriage tax, etc.): 160 • Ma’iz wa nahl (goats and beehives): 190 • Yakun (total of all taxes): 3000 (source: Hutteroth and Abdulfattah's (1977)Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the late 16th Century, which was culled from daftar-i mufassal der liwa'-i Sham ash-shareef (der Qada'-i Hwaran) compiled in 1005 A.H (this was the last year the Ottoman empire managed to do a census and collect revenue data in the region until the Tanzimat period in the 19th century).

The village also contains numerous sites were some coins from Hellenistic or Roman periods were found. Furthermore, there is an agricultural section of east of Huwwarah called Dhahr El Muqhur (roofs of the caves) which is apprently a necropolis to a nearby settlement that may have been the village itself. This makes perfect sense in view of the fact that Huwwarah is in the heart of the area that contained the Decapolis union of ten famous trade town the most famous of which is Jerash and Gadara (Um Qais).

Arabic Dialect Hourani or Hawarneh

The link below is an audiovisual document of the Hourani (or Hauran) dialect, (Hawarneh dialect) lahjat el Hawarneh. The Arabic language is characterized by Diglossia (the Standard and the local dialect can be so removed from each other that a North African or Sudanese may not understand a Jordanian Hourani or a Syrian fallah from Hauran. The Diglossia is especially problematic in written script: Writing the sound of the Gaf (as in the English Goat, Gut, God, etc) or the Chah sound (as in Chayf 7alich 'How are you-for the woman') and many other "phonemes" is very difficult.

http://www.neurosurgery.tv/10march2008.html

SCHOOLS

Al-Tatbeeqat also known as el-Namouzajeyyeh

• 
  First Grade of 1972 Midrasat et Tatbeeqat

Dress

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  Hattah

Huwwarah architecture

• 
  Dar (House of) Saleem Muhammad -el Hamad-
• 
  Dar Abu Habis (Dhaifallah el Mahmoud)
• 
  Dar Abu Ghaleb (Rasheed el Mahmoud)
• 
  Dar Qasim Tanash Courtesy of Ahmed Abdallah Jameel Gharaibeh

Cuisine

• 
  Famous Dishes
• More dishes
  More dishes

References

Hutteroth and Abdulfattah's (1977) Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the late 16th Century, which was culled from daftar-i mufassal der liwa'-i Sham ash-shareef (der Qada'-i Hwaran) compiled in 1005 A.H (this was the last year the Ottoman empire managed to do a census and collect revenue data in the region until the Tanzimat period in the 19th century).