Hajjah | |
|---|---|
| Arabic transcription(s) | |
| • Arabic | حجة |
| • Latin | Hajjah (official) Haja (unofficial) |
  Hajjah Location of Hajjah within Palestine | |
| Coordinates: 32°12′17″N 35°07′50″E / 32.20472°N 35.13056°E | |
| Palestine grid | 162/179 |
| State | State of Palestine |
| Governorate | Qalqilya |
| Government | |
| • Type | Village council |
| Elevation | 409 m (1,342 ft) |
| Population (2017)[2] | |
| • Total | 2,659 |
| Name meaning | Kuryet Hajja, The town of Hajja, from personal name, or pathway[3] |
Hajjah (Arabic: حجة) is a Palestinian village in the northern West Bank, located eighteen kilometers west of Nablus in the Qalqilya Governorate of the State of Palestine. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 2,659 inhabitants in 2017.[2]
Hajjah features remains from the Israelite, Byzantine, and Early Muslim periods. During the Iron Age, it likely hosted inhabitants from the Tribe of Menashe.[4] In the Roman and Byzantine eras, it was identified as Kfar Hagai or Kiryat Hagga, a Samaritan village, with mentions in ancient inscriptions and Samaritan sources.[4] The village maintained its Samaritan identity through the Byzantine and Early Islamic periods, evident from the discovery of mikvehs and stone menorahs.[4] Under Mamluk rule, a mosque was constructed.[5] In the Ottoman period, Hajjah appeared in tax records with a Muslim-majority population.
Hajjah has a populace with roots in Egypt, Yemen, and Jaffa, organized into several clans, while one clan trace their lineage to Samaritan roots. The village's en-Naby Rabbah shrine, atop a tell, is believed to be the tomb of a saint, possibly linked to Baba Rabba, a 4th-century Samaritan leader, serving as a guardian of crops. This site was declared a nature reserve in 1986.
- ^ Hajja village profile, ARIJ, p. 4
- ^ a b Preliminary Results of the Population, Housing and Establishments Census, 2017 (PDF). Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) (Report). State of Palestine. February 2018. pp. 64–82. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
- ^ Palmer, 1881, p. 187
- ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference
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