As-Samu

This article is about the Palestinian village in the West Bank. For the French hospital-based emergency medical service, see SAMU.
As Samu'
Municipality type B
Arabic transcription(s)
 • Arabicالسموع
 • Latines Samu' (official)
Samua (unofficial)
As-Samu, 2007
As-Samu, 2007
Official logo of As Samu'
As Samu' is located in State of Palestine
As Samu'
As Samu'
Location of As Samu' within Palestine
Coordinates: 31°24′N 35°04′E / 31.400°N 35.067°E / 31.400; 35.067
Palestine grid156/89
StateState of Palestine
GovernorateHebron
Government
 • TypeMunicipality
 • Head of Municipalityabed ennabe elhawamde
Area
 • Total13,800 dunams (13.8 km2 or 5.3 sq mi)
Population
 (2017)[1]
 • Total26,011
 • Density1,900/km2 (4,900/sq mi)
Name meaningoriginally Eshtemoa, "Place where prayer is heard"[2]

As Samu' or es-Samu' (Arabic: السموع) (pronunciationⓘ) is a town in the Hebron Governorate of the West Bank, Palestine, 12 kilometers south of the city of Hebron and 60 kilometers southwest of Jerusalem. The town had a population of 26,011 in 2017.[1]

As-Samu' is located on a tell identified with the ancient Jewish town of Eshtemoa, from which it derives its name.[3][4] The town is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the Onomasticon, and the Jerusalem Talmud. Archaeological discoveries include a silver hoard with Hebrew inscriptions, a Jewish burial cave, and the 4th-century Eshtemoa synagogue, later converted into a mosque.[5]

Initially a small village in the early Ottoman era,[6] as-Samu' gradually grew into a larger settlement over the years. In 1966, it was the site of the Samu incident. Since the 1990s, as-Samu' has been governed by the Palestinian Authority as part of Area A of the West Bank. It is known for its handwoven kilims.[7]

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ [doi.org/10.1093/jts/os-XIII.49.83]
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Corpus inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palaestinae: a multi-lingual corpus of the inscriptions from Alexander to Muhammad. Vol. IV: Iudaea / Idumaea. Eran Lupu, Marfa Heimbach, Naomi Schneider, Hannah Cotton. Berlin: de Gruyter. 2018. p. 1412. ISBN 978-3-11-022219-7. OCLC 663773367.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference :6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).