Sheikh Danun
Encyclopedia
Sheikh Danun; also transliterated as Sheikh Dannun and Sheikh Danon) is an Arab
village located in Israel
's North District
. Since 1948, it has been made up of two old villages - Shaykh Danun and Shaykh Dawud (or Daud, meaning "David") - which were merged, and are now jointly referred to as Sheikh Danun. Located on a hill overlooking the plains of Acre
, both of these old villages were built around a tomb for a sheikh
, and share a similar history.
were discovered in the north of the modern day village, at the end of a shaft leading from a man-made cave carved into the northern slope of the chalk hill upon which Sheikh Dawud is situated. Potsherds dating to the Byzantine
and Ottoman
periods have also been collected at the site. An old quarry has been excavated, including a small area probably used as a winepress.
Khirbet Buda, another ancient site identified at the southeast corner of the modern village, contains remains from the Roman or Byzantine period. These include three oil presses, tombs with loculi
of which one is engraved with a cross, and one grave with a square courtyard containing three arcosolia
. Under the name Kfar Barada (possibly a calligraphic error) it was mentioned as part of the domain of the Crusaders during the hudna
between the Crusaders based in Acre
and the Mamluk
sultan al-Mansur (Qalawun
) in 1283.
Both villages are mentioned in the writings of Western travellers to Ottoman
Palestine in the 19th century. Andrew Alexander Bonar and Robert Murray M'Cheyne
who visited in the mid-19th century describe Sheikh Daud as one of many small villages scattered over a "beautiful plain", located just off the road, that was "once a Christian village." V. Guérin, who visited the place later that same century, described Danun as a hamlet grouped around the tomb of Shaykh Danun. Of the shrine (wali
) in neighbouring Shaykh Dawud, he writes that it was surmounted by two dome
s, one larger than the other and estimated the population of that hamlet to be about 50. One house in the village is described as larger and better built than the others and said to belong to a powerful sheikh
.
The Survey of Western Palestine (1881) writes of Shaykh Danun that it was a "small village, built of stone and mud, contains about 50 Muslims, on the edge of a plain, with stream of water near." Shaykh Dawud is similarly described, but with 70 Muslims, and "surrounded by olives and arable land."
During British rule over Mandate Palestine
, the 1931 census of Palestine
listed 39 inhabited houses in Sheikh Danun, populated by 155 Muslim inhabitants. Sheikh Dawud had 48 houses, inhabited by 222 Muslims.
According to Dawud Bader, Sheikh Danun has later received many new inhabitants, including internally displaced persons from the depopulated Palestinian
villages of Al-Ghabisiyya
, Amqa
, Kuwaykat
, Al-Nahr
and Umm al-Faraj
.
(shrine), with a few houses and rock-cuttings located nearby. Andrew Petersen, an archaeologist specializing in Islamic architecture
, visited the Maqam Shaykh Danun in 1991, and notes that though it is hidden amongst houses, it is visible because of its tall white dome. He describes the shrine as consisting of two parts: one modern concrete
annex on the north side, and one older part containing a prayer room and a mausoleum
. The prayer room was built after the mausoleum, probably during the period of Ottoman rule
in Palestine
. A large square room roofed by a large dome, it has a mihrab
in the south wall, next to a modern stone minbar
. The mausoleum has an iwan
at its north end, and the stone cenotaph
beneath it is covered in green cloth. Below a wooden frame in the middle of the room is the entrance to a cave. Based on the design, Petersen determined that the mausoleum may date to the Mamluk era
, while the cave is probably a Byzantine era
tomb that was subsequently reused.
The Maqam Shaykh Dawud stands in the middle of a cemetery
on the summit of a hill. It is covered by two large domes and one smaller one. The interior is divided into two parts, consisting of a prayer room and a mausoleum. The mausoleum contains two cenotaphs. According to the villagers, Dawud (Arabic for "David") was a Muslim warrior who died fighting the Crusaders
. Petersen dates the mausoleum to the medieval period (i.e. pre-16th century), while the prayer room might be newer, possibly from Ottoman times.
(2006), the village had a population of 2,300 mostly Muslim
inhabitants.
Arab citizens of Israel
Arab citizens of Israel refers to citizens of Israel who are not Jewish, and whose cultural and linguistic heritage or ethnic identity is Arab....
village located in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
's North District
North District (Israel)
The Northern District is one of Israel's six administrative districts. The Northern District has a land area of 4,478 km², which increases to 4,638 km² when both land and water are included...
. Since 1948, it has been made up of two old villages - Shaykh Danun and Shaykh Dawud (or Daud, meaning "David") - which were merged, and are now jointly referred to as Sheikh Danun. Located on a hill overlooking the plains of Acre
Acre, Israel
Acre , is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the country....
, both of these old villages were built around a tomb for a sheikh
Sheikh
Not to be confused with sikhSheikh — also spelled Sheik or Shaikh, or transliterated as Shaykh — is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor"...
, and share a similar history.
History
The history of the site is ancient. Burial chambers dated to the Intermediate Bronze AgeBronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
were discovered in the north of the modern day village, at the end of a shaft leading from a man-made cave carved into the northern slope of the chalk hill upon which Sheikh Dawud is situated. Potsherds dating to the Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
and Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
periods have also been collected at the site. An old quarry has been excavated, including a small area probably used as a winepress.
Loculus (architecture)
Loculus is a Latin word literally meaning little place and was used in a number of senses. In architecture it is a recess large enough to receive a human corpse. Usually found in either a catacomb, hypogeum, mausoleum or other place of entombment. Loculus can also refer to an alternative name for...
of which one is engraved with a cross, and one grave with a square courtyard containing three arcosolia
Arcosolium
An arcosolium is an arched recess used as a place of entombment. The word is from Latin arcus, "arch", and solium, "sill" ....
. Under the name Kfar Barada (possibly a calligraphic error) it was mentioned as part of the domain of the Crusaders during the hudna
Hudna
Hudna is an Arabic term meaning a temporary "truce" or "armistice" as well as "calm" or "quiet", coming from a verbal root meaning "calm". It is sometimes translated as "cease-fire"...
between the Crusaders based in Acre
Acre, Israel
Acre , is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the country....
and the Mamluk
Mamluk
A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...
sultan al-Mansur (Qalawun
Qalawun
Saif ad-Dīn Qalawun aṣ-Ṣāliḥī was the seventh Mamluk sultan of Egypt...
) in 1283.
Both villages are mentioned in the writings of Western travellers to Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
Palestine in the 19th century. Andrew Alexander Bonar and Robert Murray M'Cheyne
Robert Murray M'Cheyne
Robert Murray M'Cheyne was a minister in the Church of Scotland from 1835 to 1843. He was born at Edinburgh, was educated at the University of Edinburgh and at the Divinity Hall of his native city, where he was taught by Thomas Chalmers. He first served as an assistant to John Bonar in the parish...
who visited in the mid-19th century describe Sheikh Daud as one of many small villages scattered over a "beautiful plain", located just off the road, that was "once a Christian village." V. Guérin, who visited the place later that same century, described Danun as a hamlet grouped around the tomb of Shaykh Danun. Of the shrine (wali
Wali
Walī , is an Arabic word meaning "custodian", "protector", "sponsor", or authority as denoted by its definition "crown". "Wali" is someone who has "Walayah" over somebody else. For example, in Fiqh the father is wali of his children. In Islam, the phrase ولي الله walīyu 'llāh...
) in neighbouring Shaykh Dawud, he writes that it was surmounted by two dome
Dome
A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....
s, one larger than the other and estimated the population of that hamlet to be about 50. One house in the village is described as larger and better built than the others and said to belong to a powerful sheikh
Sheikh
Not to be confused with sikhSheikh — also spelled Sheik or Shaikh, or transliterated as Shaykh — is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor"...
.
The Survey of Western Palestine (1881) writes of Shaykh Danun that it was a "small village, built of stone and mud, contains about 50 Muslims, on the edge of a plain, with stream of water near." Shaykh Dawud is similarly described, but with 70 Muslims, and "surrounded by olives and arable land."
During British rule over Mandate Palestine
Mandate Palestine
Mandate Palestine existed while the British Mandate for Palestine, which formally began in September 1923 and terminated in May 1948, was in effect...
, the 1931 census of Palestine
1931 census of Palestine
The 1931 census of Palestine was the second census carried out by the authorities of the British Mandate of Palestine. It was carried out on 18 November 1931 under the direction of Major E. Mills. The first census had been conducted in 1922...
listed 39 inhabited houses in Sheikh Danun, populated by 155 Muslim inhabitants. Sheikh Dawud had 48 houses, inhabited by 222 Muslims.
According to Dawud Bader, Sheikh Danun has later received many new inhabitants, including internally displaced persons from the depopulated Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
villages of Al-Ghabisiyya
Al-Ghabisiyya
Al-Ghabisiyya was an Arab village in northern Palestine, 16 km north-east of Acre in present-day Israel. It was depopulated by the Israel Defence Forces during the 1948-1950 period and remains deserted.-History:...
, Amqa
Amqa
Amka or Amqa is a moshav in the Matte Asher Regional Council of Israel's North District, near Acre. The name Amka is thought to preserve that of Beth Ha-Emek, a city mentioned in . The location of the Jewish village roughly corresponds the former Palestinian Arab village, depopulated during the...
, Kuwaykat
Kuwaykat
Kuwaykat was a Druze Palestinian village 9 km northeast of Acre in the British mandate of Palestine District of Acre, depopulated in 1948.-History:...
, Al-Nahr
Al-Nahr
al-Nahr was a Palestinian village 14 km northeast of Acre. It was depopulated in May 1948 after a military assault carried out by the Carmeli Brigade as part of the Israel Defence Force's Operation Ben-Ami. Immediately after the assault the village of al-Nahr was razed.-History:The twin...
and Umm al-Faraj
Umm al-Faraj
-Location:The village was situated on a flat spot in the Acre plain, northeast of Acre.-History:The village was known to the Crusaders as Le Fierge....
.
Shrines
A report by the Palestine Antiquities Department (1931) on Shaykh Danun found that the village contained a built maqamMaqam
- Musical structures :* Arabic maqam, melodic modes* Mugam genre of Azeri-speaking cultures* Maqam al-iraqi genre of Iraq* Weekly Maqam prayer services of Sephardic Jewish culture* Makam, melody types of Turkey* Muqam, melody type of Uyghur culture...
(shrine), with a few houses and rock-cuttings located nearby. Andrew Petersen, an archaeologist specializing in Islamic architecture
Islamic architecture
Islamic architecture encompasses a wide range of both secular and religious styles from the foundation of Islam to the present day, influencing the design and construction of buildings and structures in Islamic culture....
, visited the Maqam Shaykh Danun in 1991, and notes that though it is hidden amongst houses, it is visible because of its tall white dome. He describes the shrine as consisting of two parts: one modern concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
annex on the north side, and one older part containing a prayer room and a mausoleum
Mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...
. The prayer room was built after the mausoleum, probably during the period of Ottoman rule
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
in Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
. A large square room roofed by a large dome, it has a mihrab
Mihrab
A mihrab is semicircular niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the qibla; that is, the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca and hence the direction that Muslims should face when praying...
in the south wall, next to a modern stone minbar
Minbar
A minbar is a pulpit in the mosque where the imam stands to deliver sermons or in the Hussainia where the speaker sits and lectures the congregation...
. The mausoleum has an iwan
Iwan
An iwan is a rectangular hall or space, usually vaulted, walled on three sides, with one end entirely open. The formal gateway to the iwan is called pishtaq, a Persian term for a portal projecting from the facade of a building, usually decorated with calligraphy bands, glazed tilework, and...
at its north end, and the stone cenotaph
Cenotaph
A cenotaph is an "empty tomb" or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been interred elsewhere. The word derives from the Greek κενοτάφιον = kenotaphion...
beneath it is covered in green cloth. Below a wooden frame in the middle of the room is the entrance to a cave. Based on the design, Petersen determined that the mausoleum may date to the Mamluk era
Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)
The Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt was the final independent Egyptian state prior to the establishment of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty in 1805. It lasted from the overthrow of the Ayyubid Dynasty until the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517. The sultanate's ruling caste was composed of Mamluks, Arabised...
, while the cave is probably a Byzantine era
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
tomb that was subsequently reused.
The Maqam Shaykh Dawud stands in the middle of a cemetery
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
on the summit of a hill. It is covered by two large domes and one smaller one. The interior is divided into two parts, consisting of a prayer room and a mausoleum. The mausoleum contains two cenotaphs. According to the villagers, Dawud (Arabic for "David") was a Muslim warrior who died fighting the Crusaders
Crusaders
The Crusaders are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Christchurch that competes in the Super Rugby competition. They are the most successful team in Super Rugby history with seven titles...
. Petersen dates the mausoleum to the medieval period (i.e. pre-16th century), while the prayer room might be newer, possibly from Ottoman times.
Demographics
Sheikh Danun is one of the two Arab localities in the Matte Asher Regional Council. According to the Israel Central Bureau of StatisticsIsrael Central Bureau of Statistics
The Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , abbreviated CBS, is an Israeli government office established in 1949 to carry out research and publish statistical data on all aspects of Israeli life, including population, society, economy, industry, education and physical infrastructure.It is headed by a...
(2006), the village had a population of 2,300 mostly Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
inhabitants.
External links
- Al-Sheikh Dannun photos, by Dr. Moslih Kanaaneh
- al Shaykh Dannun