Sajur

Sajur סָג'וּר, סאג'ור‎ ساجور‎
Hebrew transcription(s)
• ISO 259	Saǧur
Sajur
Coordinates: 32°55′53.94″N 35°19′10.51″E / 32.9316500°N 35.3195861°ECoordinates: 32°55′53.94″N 35°19′10.51″E / 32.9316500°N 35.3195861°E
District	Northern
Government
• Type	Local council
Area
• Total	3,296 dunams (3.296 km^2 or 1.273 sq mi)
Population (2006)
• Total	3,600

Sajur (Hebrew: סָג'וּר; Arabic: ساجور‎) is an Druze town (local council) in the Galilee region of northern Israel, with an area of 3,000 dunams (3 km²). It achieved recognition as an independent local council in 1992. In 2006, the population was 3,600, with an annual growth rate of 2%. Its inhabitants are predominantly members of the Druze community.

History

A salvage dig in January 2002 on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority excavated a tomb with 13 loculi that dated to the Roman–Byzantine periods, a tomb with eight or nine loculi dating to the end of the second century CE and a small tomb with a single room dating to the first–second centuries CE. The presence of many finds at the bottom of the stratigraphic sequence is evidence of Iron Age occupation at Sajur.^[1]

In the Crusader era Sajur was known as Seisor or Saor.^[2] In 1249 John Aleman transferred land, including the Casales of Beit Jann, Sajur, Majd al-Krum and Nahf to the Teutonic Knights.^[3]

Ottoman era

In 1881, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it as: "A village, built of stone, containing about 100 Druzes; in the plain, with olives and arable land; water from cisterns and spring near".^[4]

Demographics

According to Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a low ranking (3 out of 10) on the country's socioeconomic index (December 2001). The average salary that year was NIS 3,531 per month, whereas the national average was NIS 6,835.

Landmarks

According to Jewish tradition, the tombs of Ishmael ben Elisha ha-Kohen and Simeon Shezuri are located in Sajur.^[5]

References

1. Barbe, 2006, Sajur
2. Frankel, 1988, pp. 265, 267
3. Strehlke, 1869, pp. 78-79, No. 100; cited in Röhricht, 1893, RHH, p. 308, No. 1175; cited in Frankel, 1988, p. 254
4. Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 204
5. Hadad, David. (2007), Ma'aseh Avos. Feldheim Publishers. p. 211 and p. 496. ISBN 1583309632

Bibliography

• Barbé, Hervé (2006-08-09). "Sajur Final Report" (118). Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel.
• Barron, J. B., ed. (1923). Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922 (PDF). Government of Palestine.
• Conder, Claude Reignier; Kitchener, Herbert H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology 1. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund. (p. 208 )
• Frankel, Rafael (1988). "Topographical notes on the territory of Acre in the Crusader period". Israel Exploration Journal 38 (4): 249–272.
• Guérin, Victor (1880). Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine (in French). 3: Galilee, pt. 1. Paris: L'Imprimerie Nationale. (p. 453)
• Hadawi, Sami (1970). Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine. Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center. (p. 41)
• Mills, E., ed. (1932). Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas (PDF). Jerusalem: Government of Palestine.
• Palmer, E. H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund. (p. 93)
• Röhricht, Reinhold (1893). (RRH) Regesta regni Hierosolymitani (MXCVII-MCCXCI) (in Latin). Berlin: Libraria Academica Wageriana.
• Strehlke, Ernst, ed. (1869). Tabulae Ordinis Theutonici ex tabularii regii Berolinensis codice potissimum. Berlin: Weidmanns.

External links

• Welcome To Sajur
• Survey of Western Palestine, Map 4: IAA, Wikimedia commons