Al-Kum
Village in West Bank, Palestine From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Al-Kum (Arabic: الكوم, romanized: al-Kūm, officially known as al-Kum-al-Muwarraq-Beit Maqdum-Humsa) is a Palestinian village in the southern West Bank, part of the Hebron Governorate and located 13 kilometers west of Hebron. Its municipal borders stretch from the border with Israel in the west to boundaries of the city of Dura in the east.[6] It had a population of 1,464 in the 2017 census by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.[2]
al-Kum | |
|---|---|
| Arabic transcription(s) | |
| • Arabic | الكوم |
| • Latin | al-Kum-al-Muwarraq-Beit Maqdum-Humsa (official) |
 | |
  al-Kum Location of al-Kum within Palestine | |
| Coordinates: 31°31′53″N 34°57′38″E | |
| Palestine grid | 147/105 |
| State | State of Palestine |
| Governorate | Hebron |
| Founded | Early 19th-century |
| Government | |
| • Type | Village council (from 1996) |
| • Head of Municipality | Musharraf Rajoub[1] |
| Area | |
| • Total | 7,000 dunams (7.0 km2 or 2.7 sq mi) |
| Population (2017)[2] | |
| • Total | 1,464 |
| • Density | 210/km2 (540/sq mi) |
| Name meaning | Kh. el Kôm: the ruin of heaps[3] Kh. el Mûrak: the ruin the leafy place[4] Beit Makdûm: the house of Makdûm, personal name[5] |
Ottoman period
Early Ottoman tax registers in the 16th century have Bayt Makhdum/Bayt Maqdum located in the Nahiya of Halil of the Liwa of Quds.[7] It was classified as Mazra'a (=cultivated) land.[8]
In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Palestine found at Kh. el Kôm "traces of ruins and caves on a white hill-top." It further described it as "rather a large ruin."[9] Khurbet el Murak was described as "caves and two large foundations",[10] while at Beit Makdûm they noted "cisterns, caves, foundations, and walls, apparently an old site."[11]
British Mandate era
At the time of the 1931 census of Palestine the populations of Kh. el Kum and Kh. Muraq were counted under Dura.[12]
Jordanian era
After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the area was under Jordanian rule. The Jordanian census of 1961 found 247 inhabitants in Kaum and 150 in Muwarraq.[13]
Post-1967
After the 1967 Six-Day War, the Al-Kum area (together with the rest of the West Bank) has been under Israeli occupation.
The modern Al-Kum village was formed as a result of a 1995 merger between the villages of al-Kum, al-Muwarraq, Beit Maqdum and Humsa, with al-Kum being the largest and in the middle of the latter three. Al-Kum and Beit Maqdum were founded sometime in the early 19th century during Ottoman rule in Palestine. Most of the residents of the four villages were migrants from nearby Dura or Palestinian refugees who fled there following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The principal families are Rajoub, al-Awawda and al-Sharha. Following the founding of the modern village, a six-member village council was established to administer its affairs and provide some municipal services.[6]
The primary health care facilities for the village are at al-Kum designated by the Ministry of Health as level 1. Close by is Deir Sammit where the primary healthcare facilities are at level 2.[14]
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