As-Salt

Al-Salt السلط Saltus
City
Clockwise from the left top: Al-Salt's skyline, Great Mosque of Al-Salt, St. George Church, Latin Church, Al-Salt Castle, Al-Salt Archaeological Museum, Al-Hammam Road and Al-Salt Small Mosque.
Nickname: Σάλτος(Ancient Greek)
Al-Salt Location in Jordan
Coordinates:32°02′N35°44′E
Grid position	218/160
Country	Jordan
Governorate	Balqa Governorate
Founded	300 B.C.
Municipality	1887
Government
• Type	Municipality
• Mayor	Mohammad Abdulkareem Alhyari
Area
• City	48 km2(19 sq mi)
• Metro	79 km2(31 sq mi)
Elevation	820 m (2,690 ft)
Population (2018)
• City	107,874
• Density	1,479/km2(3,830/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+2(UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3(UTC+3)
Area code	+(962)5
Website	www.salt.gov.jo/ar
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name	Al-Salt - The Place of Tolerance and Urban Hospitality
Type	Cultural
Criteria	ii, iii
Designated	2021
Reference no.	689
Region	Arab States

Al-Salt in snow.jpg

Al-Salt(Arabic:السلطAl-Salt),also known asSalt,is an ancient trading city and administrative centre in west-centralJordan.It is on the old main highway leading fromAmmantoJerusalem.Situated in theBalqa highland,about 790–1,100 metres above sea level, the city is built in the crook of three hills, close to theJordan Valley.One of the three hills, Jabal al-Qal'a, is the site of a 13th-century ruined fortress. It is the capital ofBalqa Governorateof Jordan.

TheGreater Salt Municipalityhas about 107,874 inhabitants (2018).

In 2021, the city of Salt was inscribed at theUNESCO World Heritage list.

Etymology

The name "Salt" is derived from the Latin wordsaltus,which means "forest".

History

It is not known when the city was first inhabited, but it is believed to have been built by theMacedonianarmy during the reign ofAlexander the Great.The city was known asSaltusinByzantinetimes and was the seat of abishopric.At this time, the city was considered to be the principal settlement on theEast Bankof theJordan River.The settlement was destroyed by theMongolsand then rebuilt during the reign of theMamluksultanBaibars(1260–1277).

Salt was once the most important settlement in the area between the Jordan Valley and the eastern desert. Because of its history as an important trading link between the eastern desert and the west, it was a significant place for the region's many rulers.

The Romans, Byzantines and Mameluks all contributed to the growth of the city, but it was at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, when theOttomansestablished a regional administrative capital in Salt and encouraged settlement from other parts of their empire, that Salt enjoyed its most prosperous period.

Ottoman period

A street in the Old City with Ottoman motifs

Stairs leading past houses in the Old City

In 1596, during theOttoman Empire,Salt was noted in thecensusas being located in thenahiyaof Salt in theliwaofAjlun,with aMuslimpopulation of 40 households and 5 bachelors; and aChristianpopulation of 25 households. The villagers paid a fixed tax-rate of 25% on various agricultural products; including wheat, barley, olive trees/vineyards, goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues and a market toll; a total of 12,000akçe.

By the end of the 18th century, Salt was the sole permanent settlement in theBalqa region,a situation which persisted well into the 19th century.The rest of the Balqa was dominated by the local Bedouin tribes.It was the most developed city and commercial center of Transjordan from the 18th century until the early years of theEmirate of Transjordan.The city's drinking water was supplied by two abundant springs, which also irrigated the town gardens along theWadi Shu'aybstream. It was situated along the slopes of a conical hill, at the top of which stood a fort, and along the ridges of two deep abutting valleys, which provided a natural defense against encroachments by neighboring Bedouin tribes. Salt's inhabitants negotiated terms with the tribes, who guaranteed the townspeople access to their wheat fields in the Balqa's eastern plains in return for giving the tribesmen access to the town's extensive markets.Sharecropping agreements were formed with the tribes whereby Salt townspeople would encamp in Amman and Wadi Wala in the spring until harvest and paid an annual tribute to the dominant tribe of the Balqa.Until around the 1810s, the paramount tribe was theAdwan,known as "lords of the Balqa".Afterward, the Banu Sakhr overtook the Adwan and collected the tribute from Salt.

The city's defenses and isolation in a land practically controlled by Bedouin tribes also enabled its inhabitants to ignore the impositions of the Ottoman authorities without consequence.Western travelers in the early 19th century reported that the leader of the town effectively wielded the same authority as any of the provincial governors ofOttoman Syriaappointed by the sultan.

In the early 19th century, the townspeople mostly belonged to the clans of Fakhoury, Akrad, Awamila and Qatishat. Each clan was headed by its own sheikh, one or two of whom would act as theshaykh al-balad(city leader), who was based in the fort and was in charge of protecting Salt from Bedouin attack.The population consisted of about four hundred Muslim and eighty Christian families.According to the observations of Buckingham in the 1820s, roughly 100 Christians in Salt were immigrants fromNazarethwho moved to the town to avoid the exactions ofJazzar Pasha,the Ottoman governor ofAcre.Muslim–Christian relations were amicable and the two communities shared the same lifestyles, dress and the Arabic language.Salt was organized into quarters, each controlled by one of three main clans, and contained a number of mosques, a church and about twenty shops during this period.Salt served the surrounding countryside as far asKarak,which lacked a market until the late 19th century, and goods in its market originated as far asTyreand Egypt.It exported raisins,sumacleaves for the tanneries ofJerusalem,qili(a type of ash, a key ingredient ofNabulsi soap) toNablus,and ostrich feathers supplied by the Bedouin to Damascus.Nablus was Salt's primary partner,and Salt served as the Transjordanian center of the Nablus-basedTuqan family.Although most of the inhabitants were farmers, there were also craftsmen and smaller numbers of shopkeepers, the latter of whom were commissioned by merchants in Nablus, Nazareth and Damascus.

In 1834 the townspeople and local Bedouin fought together to drive out the forces of the practically autonomous province ofEgyptled byIbrahim Pasha,the first recorded clash of thePeasants' revolt in Palestine.Ottoman rule in the Levant was restored in 1840, but Salt remained only nominally part of the Empire.In 1866–1867, the governor of DamascusMehmed Rashid Pasha(1866–1871) extended the imperialTanzimatcentralization and modernization reforms in Transjordan.He led a large force of Bedouin tribesmen from theRwala,Wuld Aliand Banu Hasan,Hauranplainsmen,Druzemountaineers and regular infantry, cavalry and artillery troops toward Salt, stopping three hours north of the city.From there, he offered to pardon Salt's inhabitants for allying with the Adwan and Banu Sakhr against the authorities.The city organized a delegation of Muslim and Christian grandees who negotiated the unopposed entry of the Ottomans into Salt on 17 August.Rashid Pasha repaired the damaged fort where he garrisoned 400 troops.He appointed the Damascene Kurd Faris Agha Kadru as Salt's first district governor and established an elected administrative council composed of Salt's elite families.Rashid Pasha confiscated huge qualities of grain and livestock from the town as compensation for tax arrears.

Salt's heyday was in the late 19th century, when traders arrived fromNablusto expand their trading network eastwards beyond theJordan River.As a result of the influx of newcomers this period saw the rapid expansion of Salt from a simple village into a city with many architecturally elegant buildings, many built in theNablusistyle from the attractive honey-coloured local stone. A large number of buildings from this era survive as of 2009.

British Mandate, Emirate, and independence

DuringWorld War I,Salt wascapturedfrom the Ottomans by the third battalion of theJewish Legionof theBritish expeditionary corps,and its commander,Eliezer Margolin,was made military governor of Salt.

After the war, the town was the site whichHerbert Samuel,British High Commissioner of Palestine, chose to make his announcement that the British favoured aHejaziHashemiteruled entity on the East Bank of the Mandatory Palestine (current Jordan). This wish became reality in 1921 whenAbdullah Ibecame Emir of Transjordan. Salt seemed to be the city that would be chosen as the capital of the new emirate since most of the industry and commerce flowed through Salt. During this period Salt had no high schools. Even so, Abdullah picked the city as the capital of his emerging emirate but later changed his mind and moved his compound and entourage to Amman when he and the notables of Salt had a disagreement.Amman at that time was a small city of only 20,000 people which experienced rapid growth.

The Jordanian census of 1961 found 16,176 inhabitants in Al-Salt,of whom 2,157 were Christian.

Municipal districts

Closed shops in an As-Salt souk

The Greater Salt Municipality is divided into nine districts:

	District	Population (2018)
1	Salt City	107,874
2	Zai	4552
3	Umm Jouzeh	3177
4	Diyreh Ash-Sharqiyyeh	1488
5	Al-Yazeediyeh	1559
6	Yarqa	6688
7	Ira	4396
8	Allan	4042
9	Rumaimeen	2511
10	Modari	1419
11	Za'tari	1636
12	Hdaib	435
13	Wadi Innaqah	590
14	Um Khroubeh	758
15	Wadi As-Sahn	79
16	Um Al-A'mad	1655
17	Da'am	470
18	Sala'uf	750
19	Jal'ad	1255
20	Wasiyeh	504
21	Misheerfeh	295
22	Wadi Shuy'ayb	946

Education

Salt contains many schools, including a public secondary school dating back to 1918, as well as many private schools that date back to the 1800s, such as the Latin School and the Catholic School. It is also the home of theHoly Land Institute for the Deaf,a non-profit educational center for people with hearing impairment. The city has two universities surrounding it:Al-Balqa` Applied Universityestablished in 1997 andAl-Ahliyya Amman University(Amman National University) located on the highway connectingAmmanto Salt.

Tourism

Ottoman mansions

At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, when the Ottomans established a regional administrative base in Salt and encouraged settlement from other parts of the empire, the city's status increased, many merchants arrived and, with their newly acquired wealth, built the fine houses that can still be admired in Salt today.

These splendid yellow sandstone buildings incorporate a variety of styles. Typically, they have domed roofs, interior courtyards and characteristic tall, arched windows. Perhaps the most beautiful is the Abu Jaber mansion, built between 1892 and 1906, which has frescoed ceilings, painted by Italian artists, and is reputed to be the finest example of a 19th-century merchant house in the region.

Roman tombs and Ayyubid citadel

Tightly built on a cluster of three hills, Salt has several other places of interest, including Roman tombs on the outskirts of the city and the citadel and site of the town's early 13th centuryAyyubidfortress, which was built byAl-Mu'azzam Isa,the nephew ofSaladinsoon after AD 1198.

Museums

Salt's Archaeological & Folklore Museum displays artifacts dating back to theChalcolithicperiod to the Islamic era as well as other items relating to the history of the area. In the folklore museum there is presentation of Bedouin and traditional costumes and everyday folkloric items. A small museum and a handicraft school are presenting the traditional skills of ceramics, weaving, silk-screen printing and dyeing.

Muslim shrines

In the city of Salt and its environs, there are several Muslim shrines at the traditional tombs of theprophetsShuaib,Ayyoub, Yusha, and Jadur, the Arabic names of thebiblicalcharactersJethro,Job,Joshua,andGad.These sites of Muslim pilgrimage are known as An-Nabi Shu'ayb, An-Nabi Ayyub, An-Nabi Yusha' bin Noon, and 'Ayn al-Jadur ( "Spring of Jadur" ) respectively,an-nabibeing Arabic for "the prophet".

International relations

See also:List of twin towns and sister cities in Jordan

Gallery

• 
  The hills around Salt in spring
• 
  The hills around Salt in winter
• 
  View of Salt from street level
• 
  Tomb of the ProphetShuaib,near Salt

Bibliography

• Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics (1964).First Census of Population and Housing. Volume I: Final Tables; General Characteristics of the Population(PDF).
• Hütteroth, W.-D.;Abdulfattah, K.(1977).Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century.Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft.ISBN3-920405-41-2.
• Rogan, Eugene L.(2002).Frontiers of the State in the Late Ottoman Empire: Transjordan, 1850-1921.Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-052189223-0.
• Rood, Judith Mendelsohn (2004).Sacred Law in the Holy City: The Khedival Challenge To The Ottomans As Seen From Jerusalem, 1829-1841.Brill.ISBN978-900413810-0.
• "Salt Greater Municipality".Archived fromthe originalon 29 October 2010.Retrieved25 May2018.
• van der Steen, Eveline (2014).Near Eastern Tribal Societies During the Nineteenth Century: Economy, Society and Politics Between Tent and Town.Routledge.ISBN978-1-908049-83-4.

External links

• Archival photos of Saltat theAmerican Center of Research
• "HomePage".www.salt.gov.jo.Retrieved24 September2023.