Mahis
{{Infobox settlement
|name = Mahis
|other_name =
|native_name = ماحص
|nickname =
|settlement_type = Town
|motto =
|image_skyline = Mahis late winter.JPG
|imagesize = 300px
|image_caption = Late winter in Mahis, 2005
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|pushpin_map = Jordan
|pushpin_label_position = bottom
|pushpin_mapsize = 300
|pushpin_map_caption = Location in Jordan
|subdivision_type = Country
|subdivision_name = {{flag|Jordan}}
|subdivision_type1 = Governorate
|subdivision_name1 = Balqa Governorate
|subdivision_type2 = District
|subdivision_name2 = Mahis and Fuheis
|subdivision_type3 = Subdistrict
|subdivision_name3 = Mahis and Fuheis
|
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|established_title = Founded
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|unit_pref =Imperial
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|population_as_of = 2015
|population_footnotes ={{cite web|url=http://www.dos.gov.jo/dos_home_a/main/population/census2015/No_of_pop_depand_on_GOV.pdf|title=The General Census - 2015 |publisher=Department of Population Statistics}}
|population_note =
|population_total = 17,754
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|timezone =UTC+2
|utc_offset = +2
|timezone_DST = UTC+3
|utc_offset_DST = +3
|coordinates = {{coord|31|59|N|35|46|E|region:JO|display=inline}}
|grid_position = 223/155
|elevation_footnotes =
|elevation_m = 800
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Mahis ({{langx|ar|ماحص|Māḥis}}, alternatively spelled Mahas) is a town in the Balqa Governorate northwest from the governorate's capital Salt, and {{convert|10|km|mi|sp=us}} west of Amman. Its population was 17,754 in 2015. Most of the population of Mahis descends from the Abbadi tribe.[http://www.bawazir.com/arab-tribes-2.htm Bawazir.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070204035144/http://www.bawazir.com/arab-tribes-2.htm |date=2007-02-04 }} (Arabic Online) ({{langx|ar|العبادي}}). The mountainous town is located at over {{convert|800|m|ft|sp=us}},[http://indexmundi.com/zp/jo/500.htm Indexmundi.com] Online. with views on the Jordan Valley, West Bank with Jerusalem's walls visible on the horizon. Mahis is known for its orchards and its numerous water fountains and springs, notably the Fountain of Mahis.
History
Mahis is believed to emerged during the Roman period, when it bordered Jewish Perea and the territory of Philadelphia - Amman of the Decapolis, and in the Byzantine period between the territory of the dioceses of Gadara and Philadelphia.[http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/sbf/Books/LA53/LA53435RicercaGiordania.pdf RICERCA STORICO-ARCHEOLOGICAIN GIORDANIA XXIII - 2003]{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} (Pdf file Research by Basema Hamarneh) The name comes from the Arabic word ({{langx|ar|محص}}) meaning to check out and examine due to its status as a border check point.
In 1838 Mahis was noted located south of Al-Salt, and as being in ruins.Smith, in Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/169/mode/1up 169]
The village was listed in the 1915 Ottoman census for the district of Salt as Mahis and the tribe of Jabara and had a population of 505.{{cite thesis |last=Barakat |first=Nora Elizabeth |title=An Empty Land? Nomads and Property Administration in Hamidian Syria |year=Spring 2015 |publisher=University of California |location=Berkeley |type=PhD |url=https://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/etd/ucb/text/Barakat_berkeley_0028E_15239.pdf |page=158}}
The Jordanian census of 1961 found 1,154 inhabitants in Mahis.Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. [http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/JordanCensusPages/JordanCensus1961-p17.pdf 17]
By the early 1980s, the town became a practical suburb of the capital Amman.{{cite book |last1=Layne |first1=Linda L. |title=Home and Homeland: The Dialogics of Tribal and National Identities in Jordan |date=1994 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton |isbn=978-0-691-19478-3 |page=48, note 2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ViYDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA48 }}
Religious importance
In Mahis there is a shrine of Khidr, a single room surrounded by a small garden with a green flag on top.{{cite journal |title= Jordan: The Land of Prophets |journal= Islamic Tourism |date= Summer 2003 |first=Mustafa Bin-Hashim |last= Zain-Eldin |issue= 7 |pages= 66–74 |url= http://www.islamictourism.com/PDFs/Issue%207/English/66-74.pdf |format= PDF |access-date= 2010-12-27}}[http://www.asor.org/outreach/Features/elias.htm The American Schools of Oriental Research] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080602113601/http://www.asor.org/outreach/Features/elias.htm |date=2008-06-02 }} Online Near Mahies (2 km West of Mahis) in an area called Wadi Shuaib, is the grave of prophet Shuaib, or Jethro in the biblical tradition.[http://peterjclark.tripod.com/MillPics.html Peterjclark.tripod.com] Online.
Economy
Mahis is based on an agrarian economy, including wheat, barley, and tobacco as well as pomegranates, grapes and olives. The importance of agriculture is decreasing, though figs and olives are still a primary source of income. The area also produces natural goods such as kaolin which is then produced in the neighboring city Fuhais.[http://www.jordandevnet.org/news/display_news.php3?&year=2005&month=3 Jordandevnet.org] Online {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726210159/http://www.jordandevnet.org/news/display_news.php3?&year=2005&month=3 |date=July 26, 2011 }}
The southern part of the Mahis territory called Almeda also attracts tourism due to its forested mountains and location near the Dead Sea/West Bank as well as Amman. Mahis also focuses on education and is well known for its higher education academic disciplines.
Demographics
Gallery
References
{{reflist|25em}}
Bibliography
{{refbegin}}
- {{cite book | title = First Census of Population and Housing. Volume I: Final Tables; General Characteristics of the Population | author = Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics | year = 1964|url=http://cs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/JordanCensus1961bits.pdf}}
- {{cite book|last1=Robinson|first1=E.|author-link1=Edward Robinson (scholar)|last2=Smith|first2=E.|author-link2=Eli Smith|year=1841|url=http://archive.org/details/biblicalresearch03robiuoft |title=Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838| location=Boston|publisher=Crocker & Brewster|volume=3}}
{{refend}}
External links
- [http://Mahis.net/ Mahis website]
- [https://acor.digitalrelab.com/index.php?s=filter=place_name:Mahes%20(Jordan) Photos of Mahes] at the American Center of Research
{{coord|31|59|N|35|46|E|region:JO_type:city_source:enwiki-GNS|display=title}}