Ein Siniya (, ‘Ayn Sîniyâ) is a small Palestinian village in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate, north of Ramallah, and approximately 1km northeast from Jifna.Grant, 1921, p. 223. It lies in a valley surrounded with olive and fig-terraces.
Location 'Ein Siniya is located (horizontally) 8km east of Ramallah. It is bordered by Yabrud and Ein Yabrud to the east, 'Atara and Silwad to the north, Jifna and Birzeit to the west, and Jifna and Dura al-Qar' to the south.Ein Siniya, Village profile, ARIJ, p. 4
History Antiquity Numerous rock-cut tombs have been found around the village.Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 302
Clermont-Ganneau identified Ein Siniya with Biblical Jeshanah and Isana of Josephus, but modern authors place that at Kh. el-Burn.Clermont-Ganneau, 1896, pp. 290 -294; cited in Finkelstein et al., 1997, p. 554 In 1872, a rock-cut tomb with a Hebrew inscription was found in the village,Quarterly Statement, July, 1872, p. 87 and Clermont-Ganneau later deciphered its beginning as "Hananiah, son of Eleazar, son of...".Clermont-Ganneau, 1896, vol 2, p. 285-6
Ein Siniya has usually been identified as the Crusader village Aineseins, which was one of 21 villages given by King Godfrey as a fief to the canons of the Holy Sepulchre.Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 11de Roziére, 1849, p. 30: Aessens, p.263: Aineseins, both cited in Röhricht, 1893, RRH, pp. 16-17, No 74Rey, 1883, p. 376Röhricht, 1887, p. 205; cited in Finkelstein et al., 1997, p. 554 However, C. N. Johns, writing in 1939, thought that Aineseins was located by Tel Beit Shemesh.
Claude Reignier Conder and Herbert Kitchener wrote in 1882 that a small Crusader fort appeared to have been situated there,Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 291 however, this has not been verified by later sources.Pringle, 1997, p. 20 Additionally, Conder and Kitchener mention the tomb with a Hebrew inscription that was discovered at the location, as well as a gateway adorned door that they thought was of Arab Christian origin.Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 302
Ottoman era During Palestine's rule by the Ottoman Empire (16th-19th centuries), Ein Siniya was located in the sheikhdom of Bani Zeid, in the Jerusalem Sanjak. In 1556, it was the smallest village in the sheikhdom, having under ten households.Singer, 1994, p. 77 Potsherds from the early Ottoman period have been found.Finkelstein et al., 1997, p. 554 In the Ottoman census of 1596, Ein Siniya was a part of the nahiya ("subdistrict") of Jerusalem, which was under the administration of the Jerusalem Sanjak. The village had a population of 12 households, all Muslim, and paid taxes on wheat, barley, olives, vineyards, fruit trees, occasional revenues, beehives and/or goats; a total of 4,300 akçe.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 117
Prior to the 1834 peasants' revolt, Ein Siniya belonged to the Bani Murrah tribe. After the revolt, the sheikhs were appointed by Ibrahim Pasha.Macalister and Masterman, 1905, p. 354 In 1838, Biblical scholar Edward Robinson found the village to be surrounded with vineyards and fruit-trees. There were also gardens of vegetables, watered from a well.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, p. 80 It was further noted as Muslim village, located in the Beni Murrah district, north of Jerusalem.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 125
In 1870, the French explorer Victor Guérin visited the village, which he found to have two hundred inhabitants.Guérin, 1875, p. 38 Socin found from an official Ottoman village list from about the same year (1870) that Ein Siniya had 57 houses and a population of 218, though the population count included men only.Socin, 1879, p. 143. It was noted that it was located in the Beni Murra districtHartmann, 1883, p. 115 noted 67 houses
In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described Ain Sinia as a small village, but of "undoubted antiquity." Early in the 20th century, Ain Sinya was "practically" the property of a wealthy Arab native of Jerusalem who influenced authorities to build a carriage road next to Ein Siniya to benefit the village. In 1907 the population was Muslim. At the same time it was noted that Ein Siniya, unlike other Arab villages in the area, grew mulberry and walnut trees in abundance instead of olive or fig groves.
In 1896 the population of 'Ain Sinja was estimated to be about 237 persons.Schick, 1896, p. 122
Moshe Sharett, later Prime Minister of Israel, lived in Ein Siniya for two years, in 1906-1908, after the family's immigration from Ukraine. During this period, Sharett's father and two uncles ran a farmstead which included an olive-oil press and a flour mill.A Dove Among Hawks: Moshe Sharett: The Political Tragedy of an Israeli Leader
British Mandate era In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, the population numbered 114, Muslims,Barron, 1922, Table VII, Sub-district of Ramalllah, p. 16 increasing in the 1931 census to 288, in 59 inhabited houses. 15 villagers were Christian, the rest Muslim.Mills, 1932, p. 49
In 1945 statistics Ein Siniya had a population of 330 inhabitants; 310 Muslims and 20 Christians,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 26 and a total land area of 2,724 dunams, most of which was Arab-owned. Its built-up area consisted of 21 dunams,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 162 while 2,404 dunams were cultivated.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 64. 1,856 dunams were allocated for plantations and irrigable land, and 548 for cereals.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 112
Jordanian era In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Ein Siniya came under Jordanian rule.
The Jordanian census of 1961 found 431 inhabitants.Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 24
Post-1967 Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Ein Siniya has been under Israeli occupation.
After the 1995 accords, 2,578 dunum of village land is defined as Area B land, while the remaining 618 dunum is defined as Area C.'Ein Siniya Village (Fact Sheet), ARIJ
Much of the population fled during the war and only by 1982 did the population reach roughly what it was in 1945, 333. It grew to 482 in 1987,Welcome to 'Ayn Siniya Palestine Remembered. and then 533 in the census carried out by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) a decade later. The main cause of the growth of Ein Siniya, which was nearly empty after the 1967 war, was an influx of Palestinian refugees, who by 1997 constituted over half of the population (52.3%).Palestinian Population by Locality and Refugee Status Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. According to the PCBS, Ein Siniya had a population of 702 in 2004, rising to 753 in mid-year 2006.Projected Mid -Year Population for Ramallah & Al Bireh Governorate by Locality 2004- 2006 Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. In the 2007 PCBS census, there were 711 people living in the town.2007 PCBS Census . Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. p.113. By 2017, the population was 925. In January 2026, herders were expelled from traditional grazing areas and displaced to Dura al-Qar' following daily harassment by settlers.
Demography 'Ein Siniya residents are from several families, mainly the Samaha, Ghanimah, Abu Al-Sheikh, Samhan, Ma'alla, Khater, Abu al Hajj, Dar Ali, Bazrooq, Mousa and Al Hallaq families ('Ein Siniya Village Council, 2011).
References
Bibliography
Amiry, S., Nazmi Al-Jubeh, Andrea Bräuning, Jürgen Frick: Das „Museum of Memory” in Ain Sinya. Beispiel für die Denkmalpflege in Palästina. In: Denkmalpflege in Baden-Württemberg, 32 (2003), vol. 4, pp. 345–353 (PDF)
External links Welcome To 'Ayn Siniya Survey of Western Palestine, Map 14: IAA, Wikimedia commons Ein Siniya, factsheet, Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem (ARIJ) Ein Siniya, Village profile, ARIJ Ein Sinya, aerial photo, ARIJ Locality Development Priorities and Needs in 'Ein Siniya Village, ARIJ