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Ottoman Jerusalem |
- Planning,
Building and Populating Jerusalem in the Ottoman Period
By Dr. Hala Fattah
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When Jerusalem was
occupied by Ottoman troops in the early 16th century, neither the
local population was harmed nor were the historic sites damaged.
Quite to the contrary, law and order was reinforced, the walls of
Jerusalem rebuilt, and the bedouin kept at bay. Moreover, Sultan
Suleiman the Lawgiver also built a number of drinking-fountains for
the provision of water to the worshippers that flocked to the Haram
al-Sharif (The Noble Sanctuary). The return to security and
stability was enough to produce two near-immediate results: an
increase in population and an economic boom.
Because water for agriculture was always scarce in Jerusalem, the
region's rural surplus was not as important as its urban revival.
The city's prosperity depended on sources other than agriculture. In
the 16th century, the economic corporations or guilds in the city
had a very high profile. Artisans and craftsmen thrived, and so did
Jerusalem. Among the best known guilds were those of the
soap-makers, the bakers, the linen-workers and the weapons makers.
Trade was also important in Jerusalem, as testified to by the
numerous specialized markets in the city. There were the
apothecaries, the vegetable sellers, the dye-makers and the leather
suppliers. But the most important was the cotton market. Although it
had existed under the Mamluks, the market had since then fallen in
disrepair. Then the early Ottoman administration (in conjunction
with local merchants and entrepreneurs) injected renewed energy into
its renovation and repair. As a result of government-led expansion
(which also led to the renaming of the market as Suq al-Sultan), the
number of warehouses and shops in the market area increased, and so
did their prices!
Very little traces of this prosperity and urban renewal remained in
the 18th and 19th centuries. Jerusalem underwent a period of
arrested growth during that time, which lasted until the early
1830's. Contrary to the 16th century, its renaissance came about not
because of economic or commercial expansion but because of the
political, religious and administrative developments of the 19th
century. In fact, the late historian Alexander Scholch believed that
"the history of Jerusalem in the 19th century is the history of her
emergence as a major administrative centre in Bilad al-Sham and, in
a way, as the capital of Palestine...".
After the Egyptian General Ibrahim Pasha's occupation of Syria in
1832, foreign missions and consulates were established throughout
the province that, upon the Ottoman re-occupation, proved hard to
dislodge. The first European consulates were those of Great Britain
(1838), Prussia (1842), Sardinia (1843), France (1843), America
(1856) and Russia (1857). Meanwhile, the Anglo-Prussian Protestant
Bishopric opened its doors in 1841, the Latin Patriarchate was
reestablished in 1847 and the Russians sent a Bishop in 1858. And
after 1845, the Greek-Orthodox patriarchs of Jerusalem moved their
seat from Constantinople to Jerusalem itself. All of these
European-inspired changes quite naturally accelerated the building
boom in the city. Starting with the construction of new buildings
inside and outside the town by the English and German Protestants in
the 1840's, "the erection of new churches, monasteries, synagogues,
mosques, schools, hospitals, orphanages, hospices, consulates etc.
continued without interruption until World War One". It is
noteworthy that wealthy Muslim families participated in the changing
of Jerusalem's urban landscape alongside foreign European and
Christian organizations.
Scholch makes clear that the city's new prominence arose not as a
result of commercial opportunities but because Jerusalem "lived off
and for the Muslim, Jewish and Christian holy places, for the
institutions which existed or were established for their sake and
from the pilgrims and travelers who visited them". He also says that
the influx of European Jewry did not have a discernible effect on
industrial or commercial activity for many of the Jews that moved to
the city in that period "continued to live off alms collected from
Europe". But the building boom was instrumental in creating new jobs
for Jerusalem's artisans, craftsmen and small builders. It also had
an effect on the establishment of the telegraph and the railway, and
the construction of new roads.
Finally, the increased attention paid to the urbanization of
Jerusalem, the spread of communications and the growth of the
population forced the Ottomans' hand, so to speak. In the middle of
the 19th century, the administrative redevelopment of Jerusalem was
a key aspect of the Ottoman centralization of Palestine. As a result
of the institution of municipal and administrative councils,
Jerusalem's political life was revitalized. Chief among the
political reformers of the epoch were the important Muslim families
that had long resided in the city. The next article will discuss
their great significance to Jerusalem before , during, and after
World War One.
July 19, 1999
Of Iraqi origin, Dr. Hala Fattah is a historian of the Arab
provinces of the Ottoman empire, especially Iraq. She is the author
of The Politics of Regional Trade of Iraq, Arabia and the Gulf,
1745-1900 (S.U.N.Y Press, 1996). Presently, she is an Independent
Scholar.
References:
Alexander Scholch, Jerusalem in the 19th Century (1831-1917 AD) in K
J Asali, ed. Jerusalem in History. New York : Olive Branch Press,
1996. Suleiman Masalha, trans. Amnon Cohen.
Al-quds : dirasat fi tarikh al-madina. Yad Yastahaq Bin Tasqi,
Jerusalem, 1990.
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