Kingdom of Jordan

337 Pages·2015·22.136 MB·English

by  Raphael Patai

The Kingdom of
J O R D A N

THE
KINGDOM OF
JORDAN
BY RAPHAEL PATAI
PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
1958
Copyright © 1958 by Princeton University Press
All Rights Reserved
L.C. Card: 58-6107
Printed in the United States of America
by the Vail-Ballou Press, Inc., Binghamton, New York
PREFACE
FOR many years the Kingdom of Jordan has been in the lime­
light of international affairs. The political maneuvering between
Jordan and her neighbors, as well as within the country itself,
has been anxiously watched all over the world, and has brought
about an increased interest in Jordan and her people—subjects
on which very little information has been available.
This book is the first comprehensive study of the Kingdom of
Jordan. It contains a detailed account of the most recent political
developments in Jordan and their historical background, and
attempts to provide an understanding of the role Jordan is play­
ing in the present strife between pro-Western and pro-Soviet
elements in the Arab world. It supplies information on the gov­
ernment of Jordan, her constitution, finances, commerce, in­
dustry, agriculture, labor, and communications.
In contrast to many books written on foreign countries, the
emphasis in this volume is on the people: their way of life, their
social structure, religion, culture, attitudes, and values. The way
the Jordanian family is organized and functions, the worlds of
the Jordanian nomads, villagers, and townspeople, of the reli­
gious minorities—all these subjects are treated in considerable
detail.
The many-faceted struggle for sanitation, welfare, education,
artistic and literary expression, and the vital issue of Westerniza­
tion versus traditionalism are analyzed.
The history of the writing of this book goes back to the spring
of 1955 when I was asked by the Human Relations Area Files,
Inc.—an inter-university research institution with headquarters
in New Haven, Connecticut—to head a research project on
Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria with a view to producing handbooks
and bibliographies on these three countries. The three country
monographs resulting from the project included articles written
by sixteen scholars aifiliated with eleven universities or scientific
institutions (Farid Aouad, Isam Ashur, M. M. Bravmann,
Kingsley Davis, Robert W. Ehrich, John Gulick, Philip K. Hitti,
J. C. Hurewitz, Charles Issawi, Jacob Landau, Simon D.
Messing, Raphael Patai, Moshe Perlmann, Fahim I. Qubain,
ν
PREFACE
William Sands, Toufic Succar), were edited by me, and repro­
duced in a small number of copies in 1956. Subsequently, in
1957, the Jordan handbook was published in a limited litho­
print edition with slight revisions. In writing the present volume,
I drew heavily on the contribution of the scholars enumerated
above, for which my best thanks are expressed herewith. I am
especially indebted to Professor Charles Issawi for his permis­
sion to utilize much of the economic chapters he contributed to
the Jordan Handbook, and to Professor Simon D. Messing, who
collaborated with me in the writing of the chapters on health,
sanitation, and welfare for the Jordan Handbook.
Special thanks are also due to the Human Relations Area
Files, Inc., for permission to utilize considerable portions of my
own chapters in the Jordan Handbook; to the University of Kan­
sas Press for permission to quote from Faris and Husayn's book
The Crescent in Crisis; to the Johns Hopkins Press and the
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development for per­
mission to reprint the rain-map of Jordan originally published in
the volume The Economic Development of Jordan; to the
Geography Department of the University of Chicago for per­
mission to reprint a map showing the density of population in
Jordan, and a table of the climatic regions of Jordan, originally
published in Paul G. Phillips' book The Hashemite Kingdom of
Jordan: Prolegomena to a Technical Assistance Program; to
Mr. Majid Elass of the Arabian-American Oil Co., and
Professor M. M. Bravmann of Dropsie College for help and
advice on linguistic and other questions; to the Zionist Archives
and Library for the photograph of King Abdullah and the air
view of Jerusalem, and to the Arab Information Center for all
of the other photographs.
RAPHAEL PATAI
Forest Hills, N.Y.
Jan. 10, 1958
CONTENTS
Preface ν
1. The Land and the People 3
2. Jordan: Past and Present 23
3. Political Developments 50
4. National Attitudes 73
5. The Framework of Government 90
6. Finance, Commerce, and Industry 96
7. Agriculture and Labor 119
8. The Family 136
9. The Nomadic Tribes and Sedentarization 156
10. Villages and Towns 199
11. Religion 222
12. Health, Sanitation, and Welfare 238
13. Language and Education 253
14. The Arts, Literature, and Communication 262
15. Values and Outlook 275
Glossary 303
Suggested Readings 307
Index 309

ILLUSTRATIONS
FACING PAGE
Road through the hills of Jordan 6
View of Nablus 6
King Abdullah (Mecca 1882-Jerusalem 1951) 6
King Husayn decorating one of his legionnaires 7
Street scene in Amman 7
A young craftsman inserting mother of pearl in
decorative woodwork 134
Engraver working on a brass plate 134
Bedouin girl herding her flock of sheep 134
Farmers plowing with camel and oxen 134
Sifting corn on the village threshing floor 135
Member of the desert patrol of the Arab Legion 135
Camel-mounted police on parade 135
The Qumran caves in which the Dead Sea Scrolls
were found 230
Monastery of St. Sabas in the Judaean desert 230
The city of Bethlehem 230
Jerusalem, the Dome of the Rock upper right 231
Franciscan monks kneeling on the Via Dolorosa 231
M A P S
PAGE
Jordan and Neighboring Countries 4
The Kingdom of Jordan 11
The Density of Population 24
Distribution of Rainfall 120
Wandering Territory of the Major Tribes 158