| Sir | |
| Translit Lang1: | Arabic |
| Translit Lang1 Type: | Arabic |
| Translit Lang1 Info: | صير |
| Type: | Municipality type D (Village council) |
| Pushpin Map: | Palestine |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of Sir within Palestine |
| Coordinates: | 32.3636°N 35.3144°W |
| Grid Name: | Palestine grid |
| Grid Position: | 179/196 |
| Subdivision Type: | State |
| Subdivision Name: | State of Palestine |
| Subdivision Type1: | Governorate |
| Subdivision Name1: | Jenin |
| Established Title: | Founded |
| Unit Pref: | dunam |
| Population Footnotes: | [1] |
| Population Total: | 857 |
| Population As Of: | 2017 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Blank Name Sec1: | Name meaning |
| Blank Info Sec1: | The fold[2] |
Sir (Arabic: صير) is a Palestinian town in the Jenin Governorate of Palestine, in the West Bank, located 18 kilometers south of Jenin. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 769 inhabitants in mid-year 2006 and 857 by 2017.[3]
Sir is located on the southern part of Marj Sanur, together with Meithalun.[4]
SWP noted: "The ruin west of the village has the appearance of an ancient site. Foundations, cisterns cut in the rock, and heaps of stones among bushes."[5]
Pottery sherds from the Persian,[6] early and late Roman,[6] and Byzantine[6] [7] eras have been found here.
Sir is identified with Kfar Zir, mentioned in the 6th-7th century Mosaic of Reḥob as a Jewish village in the region of Sebastia inhabited mostly by non-Jews and, therefore, agricultural produce obtained from the area could be taken by Jews without the normal restrictions imposed during the Sabbatical years, or the need for tithing.[8]
A Crusader estate named Casale Syrorum, whose rights were affirmed in the year 1165/1166 CE by Amalric of Jerusalem, was located here.[9] [10]
Sir, like the rest of Palestine, was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517, and in the census of 1596 it was a part of the nahiya ("subdistrict") of Jabal Sami which was under the administration of the Nablus Sanjak. The village had a population of 31 households and 4 bachelors, all Muslim. The villagers paid a fixed tax-rate of 33,3% on agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, beehives and/or goats, in addition to occasional revenues, a tax for people of liwa Nablus, and a press for olive oil or grape syrup; a total of 7,832 akçe.[11]
In 1870, Victor Guérin noted it as a small village on a high hill. There were many cisterns and tombs cut out from the rock, which convinced Guérin that the place was ancient. The inhabitant, which numbered 150, had a mosque.[12]
In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Sir as: "A small village on a knoll amid brushwood, with a large house on the west."[13]
In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Sir had 194 Muslims inhabitants,[14] increasing in the 1931 census to 233; 2 Christians and 231 Muslims, in a total of 42 houses.[15]
In the 1945 statistics the population of Sir was 290, all Muslims,[16] with 12,499 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.[17] Of this, 1,908 dunams were used for plantations and irrigable land, 6,045 dunams for cereals,[18] while 10 dunams were built-up (urban) land and 4,536 dunams were classified as "non-cultivable".[19]
In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Sir came under Jordanian rule.
The Jordanian census of 1961 found 470 inhabitants.[20]
Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Sir has been under Israeli occupation.
