A curious stone mask. A relic from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B period. Right here in ar-Ram.
This isn’t just any town. ar-Ram boasts a history stretching back millennia. It’s a place where the whispers of ancient civilizations mingle with the echoes of Crusader conquests. Think of Ramah in Benjamin. The Bible mentions it multiple times. Archaeological evidence confirms a thriving settlement during the Iron Age II. A decline followed during the Persian period. Then a revival in the Hellenistic period.
Imagine. Ossuaries unearthed here. Bearing Hebrew inscriptions. Names like Miriam Yehohanan and Shimon ben Zekhariya. These are the silent witnesses to lives lived centuries ago. Their stories are etched in stone. Here they rest.
During the Crusader era. ar-Ram was known as Aram Haram Rama Ramatha or Ramathes. Godfrey of Bouillon granted it to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Interesting fact. All inhabitants mentioned in Crusader sources between 1152 and 1160 had Christian names. The village even played a part in a 12th-century land dispute.
The Ottoman period arrived in 1517. Tax records from 1596 list Rama. Its population. 28 Muslim households. They paid taxes on wheat barley olives and vineyards. Not to mention goats and honey.
Edward Robinson visited in 1838. He described it as small and poor. Yet scattered columns and large stones spoke of a grander past. Victor Guerin arrived in 1870. He found 200 inhabitants.
The Palestine Exploration Fund Survey of 1883 paints a vivid picture. A small village perched atop a hill. Olive trees. A well to the south. Stone houses some built with ancient materials. A birkeh a cistern and even a broken pillar shaft from a former church. Impressive evidence of a long and layered history.
The 1927 earthquake caused considerable damage. Old walls crumbled. But ar-Ram endured.
The 1948 Arab-Israeli War brought Jordanian rule. After 1967. ar-Ram came under Israeli occupation. The separation barrier. It runs near. It shapes daily life. But ar-Ram endures. Its past a testament to its enduring spirit. It continues to thrive. It is home.