Rabba

Coordinates: 31°16′N 35°44′E / 31.267°N 35.733°E / 31.267; 35.733
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the Talmudic amora of the same name, see Rabbah bar Nahmani. For the midrashim, see Midrash Rabba. For the ordination conferred within Open Orthodoxy, see Maharat.
Late Roman temple of Diocletian and Maximian

Rabba (

Arabic: الربة) is a town in Jordan in the Karak Governorate. As ancient Areopolis, it is a former bishopric and present Latin Catholic titular see
.

Rabba lies about 15 kilometers north of the city of Al-Karak. It had a population of about 7200 in 2015.[1]

Geography

Rabba lies on the historical

Mu'tah University
.

History

Iron Age to Byzantine period

Rabba was formerly known as Rabbath Moab. In the Hellenistic and Roman times it was called Areopolis, its Greek name. It was one of the two leading cities of the Karak Plateau at this time.[2]

Areopolis is mentioned by

Madaba map and is attested to on numerous milestones. Areopolis also minted its own coin between 193 and 222 CE.[2]

In the

Byzantine period, Rabba was the site of a Jewish community numbered at 15,000 people, centered around a spectacular synagogue, then said to be comparable to Solomon's Temple. During the 5th century CE, Rabba was visited by a Mesopotamian monk named Barsauma, who during his pilgrimage to the region clashed with locals and forced them to convert to Christianity. According to ancient sources, after its doors miraculously opened, the synagogue was set on fire. Looting was forbidden by Barsauma's order, and the synagogue burned to the ground. It is unclear if local Jews had converted to Christianity.[9]

Mamluk period

In 1321

Al Karak, and lies about half a day's march from this to the north. Near Ar Rabbah is an extremely high hill, called Shaihan, which you see from afar."[11]

Ottoman period

In 1596 it appeared in the

Muslim and 3 Christian households. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 25% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, vineyards/fruit trees, goats and bee-hives; in addition to occasional revenues. The total tax was 12,000 akçe.[12]

Jordan

In 1961 there were 1,073 inhabitants in Rabba,[13] of whom 200 were Christian.[14]

Archaeological remains

Rabba is home to

Byzantine ruins, which are located along the main street in the center of town. They consist of the remains of a Roman temple dedicated to the emperors Diocletian and Maximian, a Byzantine church and a cavernous ancient reservoir. There are many smaller ruins scattered all over town albeit not as extensive.[citation needed
]

Population

Rabba was traditionally populated largely by the Majali and Zureikat families, the first of which has considerable political influence in the country. However, since the establishment of Israel in 1948, many Palestinians, who left their homes in Palestine, settled in Rabba as well, now accounting for about a third of the town's population.[citation needed]

Economy

The economy in Rabba is largely agrarian, and relies greatly on seasonal crops such as

oats. Many people own sheep goats or cattle.[citation needed
]

Ecclesiastic history

Ancient bishopric

Areopolis was important enough in the Late

suffragan of its capital Petra
's Metropolitan Archbishopric, but was to fade.

Known bishops include:

Titular see

In the 18th century, the diocese was nominally restored as a Latin Catholic

titular bishopric Areopolis (Areopoli in Curiate Italian) and had the following incumbents of the fitting episcopal (lowest) rank.[19]
Bishops include:

In 1903 it was promoted as

Titular archbishopric
, and as such had the following incumbents of the fitting archiepiscopal (intermediary) rank :

  • Titular Archbishop Henry Moeller (1903.04.27 – 1904.10.31)
  • Titular Archbishop
    Lazare Miedia
    (1904.12.24 – 1909.04.14)
  • Titular Archbishop it:Paolo Emilio Bergamaschi (1910.07.26 – 1925.02.10)
  • Titular Archbishop Saint
    Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli (1925.03.03 – 1934.11.30) (later Pope John XXIII
    *)

In March 1925 it was demoted back to titular bishopric. It is vacant since decades, having had the following incumbents of fitting episcopal rank :

  • Marists
    (S.M.) (1935.09.23 – 1959.08.07)
  • Leonardo Gregorio Gallardo Heredia (1960.02.13 – 1961.05.23)
  • René-Noël-Joseph Kérautret (1961.07.22 – 1965.05.09)

References

  1. ^ "The General Census - 2015" (PDF). Department of Population Statistics.
  2. ^ a b c d Samuel Thomas Parker, John Wilson Betlyon (2006). The Roman Frontier in Central Jordan: Final Report on the Limes Arabicus Project, 1980-1989, Volume 1 (Dumbarton Oaks).
  3. Claudius Ptolemy
    , Geographica 5.17.5-6.
  4. ^ Eusebius, Onomasticon 10.17
  5. ^ Hierocles, Synecdemus 721.9
  6. ^ Stephen of Byzantium, Ethnica 156.3.
  7. ^ Sozomen, HE 7.15.
  8. ^ Notitia Dignitatum Or 37.17.
  9. ISBN 019160867X
    . Retrieved 2 Sep 2022.
  10. ^ "al-Muhallabī". Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd Edition, via referenceworks.brillonline.com. Retrieved 2 Sep 2022.
  11. ^ Le Strange, 1890, pp. 494−495
  12. ^ Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 171
  13. ^ Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 21
  14. ^ Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, pp. 115-116
  15. Liverpool University
    press, 2005)
  16. ^ By W. M. Ramsay, The Historical Geography of Asia Minor.(Cambridge University Press, 2010)
  17. ^ Michel Le Quien, [Oriens christianus: in quatuor patriarchatus digestus](ex Typographia Regia, 1740) p892.
  18. ^ Acts of the council, and the Epistle of the decretal, and the Constitutions of the Supreme.
  19. ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1
    ), p. 842

Bibliography

Sources and external links

31°16′N 35°44′E / 31.267°N 35.733°E / 31.267; 35.733

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