﻿ARAB 
  VILLAGE 
  COMMUNITY 
  — 
  TANNOUS 
  531 
  

  

  many 
  cases 
  each 
  plot 
  he 
  owns 
  has 
  a 
  personal 
  history 
  that 
  is 
  handed 
  

   down 
  with 
  it. 
  It 
  may 
  be 
  that 
  an 
  important 
  village 
  incident 
  took 
  

   place 
  there, 
  or 
  that 
  an 
  ancestor 
  had 
  an 
  intimate 
  connection 
  with 
  the 
  

   place. 
  Consequently, 
  one 
  finds 
  that 
  proper 
  names 
  are 
  often 
  given 
  to 
  

   various 
  plots 
  or 
  various 
  sections 
  of 
  the 
  village 
  territory. 
  Many 
  of 
  

   these 
  names 
  indicate 
  the 
  quality 
  or 
  behavior 
  of 
  the 
  land 
  as 
  experi- 
  

   enced 
  by 
  the 
  fellahin. 
  In 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  one 
  small 
  village 
  in 
  Lebanon, 
  

   the 
  writer 
  was 
  able 
  to 
  record 
  over 
  30 
  such 
  names. 
  Here 
  are 
  a 
  few 
  

   examples 
  : 
  Mawadeh, 
  meaning 
  loyalty 
  ; 
  Al-Hamra, 
  meaning 
  land 
  with 
  

   reddish 
  soil; 
  Al-Akra', 
  meaning 
  the 
  bald 
  land; 
  Juret 
  Muhanna, 
  land 
  

   named 
  after 
  Muhanna, 
  an 
  ancestor. 
  

  

  The 
  prevailing 
  system 
  of 
  land 
  tenure 
  among 
  the 
  fellahin 
  of 
  the 
  

   Middle 
  East 
  goes 
  back 
  in 
  its 
  origin 
  mainly 
  to 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  the 
  Arab 
  con- 
  

   quest. 
  Toward 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  the 
  seventh 
  century 
  the 
  Arabs 
  ousted 
  the 
  

   Romans 
  and 
  occupied 
  the 
  region. 
  Cultivators 
  of 
  the 
  soil 
  who 
  had 
  al- 
  

   ready 
  been 
  there 
  were 
  left 
  generally 
  unmolested. 
  Gradually, 
  how- 
  

   ever, 
  an 
  elaborate 
  system 
  of 
  land 
  tenure 
  developed, 
  springing 
  mainly 
  

   from 
  two 
  foundations, 
  the 
  tribal 
  and 
  the 
  religious 
  organization 
  of 
  the 
  

   Arab 
  conquerors. 
  Several 
  hundred 
  years 
  later 
  the 
  Ottoman 
  Turks 
  

   took 
  the 
  rule 
  over 
  from 
  the 
  Arabs. 
  At 
  the 
  same 
  time 
  they 
  adopted 
  in 
  

   the 
  main 
  the 
  culture 
  of 
  the 
  latter, 
  including 
  their 
  religion 
  of 
  Islam, 
  

   much 
  of 
  their 
  language, 
  and 
  the 
  land 
  system 
  they 
  had 
  developed, 
  into 
  

   which 
  some 
  modification 
  was 
  introduced. 
  With 
  this 
  brief 
  statement 
  

   of 
  the 
  background, 
  we 
  may 
  now 
  discuss 
  the 
  main 
  categories 
  of 
  land 
  and 
  

   types 
  of 
  ownership. 
  3 
  

  

  1. 
  Mulk* 
  — 
  This 
  is 
  the 
  same 
  as 
  ownership 
  in 
  fee 
  simple. 
  The 
  owner 
  

   of 
  such 
  land 
  is 
  free 
  to 
  do 
  with 
  it 
  whatever 
  he 
  wishes. 
  He 
  may 
  plant 
  it 
  

   to 
  any 
  kind 
  of 
  crop 
  or 
  leave 
  it 
  uncultivated, 
  erect 
  buildings 
  on 
  it, 
  and 
  

   bequeath 
  it 
  as 
  he 
  sees 
  fit. 
  This 
  type 
  may 
  be 
  traced 
  back 
  to 
  two 
  sources. 
  

   One 
  of 
  these 
  was 
  the 
  Mulk 
  that 
  was 
  in 
  existence 
  at 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  the 
  Arab 
  

   conquest. 
  Owners 
  of 
  such 
  land 
  were 
  left 
  unmolested, 
  except 
  that 
  they 
  

   had 
  to 
  pay 
  a 
  certain 
  tax 
  in 
  kind. 
  The 
  other 
  source 
  was 
  the 
  custom 
  of 
  

   Arab 
  rulers, 
  and 
  later 
  the 
  Turkish 
  Sultans, 
  to 
  grant 
  land 
  from 
  the 
  

   public 
  domains 
  to 
  tribal 
  chiefs 
  and 
  other 
  local 
  leaders, 
  or 
  to 
  soldiers, 
  

   in 
  order 
  to 
  appease 
  them, 
  or 
  in 
  compensation 
  for 
  some 
  service. 
  De- 
  

   spite 
  the 
  strong 
  desire 
  of 
  the 
  fellah 
  for 
  this 
  type 
  of 
  ownership, 
  it 
  covers 
  

   only 
  a 
  small 
  percentage 
  of 
  the 
  land 
  in 
  the 
  Middle 
  East. 
  

  

  2. 
  Miri. 
  5 
  — 
  By 
  far 
  the 
  greater 
  portion 
  of 
  land 
  is 
  of 
  this 
  category. 
  It 
  

   is 
  state 
  property 
  that 
  has 
  been 
  leased 
  out 
  to 
  cultivators 
  either 
  tempo- 
  

   rarily 
  or 
  in 
  perpetuity. 
  In 
  the 
  latter 
  case, 
  it 
  is 
  virtually 
  the 
  property 
  

  

  3 
  The 
  interested 
  reader 
  is 
  referred 
  to 
  my 
  article, 
  "Land 
  Tenure 
  in 
  the 
  Middle 
  East," 
  

   Foreign 
  Agriculture, 
  U. 
  S. 
  Dep. 
  Agr., 
  August 
  1943. 
  

  

  4 
  From 
  the 
  Arabic 
  root 
  Malaka, 
  to 
  own 
  fully 
  and 
  absolutely. 
  

  

  8 
  Corrupted 
  from 
  the 
  Arabic 
  word 
  Emiriyah, 
  that 
  which 
  belongs 
  to 
  the 
  Emir 
  or 
  ruler. 
  

  

  