Jordan Place Names Explained

Having blogged samples of my books on English place names and also examined the etymologies of the nations of the world and their respective capitals I thought it time I cast my net a little wider. As English place names share some links to other tongues it would be interesting to see if any of the elements contributing to our place names could be found elsewhere. Continuing an alphabetical tour of the world and a look at the largest Jordanian cities.

Amman is not only the capital city but by far the most populous city in Jordan. Its name was coined some 3,300 years ago when the Ammonites, the people who occupied this region for several hundred years, arrived and referred to it as Rabbath Ammon. Here rabbath means 'capital' while ammon, clearly referring to the people, is a Semintic word and is likely from the same source as the name of the Arnon valley. However, the origin of that name is unknown. During the Greek and Roman eras the place was known as Philadelphia, from the Ancient Greek philos 'beloved, dear' and adelphos 'brother, brotherly', most often said to refer to 'brotherly love'.

Zarqa has a name meaning 'the blue city'.

Wadi Al-Seer is from the Arabic and means 'valley of the orchards'.

Aqaba is a shortened version of al-aqabat Aylah meaning 'the mountain pass of Ayla'. Originally the name was Elath, this the Semitic name for the Pistacia tree, grown since pre-history for its edible nuts.

Al-Salt is thought to have been named after the city of Saltos, a part of the former Roman Empire, the name meaning exactly what we would expect. Of more interest than the obvious condiment is how this region was famed for its harvests of fruit and vegetables. There is some evidence to suggest it gave a name to the 'sultana'.

Ar Ramtha takes the name of the al-ramath, a local desert plant also known as saxaul. These trees are being seeded across the bed of the former Aral Sea in order to prevent the spread of the sands and produce a forest of trees, albeit the average height of this forest will probably be little more than the height of a man.

Mafraq was named by the Ottoman Turks, and means 'crossroads'.

Ma'an is held to have been named after Ma'an, the Biblical son of Lot.

Al-Husn is said to have been named for the castle ruins, for husn means 'castle' in Arabic.

Al-Karak takes its name from the Aramaic Kharkha meaning simply 'town'.

Anjara is comprised of two words from two languages. Arabic ain 'spring' and Syriac caria 'running' telling of a reliable source of fresh water.

Note the spellings of the places are English as the piece is written in English.

Israel Place Names Explained

Having blogged samples of my books on English place names and also examined the etymologies of the nations of the world and their respective capitals I thought it time I cast my net a little wider. As English place names share some links to other tongues it would be interesting to see if any of the elements contributing to our place names could be found elsewhere. Continuing an alphabetical tour of the world and a look at the largest Israeli cities.

Jerusalem is a name which dates from the Bronze Age, where Sumerian yeru is the first element and shows this refers to 'the foundation (settlement) of the god Shalem', this the god of this Bronze Age city. However the settlement is at least four thousand years old and had earlier names, too. Around 1330 BCE we find the name given as Urusalim and six centuries prior to that as Rusalim, both with identical meanings but different languages.

Tel Aviv is the Hebrew translation of the German Altneuland and speaks of 'the old new land'. The German name is from Nahum Solokov, he taking the name of the Mesopotamian site near Babylon mentioned in Ekekiel. The name is very new, chosen in 1910 from a number of suggestions.

Haifa was, around 2,000 years ago, known as Sycamium or 'the mound of the Ficus sycomorus trees'. The first mention of anything approaching the modern name is during Roman rule around the end of the 1st century, when Efa (later Hefa and Hepha, where the meaning is the same as the earlier name.

Rishon LeZion is derived from the Biblical verse "First to Zion are they and I shall give herald to Jerusalem".

Petah Tikva is Hebrew for 'opening of hope' and a comparatively recent name.

Netanya is from the Hebrew for 'God gave'.

Beersheba has several suggested origins, most often said to come from Hebrew be'er 'well' and sheva 'seven' or perhaps 'oath'. Both would refer to the story of Abraham.

Bnei Brak gets its name from the ancient city of Beneberak, meaning 'son of Iraq'.

Holon is from the Hebrew word holon meaning 'little sand'.

Rehovot is named for its 'wide expanses' by founder Israel Belkind.

Ashkelon is probably Western Semetic and therefore means 'to weigh', an indication of a trading post.

Beit Shemesh means 'house of the sun' or perhaps 'temple of the sun', a reference to the Canaanite sun-goddess Shemesh.

Kfar Saba means 'grandfather's village' but nobody has any idea why this name was chosen.

Herzliya is, quite simply, named after Theodor Herzl, who founded the settlement in 1924.

Hadera is Hebrew for 'the green one'.

Nazareth is a Hebrew word for 'branch', and is taken from the book of Isaiah.

Ra'anana is the Hebrew for 'fresh'.

Rahat has several meanings depending on which language the word originates. This could represent Arabic 'group', Aramaic 'run' or Hebrew 'trough'.

Hod HaSharon translates as 'splendour of the Sharon'.

Givatayim is the Hebrew for 'two hills'.

Nahariya is named from its location on the Ga'aton river, the Hebrew for 'river' being nahar.

Umm- al-Fahm is Arabic and can be translated to .Mother of Charocal', the forests around here were a plentiful suplly of wood for charcoal.

Kiryat Gat is named for Gath, one of the five major cities of the Philistines. From the Hebrew where gat means 'winepress'.

Eilat, a name found in the Old Testament, may come from the Hebrew of ayl which gave elah and refers to the Pistacia trees. These trees are found across across Africa, Eurasia and the southern part of North America, where these are cultivated for their seeds, today known as pistachios.

Note the spellings of the places are English as the piece is written in English.

Iraq Place Names Explained

Having blogged samples of my books on English place names and also examined the etymologies of the nations of the world and their respective capitals I thought it time I cast my net a little wider. As English place names share some links to other tongues it would be interesting to see if any of the elements contributing to our place names could be found elsewhere. Continuing an alphabetical tour of the world and a look at the largest Iraqi cities.

Baghdad a name which is certainly pre-Islamic and its origin is uncertain but no shortage of suggestions such as 'bestowed by God', from Old Persian bagh dad.

Basra, historically given as Basrah, which is Arabic for 'the overwatcher' and thought to refer to this as a former military base.

Kirkuk, a name in use since the 7th century, was named after King Seluecus as Karkha d' Bth Slokh 'fort Seleucus'. Earlier it had had several names including a Syriac Beth Garmai 'house of bones', thought to be a reference to the many corpses of slaughtered Achaemenids following a decisive battle.

Sulaymaniyah was named in 1784 by Prince Pasha Baban after his father Sulaiman Pasha.

Al Hillah is thought to be derived from the Arabic for 'beauty'.

Nasiriyah was founded by Nasir al-Saadun Pasha and named after him.

Karbala has many suggested orings, most often from the Arabic word Kar Babel and a reference to where the grave of the martyr Husayn ibn Ali is located.

Fallujah is thought to come from Syriac name of Pallgutha referring to 'canal regulator'' as it stands where the Euphrates divides into a canal.

Erbil is mentioned over four thousand years ago as Urbelum which seems to come from Arbilium meaning 'four gods'.

Baqubah is taken from the Aramaic bet Yaqub or 'Jacob's house'.

Dahuk may come from Taok, the Kurdish for 'grapevine'.

Note the spellings of the places are English as the piece is written in English.