Al- RīHāniyya
RĪHĀNIYYA, AL-, Circassian-Muslim village in northern Israel, on the Almah Plateau in Upper Galilee. It is one of the two Circassian villages west of the Jordan (the other is *Kafr Kāmā). It was founded by Circassians (Muslims from Caucasus) who left their homeland in the second half of the 19th century when it was annexed to Christian, czarist Russia. The houses of the picturesque village are laid out around a single, large, closed quadrangular courtyard. In 1969 Rīḥāniyya had 415 inhabitants; in 2002, 947.
Sources: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2007 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.
Download our mobile app for on-the-go access to the Jewish Virtual Library
