Kfar Kama

 ( Circassian Communities ) 

Kfar Kama (, , ) is a Circassians town located in the Lower Galilee of Israel's northern district, located along road 767, that leads from Kfar Tavor to the Kinneret. It is one of the only two Circassians towns in Israel, the other being Rehaniya. The residents of the town are descended from Shapsug tribe exiles from Circassia. In 2008, the town had a population of 2,900.

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Name The town's name has an uncertain origin, and several possible interpretations exist. It could potentially signify a heap of wheat, derive from "qama" meaning grain, or even have roots in Arabic, such as "kama," signifying a hilltop or a hilltop village, or "qama", denoting a fertile pasture for sheep and cattle.

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History

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Antiquity The modern village of Kfar Kama is built on an ancient site. Ruins and parts of five limestone were found in addition to a circular basalt olive-press and .Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 391 In 2020, a team of archaeologists led by Nurit Feig of the Israel Antiquities Authority discovered 6th-century church remains. The excavators also revealed painted floor mosaics showing geometric shapes and blue, black, and red floral patterns. The dimensions of the main part of the church are 12 by 36 metres. Several other rooms were unearthed near the church. According to archeologist Shani Libbi, additional rooms in the area have been revealed by ground penetrating radar.

Archaeologists have proposed that Kfar Kama was the village Helenoupolis that Constantine established in honor of his mother Helen.Tsafrir, Di Segni and Green, 1994, 142 Excavations carried out in 1961 and 1963 revealed 4th century tombs.Dauphin, 1998, p. 727 Two churches dated to the early 6th century, one dedicated to Saint Thecla, were uncovered, with multicolored mosaics of floral, animal and geometric patterns.

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Middle Ages In the Crusader states period it was known as Kapharchemme or Capharkeme.Pringle, 1997, p. 117

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Ottoman Empire In 1596, Kfar Kama appeared in Ottoman Empire Defter as a village in the Nahiya of Tiberias in the Liwa of Safad. It had a population of 34 Muslim households and paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on agricultural products, which included wheat, barley, summer crops, cotton, and goats or beehives; a total of 5,450 akçe.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 190Note that Rhode, 1979, p. 6 writes that the register that Hütteroth and Abdulfattah studied from the Safad-district was not from 1595/6, but from 1548/9

In 1838, it was mentioned as a village in the Tiberias district.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd Appendix, p. 131

In 1870s, the village was described as having basalt stone houses and a population of 200 Moslems living on a plain of arable soil.Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 360

In 1878, a group of 1,150 Circassian immigrants from the Adyghe people tribe Shapsugs who were exiled from the Caucasus by the Russians to the Ottoman Empire due to the Russian-Circassian War settled in the village. Initially they made their living by raising animals, but later became farmers. The first school was established about 1880.

A population survey in 1887 found 1,150 inhabitants, all Circassian Muslims.Schumacher, 1888, p. 185

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British Mandate At the time of the 1922 census of Palestine by the British Mandate authorities, Kfar Kama had a population of 670 Muslims and 7 Christians,Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Tiberias, p. 39 decreasing slightly in the 1931 census to 644, one Christian and the rest Muslims, in a total of 169 houses.Mills, 1932, p. 84

In 1945 census by the Mandate, the population was 660 people (all Muslims)Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 12 and the land area was 8,819 dunams.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 72 Of this, 8,293 dunams were allocated to cereal farming,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 122 while 108 dunams were built-up (urban) land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 172

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Israel Kfar Kama is one of two Circassians villages in Israel. The other one is Rehaniya. The Circassians are Muslims who, unlike the main Israeli Arab Muslim minority, are obligated to perform military service in the Israeli Defense Forces. Muslim revivalism and the emergence of civic society. A case study of an Israeli-Circassian community The village school teaches in Circassian, Hebrew, Arabic and English.

A Center for Circassian Heritage is situated in the village.

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Notable people

• Izhak Nash (born 1989), a Circassian Israeli footballer currently playing for Hapoel Ironi Baqa al-Gharbiyye
• Bibras Natcho (born 1988), a Circassian Israeli footballer currently playing in Europe and the captain of the Israeli national football team
• Nili Natkho (1982–2004), a Circassian Israeli basketball player who played for Maccabi Raanana and Elitzur Ramla

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Shapsug families

• Abrag ()
• Ashmuz/Achmuzh ()
• Bghana ()
• Bat ()
• Blanghaps ()
• Batwash ()
• Jandar ()
• Gorkozh ()
• Zazi ()
• Kobla ()
• Qal ()
• Qatizh ()
• Lauz ()
• Libai/Labai ()
• Nago ()
• Natkho ()
• Nash ()
• Napso ()
• Thawcho ()
• Hazal ()
• Hutazh ()
• Hadish ()
• Hako/Hakho ()
• Shamsi ()
• Choshha/Shoshha ()
• Shogan ()
• Shaga ()
• Sagas/Shagash ()
• Shhalakhwa ().

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Other families

• Abzah ()
• Boshnakh ()
• Bazdug/Bzhedug ()
• Yadig ()
• Hatukai ()
• Tsai ()
• Shapsugh ().
• Zoabi ()
• Masharqa ()

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See also

• Kfar Kama Adyghe dialect
• Circassians in Israel

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Bibliography

• C. Dauphin (1998). 9780860549055, Archeopress. . ISBN 9780860549055
• (1977). 9783920405414, Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. . ISBN 9783920405414
• D. Pringle (1997). 9780521460101, Cambridge University Press. . ISBN 9780521460101
• (1994). 9789652081070, Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. . ISBN 9789652081070

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External links

• Kfar Kama local council
• The World Circassian Heritage Center
• Survey of Western Palestine, Map 6: IAA, Wikimedia commons
• Welcome To Kafr Kama

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