As Simiya (Arabic: السيمياء) Simiya is a Palestinian village located 15 kilometers west of Dura in Hebron. The village is located in the Hebron Governorate in the southern West Bank. In 2018 Simiya and Deir Sammit had one municipal council.
Geography and boundaries of the village.
The village is located to the west of the city of Dura and within its lands (Natural Basin No. 22). The town of As Simiya is located at an altitude of 460 meters above sea level.
Population.
In 1961, the population of Khirbet Simiya or Khirbet Simia was 196. In the first Palestinian census in 1997, the population was 1,225.
History.
It includes village ruins, remnants of buildings, water cisterns, carved door lintels, and rock-cut tombs with columns.
Ottoman period.
In tax records from the Ottoman empire, Khirbet Simia was mentioned as land cultivated by farmers in the area.
In 1838, it was registered as a place and ruin, part of the district of Hebron.
In 1863, Victor Guérin named the site Khirbet Simia.
British Mandate.
It fell under the British Mandate for Palestine in 1922.
Jordanian rule.
In the early 1950s, it fell under Jordanian administration after the 1948 war, as a result of the 1949 armistice agreements.
1967 war.
The village fell under Israeli occupation after the Six-Day War in 1967.
Mustafa Murad Al-Dabbagh mentioned that there were (196) people in Simia in 1961.
Palestinian authority.
After the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1994, the village fell under its rule.
Facilities and services.
It includes an elementary school, a government health clinic, a Palestinian Red Crescent Society emergency center serving the Deir Sammit and Simiya areas, and a Simiya mosque. It was established in 1990 in the name of the noble companion Shurahbil ibn Hasana.
Water.
In the village, there is a freshwater spring called Ain Nab' As Simiya or Bir Simiya (Biyara As Simiya).
Antiquities.
In 2000, all the old buildings, passages, caves, and historical and archaeological vaults were demolished to make way for a school construction project. Only a few of the old village buildings remain.