Christianity in Simakiyya, a Village in Jordan
Dr. Richard Jones
Village of Simakiyya
Simakiyya is a village in the Karak region of Jordan with a population of a little over 2000 people. It is the only village in Jordan that is entirely Christian. A smaller village nearby, called Hamoud, also has a large number of Christian families. Other Christian families are found in villages throughout Jordan living side by side with Muslims. Many other Christians live in Jordan's major cities.
Christianity in Jordan has a rich history that reaches back to the first century. The Christian tribes of Jordan have also had an important role in the politics of the Karak region in recent centuries.
The Churches in Simakiyya
There are two churches in Simakiyya: a Melkite Catholic Church and a Latin Church.
In spite of their differences, however, there is a great deal of cooperation between them. Both churches play an important and central social role in the village by; officiating over weddings, funerals, and church services; by providing religious instruction and counsel; by connecting Simakiyya to other villages in the region; by connecting Simakiyya to the nation; and by connecting the Simakiyya to the rest of the world. The hierarchy of both churches and the technology of the information age have made the integration of Simakiyya into the larger world possible. Cell phones, computers, the Internet, and FAX machines are part of everyday life for the priests in Simakiyya and for a number of the other villagers as well. The contrast between old and new in the village can be quite striking.
The Melkite Church
Melkite Catholic Church
Fr. Boulos Baqain
Fr. Boulos Baqain is the parish priest of the Melkite Catholic Church in Simakiyya. He came to the village of Simakiyya and celebrated his first church service in 1989. Fr. Boulos, his wife, and his children are respected and loved members of the community.
Teaching English to village children in the Melkite Church
Since coming to Simakiyya, Fr. Boulos has worked hard to: increase access to education for all the villagers, get equipment from the government for the health center, help establish a kindergarten program, get the village involved in the agricultural program, and helps some students financially. Fr. Boulos was also instrumental in our study of the village of Simakiyya, by introducing us to other key people in the community.
The current head of the Melkite Catholic Church is His Beatitude Gregory III Laham Patriarch of Antioch and all the East. The Patriarchate of Antioch was established in 325 A.D. at the Council of Nicaea. Since the seventh century, the Antiochean Patriarchate and its member churches have been dominated by the rule of Islamic governments. In the eighteenth century, the Antiochean Patriarchate underwent a schism into "Catholic" and "Orthodox" branches. The Catholics developed stronger ties with Rome, while the Orthodox committed more firmly to Constantinople. Both groups observe the Byzantine rite. In Simakiyya, it is the 'Akasha tribe that is primarily associated with the Melkite Catholic Church.
The Latin Church
Latin Church
Fr. Rifat Bader
Fr. Bader Rifat is the parish priest and representative of the Latin Church in Simakiyya.
Summer camp at the Latin Church
Fr. Rifat actively promotes education in the village. He also oversees the summer camps for children in the village. Fr. Rifat was very helpful in our work in the village.
The Latin Church directs the village Kindergarten, which was paid for by donations from the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher, via the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The Kindergarten benefits all the children of the village. In addition, the Latin Church has made many contributions to the Health Center, to agricultural program, and other social services in the village. The Latin Church throughout Jordan pays for many students’ university studies and in the village waives tuition for many poor students. The Latin School in Simakiyya was established in 1912 and has about 250 students enrolled. English is taught there daily, and the school has a computer center.
His Beatitude Msgr. Michael Sabbah, Patriarch of Jerusalem, is the head of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The influence of the Roman Catholic Church had waned in the Middle East after the Crusades, until, by the 1800’s, there were only about four thousand Christians in Palestine following the Latin rite and guided by the Franciscans. The Patriarchate was re-established in the middle of the 1800’s by Pope Pius IX and a new Patriarch was appointed in Jerusalem. In the latter part of the nineteenth century, Abuna Skandar (1841-1905) came to the Karak region and established the Latin Church there.
The Latin Church in Simakiyya observes the Latin rite. It is mostly the Hajazin tribe that attends this church.
Weddings in Simakiyya
Fr. Boulos performing wedding
Weddings are an important part of life in Simakiyya that integrate the families and the church. So it is appropriate to give a brief description of the events surrounding a typical village wedding.
We were fortunate to attend two weddings this summer (2001) in Simakiyya: one in the Melkite Catholic Church and the other in the Latin Church. The ceremonies differ according to the rite of each church, Byzantine and Latin, respectively, but the events leading up to the wedding day ceremony are essentially the same for both churches.
When a man wants to get married in Simakiyya, he will first work hard to establish a home. This may take several years. Consequently, many men do not marry until their late twenties or early thirties. Typically, a man will marry a woman that is some five to eight years younger than himself. New homes may be built as separate structures from his parent's home on the same or different property, or the man may add an additional story to his parent's home . Couples that move to a major city, like Amman, may rent an apartment.
A man who is interested in an eligible woman will approach the woman and talk to her. If the woman is interested in marriage also, the parents of the man and woman will meet and discuss the possibility of marriage between the two. The opinion of the parents in the matter of marriage is highly respected and it would be difficult to get married without their blessing.
If the families agree, a formal announcement of the engagement is made. A party, where the prospective groom goes to the prospective bride's home and serves coffee to her parents, accompanies this announcement. Engagements are usually about a yearlong and involve lots of preparation for the wedding day.
Bride and Groom in the Melkite Catholic Church
The wedding day will be announced three times in the Latin Church prior to the event, and announced twice in the Melkite Church. The day before the wedding, there will be separate parties for the bride and groom.
Eating mansef before the wedding
On the day of the wedding there is dinner at the groom's house. Mansef is the traditional dish, consisting of cooked rice, with a cheese sauce made from jamiid, cooked goat meat, and shrak-a paper-thin bread-all served on a huge platter and eaten with one's right hand.
Procession to meet the bride
On the day of the wedding, the groom will be led through the streets to the center of the village to meet his bride. Men will walk backwards in front of the groom, beat on drums, and sing. The singing involves compliments to the bride and a request to open the church. Large numbers of people turn out for this procession. Some of the men often fire guns into the air during these processions.
The groom meets the bride and the procession continues on to the church where the priest performs the ceremony. After the ceremony, the bride and groom leave on their honeymoon, which will vary in length and destination according to the wealth of the families involved.
Tribal Christianity in the Karak Region of Jordan
A final word needs to be said about family, or tribal, affiliations with religion in the Karak region. The people of Jordan have a much more elaborate and extensive kinship system than we are familiar with in America.
There are a number of tribes on the Karak plateau, some Christian, and some Muslim. A complex set of political relations governs the relationships of one tribe to another. Peter Gubser's book, Politics and Change in Jordan: A Study of a Small Arab Town and its Districts gives the best available analysis of this complex political situation.
The Christian tribes of the Karak region are the Halasa, Haddadin, Hajazin, 'Akasha, Sunna', Madanat, Zurayqat, Masanat, Baqain, and Masarwa. Most of the Christians in the region are found mostly in the following villages or cities: Karak, Qasr, Simakiyya, Hamoud, Adir, and Ar-Rabba.
As already noted, the Christians in Simakiyya tend to divide their church affiliation between the Melkite Catholic and Latin Churches along tribal lines. The 'Akasha belong to the Melkite Catholic Church and the Hajazin to the Latin Church.