Nablus (sometimes Nābulus; Arabic: نابلس (help·info)‎; IPA: [næːblʊs]; Hebrew: שכם‎, Šəḫem) is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately 63 kilometers (39 mi) north of Jerusalem, with a population of 134,000. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center. Founded by the Roman Emperor Vespasian in 72 CE as Flavia Neapolis, Nablus has been ruled by many empires over the course of its almost 2,000 year long history. In the 5th and 6th centuries, conflict between the city's Christian and Samaritan inhabitants climaxed in a series of Samaritan revolts against Byzantine rule, before their violent quelling in 529 CE drastically dwindled that community's numbers in the city. In 636, Neapolis, along with most of Palestine, came under the rule of the Islamic Arab Caliphate of Umar ibn al-Khattab; its name Arabicized to Nablus, many of its churches and Samaritan synagogues gradually converted into mosques. In 1099, the Crusaders took control of the city for less than a century, leaving its mixed Muslim, Christian and Samaritan population relatively undisturbed. After Saladin's Ayyubid forces took control of the interior of Palestine in 1187, Islamic rule was reestablished, and continued under the Mamluk and Ottoman empires to follow. Following its incorporation into the Ottoman empire in 1517, Nablus was designated capital of the Jabal Nablus ("Mount Nablus") district. In 1657, after a series of upheavals, a number of Arab clans from the northern and eastern Levant were dispatched to the city to reassert Ottoman authority, and loyalty from amongst these clans staved off challenges to the empire's authority by rival regional leaders, like Dhaher al-Omar in the 18th century, and Muhammad Ali—who briefly ruled Nablus—in the 19th century. When Ottoman rule was firmly reestablished in 1841, Nablus prospered as a center of trade. After the loss of the city to British forces during World War I, Nablus was incorporated into the British Mandate of Palestine in 1922, and later designated to form part of the Arab state of Palestine under the 1947 UN partition plan. The end of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War saw the city instead fall to Jordan, to which it was unilaterally annexed, until its occupation by Israel during the 1967 Six Day War. Today, the city's population is predominantly Muslim, with small Christian and Samaritan minorities. Since 1995, day-to-day administration is the purview of the Palestinian National Authority, though Israel retains control over entrances and exits to the city. There are three Palestinian refugee camps located around Nablus, established in 1949–50. In the Old City, there are a number of sites of archaeological significance, spanning the 1st to 15th centuries. Regionally famous for its native sweet kanafeh and traditionally well-known for its soap industry, Nablus' main economic sectors are in industry and commerce.

Culture and Arts

A Nablus costume on display. Note the brightly colored coat, probably made of imported Syrian satin which is draped over the head and shoulders and typical of the fashion in the Nablus-Tulkarm area
A siniyyeh of Kanafeh
Nabulsi soap stacked in the Touqan factory in Nablus

Nablus and its culture enjoy a certain renown throughout Palestine and the Arab world with significant and unique contributions to Palestinian culture, cuisine and costume. Nabulsi, meaning "from Nablus", is used to describe items such as handicrafts (e.g. Nabulsi soap) and food products (e.g. Nabulsi cheese) that are made in Nablus or in the traditional Nablus style.
Traditional costume
Main article: Palestinian costumes

Nablus costume was of a distinctive style that employed colorful combinations of various fabrics. Due to its position as important trade center with a flourishing souk ("market"), in late 19th century, there was a large choice of fabrics available in the city, from Damascus and Aleppo silk to Manchester cottons and calicos. Similar in construction to the garments worn in the Galilee, both long and short Turkish style jackets were worn over the thob ("robe"). For daily wear, thobs were often made of white cotton or linen, with a preference for winged sleeves. In the summer, costumes often incorporated interwoven striped bands of red, green and yellow on the front and back, with appliqué and braidwork popularly decorating the qabbeh ("square chest piece").]
Cuisine

Nablus is one of the few Palestinian cities that sustained elite classes, fostering the development of a culture "high cuisine", such as that of Damascus or Baghdad. The city is home to a number of food products well-known throughout the Levant, the Arab world and the former provinces of the Ottoman Empire.

Kanafeh is the most famed Nabulsi sweet. Originating in Nablus during the 1400s, by 1575, its recipe was exported throughout the Ottoman Empire — which controlled Palestine at the time. Kanafeh is made of several fine shreds of pastry noodles with honey-sweetened cheese in the center. The top layer of the pastry is usually dyed orange with food coloring and sprinkled with crushed pistachios. Though it is now made throughout the Middle East, to the present day, kanafeh Nabulsi enjoys continued fame, partly due to its use of a white-brine cheese called jibneh Nabulsi. Boiled sugar is used as a syrup for kanafeh.

Other sweets made in Nablus include baklawa, "Tamriya", mabrumeh and ghuraybeh,[51] a plain pastry made of butter, flour and sugar in an "S"-shape, or shaped as fingers or bracelets.
[edit] Soap
Main article: Nabulsi soap

Nabulsi soap or sabon nabulsi is a type of castile soap produced only in Nablus[53] and made of three primary ingredients: virgin olive oil, water, and a sodium compound.[54] Since the 10th century, Nabulsi soap has enjoyed a reputation for being a fine product,[55] and has been exported across the Arab world and to Europe.[54] Though the number of soap factories decreased from a peak of thirty in the 19th century to only two today, efforts to preserve this important part of Palestinian and Nabulsi cultural heritage continue.

Made in a cube-like shape about 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) tall and 2.25 by 2.25 inches (5.7 cm × 5.7 cm) wide, the color of Nabulsi soap is like that of "the page of an old book."[55] The cubes are stamped on the top with the seal of the factory that produces it.[56] The soap's sodium compound came from the barilla plant. Prior to the 1860s, in the summertime, the barilla would be placed in towering stacks, burned, and then the ashes and coals would be gathered into sacks, and transported to Nablus from the area of modern-day Jordan in large caravans. In the city, the ashes and coals were pounded into a fine natural alkaline soda powder called qilw. Today, qilw is still used in combination with lime.
Cultural centers

There are three cultural centers in Nablus mainly centered on providing activities for children. The Child Cultural Center (CCC), founded in 1998 and built in a renovated historic building for merchants, features an art and drawing workshop, a stage for play performances, a music room, a children's library and a multimedia lab.[57] The Children Happiness Center (CHC) was also established in 1998. Its main activities include promoting Palestinian culture, which it does by hosting festivals on social occasions, teaching traditional dance known as the dabke, and launching field trips to other parts of the West Bank. In addition to national culture, the CHC has a football and chess team.[58] The Nablus municipal government established its own cultural center in 2003, called the Nablus Municipality Cultural Center (NMCC) aimed at establishing and developing educational facilities.
Sports

Nablus contains a football stadium with a capacity of 8,000.[60] The stadium is home to the city's football club al-Ittihad who participate in Palestine's main league. The club participated in the Middle East Mediterranean Scholar Athlete Games in 2000.