View source for Ramla

{{for|other places with similar names|Ramla (disambiguation)}}
{{Redirect|Ramleh|the music band|Ramleh (band)|the location in Egypt |Mahatet El Raml}}
{{distinguish|Ramallah}}
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{{Infobox settlement
| name               = Ramla
| native_name        = {{Hlist
 | {{Lang|he|{{Script/Hebrew|רַמְלה}}|rtl=yes}}
 | {{Lang|ar|الرملة|rtl=yes}}
 }}
| settlement_type    = [[List of cities in Israel|City]]
| translit_lang1     = Hebrew
| translit_lang1_type1 = [[ISO 259]]
| translit_lang1_info1 = Ramla
| translit_lang1_type3 = Also spelled
| translit_lang1_info3 = Ramle<br />Ramleh (unofficial)
| image_skyline      = כנסיית_טרה_סנטה_במבט_מהמגדל_הלבן_-_משמאל_קריית_הממשלה,_מימין_המסגד_הלבן_וברקע_העיר_מודיעין.JPG
| image_caption      = Ramla seen from the [[White Mosque, Ramla|White Tower]] with the eastern hills around [[Modi'in]] in the background, 2013
| image_blank_emblem = Coat of Arms of Ramla.svg
| blank_emblem_type  = Emblem of Ramla
| pushpin_map_alt    = 
| pushpin_map        = Israel center ta#Israel
| pushpin_mapsize    = 
| pushpin_label_position = right
| pushpin_map_caption = Location within Israel
| coordinates        = {{coord|31|55|39|N|34|51|45|E|region:IL|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type   = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name   = {{flag|Israel}}
| subdivision_type1  = 
| subdivision_name1  = 
| subdivision_type2  = [[Districts of Israel|District]]
| subdivision_name2  = [[Central District (Israel)|Central]]
| subdivision_type3  = Subdistrict
| subdivision_name3  = [[Ramla Subdistrict]]
| established_title  = Founded
| established_date   = {{circa|705}}–715
| leader_title       = Mayor
| leader_name        = Michael Vidal
| unit_pref          = dunam
| area_total_dunam   = {{formatnum:9993|R}}
| population_footnotes = {{Israel populations|reference}}
| population_total   = {{Israel populations|Ramla}}
| population_as_of   = {{Israel populations|Year}}
| population_density_km2 = auto
| website            = {{URL|https://ramle.org.il/}}
}}

'''Ramla''' ({{langx|he|רַמְלָה}}, ''Ramlā''), also known as '''Ramle''' ({{langx|ar|الرملة}}, ''ar-Ramla'', <small> [[Palestinian Arabic|local pronunciation]]:</small> {{IPA|ar|ar.ram.le|}}),{{efn|Also '''Ramlah''', '''Remle''' and historically sometimes '''Rama'''.}} is a city in the [[Central District (Israel)|Central District]] of [[Israel]]. Ramle is one of Israel's [[mixed cities]], with significant numbers of both Jews and Arabs.<ref name=":0" />

The city was founded in the early 8th century CE by the [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad]] [[caliph]] [[Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik]] as the capital of [[Jund Filastin]], the district he governed in [[Bilad al-Sham]] before becoming [[Caliphate|caliph]] in 715. The city's strategic and economic value derived from its location at the intersection of the ''[[Via Maris]]'', connecting [[Cairo]] with [[Damascus]], and the road connecting the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] port of [[Jaffa]] with [[Jerusalem]].<ref>[http://excavations.haifa.ac.il/html/html_heb/Ramla_Urban_Plan.pdf University of Haifa] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303180127/http://excavations.haifa.ac.il/html/html_heb/Ramla_Urban_Plan.pdf |date=2016-03-03 }} Excavation in Marcus Street, Ramala; Reports and studies of the Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies and Excavations, Haifa 2007</ref> It rapidly overshadowed the adjacent city of [[Lod|Lydda]], whose inhabitants were relocated to the new city. Not long after its establishment, Ramla developed as the commercial centre of [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], serving as a hub for pottery, dyeing, weaving, and olive oil, and as the home of numerous [[Ulama|Muslim scholars]]. Its prosperity was lauded by geographers in the 10th–11th centuries, when the city was ruled by the [[Fatimid Caliphate|Fatimid]]s and [[Seljuk Empire|Seljuk]]s.

It lost its role as a provincial capital shortly before the arrival of the [[First Crusade]]rs ({{circa|1099}}), after which it became the scene of [[Battle of Ramla (disambiguation)|various battles]]<!--intentional link to DAB page--> between the Crusaders and Fatimids in the first years of the 12th century. Later that century, it became the centre of a [[Lordship of Ramla|lordship]] in the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]], a [[Crusader states|Crusader state]] established by [[Godfrey of Bouillon]].

Ramla had an [[Arabs|Arab]]-majority population before most [[1948 Palestinian expulsion from Lydda and Ramle|were expelled]] during the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]].<ref>Pilger, 2011, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=grcb3zchpwYC&pg=PA194 194]</ref> The town was subsequently repopulated by [[Jews|Jewish]] immigrants. Today, Ramla is one of Israel's [[mixed cities]], with a population 76% Jewish and 24% Arab.{{Israel populations|reference}}<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=http://www.ramla.muni.il/ |title=עיריית רמלה – אתר האינטרנט |publisher=Ramla.muni.il |access-date=May 6, 2009}}</ref>

==History==
===Umayyad period===
[[File:Flickr - …trialsanderrors - View from Tower of the Forty Martyrs, Ramleh, Holy Land, ca. 1895.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|alt=A colorized skyline of a town with  hills on the horizon, white buildings in the background, and a cemetery, olive trees, and dirt paths in the foreground|Ramla (pictured in 1895) was founded by Sulayman at the start of the 8th century and became the capital of his district.]]

The [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad]] prince and governor of [[Jund Filastin|Palestine]], [[Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik]], founded Ramla as the seat of his administration,{{sfn|Eisener|1997|p=821}}{{sfn|Bacharach|1996|p=35}}{{sfn|Luz|1997|p=52}} replacing [[Lod|Lydda]], the Muslims' original provincial capital.{{sfn|Eisener|1997|p=821}}{{sfn|Bacharach|1996|p=35}} Sulayman had been appointed governor by his father Caliph [[Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan|Abd al-Malik]] before the end of his reign in 705 and continued in office through the reign of his brother Caliph [[al-Walid I]] ({{reign|705|715}}), whom he succeeded.{{sfn|Eisener|1997|p=821}} He died as caliph in 717. Ramla remained the capital of Palestine through the [[Fatimid Caliphate|Fatimid]] period (10th–11th centuries).{{sfn|Taxel|2013|p=161}} Its role as the principal city and district capital came to an end shortly before the arrival of the [[First Crusade]]rs in 1099.<ref>Le Strange, 1890, page ?</ref> It received its name, the singular form of ''raml'' (sand), from the sandy area in which it sat.{{sfn|Honigmann|1987|p=1116}}
[[File:Ramla 6799-3a.jpg|left|thumb|Ramla's Pool of Arches, a tourist destination]]
Sulayman's motives for founding Ramla were personal ambition and practical considerations. The location of Ramla near Lydda, a long-established and prosperous city, was logistically and economically advantageous.{{sfn|Luz|1997|pp=52-53}} The area's economic importance was based on its strategic location at the intersection of the two major roads linking [[Egypt]] with [[Syria (region)|Syria]] (the so-called "[[Via Maris]]") and linking Jerusalem with the Mediterranean coast.<ref>Le Strange, 1890, page ? ; ''Encyclopedia of Islam'', article "al-Ramla".</ref> Sulayman established his city in Lydda's vicinity, avoiding Lydda proper. This was likely due to a lack of available space for wide-scale development and agreements dating to the [[Muslim conquest of the Levant|Muslim conquest]] in the 630s that, at least formally, precluded him from confiscating desirable property within Lydda.{{sfn|Luz|1997|pp=52–53}}

In a tradition recorded by the historian [[Ibn Fadlallah al-Umari]] (died 1347), a determined local Christian cleric refused Sulayman's requests for plots in the middle of Lydda. Infuriated, he attempted to have the cleric executed, but his local adviser [[Raja ibn Haywa]] dissuaded him and instead proposed building a new city at a superior, adjacent site.{{sfn|Luz|1997|p=48}} In choosing the site, Sulayman utilized the strategic advantages of Lydda's vicinity while avoiding the physical constraints of an already-established urban center.{{sfn|Luz|1997|p=53}} Historian [[Moshe Sharon]] holds that Lydda was "too Christian in ethos for the taste of the Umayyad rulers", particularly following the [[Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan#Legacy|Arabization and Islamization reforms]] instituted by Abd al-Malik.{{sfn|Sharon|1986|p=799}}

According to [[al-Jahshiyari]] (died 942), Sulayman sought a lasting reputation as a great builder following the example of his father and al-Walid, the respective founders of the [[Dome of the Rock]] in [[Jerusalem]] and the [[Umayyad Mosque|Great Mosque of Damascus]]. The construction of Ramla was Sulayman's "way to immortality" and "his personal stamp on the landscape of Palestine", according to Luz.{{sfn|Luz|1997|pp=47, 53–54}}
[[File:PikiWiki Israel 41123 White Mosque Ramla.JPG|thumb|upright=1.2|alt=White stone ruins of a building, including arches and columns, in a grassy area with modern, high-rise buildings in the background|Remains of the [[White Mosque (Ramla)|White Mosque]] in Ramla (pictured in 2014) built by Sulayman and his cousin and successor [[Umar II]]]]
The first structure Sulayman erected in Ramla was his palatial residence,{{sfn|Luz|1997|p=53}} which dually served as the seat of Palestine's administration ({{transliteration|ar|[[divan|diwan]]}}). The next structure was the Dar al-Sabbaghin (House of the Dyers). At the center of the new city was a [[congregational mosque]], later known as the [[White Mosque (Ramla)|White Mosque]].{{sfn|Luz|1997|pp=37–38, 41-43}} It was not completed until the reign of Sulayman's successor Caliph [[Umar II]] ({{reign|717|720}}).{{sfn|Bacharach|1996|pp=27, 35–36}} The Sulayman's construction works were financially managed by a Christian from Lydda, Bitrik ibn al-Naka.{{sfn|Honigmann|1987|p=1116}} The remains of the White Mosque, dominated by a minaret added at a later date, are visible in the present day. In the courtyard are underground water cisterns from the Umayyad period.<ref>''Encyclopedia of Islam'', article "al-Ramla"; Myriam Rosen-Ayalon, The first century of Ramla, ''Arabica'', vol 43, 1996, pp. 250–263.</ref> From early on, Ramla developed economically as a market town for the surrounding area's agricultural products, and as a center for dyeing, weaving and pottery. It was also home to many [[ulema|Muslim religious scholars]].{{sfn|Luz|1997|pp=43–45}}

Sulayman built an aqueduct in the city called al-Barada, which transported water to Ramla from [[Tel Gezer]], about {{convert|10|km|mi|sigfig=1|sp=us}} to the southeast.{{sfn|Luz|1997|pp=38–39}} Ramla superseded Lydda as the commercial center of Palestine. Many of Lydda's Christian, [[Samaritan]] and Jewish inhabitants were moved to the new city.{{sfn|Luz|1997|pp=42-43}} Although the traditional accounts are in agreement that Lydda almost immediately fell into obscurity following the founding of Ramla, narratives vary about the extent of Sulayman's efforts to transfer Lydda's inhabitants to Ramla, some holding that he only demolished a church in Lydda and others that he demolished the city altogether.{{sfn|Bacharach|1996|p=35}} [[Al-Ya'qubi]] (died 839) noted Sulayman razed the houses of Lydda's inhabitants to force their relocation to Ramla and punished those who resisted.{{sfn|Gordon|Robinson|Rowson|Fishbein|2018|p=1005}}{{sfn|Sharon|1986|p=800}} In the words of al-Jahshiyari, Sulayman "founded the town of al-Ramla and its mosque and thus caused the ruin of Lod [Lydda]".{{sfn|Luz|1997|p=47}}

===Abbasid period===

The [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasids]] toppled the Umayyads in 750, confiscating the White Mosque and all other Umayyad properties in Ramla. The Abbasids annually reviewed the high costs of maintaining the Barada canal, though starting under the reign of Caliph [[al-Mu'tasim]] it became a regular part of the state's expenditures. In the late 9th century the Muslim inhabitants were composed mainly of Arabs and Persians, while the clients of the Muslims were Samaritans.{{sfn|Honigmann|1987|p=1116}}

The golden age of Ramla under the Umayyads and Abbasids, when the city overtook Jerusalem as a trade center, later gave way to a period of political instability and war beginning in the late 10th century. The Egypt-based Fatimids conquered Ramla in 969 and ten years later the city was destroyed by the [[Jarrahids]], a branch of the [[Banu Tayy|Tayy]] tribe.{{sfn|Petersen|2005|pp=345-346}}

Nonetheless, the 10th-century Jerusalemite geographer [[al-Muqaddasi]] described Ramla as "a fine city, and well built; its water is good and plentiful; it fruits are abundant". He noted that it "combines manifold advantages, situated as it is in the midst of beautiful villages and lordly towns, near to holy places and pleasant hamlets", as well as bountiful fields, walled towns and hospices. The geographer further noted the city's significant commerce and "excellent markets", lauding the quality of its fruits and bread as the best of their kind.<ref>Mukaddasi, 1886, p. [https://archive.org/stream/cu31924028534265#page/n57/mode/1up 32]</ref><ref>Le Strange, 1890, p. [https://archive.org/stream/palestineundermo00lestuoft#page/304/mode/1up 304]</ref> During this period, Ramla was one of the major centers for the production and export of oil extracted from unripe olives, known as ''anfa kinon'' ([[Greek language|Greek]]: ὀμφάκιον, ὀμφάχινον; [[Latin]]: omphacium; {{langx|ar|زيت الأنفاق}}), and used in cuisine and medicine.<ref>[[Al-Muqaddasi|Muqaddasi]] (1906), p. 181</ref><ref>[[Zohar Amar|Amar]], ''et al.'' (2004), p. 78. Cf. [[Babylonian Talmud]], ''[[Menahot]]'' 86a, where it says that the olives used to produce the oil had not reached one-third of its natural stage of ripeness, and that it was used principally as a [[depilatory]] and to flavor meat.</ref>

Conversely, the city's disadvantages included the severe muddiness of the place during the rainy winter season and its hard, sandy grounds due to its distance from natural water sources. The limited drinking water gathered in the city's cisterns were generally inaccessible to the poorer inhabitants.{{sfn|Honigmann|1987|p=1116}}

By 1011–1012, the Jarrahids controlled all of Palestine, except for the coastal towns, and captured Ramla from its Fatimid garrison, making it their capital. The city and the surrounding places were plundered by the Bedouin, impoverishing much of the population. The Jarrahids brought the [[Alids|Alid]] [[emir of Mecca]], [[Abu'l-Futuh al-Hasan ibn Ja'far|al-Hasan ibn Ja'far]], to act as caliph in defiance of the Fatimids.{{sfn|Gil|1997|pp=381–382}} The development was short-lived, as the Jarrahids abandoned al-Hasan after Fatimid bribes, and the caliphal claimant left the city for Mecca.{{sfn|Kennedy|2016|p=286}} A Fatimid army led by [[Ali ibn Ja'far ibn Fallah]] wrested control of Ramla from the Jarrahids, who continued to dominate the surrounding countryside.{{sfn|Gil|1997|p=384}} The following decade was marked by peace, but, in 1024, the Jarrahids renewed their rebellion. The Fatimid general [[Anushtakin al-Dizbari]] secured Ramla for a few months, but the Jarrahids overran the city that year, killing and harassing several inhabitants and seizing much of the population's wealth. They appointed their own governor, Nasr Allah ibn Nizal. In the following year, al-Dizbari drove the Jarrahids out of Ramla, but was recalled to Egypt in 1026. In 1029, he returned and routed the Jarrahids and their Bedouin allies.{{sfn|Gil|1997|pp=388-391, 396–397}}

Persian geographer [[Nasir-i-Khusrau]] visited the city in 1047, remarking: 
<blockquote>Ramla is a great city, with strong walls built of stone, mortared, of great height and thickness, with iron gates opening therein. From the town to the sea-coast is a distance of three leagues. The inhabitants get their water from the rainfall, and in each house is a tank for storing the same, in order that there may always be a supply. In the middle of the Friday Mosque [White Mosque], also, is a large tank: and from it, when it is filled with water, anyone who wishes may take. The area of the mosque measures two hundred paces (''Gam'') by three hundred. Over one of its porches (''suffah'') is an inscription stating that on the 15th of [[Muharram]], of the year 425 (=10th of December, 1033 CE), there came an [[1033 Jordan Rift Valley earthquake|earthquake]]<ref>Le Strange adds: "This earthquake is mentioned by the Arab annalists, who  state that a third of Ramla was thrown down, the mosque in particular being left a mere heap of ruins. Footnote, p. [https://archive.org/details/cu31924028534281/page/n50/mode/1up 21]</ref> of great violence, which threw down a large number of buildings, but that no single person sustained an injury. In the city of Ramla there is marble in plenty, and most of the buildings and private houses are of this material; and, further, the surface thereof they do most beautifully sculpture and ornament. They cut the marble here with a toothless saw, which is worked with 'Mekka sand'. They saw the marble in length, as is the case with wood, to form the columns; not in across; they also cut it into slabs. The marbles that I saw here were of all colours, some variegated, some green, red, black and white. There is, too, at Ramla, a particular kind of fig, and this they export to all the countries round. This city Ramla, throughout Syria and the West, is known under the name of Filastin.<ref>Nasir-i-Khusrau, 1997, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/cu31924028534281#page/n50/mode/1up 21]- [https://archive.org/details/cu31924028534281/page/n51/mode/1up 22]</ref><ref>Le Strange adds: "Ramlah was the Arab capital of the province Filastin (Palestine), and as such was often referred to under the name of its province. The same applied to Sham ([[Damascus]] or Syria), Misr ([[Cairo]] or Egypt), and other places. Major Fuller begins his translation (J. R. A. S. vol VI, N.S., p. 142) at this point. Footnote, p. [https://archive.org/details/cu31924028534281/page/n51/mode/1up 22]</ref></blockquote>

===Crusader period===
{{main|Lordship of Ramla}}
The armies of the First Crusade took the hastily evacuated town without a fight. In the early years of the Crusader [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]] though, control over this strategic location led to three consecutive [[Battle of Ramla (disambiguation)|battles]] between the Crusaders and Egyptian armies from [[Ashkelon|Ascalon]], a Fatimid-held town along the southern coast of Palestine. As Crusader rule stabilized, Ramla became the seat of a [[seigneury]] in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the [[Lordship of Ramla]] within the [[County of Jaffa and Ascalon]]. It was a city of some economic significance and an important way station for pilgrims travelling to Jerusalem. The Crusaders identified it with the biblical [[Ramathaim-Zophim|Ramathaim]] and called it [[Arimathea]].<ref>''Encyclopedia of Islam'', article "al-Ramla".</ref><ref name=Pringle181>Pringle, 1998, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=2Y0tA0xLzwEC&pg=PA181 181]</ref>

{{multiple image
| direction         = vertical
| width             = 250
| footer            = 
| image1            = Konrad von Grünenberg - Beschreibung der Reise von Konstanz nach Jerusalem - Blatt 31v-32r.jpg
| alt1              = 
| caption1          = Ramla, 1487, by [[Conrad Grünenberg]]
| image2            = 1698 de Bruijin View of Rama, Israel (Palestine, Holy Land) - Geographicus - Rama-bruijn-1698.jpg
| alt2              = 
| caption2          = "Rama" scene by [[Cornelis de Bruijn]], published in 1698
| image3            = Ramleh.jpg
| alt3              = 
| caption3          = Ramleh, by [[Félix Bonfils]], pre-1885
}}

Around 1163, the rabbi and traveller [[Benjamin of Tudela]], who also mistook it for a more ancient city, visited "[[Ramah in Benjamin|Rama]], or Ramleh, where there are remains of the walls from the days of our ancestors, for thus it was found written upon the stones. About 300 Jews dwell there. It was formerly a very great city; at a distance of two miles (3 km) there is a large Jewish cemetery."<ref name="Adler">{{cite book |author= Marcus Nathan Adler |title= The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela |location= London |publisher= Oxford University Press |year= 1907 |pages= 26–27}} Adler notes that earlier translations wrote "3" rather than "300", but he considers that incorrect.</ref>

===Late medieval period===
In the 1480s, in the late [[Mamluk Sultanate|Mamluk]] era, [[Felix Fabri]] visited Ramla and described (among other things) the [[hammam]] there; "built in a wonderous and clever fashion".<ref>Fabri, 1896, p. [https://archive.org/details/libraryofpalesti07paleuoft/page/256/mode/1up 256]</ref>

In the early days of the Ottoman period, in 1548, a census was taken recording 528 Muslim families and 82 Christian families living in Ramla.<ref>Cohen and Lewis, 1978, pp. 135-144</ref><ref>From the sources listed above: no Jews in 1525, 1538, 1548, 1592; two in 1852</ref><ref name=Petersen95>Petersen, 2005, p. [https://archive.org/stream/TheTownsOfPalestineUnderUnderMuslimRule/AndrewPetersenTheTownsOfPalestineUnderMuslimRule-600-1600#page/n103/mode/1up 95]</ref>

On [[French campaign in Egypt and Syria|2 March 1799]], [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] occupied Ramla during his unsuccessful bid to conquer Palestine, using the Franciscan hospice as his headquarters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.napoleon-series.org/ins/scholarship98/c_jaffa.html |title=INS Scholarship 1998: Jaffa, 1799 |publisher=Napoleon-series.org |access-date=6 May 2009}}</ref> The village appeared as 'Ramleh' on the map of [[Pierre Jacotin]] compiled during this campaign.<ref>Karmon, 1960, p. [http://www.jchp.ucla.edu/Bibliography/Karmon,_Y_1960_Jacotin_Map_(IEJ_10).pdf 171] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222063351/http://jchp.ucla.edu/Bibliography/Karmon,_Y_1960_Jacotin_Map_(IEJ_10).pdf |date=2019-12-22 }}</ref>

In 1838, [[Edward Robinson (scholar)|Edward Robinson]] found Ramleh to be a town of about 3000 inhabitants, surrounded by olive-groves and vegetables. It had few streets, and the houses were made of stone and were well-built. There were several mosques in the town.<ref name=Robinson>Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/n42/mode/1up 25]-33</ref>

In 1863, [[Victor Guérin]] noted that the Latin (Catholic) population was reduced to two priests and 50 parishioners.<ref>Guérin, 1868, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongog01gu#page/34/mode/1up 34]-55</ref> In 1869, the population was given as 3,460; 3000 Muslims, 400 Greek Orthodox and 60 Catholics.<ref name=SWP252>Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp02conduoft#page/252/mode/1up 252]</ref>

In 1882, the [[Palestine Exploration Fund]]'s ''Survey of Western Palestine'' noted that there was a bazaar in the town, "but its prosperity has much decayed, and many of the houses are falling into ruins, including the [[Saray (building)|Serai]]."<ref name=SWP253>Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp02conduoft#page/253/mode/1up 253]</ref> Expansion began only at the end of the 19th century.<ref>Yehoshua Ben-Arieh, "The Population of the Large Towns in Palestine During the First Eighty Years of the Nineteenth Century, According to Western Sources", in ''Studies on Palestine during the Ottoman Period'', ed. Moshe Ma'oz (Jerusalem, 1975), pp. 49–69.</ref>

In 1889, 31 Jewish worker families settled in the town, which had no Jewish population at the time.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/hmz/1889/11/26/01/article/7|title=⁨a באה"ק. המולוניא החדשה רמלה. ⁩ &#124; ⁨המליץ⁩ &#124; 26 נובמבר 1889 &#124; אוסף העיתונות &#124; הספרייה הלאומית|website=www.nli.org.il|accessdate=1 November 2022}}</ref>

===British Mandate period===
[[File:Air views of Palestine. Air route over Cana of Galilee, Nazareth, Plain of Sharon, etc. Ramleh. Arimathea. Closer view LOC matpc.15874.jpg|thumb|Ramla from the air in 1932]]
[[File:Er Ramle 1941.jpg|thumb|Ramla 1941 1:20,000]]
[[File:El Ramle 1945.jpg|thumb|Ramla 1945 1:250,000]]
In the [[1922 census of Palestine]] conducted by the [[Mandate for Palestine|British Mandate authorities]], 'Ramleh' had a population of 7,312 (5,837 [[Muslim]]s, 1,440 Christians and 35 Jews).<ref name=Census1922a>Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Ramleh, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n23/mode/1up 21]</ref> The Christians were further noted by denomination: 1,226 [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]], 2 [[Syriac Orthodox Church|Syriac Orthodox]] (Jacobites), 150 [[Roman Catholics]], 8 [[Melkite Catholic]]s, 4 [[Maronite Catholic Church|Maronite]], 15 [[Armenian Apostolic Church|Armenian]], 2 [[Abyssinian Church]] and 36 [[Anglicanism|Anglicans]].<ref name=Census1922b>Barron, 1923, Table XIV, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n48/mode/1up 21]</ref>

Less than a decade later, the population had increased nearly 25%; the [[1931 census of Palestine|1931 census]] recorded 10,347 people (8,157 Muslims, 2,194 Christians, five Jews, and two [[Druze]]), in a total of 2,339 houses.<ref name="Census1931">Mills, 1932, p. [https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas 22]</ref>

Ramla was connected to wired electricity (supplied by the Zionist-owned [[Israel Electric Corporation#History|Palestine Electric Company]]) towards the end of the 1920s. Economist Basim Faris noted this fact as proof of Ramla's higher standard of living than neighbouring Lydda. In Ramla, he wrote, "economic demands triumph over nationalism" while Lydda, "which is ten minutes' walk from Ramleh, is still averse to such a convenience as electric current, and so is not as yet served; perhaps the low standard of living of the poor population prevents the use of the service at the present rates, which cannot compete with petroleum for lighting".<ref>Faris, A. Basim (1936) Electric Power in Syria and Palestine. Beirut: [[American University of Beirut Press]], pp. 66-67. Also see: Shamir, Ronen (2013) Current Flow: The Electrification of Palestine. Stanford: Stanford University Press, pp. 71, 74</ref>

[[Sheikh Mustafa al-Khairi]] was mayor of Ramla from 1920 to 1947.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.palestineremembered.com/al-Ramla/al-Ramla/Picture2568.html |title=Sheikh Mustafa Yousef Ahmad Abdelrazzaq El-Khairi (El-Khayri) The Mayor of Ramla (1920–1947) |publisher=Palestineremembered.com |access-date=6 May 2009}}</ref>

The 1938 village statistics list the population ("Ramle, Er") as 11,950.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VillageStatistics1938orig.pdf |title=Village Statistics |year=1938 |pages=60}}</ref>

The 1945/46 survey gives 'Ramle' a population of 15,160 (11,900 Muslims and 3,260 Christians).<ref>Department of Statistics, 1945, p. [http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VSpages/VS1945_p30.jpg 30]</ref>

===1947–48 war===
{{Main|1948 Palestinian expulsion from Lydda and Ramle}}
[[File:Ramla i.jpg|thumb|Ramleh from air, 1948]]
[[File:RefugeesEscortedFromRamlaOperationDanny.jpg|thumb|right|Arab Palestinian residents of Ramleh being expelled by the Israeli army in July 1948]]

Ramla was part of the territory allotted to a proposed Arab state under the [[1947 UN Partition Plan]].<ref>[http://domino.un.org/maps/m0103_1b.gif UN map] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090124212115/http://domino.un.org/maps/m0103_1b.gif |date=2009-01-24 }}</ref> However, Ramla's geographic location and its strategic position on the main supply route to Jerusalem made it a point of contention during the [[1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine|1947–1948 civil war]], followed by the internationalised [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]]. A bomb by the Jewish militia group [[Irgun]] went off in the Ramla market on 18 February, killing 7 residents and injuring 45.<ref>Embassy of Israel, London, website. 2002. Quoting Zeez Vilani – 'Ramla past and present'.</ref><ref>''Scotsman'', 24 February 1948: "'Jerusalem (Monday) – The 'High Command' of the Arab military organisation issued a communiqué to the newspapers here to-day claiming full responsibility for the [[Ben Yehuda Street bombings#1948|explosion in Ben Yehuda Street]] on Sunday. It was said to be in reprisal for an attack by Irgun at Ramleh several days ago.'"</ref>

After a number of unsuccessful raids on Ramla, the Israeli army launched [[Operation Dani]]. Ramla was captured on 12 July 1948, a few days after the capture of Lydda. The Arab resistance surrendered on July 12,<ref>Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA427 427]</ref> and most of the remaining inhabitants were [[1948 Palestinian expulsion from Lydda and Ramle|expelled]].<ref>Many of the refugees including a large number of children died (at least 400+ according to the Arab historian '[[Aref al-Aref]]) from thirst, hunger, and heat exhaustion after being stripped of their valuables on the way out by Israeli soldiers. Morris, "Operation Dani and the Palestinian Exodus from Lydda and Ramle in 1948", ''The Middle East Journal'', 40 (1986) 82–109; Morris, 2004, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA429 429]–430, who quotes the orders; ''[[The Rabin Memoirs]]'' (censored section, ''[[The New York Times]]'', 23 October 1979).</ref> A disputed claim, advanced by scholars including [[Ilan Pappé]], characterizes this as [[ethnic cleansing]].<ref>For the use of the term "ethnic cleansing", see, for example, [https://books.google.com/books?id=yjeXQVmGrwcC&dq=%20ethnic%20cleansing%20lydd&pg=PT155 Pappé 2006].
*On whether what occurred in Lydda and Ramle constituted ethnic cleansing:
*[https://archive.org/details/1948historyoffir00morr/page/8 <!-- quote=1948 morris. --> Morris 2008, p. 408]: "although an atmosphere of what would later be called ethnic cleansing prevailed during critical months, transfer never became a general or declared Zionist policy. Thus, by war's end, even though much of the country had been 'cleansed' of Arabs, other parts of the country—notably central Galilee—were left with substantial Muslim Arab populations, and towns in the heart of the Jewish coastal strip, Haifa and Jaffa, were left with an Arab minority."
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=v2AICgAAQBAJ&dq=lydda%20ramle%20%22ethnic%20cleansing%22&pg=PA156 Spangler 2015, p. 156]: "During the ''Nakba'', the 1947 [''sic''] displacement of Palestinians, Rabin had been second in command over Operation Dani, the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian towns of towns of Lydda and Ramle."
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=tXMAicS2ar8C&dq=lydda%20ramle%20%22ethnic%20cleansing%22&pg=PA63 Schwartzwald 2012, p. 63]: "The facts do not bear out this contention [of ethnic cleansing]. To be sure, some refugees were forced to flee: fifty thousand were expelled from the strategically located towns of Lydda and Ramle ... But these were the exceptions, not the rule, and ethnic cleansing had nothing to do with it."
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=O2S_BAAAQBAJ&dq=%22ethnic%20cleansing%22%20lydda%20ramla&pg=PA107 Golani and Manna 2011, p. 107]{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}: "The expulsion of some 50,000 Palestinians from their homes ... was one of the most visible atrocities stemming from Israel's policy of ethnic cleansing."</ref> By November 1949, there were about 2,000 Arabs in Ramla and Lod.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Morris |first1=Benny |author1-link=Benny Morris |title=The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947–1949 |date=2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=434 }}</ref>

===State of Israel===
Ramla became a mixed Jewish–Arab town within the state of Israel. Arab homes of those who left in Ramla were given by the [[Politics of Israel|Israeli government]] to Jews, first Holocaust refugees from Europe and then immigrants from Arab and Muslim countries.<ref name=Golan2003/> In February 1949, the Jewish population was over 6,000. Ramla remained economically depressed over the next two decades, although the population steadily mounted, reaching 34,000 by 1972.<ref name=Golan2003>A. Golan, Lydda and Ramle: "From Palestinian-Arab to Israeli Towns", 1948–1967, ''Middle Eastern Studies'' 39,4 (2003), pp. 121–139.</ref>

A 2013 Israeli police report documented that the Central District ranks fourth among Israel's seven districts in terms of drug-related arrests.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.palestine-studies.org/2015/12/30/are-lod-and-ramla-the-drug-capitals-of-israel-and-palestine/ |title=Zachary J. Foster, "Are Lod and Ramla the Drug Capitals of Israel and Palestine?" (Palestine Square Blog)|date=30 December 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151230193829/http://blog.palestine-studies.org/2015/12/30/are-lod-and-ramla-the-drug-capitals-of-israel-and-palestine/ |archive-date=30 December 2015}}</ref> Today, five of [[Israel Prison Service|Israel's prisons]] are located in Ramla, including the maximum-security [[Ayalon Prison]] and the country's only women's prison, called [[Neve Tirtza Women's Prison|Neve Tirza]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/israel-prison-photos-neve-tirza-2018-4|title=There's only one women's prison in Israel — and a photographer documented the inmates in harrowing detail|work=Business Insider|access-date=17 June 2018}}</ref> In 2015, Ramla had one of Israel's highest crime rates.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/police-study-tel-aviv-jaffa-haifa-ramle-and-eilat-israel-s-most-violent-cities-1.388850 |title=Police study: Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Haifa, Ramle and Eilat Israel's most violent cities |publisher=Ha'aretz |date=9 October 2011|access-date=1 February 2015}}</ref>

==Landmarks==
===White Tower===
[[File:White Tower, Ramla (Dez. 2006).jpg|thumb|The [[White Mosque (Ramla)|White Mosque]], built in the 13th century]]{{Main|White Mosque, Ramla}}The [[Tower of Ramla]], also known as the White Tower, was built in the 13th century. It served as the minaret of the White Mosque (''al-Masjid al-Abyad'') erected by Caliph Suleiman in the 8th century, of which only remnants are to be seen today.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last= Kaplan |first= Jacob |title= Ramla |pages= 1267–1269 |editor-last= Stern |editor-first= Ephraim |encyclopedia= The New Encyclopedia Of Archaeological Excavations In The Holy Land |publisher= Carta for the Israel Exploration Society |location= Jerusalem |volume= 4 |year= 1993 |via= Ramle, The White Mosque: The Excavations. At the IAA Gallery of Sites and Finds |url= http://www.antiquities.org.il/site_Item_eng.asp?id=125 |access-date=23 August 2020}}</ref> The tower is six stories high, with a spiral staircase of 119 steps.<ref>''The Guide to Israel'', Zeev Vilnai, Hamakor Press, Jerusalem, 1972, p. 208.</ref>
[[File:Arcs pool IMG 5391.JPG|thumb|Ramla's Pool of Arches]]

===Pool of Arches===
The Pool of Arches, also known as St. Helen's Pool and Bīr al-Anezīya, is an underground water cistern built during the reign of the Abbasid caliph [[Haroun al-Rashid]] in 789 [[Common Era|CE]] (in the Early Muslim period) to provide Ramla with a steady supply of water.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iaa-conservation.org.il/Projects_Item_eng.asp?site_id=23&subject_id=11 |title=Ramla Pool of Arches |publisher=Iaa-conservation.org.il |date=2005-12-27 |access-date=2014-02-04}}</ref> Use of the cistern was apparently discontinued at the beginning of the tenth century (the beginning of the [[Fatimid]] period), possibly due to the fact that the main [[Aqueduct (water supply)|aqueduct]] to the city went out of use at that time.<ref>Toueg, Ron, [http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/Report_Detail_Eng.aspx?id=25741 ''Ramla, Pool of the Arches: Final Report (09/07/2020)''], Hadashot Arkheologiyot, Volume 132, Year 2020, Israel Antiquities Authority. Accessed 27 July 2020.</ref>

===Great Mosque===
The Crusaders built a cathedral in the first half on the 12th century, converted into a mosque when the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluks]] conquered Ramla in the second half of the 13th century, when they added a round minaret, an entrance from the north, and a [[mihrab]]. The [[Great Mosque of Ramla|Great Mosque]] of Ramla, also known as the El-Omari Mosque, it is in architectural terms Israel's largest and best-preserved Crusader church.<ref>[http://www.ramla.muni.il/index.asp?id=1223 Ramla Tourism Sites] at the official website {{webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150207053439/http://ramla.muni.il/index.asp?id=1223 |date=2015-02-07 }}.</ref>

===Franciscan church and hospice===
The Hospice of St [[Nicodemus]] and [[St Joseph of Arimathea]] on Ramla's main boulevard, Herzl Street, is easily recognized by its clock-faced, square tower. It belongs to the [[Franciscan]] church. [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon]] used the hospice as his headquarters during his Palestine campaign in 1799.
{{Further|St. Nicodemus and St. Joseph of Arimathea Church}}

===Ramla Museum===
The Ramla Museum is housed in the former municipal headquarters of the British Mandatory authorities. The building, from 1922, incorporates elements of Arab architecture such as arched windows and patterned tiled floors. After 1948, it was the central district office of the [[Ministry of Finance (Israel)|Israeli Ministry of Finance]]. In 2001, the building became a museum documenting the history of Ramla.

===British Commonwealth War Cemetery===
The [[Ramleh Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery|Commonwealth War Cemetery]] is the largest of its kind in Israel, holding graves of soldiers fallen during both World Wars and the British Mandate period.<ref>[https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/israel-middle-east/articles/british-war-graves-in-israel In Israel and Palestinian Territories, British Still Tend Memory of 16,000 War Dead]</ref>

==Archaeology==
===Identification===
A tradition reported by [[Ishtori Haparchi]] (1280–1355) and other early Jewish writers is that Ramla was the biblical [[Gath (city)|Gath]] of the [[Philistines]].<ref>Ishtori Haparchi, ''Kaphtor u'ferach'', vol. II, chapter 11, s.v. ויבנה בארץ פלשתים, (3rd edition) Jerusalem 2007, p. 78 (Hebrew)</ref><ref name=Mazar>{{cite journal |title=Gath and Gittaim |author=B. Mazar |journal=Israel Exploration Journal |volume=4 |number=3/4 |year=1954 |pages=227–235}}</ref> Initial archaeological claims seemed to indicate that Ramla was not built on the site of an ancient city,<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Construction of an Islamic City in Palestine. The Case of Umayyad al-Ramla |author=Nimrod Luz |journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society |series=Third Series |volume=7 |number=1 |year=1997 |pages=27–54|doi=10.1017/S1356186300008300 |s2cid=163178178 }}</ref> although in recent years the ruins of an older city were uncovered to the south of Ramla.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=1303&mag_id=115|title=Volume 121 Year 2009 Ramla (South)|website=www.hadashot-esi.org.il}}</ref> Earlier, [[Benjamin Mazar]] had proposed that ancient Gath lay at the site of Ras Abu Hamid east of Ramla.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Mazar (Maisler) |first=Benjamin |title= Gath and Gittaim|journal= Israel Exploration Journal |volume= 4|issue= 3|pages= 233 |jstor=27924579 |date=1954}}</ref> [[Michael Avi-Yonah|Avi-Yonah]], however, considered that to be a different Gath, usually now called Gath-Gittaim.<ref name=AviYonah>{{cite book |author= Michael Avi-Yonah |chapter=Gath |title=Encyclopedia Judaica |volume=7 |edition=second |page=395 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TLxYAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA395 }}</ref> This view is also supported by other scholars, those holding that there was, both, a Gath (believed to be ''[[Tell es-Safi]]'') and [[List of minor biblical places#Gath-rimmon|Gath-rimmon]] or [[List of minor biblical places#Gittaim|Gittaim]] (in or near Ramla).<ref>{{cite journal |last=Rainey |first=Anson |title= Review by: Anson F. Rainey|journal= Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume= 118|issue= 1 |pages= 73 |jstor= 606301 |date=1998}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Rainey |first=Anson |title= The Identification of Philistine Gath|journal= Eretz-Israel: Archaeological, Historical and Geographical Studies |volume= Nelson Glueck Memorial Volume |pages= 63–76 |jstor= 23619091 |date=1975}}</ref>

===Excavation history===
Archaeological excavations in Ramla conducted in 1992–1995 unearthed the remains of a dyeing industry (''Dar al-Sabbaghin'', House of the Dyers) near the White Mosque; hydraulic installations such as pools, subterranean reservoirs and cisterns; and abundant ceramic finds that include glass, coins and jar handles stamped with Arabic inscriptions.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~semitic/wl/digsites/SLevant/Ramla2006/ |title=Vincenz : Ramla &#124; The Shelby White – Leon Levy Program for Archaeological Publications |publisher=Fas.harvard.edu |access-date=May 6, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080906210257/http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~semitic/wl/digsites/SLevant/Ramla2006 |archive-date=September 6, 2008 }}</ref> Excavations in Ramla continued into 2010, led by Eli Haddad, Orit Segal, Vered Eshed, and Ron Toueg, on behalf of the [[Israel Antiquities Authority]] (IAA).<ref>[[Israel Antiquities Authority]], [http://www.antiquities.org.il/m_digs_eng.aspx?shana=2010 Excavators and Excavations Permit for Year 2010], Survey Permit # A-5947, Survey Permit # A-6029, Survey Permit # A-6052, and Survey Permit # A-6057</ref>

In January 2021, archaeologists from the [[Hebrew University of Jerusalem]] and [[University of Haifa|Haifa University]] announced the discovery of six engravings on 120,000-year-old [[aurochs]] bone near the city of Ramla in the open-air Middle Paleolithic site of Nesher Ramla. According to  archaeologist Yossi Zaidner, this finding was definitely the oldest in the [[Levant]]. Three-dimensional imaging and microscopic analysis were used to examine the bone. The six lines ranged in length from 38 to 42 millimeters.<ref>{{Cite web|last=staff|first=T. O. I.|title=Scientists: Bone carving found in Israel could be earliest human use of symbols|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/scientists-bone-carving-found-in-israel-could-be-earliest-human-use-of-symbols/|access-date=2021-07-08|website=www.timesofisrael.com|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Davis-Marks|first=Isis|title=120,000-Year-Old Cattle Bone Carvings May Be World's Oldest Surviving Symbols|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/wild-cow-bone-may-have-120000-year-old-symbols-180976933/|access-date=2021-07-08|website=Smithsonian Magazine|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|date=2021-01-20|title=Early evidence for symbolic behavior in the Levantine Middle Paleolithic: A 120 ka old engraved aurochs bone shaft from the open-air site of Nesher Ramla, Israel|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1040618221000021|journal=Quaternary International|language=en|doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2021.01.002|issn=1040-6182|last1=Prévost|first1=Marion|last2=Groman-Yaroslavski|first2=Iris|last3=Crater Gershtein|first3=Kathryn M.|last4=Tejero|first4=José-Miguel|last5=Zaidner|first5=Yossi|volume=624 |pages=80–93 |s2cid=234236699|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==Geology==
===Earthquakes===
The city has historically suffered severe damage from several major earthquakes, including the [[1033 Jordan Rift Valley earthquake]], [[1068 Near East earthquake]], smaller earthquakes in 1070 and 1546, and the [[1927 Jericho earthquake]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Location Index for Earthquakes in Israel since 100 B.C.E. |author=D. H. K. Amiran |journal=Israel Exploration Journal |volume=46 |number=1/2 |year=1996 |pages=120–130 }}</ref>

===Rare cave ecosystem===
{{main|Ayalon Cave}}
In May 2006, a naturally sealed-off underground space now known as '''Ayyalon Cave''' was discovered near Ramla, outside [[Moshav]] [[Yad Rambam]]. The cave sustains an unusual type of ecosystem, based on bacteria that create all the energy they need chemically, from the sulfur compounds they find in the water, with no light or organic food coming in from the surface. A bulldozer working in the Nesher cement quarry on the outskirts of Ramla accidentally broke into the cavern. The finds have been attributed to the cave's isolation, which led to the evolution of a whole [[food chain]] of specially developed organisms, including several previously unknown species of [[invertebrates]]. With several large halls on different levels, it measures {{convert|2700|m}} long, making it the third-largest [[limestone]] [[cave]] in Israel.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3257522,00.html |title= Underground world found at quarry – Israel Culture, Ynetnews |newspaper= Ynetnews |publisher= Ynetnews.com |date= June 20, 1995 |access-date=May 6, 2009}}</ref>

One of the finds was an eyeless scorpion, given the name ''[[Akrav israchanani]]'' honouring the researchers who identified it, Israel Naaman and Hanan Dimentman. All ten specimen of the blind scorpion found in the cave had been dead for several years, possibly because recent overpumping of the groundwater has led the underground lake to shrink, and with it the food supply to dwindle. Seven more species of [[troglobite]] [[crustacean]]s and [[springtail]]s were discovered in "Noah's Ark Cave", as the cave has been dubbed by journalists, several of them unknown to science.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/883837.html |title= One year later, 'Noah's Ark' cave is no longer a safe haven |publisher= Haaretz |date=19 July 2007 |access-date=May 6, 2009 }}</ref>

==Demographics==
{{Historical populations
|title       = Historical population
|align       = right
|shading     = off
|percentages = pagr
|1945|15300
|1972|34000
|2001|62000
|2004|63462
|2009|65800
|2014|72293 
}}

According to the [[Israel Central Bureau of Statistics]] (CBS), a total of 63,462 people were living in Ramla at the end of 2004. In 2001, the ethnic makeup of the city was 80% Jewish, 20% Arab (16% Muslim Arabs and 4% [[Christian Arabs]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kcsistercities.org/sister-cities/ramla-israel |title=Ramla, Israel |publisher=Kansas City Sister Cities}}</ref> Ramla is the center of [[Karaite Judaism]] in Israel.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ramla.muni.il/index.asp?id=1223 |title=Karaite Center |publisher=Ramla Tourism Site |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150207053439/http://ramla.muni.il/index.asp?id=1223 |archive-date=2015-02-07 }}</ref>

Most Jews from [[Karachi]], [[Pakistan]], have migrated to Israel and have resettled in Ramle, where they have built a synagogue named Magen Shalome, after the [[Magain Shalome Synagogue]] from Karachi.<ref>[https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Pakistan.html Pakistan Jewish Virtual History Tour], Jewish Virtual Library</ref>

==Economy==
According to CBS data, there were 21,000 salaried workers and 1,700 self-employed persons in Ramla in 2000. The mean monthly wage for a salaried worker was [[New Israeli Shekel|NIS]] 4,300, with a real increase of 4.4% over the course of 2000. Salaried males had a mean monthly wage of NIS 5,200, with a real increase of 3.3%, compared to NIS 3,300 for women, with a real increase of 6.3%. The average income for self-employed persons was NIS 4,900. A total of 1,100 persons received unemployment benefits, and 5,600 received income supplements.

Nesher Israel Cement Enterprises, Israel's sole producer of cement, maintains its flagship factory in Ramla.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nesher.co.il/new_site/en/index.htm |title=Nesher Israel Cement Enterprises Ltd |publisher=Nesher.co.il |access-date=2014-02-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222004742/http://www.nesher.co.il/new_site/en/index.htm |archive-date=2014-02-22 }}</ref> Archaeological excavations on the grounds of the Nesher quarry have discovered the remains of a large Second Temple Jewish town and the Christian Byzantine settlement established over it. Over fifty underground hiding complexes were found in the area, some used for storage and others believed to be hiding places for humans with access to water.<ref>{{Cite news |title=The True History of Ancient Jewish Underground Hiding Places in Israel |url=https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/2024-01-18/ty-article/the-true-history-of-ancient-jewish-underground-hiding-places-in-israel/0000018d-1c6e-dd75-addd-feef7ec00000 |access-date=2024-02-21 |work=Haaretz |language=en}}</ref>

==Infrastructure==
===Transportation===
[[File:Ramleh Station circa 1930.jpeg|thumb|Original Ramla station building, {{circa|1930}}]]

[[Ramla Railway Station]] provides an hourly service on the [[Israel Railways]] [[Jaffa–Jerusalem railway|Tel Aviv–Jerusalem line]]. The station is located in north east side of the city and originally opened in April 1891, making it the oldest active railway station in Israel.<ref>{{Citation 
|title=Jaffa Station History 
|url=http://www.jaffastation.com/ 
|access-date= November 6, 2009 
}}</ref> It was most recently reopened on April 12, 2003 after having been rebuilt in a new location closer to the town's center.

===Education===
According to CBS, there are 31 schools and 12,000 students in the city. These include 22 elementary schools with a student population of 7,700 and nine high schools with a population of 3,800. In 2001, 47% of Ramla's 12th grade students graduated with a ''bagrut'' matriculation certificate. Many of the Jewish schools are run by Jewish orthodox organisations.

The Arabs, both Muslims and Christian, increasingly depend on their own private schools and not Israeli governmental schools. There are currently two Christian schools, such as Terra Santa School, the Greek Orthodox School, and there is one Islamic school in preparations.

The ''Owpen House'' in Ramla is a preschool and daycare center for Arab and Jewish children. In the afternoons, Open House runs extracurricular coexistence programs for Jewish, Christian, and Muslim children.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bethevergreen.org/cbeuploads/Blog_part4.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2007-09-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926175303/http://www.bethevergreen.org/cbeuploads/Blog_part4.pdf |archive-date=2007-09-26 }}</ref>

==Notable people==
[[File:Moni Moshonov.jpg|thumb|[[Moni Moshonov]]]]
Alphabetical list by surname where extant. Traditional, pre-modern Arab names by ''ism'' (given name).

*[[Elias Abuelazam]] (born 1976), [[serial killer]]
*[[Ron Atias]] (born 1995), [[taekwondo]] athlete who represented [[Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics]]
*[[Orna Barbivai]] (born 1962), army general and politician
*[[Yaqub al-Ghusayn]] (1899–1948), [[Arab nationalist]] leader of the [[Youth Congress Party]]
*[[Amir Hadad]] (born 1978), tennis player<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.asapsports.com/show_interview.php?id=16875 |title=Tennis – 2002 – WIMBLEDON – July 1 – Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi |publisher=ASAP Sports |date=July 1, 2002 |access-date=May 6, 2009}}</ref>
*[[Barno Itzhakova]] (1927–2001), Tajik vocalist, immigrated to Ramla in 1991
*[[Khayr al-Din al-Ramli]], 17th-century Islamic legal scholar
*[[Moni Moshonov]] (born 1951), actor and comedian
*[[Yishai Oliel]] (born 2000), tennis player
*[[Khalil al-Wazir]] (1935–1988), a.k.a. Abu Jihad; Palestinian Arab co-founder of the [[Fatah]] organization

==Twin towns—sister cities==
Ramla is [[Twin towns and sister cities|twinned]] with:

{{Div col}} 
*{{flagicon|USA}} [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]], [[Missouri]]
*{{flagicon|CAN}} [[Vaughan, Ontario]], Canada
*{{flagicon|GER}} [[Moers]], [[Germany]]
*{{flagicon|LVA}} [[Daugavpils]], [[Latvia]]
*{{flagicon|POL}} [[Kielce]], [[Poland]]
*{{flagicon|ETH}} [[Mek'ele]], [[Ethiopia]]
*{{flagicon|RUS}} [[Vyborg]], [[Russia]]
*{{flagicon|RUS}} [[Chelyabinsk]], [[Russia]]
*{{flagicon|UKR}} [[Feodosiya]], [[Ukraine]]
*{{flagicon|GEO}} [[Khashuri]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]
{{Div col end}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|25em}}

==Bibliography==
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*{{cite journal |last=Bacharach |first=Jere L. |author-link=Jere L. Bacharach |title=Marwanid Umayyad Building Activities: Speculations on Patronage |pages=27–44 |journal= Muqarnas Online |year=1996 |volume=13 |jstor=1523250 |issn=2211-8993 |doi=10.1163/22118993-90000355}}
*{{cite book |editor= Barron, J. B. |title= Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922 |url= https://archive.org/details/PalestineCensus1922 |publisher= Government of Palestine |year= 1923 }}
*{{cite book |last1=Cohen |first1=Amnon |last2=Lewis |first2=B. |author-link2=Bernard Lewis |title=Population and Revenue in the Towns of Palestine in the Sixteenth Century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fgzUPAAACAAJ |year=1978 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=0783793227 }} 
*{{cite book|last1=Conder|first1=C.R.|author-link1=Claude Reignier Conder|last2=Kitchener|first2=H. H.|author-link2=Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener|year=1882|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp02conduoft|title=The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology|location=London|publisher=[[Palestine Exploration Fund|Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund]]|volume=2}}
*{{cite book|title=Village Statistics, April, 1945|url=http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nli/Hebrew/library/Pages/BookReader.aspx?pid=856390|author=Department of Statistics|year=1945|publisher=Government of Palestine}} 
*{{EI2 |article=Sulaymān b. ʿAbd al-Malik |last=Eisener |first=R. |authorlink= |volume=9 |pages=821–822}}
*{{cite book|last=Fabri|first=F.|authorlink=Felix Fabri|year=1896|url=https://archive.org/details/libraryofpalesti07paleuoft|title=Felix Fabri (circa 1480–1483 A.D.) vol I, part I|publisher=[[Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society]]}}
* {{A History of Palestine, 634–1099|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M0wUKoMJeccC}} <!-- Gil 1997 -->
*{{cite book |last1=Gordon |first1=Matthew S. |last2=Robinson |first2=Chase F. |last3=Rowson |first3=Everett K. |last4=Fishbein |first4=Michael |title=The Works of Ibn Wāḍiḥ al-Yaʿqūbī (Volume 3): An English Translation |date=2018 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden |isbn=978-90-04-35621-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OHxTDwAAQBAJ }}
*{{cite book|last=Guérin|first=V.|author-link=Victor Guérin|title=Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine|url=https://archive.org/details/descriptiongog01gu|volume=1: Judee, pt. 1|year=1868|publisher=L'Imprimerie Nationale|location=Paris|language=fr}}
*{{cite book|title=Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine|url=http://www.palestineremembered.com/Articles/General-2/Story3150.html|first1=S.|last1=Hadawi|author-link=Sami Hadawi|year=1970|publisher=Palestine Liberation Organization Research Centre}} 
* {{cite encyclopedia |title=al-Ramla |first=E. |last=Honigmann |encyclopedia=E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936, Volume VI: Morocco–Ruzzīk |editor-first=Martijn Theodoor |editor-last=Houtsma |publisher=BRILL |location=Leiden |year=1987 |orig-year=1927 |isbn=9004082654 |url=https://archive.org/details/ejbrillsfirstenc0006unse/page/1115 |pages=1115–1117 }}
*{{cite journal | author = Karmon, Y. | title = An Analysis of Jacotin's Map of Palestine | url = http://www.jchp.ucla.edu/Bibliography/Karmon,_Y_1960_Jacotin_Map_(IEJ_10).pdf | journal = [[Israel Exploration Journal]] | volume = 10 | issue = 3,4 | year = 1960 | pages = 155–173; 244–253 | access-date = 2017-09-09 | archive-date = 2019-12-22 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191222063351/http://jchp.ucla.edu/Bibliography/Karmon,_Y_1960_Jacotin_Map_(IEJ_10).pdf | url-status = dead }}
*{{The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates |edition=Third}} <!-- Kennedy 2016 -->
*{{cite book|title=Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500|url=https://archive.org/details/palestineundermo00lestuoft|first1=G.|last1=Le Strange|author-link1=Guy Le Strange|year=1890|publisher=Committee of the [[Palestine Exploration Fund]]}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Luz |first1=Nimrod |title=The Construction of an Islamic City in Palestine. The Case of Umayyad al-Ramla |journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society |date=April 1997 |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=27–54 |jstor=25183294 |doi=10.1017/S1356186300008300|s2cid=163178178 }}
*{{cite book |editor= Mills, E. |title= Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas |url= https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas |publisher= Government of Palestine |location= Jerusalem |year= 1932 }}
*{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C |first=B. |last=Morris |author-link=Benny Morris |year=2004 |title=The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited |isbn=978-0-521-00967-6 |publisher=Cambridge University Press }}
*{{cite book |author= Mukaddasi |author-link= Al-Muqaddasi |year= 1886 |url= https://archive.org/details/cu31924028534265 |title= Description of Syria, including Palestine |location= London |publisher= [[Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society]] }} 
*{{cite book| title=Kitāb Aḥsan at-taqāsīm fī maʻrifat al-aqālīm (The Best Divisions for Knowledge of the Regions)|last=Mukaddasi |author-link=Al-Muqaddasi |editor=M.J. de Goeje |publisher=Brill Co. |location=Leiden |date=1906 |language=ar |oclc=313566614}} (3rd edition printed by Brill in 1967)
*{{cite book |author= Nasir-i-Khusrau |author-link= Nasir Khusraw |title= Vol IV. A journey through Syria and Palestine. By Nasir-i-Khusrau [1047 A.D.]. The pilgrimage of Saewulf to Jerusalem. The pilgrimage of the Russian abbot Daniel. |editor= Le Strange, Guy |editor-link= Guy Le Strange |translator= Guy Le Strange |publisher= [[Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society]] |location= London |year= 1897 |url= https://archive.org/details/cu31924028534281 }}
*{{cite book|last=Palmer|first=E. H.|author-link=Edward Henry Palmer|year=1881|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp00conduoft|title=The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer|publisher=[[Palestine Exploration Fund|Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund]]}}
*{{cite book|title=The Towns of Palestine Under Muslim Rule|last1=Petersen|first1=Andrew|publisher=British Archaeological Reports|year=2005|isbn=1841718211|url=https://archive.org/details/TheTownsOfPalestineUnderUnderMuslimRule}}
*{{cite book|last=Pococke|first=R.|author-link=Richard Pococke|year=1745|url=https://archive.org/details/gri_33125009339611|title=A description of the East, and some other countries|volume=2|location=London|publisher=Printed for the author, by W. Bowyer}} (Pococke, 1745, vol 2, p. [https://archive.org/stream/gri_33125009339611#page/n25/mode/1up 4]; cited in Robinson and Smith, vol. 3, 1841, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/n44/mode/1up 233])
*{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=grcb3zchpwYC |first=J. |last=Pilger |author-link=John Pilger |year=2011 |title=Freedom Next Time |isbn=978-1407083865 |publisher=Random House }}
*{{cite book|title=The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: L-Z (excluding Tyre)|volume=II|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Y0tA0xLzwEC|last=Pringle|first=D.|author-link=Denys Pringle|year=1998|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=0-521-39037-0}}
*{{cite book|last1=Robinson|first1=E.|author-link1=Edward Robinson (scholar)|last2=Smith|first2=E.|author-link2=Eli Smith|year=1841|url=https://archive.org/details/biblicalresearch03robiuoft|title=Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838|location=Boston|publisher=[[Crocker & Brewster]]|volume=3}} 
*{{EI2 |article=Ludd |last=Sharon |first=M. |authorlink=Moshe Sharon |volume=5 |pages=798–803}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Taxel |first1=Itamar |title=Rural Settlement Processes in Central Palestine, ca. 640–800 C.E.: The Ramla-Yavneh Region as a Case Study |journal=Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research |date=May 2013 |volume=369 |issue=369 |pages=157–199 |publisher=The American Schools of Oriental Research |jstor=10.5615/bullamerschoorie.369.0157 |doi=10.5615/bullamerschoorie.369.0157 |s2cid=163507411 }}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
*{{cite book |editor1-last=Petersen |editor1-first=Andrew |editor2-last=Pringle |editor2-first=Deny |title=Ramla: City of Muslim Palestine, 715-1917: Studies in History, Archaeology and Architecture |date=2021 |publisher=Archaeo Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-1-78969-776-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zdRAEAAAQBAJ}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikivoyage}}
{{Portal|Israel}}
* [http://www.ramla.muni.il Official site] {{in lang|he}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928070643/http://www.grups.pangea.org/pipermail/fsmed-general/Week-of-Mon-20041213/000544.html "A Dangerous Tour at Ramle", by Eitan Bronstein]
* [http://www.ramla-st.co.il Portal Ramla]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080509155243/http://www.israelservicecorps.com/community/default.asp Israel Service Corps: Ramla Community Involvement]
* [http://www.eretzyisroel.org/~dhershkowitz/pic170.jpg The Tower of Ramla, 1877]
* Survey of Western Palestine, Map 13: [http://www.iaa-archives.org.il/zoom/zoom.aspx?folder_id=93&type_id=6&id=8375 IAA], [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Survey_of_Western_Palestine_1880.13.jpg Wikimedia commons]

{{Center District (Israel)}}
{{Largest Israeli cities}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Ramla| ]]
[[Category:Arab Christian communities in Israel]]
[[Category:Castles and fortifications of the Kingdom of Jerusalem]]
[[Category:Central District (Israel)]]
[[Category:Cities in Central District (Israel)]]
[[Category:Populated places established in the 8th century]]
[[Category:Mixed Israeli communities]]
[[Category:8th-century establishments in the Umayyad Caliphate]]