Its name comes from Syriac-Aramaic ܥܪܡܐ (‘arma), feminine counterpart being ܥܪܡܬܐ (‘armta) [1] which means rugged, rough, steep, or high.
History
In the 1596 tax records, it was named as a village, 'Aramta, in the Ottomannahiya (subdistrict) of Sagif under the liwa' (district) of Safad, with a population of 14 households, all Muslim. The villagers paid a fixed tax-rate of 25% on agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, fruit trees, goats and beehives, in addition to "occasional revenues"; a total of 1,355 akçe.[2][3]
On 14 April 1994 three SLA militiamen were killed by a landmine near the village. In response the SLA shelled Sidon killing three civilians. Two days later the SLA attacked Aaramta killing two people and expelling the villagers to Jezzine. Five SLA men had been killed the same day near Jezzine.[4]
In May 2023, Hezbollah's Redwan Force conducted training exercises near the village, as part of a media tour aimed at showcasing the organization's military prowess. These drills encompassed various demonstrations, such as drone displays that featured flags, hand-to-hand combat, explosive exercises, and simulations of cross-border incursions into Israel.[5]
Demographics
In 2014, Muslims made up 97.94% of registered voters in Aaramta. 95.27% of the voters were Shiite Muslims.[6]
References
^"ܥܪܡܐ", Wiktionary, the free dictionary, retrieved 2024-05-21
^Note that Rhode, 1979, p. 6Archived 2019-04-20 at the Wayback Machine writes that the register that Hütteroth and Abdulfattah studied was not from 1595/6, but from 1548/9
