Ash-Shuyukh

Ash-Shuyukh or al-Shuyukh is a Palestinian town in the Hebron Governorate located 6 km northeast of the city of Hebron. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Ash-Shuyukh had a population of over 8,811 in 2007.Like the rest of the Hebron area, ash-Shuyukh is an agricultural area. Primary crops include olives, figs, almonds, lentils, peaches and apricots. Olive groves cover 980 dunams while grains and pulses cover 680 dunams. There are about 2,000 sheep and goats in the town raised as livestock.HistoryOttoman eraDuring the Ottoman era, in 1838, Edward Robinson noted esh-Shiyukh as “a well built village”.French explorer Victor Guérin visited in 1863, and noted that the village was situated on a high rocky hill. It had 200 inhabitants and a small mosque dedicated to a "Cheikh Ibrahim el-Hedmi."An Ottoman village list of about 1870 counted 33 houses and a population of 99 in Schijuch, though the population count included men, only.In 1883, Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described it as a "well-built village standing high, and visible from Tekua. There are a few trees round it, and caves. The water supply is from cisterns, and there is a spring to the north."