From today's featured articlearchive • by email • more featured articles...
Map of the area ruled by the Turabays
The Turabay dynasty was a family of Bedouin emirs who governed the district of Lajjun in northern Palestine during Ottoman rule in the 16th–17th centuries. The family's forebears had served as chiefs of Jezreel Valley during Mamluk rule in the late 15th century. During the Ottoman conquest of the region in 1516–1517, the family aided Ottoman sultan Selim I. The Ottomans kept them as guardians of the strategic Via Maris and Damascus–Jerusalem highways and rewarded them with tax farms. Although in the 17th century several of their emirs lived in towns, the Turabays largely remained nomads, camping with their tribesmen near Caesarea in the winters and the plain of Acre in the summers. The eastward migration of their tribesmen to the Jordan Valley, Ottoman centralization, and falling tax revenues brought about their political decline and they were permanently stripped of office in 1677. Descendants of the family continue to live in the area.
(Full article...)
Did you know...archive • start a new article • nominate an article
Aftermath of the Dollar Mountain Fire
... that during the 1929 Dollar Mountain Fire(aftermath pictured), 65 firefighters survived overnight being surrounded by fire by sheltering under a ledge?
... that in revenge for the torture of Polish prisoners, the terminally-ill Jan Kryst walked into the Café Adria and shot members of the Gestapo?
The Eastern Phoebe(Sayornis phoebe) is a small, migratory passerine bird found in Central and North America. It breeds in woodlands in the eastern United States and often nests on human structures. This specimen was photographed in Madison, Wisconsin, US.
The United States Senate confirms Janet Yellen as the Federal Reserve System's first female chair. Jan 6(read more)
Archeologists identify the tomb of Egyptian pharaoh Sobekhotep I. Jan 6(read more)
North America experiences record low temperatures. Jan 6(read more)
Amid violence and a boycott by opposition parties, the Bangladesh Awami League wins the general election. Jan 5(read more)
The al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant captures the city of Fallujah. Jan 5(read more)
Latvia becomes the 18th European Union member state to adopt the euro. Jan 1(read more)
More than 100 people are killed when anti-government forces attack key buildings in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Dec 30(read more)
Community portal – The central hub for editors, with resources, links, tasks, and announcements.
Village pump – Forum for discussions about Wikipedia itself, including policies and technical issues.
Site news – Sources of news about Wikipedia and the broader Wikimedia movement.
Teahouse – Ask basic questions about using or editing Wikipedia.
Help desk – Ask questions about using or editing Wikipedia.
Reference desk – Ask research questions about encyclopedic topics.
Content portals – A unique way to navigate the encyclopedia.
Wikipedia's sister projects
Wikipedia is written by volunteer editors and hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization that also hosts a range of other volunteer projects: