Sakhnin

**Sakhnin** (;  or  *Sikhnin*) is a ceety in Israel's North Destrict. It is locatit in the Lawer Galilee, aboot 23 kilometres (14&nbsp;mi) east o Acre. Sakhnin wis declared a ceety in 1995. Its population o 25,100 is Arab, maistly Muslim wi a sizable Christian minority. It is locatit on the steid o the auncient Jewish toun *Sikhnin*, which flourished durin the Roman conquest (2nt century CE). Sakhnin is hame tae the lairgest population o Sufi Muslims athin Israel, wi approximately 80 members.

## Geografie
Sakhnin is built ower three hills an is locatit in a valley surroondit bi muntains, the heichest ane being 602 meters heich. Its rural landscape is amaist entirely covered bi olive an fig groves as well as oregano an sesame shrubs.

## Landmarks

There are mony auld hooses, caves an graves in the auld section o Sakhnin.
In the hert o the auld toun there is a grave cried The Sheikh Ibrahim which is ane o the 66 graves in Israel an Palestine, who wis considered a saunt bi the locals. This grave/shrine uised tae be visitit bi mony weemen, licht candles inside it the shrine, an hang pieces o cloth on its waws askin for blessin.

Anither important steid, which lies in the Christian neighborhuid, is cried Rabbi Yihushua Di Sakhnin or Alsaddik in the local leid. He is buried in gigantic stane coffin. In the past, the local fowk wur scared wheniver they passed this grave durin the nicht, while ithers uised tae kiss its waws an ask the deid Rabbi tae heal them an their relatives acause it wis believed that the Rabbi uised tae heal fowk frae certain diseases.

Anither famous shrine is al Sheik Obeid's shrine, which is vera close tae the Shaknin's guesthoose. This shrine wis deticatit tae al Sheik Abdalla Ibrahim Khalaili. Weemen an aa uised tae visit this shrine, paint its waws wi henna, an hang pieces o cloth on the waws an then ask the Sheik tae fulfill their wishes. The last grave, which an aa became a shrine later, lies in the wastren cemetery o the toun an it is kent bi Sheik Ismael. This grave wis recently restored bi some volunteers.

Anither important steid in Sakhnin is cried The Cave o the Ten which is carved in the rocks. The shepherds uised tae uise its water for their cattle. It is no clear hou this cave got its name. Some fowk believe that it got its name acause o the number o fingers in a body's baith haunds. Anither version says that it got its name acause o the Ten Commandments. Anither important site, which lies in the sootheast o the toun, is cried The Spring which served as the main source o drinkin water for the fowk o Sakhnin decades ago.

## History
Settlement at Sakhnin dates back 3,500 years tae its first mention in 1479 BCE bi Thutmose II, whose auncient Egyptian records mention it as a centre for production o indigo dye. Sargon II an aa makes mention o it as *Suginin*.

It wis mentioned as Sogane, a toun fortifee'd in 66, bi Josephus.

Kent as *Sikhnin* or *Sikhni*, meanin "hame o the labourers" in Aramaic, an *Sukhsikha*, meanin "produces oil" in Ebreu, the toun wis kent for Jewish scholars like the rabbi Joshua of Sakhnin in the periods o the Mishna an Gemara. His grave is kent in Arabic as *Nabi as-Sideiq*, an wis a focus o pilgrimage frae the Middle Ages through the present. The toun continued tae flourish as Hellenist *Sogne* intae the period o Roman conquest.

Annexed tae the Ummayad Caliphate efter the Battle o Yarmouk, it came unner brief crusader rule as *Zakkanin* till retaken bi Saladin an the Ayyubid Dynasty follaein the Battle o Hattin whaur it remained in Muslim haunds unner the Mamluks, Dhaher al-Omar, an the Ottomans, until Ottoman Sirie wis occupee'd bi the Breetish Empire efter Warld War I.

In 1596, Sakhnin appeared in Ottoman tax registers as being in the *[[Nahiya]]* o Akka o the *[[Liwa (Arabic)|Liwa]]* o Tabariyya.  It haed a population o 66 Muslim hoosehaulds an 8 bachelors.  It paid taxes on wheat, barley, olives, cotton, an a water mill.

In the late 1870s, Conder an Kitchener described Sakhnin as follaes. "A lairge veelage o stane an mud, amid fine olive-groves, wi a sma mosque. The water supply is frae a lairge puil aboot hauf a mile tae the sooth-east. The inhabitants are Muslims an Christians, an in 1859 numbered 1,100, an cultivatit 100 feddans, accordin tae Consul Rogers." 

At the time o the 1931 census, Sakhnin haed 400 occupee'd hooses an a population o 1688 Muslims, 202 Christians, an 1 Jew.

Durin the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, Sakhnin surrendered tae Israeli forces on Julie 18, 1948, durin Operation Dekel, but wis re-captured bi Arab forces shortly efterwards. It feenally fell athoot battle intae Israeli haunds in October 1948. In 1976, it became the steid o the first Land Day mairches, in which sax Israeli Arabs wur killed bi Israeli forces durin violent protests o govrenment confiscation o 5,000 acres (20 km2) o Arab-awned land near Sakhnin. An aa in 1976 three mair ceevilians wur killed durin clashes wi the polis, an in Jerusalem an the Aqsa Intifada in 2000 twa men wur killed.

## Sports
In 2003, the ceety's fitbaa club, Bnei Sakhnin, became ane o the first Arab teams tae play in the Israeli Premier League, the top tier o Israeli fitbaa. The follaein year, the club wan the State Cup, an wis the first Arab team tae dae so; consequently, it pairticipatit in the UEFA Cup the follaein saison, losin oot tae Newcastle United. The team received a new hame wi the 2005 openin o Doha Stadium, fundit bi the Israeli govrenment an the Qatar National Oleempic Committee, whose caipital it is namit efter. The stadium haes a capacity o 5,000.

Sakhnin is the hametoun o Abbas Suan an aw, an Israeli internaitional fitbawer who previously played for Bnei Sakhnin.

The ceety an their soccer team are the subject o the 2010 documentar film "After The Cup : Sons of Sakhnin United"

In 19 September 2008, Bnei Sakhnin played a game wi the Spainyie team Deportivo de La Coruña.

## See an aa
*Leet o Arab localities in Israel

## References
 

*'Not quite Zurich' Eretz magazine

## Freemit airtins
*After The Cup: Sons of Sakhnin United  (2010) Official film wabsteid.
*Sakhnin municipality site  (in process of development)