A Study of Toponyms in Irbid Governorate of Jordan

Place names represent a museum in which the most divergent historical influences have been preserved for thousands of years. Unfortunately there are only very few toponymic works covering the regions of the Orient where today in addition many older place names are facing the threat of falling into oblivion.

The study at hand investigates for the first time the place names - including the names of mountains, fields and waters - in 65 boroughs of Irbid governorate (Mu.æfaøat Irbid) in Northern Jordan, compiling altogether 3100 names. This work introduces a new aspect by also including the relevant dialectal names which can differ significantly from the standard. In the etymological section names are researched within the framework of the Semitic place name nomenclature. Three main naming layers emerge: Canaanite, Aramaic and Arabic, but elements from other languages, like Turkish, are rarely encountered.