My exposure to "cis" and "trans" prior to the mid 2010s was either in the context of organic chemistry (cis and trans stereoisomers of certain molecules), or in the context of reading about the Middle East in the early 20th century. Transjordan I believe is now the country of Jordan and Cisjordan is the present day West Bank.
My exposure to "cis" and "trans" prior to the mid 2010s was either in the context of organic chemistry (cis and trans stereoisomers of certain molecules), or in the context of reading about the Middle East in the early 20th century. Transjordan I believe is now the country of Jordan and Cisjordan is the present day West Bank.
There's a dark joke in there somewhere, but I'm not caffeinated enough to make it.
The country of Jordan was originally created by splitting off half of the Mandate of Palestine, which was then called the Emirate of Transjordan. They changed the name after they took over land on the west side of the River Jordan during the Israeli War of Independence.
I was also surprised to hear that, but then I looked it up--in this case "transJordan" and "cisJordan" seem to refer to the Jordan RIVER (as in "that side" and this side" of the river), so the commenter above is correct that some people seem to have referred to the west bank of the river as the "cisJordan" . . . side, I guess? And there are apparently some people/sources who refer to the entire region between the Jordan and the Mediterranean as "cisJordan." I couldn't find anything that referred to the REGION of the "West Bank" as "CisJordan," but maybe there is and I just didn't see it.
I believe the West Bank is referred to as some variant of Cisjordan in Romance languages: Cisjordanie in French, Cisjordânia in Portuguese, Cisjordania in Spanish, etc.. I can't remember seeing "Cisjordan" used in English to refer to the West Bank (i.e. the formerly Jordanian-occupied bit).
That being said, it's important to remember that "the West Bank" is a bit of Jordanian propaganda, applied to the territory they occupied during the Israeli War of Independence and then annexed. Prior to that, the hill country north of Jerusalem was Samaria, and the hill country around Jerusalem and to the south was Judea.
Well sure, around where I live you'd get QUITE the side-eye for saying the "West Bank" or even "settlements." A lot of people even still say YeSh"A (Yehuda, Shomron v'Aza--in English, Judea, Samaria, and Gaza). Do you happen to know how it was called in Arabic at that time? I imagine they weren't calling it "Yehuda vShomron" but maybe I'm wrong.
I have no idea what the Arabs called Judea or Samaria. Based on some quick scanning of Ottoman administrative maps, they definitely saw them as distinct areas, because they were occasionally part of different administrative units.
I hear that. My understanding is that the "empires" (be they Arab, Ottoman, or British) had a pretty different view of things than the locals, both Jewish and Arab. I'm sure someone here knows, though . . . if I can find the right person to ask lol
I likewise first encountered it in organic chemistry in my late teens, then in the context of the late Habsburg Empire once it was split into a dual monarchy - Transleithania ("beyond the river Leitha") was the region governed by Hungary, Cisleithania the region governed by Austria.
My exposure to "cis" and "trans" prior to the mid 2010s was either in the context of organic chemistry (cis and trans stereoisomers of certain molecules), or in the context of reading about the Middle East in the early 20th century. Transjordan I believe is now the country of Jordan and Cisjordan is the present day West Bank.
There's a dark joke in there somewhere, but I'm not caffeinated enough to make it.
I do think that the citizens of Jordan would be slightly surprised to discover that they're all trans.
I want to be entgeigen or znsammen.
The country of Jordan was originally created by splitting off half of the Mandate of Palestine, which was then called the Emirate of Transjordan. They changed the name after they took over land on the west side of the River Jordan during the Israeli War of Independence.
I am pretty sure Transjordan was far more than half of the Mandate. Well. Maybe not far more. But it was not split in half..
Oh, yeah, it was more than half the area; I was using "half" pretty loosely. It was much less than half the population, though.
I was also surprised to hear that, but then I looked it up--in this case "transJordan" and "cisJordan" seem to refer to the Jordan RIVER (as in "that side" and this side" of the river), so the commenter above is correct that some people seem to have referred to the west bank of the river as the "cisJordan" . . . side, I guess? And there are apparently some people/sources who refer to the entire region between the Jordan and the Mediterranean as "cisJordan." I couldn't find anything that referred to the REGION of the "West Bank" as "CisJordan," but maybe there is and I just didn't see it.
You learn something new every day.
I believe the West Bank is referred to as some variant of Cisjordan in Romance languages: Cisjordanie in French, Cisjordânia in Portuguese, Cisjordania in Spanish, etc.. I can't remember seeing "Cisjordan" used in English to refer to the West Bank (i.e. the formerly Jordanian-occupied bit).
That being said, it's important to remember that "the West Bank" is a bit of Jordanian propaganda, applied to the territory they occupied during the Israeli War of Independence and then annexed. Prior to that, the hill country north of Jerusalem was Samaria, and the hill country around Jerusalem and to the south was Judea.
Interesting about the romance languages!
Well sure, around where I live you'd get QUITE the side-eye for saying the "West Bank" or even "settlements." A lot of people even still say YeSh"A (Yehuda, Shomron v'Aza--in English, Judea, Samaria, and Gaza). Do you happen to know how it was called in Arabic at that time? I imagine they weren't calling it "Yehuda vShomron" but maybe I'm wrong.
I have no idea what the Arabs called Judea or Samaria. Based on some quick scanning of Ottoman administrative maps, they definitely saw them as distinct areas, because they were occasionally part of different administrative units.
I hear that. My understanding is that the "empires" (be they Arab, Ottoman, or British) had a pretty different view of things than the locals, both Jewish and Arab. I'm sure someone here knows, though . . . if I can find the right person to ask lol
I likewise first encountered it in organic chemistry in my late teens, then in the context of the late Habsburg Empire once it was split into a dual monarchy - Transleithania ("beyond the river Leitha") was the region governed by Hungary, Cisleithania the region governed by Austria.