Bayt Jibrin

Coordinates: 31°36′45.99″N 34°53′53.78″E / 31.6127750°N 34.8982722°E / 31.6127750; 34.8982722
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Template:Infobox Former Arab villages in Palestine Bayt Jibrin (Arabic: بيت جبرين, also Beit Jibrin) was a Palestinian village located Template:Km to mi northwest of the city of Hebron. In the last census of Palestine in 1945, the population was 2,430. The town had a total land area of 56,185 dunams or 56.1 km2 (13,900 acres), of which .28 km2 (69 acres) were built-up while the rest remained farmland.[1]

The early inhabitants of Bayt Jibrin are believed to have been Canaanites. The Romans conquered the town after the First Jewish-Roman War and it became a Roman colony and a major administrative center stretching from Ein Gedi on the Dead Sea coast to Gerar. After the Islamic conquest of Palestine by the Rashidun Caliphate, Bayt Jibrin was one of the ten towns conquered by Amr ibn al-A'as. Under the Crusaders who captured the city in the 11th century, the town declined economically, but prospered after its capture by the Mamluk sultan Baibars. It fell to the Ottoman Turks centuries later and afterwards taxes were implemented on grains, honey and livestock. In the 19th century, the Egyptian al-'Azza family took control of Bayt Jibrin and attempted to rebel against the Ottomans; this ended in the exile and execution of local leaders.

Under the British Mandate for Palestine, Bayt Jibrin again served as a district center for the surrounding villages. In the 1947 UN Partition Plan, Bayt Jibrin was designated as part of the Arab state, but the town was captured from the Egyptian army by Israeli forces during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and its inhabitants fled to the east. Many of these refugees or their descendants today live in the al-'Azza and Fawwar camps in the southern West Bank. The Israeli Kibbutz Beit Guvrin was established on the lands of the village in 1949.

Etymology

Bayt Jibrin has been renamed over the centuries by those who have fought for control of the region. Before the Roman conquest, the town was known as Beit Guvrin.[2][citation needed] The Romans called it Eleutheropolis (Gr. EX€vOEparrbXcs), a Greek word meaning “city of the free".[3][4] In 68 CE, the Jewish-Roman historian Josephus mentions it as an administrative capital called Bethletephon.[5][6] Later, the Egyptian-Roman geographer Ptolemy referred to the city as Baitogabra.[7] The Crusaders called it Bethgibelin or Gibelin.[8][9] In medieval times, it was also known as Beit Jibril, meaning "house of Gabriel".[10] In Arabic, Bayt Jibrin means "house of the powerful".[11]

History

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Main article: Eleutheropolis

Local folklore tells that the city now known as Bayt Jibrin was first inhabited by Canaanites, a people said to be descended from giants.[12][13] The first recorded history about the area which later became Bayt Jibrin is from 40 BCE. That year, the ancient city of Maresha, a city of Judah, was destroyed by the Parthians.[14] The inhabitants of Maresha fled two miles north to Bethletephon,[15] one of the towns conquered by the Roman general Vespasian.[16] Beit Guvrin was an important Jewish settlement until the Bar-Kokhba revolt in 132-135 CE, when it was conquered by the Romans.[17] The Roman emperor Septimus Severus renamed it Eleutheropolis ("City of the Free") and granted it municipal status.[18] Eleutheropolis, which covered an area of 65 hectares (160 acres) (larger than Jerusalem at the time), flourished under the Romans, who built public buildings, military installations, aqueducts and a large amphitheater. It was described as one of Palestine's five "Cities of Excellence" by 4th century Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus.[19]

In the 1st and 2nd centuries CE, Christianity penetrated the city due to its location on the route between Jerusalem and Gaza. The city's first bishop, Justus, was one of the 70 Disciples. In 325 CE, Eleutheropolis became the seat of Bishop Macrinus, who was present at the First Council of Nicaea. Beit Guvrin is mentioned in the Talmud in the 3rd and 4th centuries, indicating a revival of the Jewish community around that time. [20]In the early 7th century, the city was one of many conquered by the Rashidun army under 'Amr ibn al-'As.[21] After the capture of Gaza by Arab forces, sixty Christian soldiers who had defended the city refused to convert to Islam, and were subsequently taken to Jerusalem and executed, the martyrs remains were brought to the Trinity Church Bayt Jigrin. [22]

In 796, Bayt Jibrin was reportedly destroyed by Muslim forces in an effort to combat Christian influence. According to a monk named Stephen, "it was laid waste, and its inhabitants carried off into captivity".[22] By the year 985, the city seemed to have recovered, however, judging by the writings of the Muslim traveler al-Muqaddasi:

"[Bayt Jibrin] is a city partly in the hill country, partly in the plain. Its territory has the name of Ad Darum (the ancient Daroma and the modern Dairan), and there are here marble quarries. The district sends its produce to the capital (Ar Ramlah). It is an emporium for the neighbouring country, and a land of riches and plenty, possessing fine domains. The population, however, is now on the decrease...."[23]

In the 11th century, Crusaders invaded the Levant and established the Kingdom of Jerusalem. In 1065, the Knights Hospitalers were granted a charter to establish a Frankish colony, which they named "Bethgibelin".[24] In 1135 the Hospitalers erected a castle on the lands of Bayt Jibrin, the first of a series of Crusader fortifications built at this time to insure control over the ports of Caesarea and Jaffa.[12][8] Saladin sacked Bethgibelin in 1187 when most of the Kingdom of Jerusalem came under his control after the Battle of Hattin. From 1191-1192, the town was held in probate by Henry of Champagne, as lord of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, as Saladin and Richard the Lionheart negotiated, [25] but the Crusaders remained in control of Bethgibelin until 1264, when the Mamluk Sultan Baibars captured the town and renamed it Bayt Jibrin. The city prospered under the Egyptian Mamluk Sultanate and served as a postal station.[12]

Bayt Jibrin, along with the whole of Palestine, came under the rule of the Ottoman Empire after it defeated the Mamluks at the Battle of Marj Dabiq in 1516. Bayt Jibrin was incorporated into the Ottoman nahiya (subdistrict) of al Khalīl under the liwa´ (district) of Gaza. The Ottomans did not exercise strict control over their territories and tended to leave the local leaders in place as long as they complied and paid imperial taxes. In 1596 the inhabitants of Bayt Jibrin paid taxes on wheat, barley and sesame crops, as well as goats and beehives.[26] In the 19th century, the sheikhs (leaders) of Bayt Jibrin were members of the ´Azza family, who had ruled the area since migrating to Palestine from Egypt.[27] In the 1840s, after the Ottomans attempted to crush local leaders in the Hebron region for their refusal to pay taxes, the 'Azza family joined a revolt against Ottoman rule. The ´Azza family had aligned itself to the ´Amr clan of Hebron. In 1846, Muslih al-´Azza (known as the "giant of Bayt Jibrin") and the leader of the ´Amr clan and other local leaders were deported, but allowed to return in the early 1850s.[28]

In 1855, the newly-appointed Ottoman Pasha (governor) of the Jerusalem district, Kamil Pasha, attempted to subdue the rebellion in the Hebron region, which included Bayt Jibrin. Pasha and his army marched towards Hebron in July 1855, and after crushing opposition he ordered local shayks to come to his camp.[29] Several men, including the the leader of the ´Amr clan and Muslih al-´Azza, did not obey the summons. Kamil Pasha then asked the British consul in Jerusalem, James Finn, to serve as an envoy and arrange a meeting with Muslih. Finn sent his vice-consul to assure Muslih of his safety in Hebron and convinced him to meet with Pasha. Muslih was well-received in Hebron and returned to Bayt Jibrin escorted by twenty of the Pasha´s men. Soon after, the Pasha paid a visit to Bayt Jibrin to settle their affairs and collect the town's back taxes.[30][31]

European travellers who visited Bayt Jibrin during that time were very impressed both by the shaykh of Bayt Jibrin, as well as by his "castle" or "manor." At the time the remains of the Crusader fortress still served for defensive purposes.[32] According to the shaykh of Bayt Jibrin, he was in 1863 in command of 16 villages and was pledged "to provide as many as 2,000 men to the government if necessary."[33]

In 1864, however, Muslih's brother told a traveler that Muslih and his property had been seized on "false charges of treason," and that he had been banished to Cyprus and beheaded.[34]

After the British captured Palestine from the Ottomans in 1917-1918,[35]Bayt Jibrin became an important town in the District of Hebron. The population was entirely Muslim, and had two schools, a medical clinic, a bus and a police station. The town's inhabitants cultivated grain and fruit, and residents from nearby towns flocked to its weekly market or souk.[36] Bayt Jibrin was in the territory allotted to the Arab state under the 1947 UN Partition Plan.[37]

Bayt Jibrin became a central front during the second phase of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and Egyptian Army fortifications were established throughout the village. In October 1948, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a new offensive, Operation Yoav, which differed from operations three months earlier; the IDF was now equipped with aircraft, artillery, and tanks that it was able to use in a number of towns and villages, including Bayt Jibrin. According to Morris, the towns now caught in the fighting were neither psychologically nor defensively prepared for aerial strikes. Israeli Air Force bombing of Bayt Jibrin on October 19 started a panic flight from the town.[38]

On October 23, a United Nations-imposed ceasefire went into effect, but more villagers fled Bayt Jibrin after an IDF raid on the neighboring police fort on the night of October 24.[39] The IDF occupied Bayt Jibrin and its police fort on October 27.[40] The town was occupied by Israeli troops from the Giv'ati Brigade in the final stage of Operation Yoav. A former resident of the town, Afif Ghatashe, who was eight months old at the time, described his family's ordeal as follows:

"In the 1948 war, the village was attacked by Zionist military units and bombed by Israeli aircraft. By that time, Beit Jibreen already hosted many refugees from neighboring villages. The fighting and bombing frightened the people. They escaped the fighting and sought shelter in the surrounding hills. [My] family found protection in a cave 5 km east of the village. They had left everything in their home, hoping to return after a few days when the attack would be over. The Israelis, however, did not allow them to return. Several men of Beit Jibreen were killed when they tried to go back."[41]

In 1949, a Jewish communal settlement, Kibbutz Beit Guvrin, was founded on the former town's lands.[42]

Geography

Bayt Jibrin was situated on a plain Template:M to ft above sea level west of the Hebron Hills, Template:Km to mi northwest of Hebron. [42] Nearby localities included the depopulated villages of Kudna to the north, al-Qubayba to the southwest, al-Dawayima to the south and the existing Palestinian towns of Beit Ula to the east and Idhna to the southeast.[1]

In 1945, Bayt Jibrin's total land area was 56.1 km2 (21.7 sq mi), 98% of which was Arab-owned. The town's urban area consisted of 287 m2 (0.071 acres), with 33.2 km2 (8,200 acres) of cultivable land and 21.6 km2 (5,300 acres) of non-cultivable land. 54.8% of the town's land was planted with cereal crops, 6.2% with olives and 4.4% with irrigated crops.[43]

A unique geographical feature of the Bayt Jibrin region is the large number of underground caverns, both natural formations and caves dug in the soft chalk by inhabitants of the region over the centuries. There are said to be 800 such caverns,[44] 80 of them, known as the Bell Caves, on the grounds of the Beit Guvrin National Park>[45]

Demographics

During the Roman period, Bayt Jibrin had a mixed population of Jews, Christians and pagans.[19] Under Muslim rule, Islam gradually became the dominant religion and by the 1900s, the entire population was Muslim.[12]

In Ottoman tax records from 1596, the town had a population of 275 inhabitants. In the 19th century its population reached 900. This rose to about 1,000 in 1912,[46] and to 1,420 in the next decade. According to a British Mandate census in 1931, Bayt Jibrin's population was 1,804.[42] A 1945 land and population survey by Sami Hadawi reported a dramatic increase to 2,430.[47] The general growth pattern over every 9-11 years from 1912 to 1945 was around 400-500. In 1948, the projected population was 2,819.[42]

The number of refugees from Bayt Jibrin, including their descendants, was estimated to be 17,310 in 1998. Many live in the al-'Azza and Fawwar camps in the southern West Bank.[42]

Archeology

In 1838, the American Bible scholar Edward Robinson visited Bayt Jibrin, and identified it as ancient Eleutheropolis.[48] The ruins of three Byzantine-era churches are located in Bayt Jibrin. A church on a northern hill of the town, later used as a private residence, had elaborate mosaics depicting the four seasons which were defaced in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. A church south of the town on tel sandahanna may have been dedicated to Saint John (Hanna in Arabic) although some think it was dedicated to St. Anne; the apse and arched windows can still be seen today.[22]

Culture

Bride's wedding attire from Bayt Jibrin, exhibition at Oriental Institute, Chicago

Embroidery

Bayt Jibrin , together with Hebron and the surrounding villages, was known for its fine Palestinian embroidery.[49] An example is a woman's jillayeh (wedding dress) from Bayt Jibrin, dated about 1900, in the Museum of International Folk Art (MOIFA) collection in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The dress is made of handwoven indigo linen with long, pointed wing-sleeves. The qabbeh ("chest-piece") is embroidered with the qelayed pattern; the maya ("water") motif, el-ferraneh ("the bakers wife") pattern, and the saru ("cypress") motif. The side panels are also covered with cross-stitch embroidery in a variety of traditional patterns.[50]

Also on show is a late 19th century shambar (large veil) from Bayt Jibrin worn at weddings and festivals. It is made of embroidered handwoven black silk with a separate heavy red silk fringe.[51][52] A woman wore the shambar mainly on her wedding day, positioned so that when she covered her face the embroidered end would show. Another item in the collection is a headdress (iraqiyeh) embroidered with cross-stitch and decorated with Ottoman coins minted in AH 1223 (1808, as well as Maria Theresa coins. The iraqiyeh was worn by married women and elaborate pieces were passed down as family heirlooms. Long embroidered headbands made of cotton hanging from both sides were wrapped around the woman's braids to facilitate the bundling of her hair, then secured to the back of the headdress.[citation needed]

Shrines

Arab legend claims Bayt Jibrin was the burial place of a companion of the prophet Muhammad, Tamim Abu Ruqayya.[12] Other Islamic holy sites in the village include the maqam for a local sheikh named Mahmud and a tomb for a sheikha named Ameina.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Abu-Sitta, p.117
  2. ^ http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1484/
  3. ^ Biblical Researches in Palestine and the Adjacent Regions: A Journal of ... Edward Robinson, Eli Smith
  4. ^ 1911 encyclopedia.org
  5. ^ http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1484/
  6. ^ Josephus, The Jewish War, IV, 447
  7. ^ Google Books The Protestant Theological and Ecclesiastical Encyclopedia (1860) By John Henry Augustus Bomberger, Johann Jakob Herzog p 178
  8. ^ a b Jean Richard (1921) "The Crusaders c1071-c1291" reprinted 2001 Cambridge University Press ISBN 0-521-62566-1 p. 140
  9. ^ The Guide to Israel, Zev Vilnay, Hamakor Press, Jerusalem 1972, p.276
  10. ^ The Guide to Israel, Zev Vilnay, Hamakor Press, Jerusalem 1972, p.276
  11. ^ Khalidi, 1992, p. 209-210.
  12. ^ a b c d e Khalidi, p.209
  13. ^ Bayt Jibrin Before 1948 (1997) Nashashibi, Rami. Center for Research and Documentation of Palestinian Society, Birzeit University.
  14. ^ http://www.bibleplaces.com/bethguvrin.htm
  15. ^ Josephus, The Jewish War, IV, 447
  16. ^ http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1484/
  17. ^ http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1484/
  18. ^ http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1484/
  19. ^ a b The City of Eleutheropolis Kloner, Amos. Studium Biblicum Franciscanum - Jerusalem. 2000-12-16.
  20. ^ http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1484/
  21. ^ The conquered towns included "Ghazzah (Gaza), Sabastiyah (Samaria), Nabulus (Shechem), Kaisariyyah (Cæsarea), Ludd (Lydda), Yubna, Amwas (Emmaus), Yafa (Joppa), Rafah, and Bait Jibrin. (Bil. 138), quoted in le Strange, 1890, p. 28
  22. ^ a b c Eleutheropolis - (Bayt Jibrin) Studium Biblicum Franciscanum - Jerusalem. 2000-12-19.
  23. ^ Muk., 174, quoted in le Strange, 1890, p.412
  24. ^ Jean Richard Crusaders c. 1071-c,1291 p 96
  25. ^ Jean Richard (1921) "The Crusaders c1071-c1291" reprinted 2001 Cambridge University Press ISBN 0-521-62566-1 p. 230
  26. ^ Hütteroth, Wolf-Deiter and Kamal Abdulfattah (1977), Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century. Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. p. 149. Quoted in Khalidi, p. 209
  27. ^ Darwaza, Muhammad ´Izzat. Al -´arab wa-l-´uruba min al-qarn al-thalit hatta al-qarn al-rabi´ ´ashar al-hijri, vol 2 (Damascus, 1960), pp 138-140, quoted in Alexander Schölch (1993), p.189.
  28. ^ Schölch (1993), p. 234-235. Note 708 states that there is more information about them in Finn, Byeways,pp. 176-183 (in 1849 an elderly fellah from the district asked Finn to inform the sultan in Constantinople of the cruel harassment of the peasants by Muslih al-´Azza and his family.)
  29. ^ Schölch (1993), p. 236-237.
  30. ^ Finn (1878), Vol II, p. 305-308
  31. ^ Schölch (1993), p. 236-237.
  32. ^ Van de Velde: Reise durch Syrien und Palästina in den Jahren 1851 und 1852. Vol II, p.157; SWP, Judea, pp. 257f. and 266-74; Guérin, Victor: Description Géographique, Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine II pp. 307-309, (Amsterdam, 1969, reprint). All quoted in Schölch (1993), p. 189.
  33. ^ Furrer, Konrad: Wanderungen durch das Heilige Land, Zurich, 1891, pp 118-25. Quoted in Schölch (1993), p. 189.
  34. ^ Trisdam, p. 370
  35. ^ http://www.1914-1918.net/palestine.htm
  36. ^ Khalidi, p. 209-210.
  37. ^ "Map of UN Partition Plan". United Nations. Retrieved 2007-12-06.
  38. ^ Morris (2004), p. 414, 468.
  39. ^ Morris (2004), p. 468
  40. ^ Morris (2004), p. 468.
  41. ^ "Palestinian Refugees - A Personal Story". Badil.
  42. ^ a b c d e "Welcome to Bayt Jibrin". Palestine Remembered. Retrieved 2007-12-06.
  43. ^ Hebron District Stats from Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine (1970) Hadawi, Sami. The Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center
  44. ^ http://www.gemsinisrael.com/e_article000012102.htm
  45. ^ Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority
  46. ^ Baedecker, in his handbook, 1912, p.116-117, quoted in Khalidi (1992), p.209
  47. ^ Hebron District Stats from Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine (1970) Hadawi, Sami. The Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center
  48. ^ Biblical researches in Palestine, 1838-52. A journal of travels in the year 1838. P. 57ff: Eleutheropolis 1856,
  49. ^ Palestinian costume before 1948 - by region Palestine Costume Archive. Retrieved on 01.15.2008.
  50. ^ Stillman, p.58-59, illustrated
  51. ^ Stillman, p.66, illustrated
  52. ^ Stillman illustrated plate 15, facing p.33

Bibliography

  • Abu-Sitta, Salman (2007), The Return Journey, London: Palestine Land Society, ISBN 0954903412
  • Blumberg, Arnold, (1980): A View from Jerusalem, 1849-1858. The Consular Diary of James and Elisabeth Anne Finn, Associated University Presses, ISBN 0 8386 2271 2
  • Finn, James (1878): Stirring Times, or Records from Jerusalem Consular Chronicles of 1853-1856. Vol.II, London.
  • Khalidi, Walid (1992), All That Remains, Washington D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies, ISBN 0887282245
  • Morris, Benny (2004), The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521009677
  • Schölch, Alexander (1993): Palestine in Transformation, 1856-1882, ISBN 0887282342,
  • Stillman, Yedida Kalfon (1979), Palestinian Costume and Jewelry, Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, ISBN 0826304907
  • le Strange, Guy (1890): Palestine under the Moslem,,
  • Tristram, H. B. (1865) The Land of Israel, a Journal of Travels in Palestine. (1876 version)

31°36′45.99″N 34°53′53.78″E / 31.6127750°N 34.8982722°E / 31.6127750; 34.8982722

External links

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