Al-Damun
Encyclopedia
Al-Damun was a Palestinian
Arab
village located 11.5 kilometres (7.1 mi) from the city of Acre
that was depopulated during 1948 Arab-Israeli war
. In 1945, the village had 1,310 inhabitants, most of whom were Muslim
, while the remainder were Christian
s. The village bordered the al-Na'amin River
, which it used as a source of irrigation and drinking water from installed wells.
and Persian
sources since the 11th century CE. Local tradition identified the village as containing the tomb of the prophet Dhul-Kifl
, who is mentioned in the Qur'an
twice. Despite, Islamic tradition claiming the tomb to be in Al Kifl
near Najaf
or Kifl Hares
near Nablus
, in 1047, Nasir Khusraw
discovered it to be al-Damun. He writes "I reached a small cave, which is in Damun where I performed the ziyarat
too, for it is said to be the tomb of Dhul-Kifl, peace be upon him."
Al-Damun was captured by the Crusader
s, who referred to it as "Damar" during their invasion of Levant
in 1099, and remained in their hands unlike most of Palestine
which was conquered by the Ayyubids under Saladin
in 1187. It is mentioned as part of the Crusaders' domain in the ceasefire between the Crusaders based in Acre
and the Mamluk
s under Qalawun
in 1283.
By the 17th century, al-Damun, now in Ottoman
hands, became an established village, and until the late eighteenth century ruled by the Bedouin
Zaydani family, which rose to prominence in the Galilee
through the campaigns of Dhaher al-Omar. They traced their lineage to the al-Zaydaniyya tribe
who had emigrated to Palestine
from the Hejaz
. The village mosque
was built by a resident of al-Damun, Ali bin Salih who was also al-Omar's uncle, in 1722-23. Inscriptions on the mosque entailed the genealogy of the Zaydani family and included a poem dedicated bin Salih. In 1875, al-Damun was prosperous and had roughly 800, mostly Muslim
inhabitants and two mosques. In addition to the possible tomb of Dhul-Kifl, there was a shrine dedicated to Sheikh Abdallah on an adjacent hill. An elementary school for boys was founded by the Ottomans in 1886.
At the beginning of the 20th century, al-Damun's houses were clustered along one road and starting in 1935, the residents started to build them with reinforced concrete. The population consisted of 1,240 Muslims and 70 Christians. The inhabitants drew their drinking water from nearby springs and irrigated some of their crops from the Na'amin River. They also engaged in allied activities, particularly plaiting mats and baskets from esparto grass. The chief crops of al-Damun were wheat, sorghum, barley, and olives, but it was also well-known for its watermelons and cantaloupes.
garrison P£ 5000 to leave, presumably in an attempt to keep the village from getting involved with the hostilities in the 1948 Palestine war
.
After the initial Israeli successes in the central Galilee
during the first stage of Operation Dekel
, units of the Haganah
's Sheva Brigade moved westward and captured al-Damun, among other Arab localities, in the second stage of the operation on July 15-16, 1948. However, Palestinian historian, Aref al-Aref
, dates its capture earlier in May 1948, following the fall of Acre. Israeli historian, Benny Morris
, reports that inhabitants were demoralized by the fall of Acre and then Nazareth
, and so fled during the bombardment that preceded the attack on the village. The remaining residents were expelled and al-Damun itself was completely destroyed according to both historians.
According to Walid Khalidi
, in 1992, the site was "overgrown with thorns, cacti, olive trees, and pines. Stone and concrete rubble is scattered around it. The structure that formerly protected the central water source and regulated its flow stands untended and is collapsing in several places. The cemetery is extant, although the markers over a few graves are collapsing."
Petersen writes that the village had a number of eighteenth or nineteenth-century stone houses, some which had decorated facades.
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
village located 11.5 kilometres (7.1 mi) from the city of Acre
Acre, Israel
Acre , is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the country....
that was depopulated during 1948 Arab-Israeli war
1948 Arab-Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...
. In 1945, the village had 1,310 inhabitants, most of whom were Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
, while the remainder were Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
s. The village bordered the al-Na'amin River
Belus River
Belus or Belos is a small river in north-western Israel, where according to legend, mentioned by Isidore of Seville in his glass-making was invented.This river is identified with what is now called the Na'aman River , near Acre.Pliny the Elder Belus or Belos is a small river in north-western...
, which it used as a source of irrigation and drinking water from installed wells.
History
Excavations at the site has shown pot sherds dating from the Late Bronze Age, up to and including Early Islamic, Crusader, Mamluk and Ottoman times.Islamic rule and Dhul-Kifl tomb
Al-Damun is mentioned in early ArabArab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
and Persian
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
sources since the 11th century CE. Local tradition identified the village as containing the tomb of the prophet Dhul-Kifl
Dhul-Kifl
Dhul-Kifl, or Zul-Kifl, , is an Islamic prophet who has been identified with various Hebrew Bible prophets, most commonly Ezekiel. It is believed that he lived for roughly 75 years and that he preached in what is modern day Iraq...
, who is mentioned in the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
twice. Despite, Islamic tradition claiming the tomb to be in Al Kifl
Al Kifl
Al Kifl is a town in southeastern Iraq on the Euphrates River, between Najaf and Al Hillah. The population in and near the town is about 15,000. Kifl is the location of a tomb claimed to be that of holy man Dhul-Kifl who is believed be the biblical prophet Ezekiel...
near Najaf
Najaf
Najaf is a city in Iraq about 160 km south of Baghdad. Its estimated population in 2008 is 560,000 people. It is the capital of Najaf Governorate...
or Kifl Hares
Kifl Hares
Kifl Hares is a Palestinian town in the northern West Bank, located six kilometers west of Salfit and 18km south of Nablus in the Salfit Governorate, northwest of the Israeli settlement Ariel.-Tomb of Joshua:...
near Nablus
Nablus
Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 126,132. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center.Founded by the...
, in 1047, Nasir Khusraw
Nasir Khusraw
Abu Mo’in Hamid ad-Din Nasir ibn Khusraw al-Qubadiani or Nāsir Khusraw Qubādiyānī [also spelled as Nasir Khusrow and Naser Khosrow] Abu Mo’in Hamid ad-Din Nasir ibn Khusraw al-Qubadiani or Nāsir Khusraw Qubādiyānī [also spelled as Nasir Khusrow and Naser Khosrow] Abu Mo’in Hamid ad-Din Nasir ibn...
discovered it to be al-Damun. He writes "I reached a small cave, which is in Damun where I performed the ziyarat
Ziyarat
Ziyārah is an Arabic term literally means "visit", used to refer to a pilgrimage to sites associated with Muhammad, his family members and descendants , his companions, or other venerated figures in Islām, such as the Prophets, Sufi saints and Islāmic scholars...
too, for it is said to be the tomb of Dhul-Kifl, peace be upon him."
Al-Damun was captured by the Crusader
First Crusade
The First Crusade was a military expedition by Western Christianity to regain the Holy Lands taken in the Muslim conquest of the Levant, ultimately resulting in the recapture of Jerusalem...
s, who referred to it as "Damar" during their invasion of Levant
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
in 1099, and remained in their hands unlike most of Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
which was conquered by the Ayyubids under Saladin
Saladin
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was an Arabized Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...
in 1187. It is mentioned as part of the Crusaders' domain in the ceasefire between the Crusaders based in Acre
Acre, Israel
Acre , is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the country....
and the Mamluk
Mamluk
A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...
s under Qalawun
Qalawun
Saif ad-Dīn Qalawun aṣ-Ṣāliḥī was the seventh Mamluk sultan of Egypt...
in 1283.
By the 17th century, al-Damun, now in Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
hands, became an established village, and until the late eighteenth century ruled by the Bedouin
Bedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
Zaydani family, which rose to prominence in the Galilee
Galilee
Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...
through the campaigns of Dhaher al-Omar. They traced their lineage to the al-Zaydaniyya tribe
Tribes of Arabia
Tribes of Arabia refers to Arab clans hailing from the Arabian Peninsula.Much of the lineage provided before Ma'ad relies on biblical genealogy and therefore questions persist concerning the accuracy of this segment of Arab genealogy...
who had emigrated to Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
from the Hejaz
Hejaz
al-Hejaz, also Hijaz is a region in the west of present-day Saudi Arabia. Defined primarily by its western border on the Red Sea, it extends from Haql on the Gulf of Aqaba to Jizan. Its main city is Jeddah, but it is probably better known for the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina...
. The village mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
was built by a resident of al-Damun, Ali bin Salih who was also al-Omar's uncle, in 1722-23. Inscriptions on the mosque entailed the genealogy of the Zaydani family and included a poem dedicated bin Salih. In 1875, al-Damun was prosperous and had roughly 800, mostly Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
inhabitants and two mosques. In addition to the possible tomb of Dhul-Kifl, there was a shrine dedicated to Sheikh Abdallah on an adjacent hill. An elementary school for boys was founded by the Ottomans in 1886.
At the beginning of the 20th century, al-Damun's houses were clustered along one road and starting in 1935, the residents started to build them with reinforced concrete. The population consisted of 1,240 Muslims and 70 Christians. The inhabitants drew their drinking water from nearby springs and irrigated some of their crops from the Na'amin River. They also engaged in allied activities, particularly plaiting mats and baskets from esparto grass. The chief crops of al-Damun were wheat, sorghum, barley, and olives, but it was also well-known for its watermelons and cantaloupes.
1948 War
In April 1948, Haganah reports say that the son of the main local land-owner, Sadiq Karaman, paid the local ALAArab Liberation Army
The Arab Liberation Army , also translated as Arab Salvation Army, was an army of volunteers from Arab countries led by Fawzi al-Qawuqji...
garrison P£ 5000 to leave, presumably in an attempt to keep the village from getting involved with the hostilities in the 1948 Palestine war
1948 Palestine war
The 1948 Palestine war refers to the events in the British Mandate of Palestine between the United Nations vote on the partition plan on November 30, 1947, to the end of the first Arab-Israeli war on July 20, 1949.The war is divided into two phases:...
.
After the initial Israeli successes in the central Galilee
Galilee
Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...
during the first stage of Operation Dekel
Operation Dekel
Operation Dekel , was the largest offensive in the north of Israel after the first truce of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It was carried out by the 7th Armoured Brigade, a battalion from the Carmeli Brigade along with some elements from the Golani Brigade between 8–18 July. Its objective was to...
, units of the Haganah
Haganah
Haganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...
's Sheva Brigade moved westward and captured al-Damun, among other Arab localities, in the second stage of the operation on July 15-16, 1948. However, Palestinian historian, Aref al-Aref
Aref al-Aref
Aref al-Aref was a Palestinian journalist, historian and politician who served as mayor of East Jerusalem in the 1950s.-Biography:...
, dates its capture earlier in May 1948, following the fall of Acre. Israeli historian, Benny Morris
Benny Morris
Benny Morris is professor of History in the Middle East Studies department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the city of Be'er Sheva, Israel...
, reports that inhabitants were demoralized by the fall of Acre and then Nazareth
Nazareth
Nazareth is the largest city in the North District of Israel. Known as "the Arab capital of Israel," the population is made up predominantly of Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel...
, and so fled during the bombardment that preceded the attack on the village. The remaining residents were expelled and al-Damun itself was completely destroyed according to both historians.
According to Walid Khalidi
Walid Khalidi
Walid Khalidi is an Oxford University-educated Palestinian historian who has written extensively on the Palestinian exodus. He is General Secretary and co-founder of the Institute for Palestine Studies, established in Beirut in December 1963 as an independent research and publishing center...
, in 1992, the site was "overgrown with thorns, cacti, olive trees, and pines. Stone and concrete rubble is scattered around it. The structure that formerly protected the central water source and regulated its flow stands untended and is collapsing in several places. The cemetery is extant, although the markers over a few graves are collapsing."
Petersen writes that the village had a number of eighteenth or nineteenth-century stone houses, some which had decorated facades.
External links
- Welcome to al-Damun, palestineremembered.com
- Al-Damun, from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural CenterKhalil Sakakini Cultural CenterKhalil Sakakini Cultural Center is an organization established in 1996. It is located at 4 Raja Street, Ramallah in the West Bank. The traditional manor that houses the centre was the former family home of Khalil Salem Salah, the mayor of Ramallah between 1947/1951, is now owned by the Palestinian...
- Al-Damun, Dr. Moslih Kanaaneh
- Tour to the village of al-Damun, Saturday, 15.8.09, By Umar Ighbariyyeh, ZochrotZochrotZochrot is an Israeli-Jewish non-profit organization founded in 2002. Based in Tel Aviv, its aim is to promote awareness of the Palestinian Nakba , the 1948 Palestinian exodus. The group's director is Eitan Bronstein...