Bayt Jibrin
Encyclopedia
Bayt Jibrin was a Palestinian
Arab village located 21 kilometres (13 mi) northwest of the city of Hebron
. The village had a total land area of 56,185 dunam
s or 56.1 km² (13,862.6 acre), of which 0.28 km² (69.2 acre) were built-up while the rest remained farmland.
The early inhabitants of Bayt Jibrin are the Canaan
ites. The Romans conquered the town after the First Jewish-Roman War
and it became a Roman colony
and a major administrative center under the name of Eleutheropolis
. In the early 7th century, Bayt Jibrin was conquered by Muslim
forces led by 'Amr ibn al-'As
. Under the Crusader
s, who captured the city in the 11th century, the town declined economically, but prospered after its capture by the Mamluk
s. It fell to the Ottoman Turks
centuries later and afterwards taxes were implemented on the town's goods. In the 19th century, the al-'Azza family took control of Bayt Jibrin and unsuccessfully attempted to rebel against the Ottomans, ending in the exile and execution of local leaders.
Under the British Mandate of Palestine, Bayt Jibrin again served as a district center for surrounding villages. In the 1947 UN Partition Plan, it was designated as part of the Arab
state, but was captured by Israel
i forces during the 1948 War
, causing its inhabitants to flee east. Today, many of these refugee
s and their descendants live in the 'Azza
and Fawwar
camps in the southern West Bank
. The kibbutz
of Beit Guvrin was established on Bayt Jibrin's lands in 1949.
name is Beth Gabra which translates as the "house of [strong] men". According to some sources, prior to the Roman conquest, the town was known as Betaris. In his account of the Jewish revolt in 68 CE, the Roman Jewish historian Josephus
called it Betaris, describing it as one of two villages taken by the Romans "right in the heart of Idumea." The Egypt
ian-Roman geographer Ptolemy
referred to it as Baitogabra. The Romans gave it a Greek
name, Eleutheropolis
, meaning “City of the Free". In the Peutinger Tables
in 393 CE, Bayt Jibrin was called Beitogabri. In the 3rd-4th century Talmud
, it was known as Beit Gubrin (or Guvrin).
To the Crusaders, it was known as Bethgibelin or Gibelin. Another name in medieval times may have been Beit Jibril, meaning "house of Gabriel". In Arabic
, Bayt Jibrin or Jubrin (بيت جبرين) means "house of the powerful", reflecting its original Aramaic name. and the town was probably called Bayt Jibrin or Beit Jibril throughout its rule by various Islamic dynasties.
ites, a people said to be descended from giants. Bayt Jibrin was originally a suburb of the ancient city of Maresha
— a city of Judah
. When Maresha was destroyed by the Parthia
ns in 40 BCE, its inhabitants fled 2 miles (3.2 km) north to Beit Guvrin, a densely-populated Jewish settlement until the Bar-Kokhba revolt in 132-135 CE, when it was conquered by the Romans. The Roman emperor Septimus Severus granted it municipal status, renaming it Eleutheropolis meaning "City of the Free" and exempting its citizens from taxes. Eleutheropolis, which covered an area of 65 hectares (160.6 acre) (larger than Jerusalem at the time), flourished under the Romans, who built public buildings, military installations, aqueduct
s and a large amphitheater. The vita of Epiphanius of Salamis
, born into a Christian family near Eleutheropolis, describes the general surroundings in Late Antique Judaea. The second chapter of the vita describes the details of the important market of Eleutheropolis. Excavations at Eleutheropolis show a prosperous city, and confirm the presence of Jews and Christians in the area. It was described as one of Palestine's five "Cities of Excellence" by 4th century Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus
. Eleutheropolis encompassed the districts of Bethletepha, western Edom
and Hebron
up to Ein Gedi
, and included over 100 villages.
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. The tanna
Judah b. Jacob and the amora
Jonathan (referred to in the Talmud as "Yonatan me-Bet Guvrin" or Jonathan of Bet Guvrin) were residents of the city. The Talmudic region known as Darom was within the area of Eleutheropolis ("Beit Guvrin").
historian al-Biladhuri
mentions Bayt Jibrin (it was renamed such after its conquest by the Arabs) as one of ten towns in Jund Filastin
conquered by the Rashidun army
led by 'Amr ibn al-'As
in the early 7th century. Al-Biladhuri furthermore writes that ibn al-'As enclosed a domain to Bayt Jibrin, to which he gave the name ´Ajlun, after one of his freemen. In the beginning of the power struggle
between Ali
and Mu'awiya for the position of caliph
, ibn al-'As left Medina
in the Hejaz
and resided in Bayt Jibrin with his two sons Muhammad and Abdullah — the latter dying there.
Although the city may have been devastated in 788, in 796, Bayt Jibrin was reportedly destroyed by Bedouin
tribesmen in an effort to combat Christian influence in the region during a civil war
between the Arab tribal federations of the area. According to a monk named Stephen, "it was laid waste, and its inhabitants carried off into captivity". However, by 985, the city — now under Abbasid
rule — seemed to have recovered, judging by the writings of the Muslim geographer al-Muqaddasi
:
In 1099, Crusader
s invaded the Palestine and established the Kingdom of Jerusalem
. In 1135, King Fulk of Jerusalem erected a castle on the lands of Bayt Jibrin, the first of a series of Crusader fortifications built at this time to ensure control over the ports of Caesarea and Jaffa
. In 1136, King Fulk donated the castle to the Knights Hospitalers. In 1168, the Hospitalers were granted a charter to establish a Frankish
colony, which they named "Bethgibelin". Bayt Jibrin was on the itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela
, who found only three Jews living in Bayt Jibrin. The Ayyubid army under Saladin
sacked Bethgibelin in 1187, after most of the Kingdom of Jerusalem came under Muslim control after his victory at the Battle of Hittin. Soon after its capture Saladin ordered the demolition of the Crusader castle. From 1191-1192, the town was held in probate
by Henry of Champagne
, as lord of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, while Saladin and Richard the Lionheart negotiated a ceasefire. However, the Crusaders remained in control of Bethgibelin until 1244, when the Ayyubids reconquered it under the sultan as-Salih Ayyub
. By 1283, the Mamluk
s took control and it was listed as a domain of Qalawun
. The city prospered under the Egyptian-based Mamluk Sultanate and served as a postal station. During Mamluk rule, Bayt Jibrin administratively belonged to Hebron and was under the jurisdiction of the Shafi'i
qadi
("head judge") of that city.
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 Hebron
(al-Khalīl) under the Liwa of Gaza
("District of Gaza"). The Ottomans did not exercise strict control over their territories and tended to keep local leaders in their current positions as long as they complied and paid imperial taxes. Under the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent
in 1552, the destroyed Crusader castle was partially rebuilt in order to protect main road between Gaza and Jerusalem. In 1596, the inhabitants of Bayt Jibrin, consisting of 50 Muslim families, paid taxes on wheat, barley and sesame seeds, as well as goats and beehives.
In the 19th century, Bayt Jibrin was headed by members of the 'Azza family, who had ruled the area since migrating to Palestine from Egypt. 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. They had aligned themselves to the 'Amr clan of Hebron. Between 1840-46, hostilities were ranging between the Qais
and Yaman
tribo-political factions in southern Palestine.
The 'Azza and Amr families, loyal to the Qays were constantly clashing with the Yaman-aligned Abu Ghosh
. In 1846, the shaykh
of Bayt Jibrin, Muslih al-'Azza, (known as the "giant of Bayt Jibrin") and the leader of the 'Amr clan and other local leaders were exiled, but were allowed to return in the early 1850s.
In 1855, the newly-appointed Ottoman pasha
("governor") of the sanjak
("district") of Jerusalem, 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 the opposition, he ordered local shaykhs to summon to his camp. Several men, including the leader of the 'Amr clan and Muslih al-'Azza, did not obey the summons. Kamil Pasha then requested that the British
consul in Jerusalem, James Finn
, 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 late taxes. The Pasha took an oath of loyalty from all the local shaykhs in the Hebron region, including those under the rule of Muslih al-'Azza.
European travelers 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 in the village. According to Bayt Jibrin's shaykh, in 1863, he was in command of 16 villages in the area and was pledged "to provide as many as 2,000 men to the government if necessary." 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 then beheaded
.
Bayt Jibrin's status began to decline throughout the 1800s. According to Western travelers it was "a small and insignificant village". The primary reasons for the decline was the Bedouin
raids on Bayt Jibrin's countryside villages, the 'Azza revolt, tribal warfare among the inhabitants of the towns and villages throughout Palestine and epidemics which struck the town and the nearby area.
captured Palestine from the Ottomans in 1917-1918, 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
. After 157 villagers (one-sixth of the population) died of malaria in 1920, the British established an anti-malaria committee together with Jewish and other bodies to seal open wells, improve drainage and distribute quinine
.
On January 10, 1938, during the Arab National revolt of 1936-1939 J. L. Starkey
, a well-known archaeologist, was killed by a group of armed Arabs on the track leading from Bayt Jibrin to Hebron. Bayt Jibrin was in the territory allotted to the Arab state under the 1947 UN Partition Plan. The first Battalion of the Egyptian Army were ordered to take up position in Bayt Jibrin during the second half of May during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
. At the same time, the New York Times correspondent reported that thousands of Jaffa
's inhabitants had fled inland, including "large numbers" to the Bayt Jibrin area.
(IDF) launched Operation Yoav
, which differed from operations three months earlier, as the IDF was now equipped with aircraft, artillery, and tanks. On October 15–16, the IDF launched bombing and strafing
attacks on a number of towns and villages, including Bayt Jibrin. According to Morris, the towns caught in the fighting were neither psychologically nor defensively prepared for aerial strikes, and Israeli Air Force
bombing of Bayt Jibrin on October 19 set off a "panic flight" of residents from the town.
On October 23, a United Nations
-imposed ceasefire went into effect, however, there was an IDF raid on the neighboring police fort on the night of October 24, which resulted in more villagers fleeing Bayt Jibrin. Israeli troops from the Giv'ati Brigade then occupied Bayt Jibrin and its police fort on October 27.
In 2008, a former resident of the town who was eight months old at the time of the raid, described his family's ordeal as follows:
In 1949, a Jewish communal settlement, Kibbutz Beit Guvrin, was founded on the former town's lands.
, 21 kilometres (13 mi) northwest of Hebron. 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. Historically, it was located on the main road between Cairo
to Hebron, via Gaza.
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 (0.0709191817853842 acre), with 33.2 km² (8,203.9 acre) of cultivable land and 21.6 km² (5,337.5 acre) 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.
The Bayt Jibrin region contains a 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, 80 of them, known as the Bell Caves, on the grounds of the Beit Guvrin National Park.
visited Bayt Jibrin, and identified it as ancient Eleutheropolis. 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, known as Khirbet Mar Hanna was dedicated to Saint Anne
— mother of the Virgin Mary. In Christian tradition, Bayt Jibrin is the birthplace of Saint Anne. Today, the apse
and arched windows are still intact. The largely preserved remains of the amphitheater built by the Romans were excavated by archaeologist Amos Kloner
. Among the unique finds was a Roman bath that has been confirmed to be the largest in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Excavations conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority
in the Nahal Guvrin region have unearthed artifacts from a village believed to be 6,500 years old. The finds include pottery vessels and lithic
tools, among them flint sickle blades, cultic objects, clay figurines of horned animals, ceramic spindle whorls and animal bones belonging to pigs, goats, sheep and larger herbivores. The inhabitants probably chose this area due to the arable land and copious springs flowing in the summer months. Archaeologists believe the villagers grew grain, as indicated by the sickle blades and the grinding and pounding tools, and raised animals that supplied milk, meat and wool, as attested to by the spindle whorls. The settlement was small in scope, approximately 1.5 dunams, but there is evidence of bartering, based on the presence of basalt
vessels and other lithic objects brought to the site from afar.
s and pagans. Under Muslim rule, Islam
gradually became the dominant religion and by the 1900s, the entire population was Muslim
.
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, and to 1,420 in the next decade. According to the 1931 census of Palestine
, Bayt Jibrin's population was 1,804. A 1945 land and population survey by Sami Hadawi
reported a dramatic increase to 2,430. 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.
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
.
. 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.
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. 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 coin
s. 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.
(companion) of the prophet Muhammad
, Tamim al-Dari
, who was famously known for his piety and briefly served as the Governor of Jerusalem in the late 600s. Al-Dari and his family were granted the Hebron Hills, including Bayt Jibrin and were assigned as the supervisors of the Cave of the Patriarchs
in Hebron. His sanctuary
is the most venerated site in Bayt Jibrin, located just northwest of it. Until the present day al-Dari's sanctuary has been a place of local Muslim pilgrimage. Other Islamic holy sites in the village include the maqam
for a local shaykh named Mahmud and a tomb for a shaykha named Ameina.
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 village located 21 kilometres (13 mi) northwest of the city of Hebron
Hebron
Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...
. The village had a total land area of 56,185 dunam
Dunam
A dunam or dönüm, dunum, donum, dynym, dulum was a non-SI unit of land area used in the Ottoman Empire and representing the amount of land that can be plowed in a day; its value varied from 900–2500 m²...
s or 56.1 km² (13,862.6 acre), of which 0.28 km² (69.2 acre) were built-up while the rest remained farmland.
The early inhabitants of Bayt Jibrin are the Canaan
Canaan
Canaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
ites. The Romans conquered the town after the First Jewish-Roman War
First Jewish-Roman War
The First Jewish–Roman War , sometimes called The Great Revolt , was the first of three major rebellions by the Jews of Judaea Province , against the Roman Empire...
and it became a Roman colony
Colonia (Roman)
A Roman colonia was originally a Roman outpost established in conquered territory to secure it. Eventually, however, the term came to denote the highest status of Roman city.-History:...
and a major administrative center under the name of Eleutheropolis
Eleutheropolis
Eleutheropolis was the Greek name of a Roman city in Israel, some 53 km southwest of Jerusalem. Its remains still straddle the ancient road to Gaza. The site— already rendered as Baitogabra in Ptolemy's Geography— was called Beit Guvrin and Bet Gubrin in the Talmud...
. In the early 7th century, Bayt Jibrin was conquered by 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...
forces led by 'Amr ibn al-'As
'Amr ibn al-'As
`Amr ibn al-`As was an Arab military commander who is most noted for leading the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 640. A contemporary of Muhammad, and one of the Sahaba , who rose quickly through the Muslim hierarchy following his conversion to Islam in the year 8 AH...
. Under the Crusader
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
s, who captured the city in the 11th century, the town declined economically, but prospered after its capture by 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. It fell to the Ottoman Turks
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...
centuries later and afterwards taxes were implemented on the town's goods. In the 19th century, the al-'Azza family took control of Bayt Jibrin and unsuccessfully attempted to rebel against the Ottomans, ending in the exile and execution of local leaders.
Under the British Mandate of Palestine, Bayt Jibrin again served as a district center for surrounding villages. In the 1947 UN Partition Plan, it was designated as part of the 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...
state, but was captured by Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i forces during the 1948 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...
, causing its inhabitants to flee east. Today, many of these refugee
Palestinian refugee
Palestinian refugees or Palestine refugees are the people and their descendants, predominantly Palestinian Arabic-speakers, who fled or were expelled from their homes during and after the 1948 Palestine War, within that part of the British Mandate of Palestine, that after that war became the...
s and their descendants live in the 'Azza
'Azza
Azza, [also spelled Azzeh, Azzah or Alazzeh] or Beit Jibrin is a Palestinian refugee camp in the Bethlehem Governorate located within the city of Bethlehem. It is the smallest refugee camp between the 59 refugee camps in the West Bank and the other Arab countries...
and Fawwar
Fawwar, Hebron
Fawwar is a Palestinian town located six kilometers southwest of Hebron. The refugee camp is in the Hebron Governorate Southern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the refugee camp had a population of 6,544 in 2007....
camps in the southern West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
. The kibbutz
Kibbutz
A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism...
of Beit Guvrin was established on Bayt Jibrin's lands in 1949.
Etymology
Bayt Jibrin has been renamed over the centuries by those who fought for control of the region. The city's AramaicAramaic language
Aramaic is a group of languages belonging to the Afroasiatic language phylum. The name of the language is based on the name of Aram, an ancient region in central Syria. Within this family, Aramaic belongs to the Semitic family, and more specifically, is a part of the Northwest Semitic subfamily,...
name is Beth Gabra which translates as the "house of [strong] men". According to some sources, prior to the Roman conquest, the town was known as Betaris. In his account of the Jewish revolt in 68 CE, the Roman Jewish historian Josephus
Josephus
Titus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...
called it Betaris, describing it as one of two villages taken by the Romans "right in the heart of Idumea." The Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian-Roman geographer Ptolemy
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...
referred to it as Baitogabra. The Romans gave it a Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
name, Eleutheropolis
Eleutheropolis
Eleutheropolis was the Greek name of a Roman city in Israel, some 53 km southwest of Jerusalem. Its remains still straddle the ancient road to Gaza. The site— already rendered as Baitogabra in Ptolemy's Geography— was called Beit Guvrin and Bet Gubrin in the Talmud...
, meaning “City of the Free". In the Peutinger Tables
Tabula Peutingeriana
The Tabula Peutingeriana is an itinerarium showing the cursus publicus, the road network in the Roman Empire. The original map of which this is a unique copy was last revised in the fourth or early fifth century. It covers Europe, parts of Asia and North Africa...
in 393 CE, Bayt Jibrin was called Beitogabri. In the 3rd-4th century Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
, it was known as Beit Gubrin (or Guvrin).
To the Crusaders, it was known as Bethgibelin or Gibelin. Another name in medieval times may have been Beit Jibril, meaning "house of Gabriel". In Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
, Bayt Jibrin or Jubrin (بيت جبرين) means "house of the powerful", reflecting its original Aramaic name. and the town was probably called Bayt Jibrin or Beit Jibril throughout its rule by various Islamic dynasties.
Antiquity
Local folklore tells that the city now known as Bayt Jibrin was first inhabited by CanaanCanaan
Canaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
ites, a people said to be descended from giants. Bayt Jibrin was originally a suburb of the ancient city of Maresha
Maresha
Tel Maresha , also Marissa, is an antiquity site in Israel's southern lowlands. The tel was first excavated by the British archaeologists Bliss and Macalister on behalf of the Palestine Exploration Fund...
— a city of Judah
Tribe of Judah
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Judah was one of the Tribes of Israel.Following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes after about 1200 BCE, Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes....
. When Maresha was destroyed by the Parthia
Parthia
Parthia is a region of north-eastern Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Arsacid dynasty, rulers of the Parthian Empire....
ns in 40 BCE, its inhabitants fled 2 miles (3.2 km) north to Beit Guvrin, a densely-populated Jewish settlement until the Bar-Kokhba revolt in 132-135 CE, when it was conquered by the Romans. The Roman emperor Septimus Severus granted it municipal status, renaming it Eleutheropolis meaning "City of the Free" and exempting its citizens from taxes. Eleutheropolis, which covered an area of 65 hectares (160.6 acre) (larger than Jerusalem at the time), flourished under the Romans, who built public buildings, military installations, aqueduct
Aqueduct
An aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel constructed to convey water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose....
s and a large amphitheater. The vita of Epiphanius of Salamis
Epiphanius of Salamis
Epiphanius of Salamis was bishop of Salamis at the end of the 4th century. He is considered a saint and a Church Father by both the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches. He gained a reputation as a strong defender of orthodoxy...
, born into a Christian family near Eleutheropolis, describes the general surroundings in Late Antique Judaea. The second chapter of the vita describes the details of the important market of Eleutheropolis. Excavations at Eleutheropolis show a prosperous city, and confirm the presence of Jews and Christians in the area. It was described as one of Palestine's five "Cities of Excellence" by 4th century Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus
Ammianus Marcellinus
Ammianus Marcellinus was a fourth-century Roman historian. He wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from Antiquity...
. Eleutheropolis encompassed the districts of Bethletepha, western Edom
Edom
Edom or Idumea was a historical region of the Southern Levant located south of Judea and the Dead Sea. It is mentioned in biblical records as a 1st millennium BC Iron Age kingdom of Edom, and in classical antiquity the cognate name Idumea was used to refer to a smaller area in the same region...
and Hebron
Hebron
Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...
up to Ein Gedi
Ein Gedi
Ein Gedi is an oasis in Israel, located west of the Dead Sea, near Masada and the caves of Qumran.-Etymology:The name En-gedi is composed of two Hebrew words: ein means spring and gdi means goat-kid. En Gedi thus means "Kid spring."...
, and included over 100 villages.
In the 1st and 2nd centuries CE, Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
penetrated the city due to its location on the route between Jerusalem and Gaza
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
. The city's first bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
, Justus, was one of the 70 Disciples
Seventy Disciples
The seventy disciples or seventy-two disciples were early followers of Jesus mentioned in the Gospel of Luke . According to Luke, the only gospel in which they appear, Jesus appointed them and sent them out in pairs on a specific mission which is detailed in the text...
. In 325 CE, Eleutheropolis became the seat of Bishop Macrinus, who was present at the First Council of Nicaea
First Council of Nicaea
The First Council of Nicaea was a council of Christian bishops convened in Nicaea in Bithynia by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325...
. Beit Guvrin is mentioned in the Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
in the 3rd and 4th centuries, indicating a revival of the Jewish community around that time. The tanna
Tannaim
The Tannaim were the Rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 70-200 CE. The period of the Tannaim, also referred to as the Mishnaic period, lasted about 130 years...
Judah b. Jacob and the amora
Amora
Amoraim , were renowned Jewish scholars who "said" or "told over" the teachings of the Oral law, from about 200 to 500 CE in Babylonia and the Land of Israel. Their legal discussions and debates were eventually codified in the Gemara...
Jonathan (referred to in the Talmud as "Yonatan me-Bet Guvrin" or Jonathan of Bet Guvrin) were residents of the city. The Talmudic region known as Darom was within the area of Eleutheropolis ("Beit Guvrin").
Islamic era
The MuslimMuslim
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...
historian al-Biladhuri
Ahmad Ibn Yahya al-Baladhuri
Ahmad Ibn Yahya al-Baladhuri Arabic was a 9th century Persian historian. One of the eminent middle-eastern historians of his age , he spent most of his life in Baghdad and enjoyed great influence at the court of the caliph al-Mutawakkil. He traveled in Syria and Iraq, compiling information for his...
mentions Bayt Jibrin (it was renamed such after its conquest by the Arabs) as one of ten towns in Jund Filastin
Jund Filastin
Jund Filastin was one of several sub-provinces of the Ummayad and Abbasid Caliphate province of Syria, organized soon after the Muslim conquest of Syria in the seventh century. According to al-Biladhuri, the main towns in the district at its capture by the Rashidun Caliphate, were Gaza, Sebastiya,...
conquered by the Rashidun army
Rashidun army
The Rashidun Caliphate Army or Rashidun army was the primary military body of the Rashidun Caliphate's armed forces during the Muslim conquests of the 7th century, serving alongside the Rashidun Navy...
led by 'Amr ibn al-'As
'Amr ibn al-'As
`Amr ibn al-`As was an Arab military commander who is most noted for leading the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 640. A contemporary of Muhammad, and one of the Sahaba , who rose quickly through the Muslim hierarchy following his conversion to Islam in the year 8 AH...
in the early 7th century. Al-Biladhuri furthermore writes that ibn al-'As enclosed a domain to Bayt Jibrin, to which he gave the name ´Ajlun, after one of his freemen. In the beginning of the power struggle
First Fitna
The First Islamic Civil War , also called the First Fitna , was the first major civil war within the Islamic Caliphate. It arose as a struggle over who had the legitimate right to become the ruling Caliph...
between Ali
Ali
' |Ramaḍān]], 40 AH; approximately October 23, 598 or 600 or March 17, 599 – January 27, 661).His father's name was Abu Talib. Ali was also the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and ruled over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661, and was the first male convert to Islam...
and Mu'awiya for the position of caliph
Caliph
The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
, ibn al-'As left Medina
Medina
Medina , or ; also transliterated as Madinah, or madinat al-nabi "the city of the prophet") is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province. It is the second holiest city in Islam, and the burial place of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, and...
in 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...
and resided in Bayt Jibrin with his two sons Muhammad and Abdullah — the latter dying there.
Although the city may have been devastated in 788, in 796, Bayt Jibrin was reportedly destroyed by 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:...
tribesmen in an effort to combat Christian influence in the region during a civil war
Civil War in Palestine (793-796)
The Civil War in Palestine occurred between two Arab tribal federations in Palestine, Mudhar and Yamani, between 793-796, under the rule of the Abbasid Caliphate.-Background:The Abbasid Caliphate rose to power after the defeat of the Umayyads in 750...
between the Arab tribal federations of the area. According to a monk named Stephen, "it was laid waste, and its inhabitants carried off into captivity". However, by 985, the city — now under Abbasid
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate or, more simply, the Abbasids , was the third of the Islamic caliphates. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphate from all but the al-Andalus region....
rule — seemed to have recovered, judging by the writings of the Muslim geographer al-Muqaddasi
Al-Muqaddasi
Muhammad ibn Ahmad Shams al-Din Al-Muqaddasi , also transliterated as Al-Maqdisi and el-Mukaddasi, was a medieval Arab geographer, author of Ahsan at-Taqasim fi Ma`rifat il-Aqalim .-Biography:Al-Muqaddasi, "the Hierosolomite" was born in Jerusalem in 946 AD...
:
"[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 marbleMarbleMarble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
quarries. The district sends its produce to the capital (Ar RamlahRamlaRamla , is a city in central Israel. The city is predominantly Jewish with a significant Arab minority. Ramla was founded circa 705–715 AD by the Umayyad Caliph Suleiman ibn Abed al-Malik after the Arab conquest of the region...
). It is an emporiumMarketplaceA marketplace is the space, actual, virtual or metaphorical, in which a market operates. The term is also used in a trademark law context to denote the actual consumer environment, ie. the 'real world' in which products and services are provided and consumed.-Marketplaces and street markets:A...
for the neighbouring country, and a land of riches and plenty, possessing fine domains. The population, however, is now on the decrease...."
In 1099, 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 invaded the Palestine and established the Kingdom of Jerusalem
Kingdom of Jerusalem
The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Catholic kingdom established in the Levant in 1099 after the First Crusade. The kingdom lasted nearly two hundred years, from 1099 until 1291 when the last remaining possession, Acre, was destroyed by the Mamluks, but its history is divided into two distinct periods....
. In 1135, King Fulk of Jerusalem erected a castle on the lands of Bayt Jibrin, the first of a series of Crusader fortifications built at this time to ensure control over the ports of Caesarea and Jaffa
Jaffa
Jaffa is an ancient port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world. Jaffa was incorporated with Tel Aviv creating the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical story of the prophet Jonah.-Etymology:...
. In 1136, King Fulk donated the castle to the Knights Hospitalers. In 1168, the Hospitalers were granted a charter to establish a Frankish
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
colony, which they named "Bethgibelin". Bayt Jibrin was on the itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela
Benjamin of Tudela
Benjamin of Tudela was a medieval Jewish traveler who visited Europe, Asia, and Africa in the 12th century. His vivid descriptions of western Asia preceded those of Marco Polo by a hundred years...
, who found only three Jews living in Bayt Jibrin. The Ayyubid army 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...
sacked Bethgibelin in 1187, after most of the Kingdom of Jerusalem came under Muslim control after his victory at the Battle of Hittin. Soon after its capture Saladin ordered the demolition of the Crusader castle. From 1191-1192, the town was held in probate
Probate
Probate is the legal process of administering the estate of a deceased person by resolving all claims and distributing the deceased person's property under the valid will. A probate court decides the validity of a testator's will...
by Henry of Champagne
Henry II of Champagne
Henry II of Champagne was count of Champagne from 1181 to 1197, and King of Jerusalem from 1192 to 1197, although he never used the title of king.- Early Life and Family :...
, as lord of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, while Saladin and Richard the Lionheart negotiated a ceasefire. However, the Crusaders remained in control of Bethgibelin until 1244, when the Ayyubids reconquered it under the sultan as-Salih Ayyub
As-Salih Ayyub
Al-Malik as-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub , also known as al-Malik al-Salih was the Ayyubid ruler of Egypt from 1240 to 1249.-Biography:...
. By 1283, 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 took control and it was listed as a domain of Qalawun
Qalawun
Saif ad-Dīn Qalawun aṣ-Ṣāliḥī was the seventh Mamluk sultan of Egypt...
. The city prospered under the Egyptian-based Mamluk Sultanate and served as a postal station. During Mamluk rule, Bayt Jibrin administratively belonged to Hebron and was under the jurisdiction of the Shafi'i
Shafi'i
The Shafi'i madhhab is one of the schools of fiqh, or religious law, within the Sunni branch of Islam. The Shafi'i school of fiqh is named after Imām ash-Shafi'i.-Principles:...
qadi
Qadi
Qadi is a judge ruling in accordance with Islamic religious law appointed by the ruler of a Muslim country. Because Islam makes no distinction between religious and secular domains, qadis traditionally have jurisdiction over all legal matters involving Muslims...
("head judge") of that city.
Ottoman rule and the 'Azza family
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...
after it defeated the Mamluks at the Battle of Marj Dabiq
Battle of Marj Dabiq
The battle of Marj Dābiq was a decisive military clash in Middle Eastern history, fought on 24 August 1516, 44 km north of Halab , Syria.- Battle preparations :...
in 1516. Bayt Jibrin was incorporated into the Ottoman nahiya (subdistrict) of Hebron
Hebron
Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...
(al-Khalīl) under the Liwa of Gaza
Liwa of Gaza
The Sanjak of Gaza was a sanjak of the Damascus Eyalet, Ottoman Empire. It administrative center was within the Gaza City....
("District of Gaza"). The Ottomans did not exercise strict control over their territories and tended to keep local leaders in their current positions as long as they complied and paid imperial taxes. Under the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent
Suleiman the Magnificent
Suleiman I was the tenth and longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1520 to his death in 1566. He is known in the West as Suleiman the Magnificent and in the East, as "The Lawgiver" , for his complete reconstruction of the Ottoman legal system...
in 1552, the destroyed Crusader castle was partially rebuilt in order to protect main road between Gaza and Jerusalem. In 1596, the inhabitants of Bayt Jibrin, consisting of 50 Muslim families, paid taxes on wheat, barley and sesame seeds, as well as goats and beehives.
In the 19th century, Bayt Jibrin was headed by members of the 'Azza family, who had ruled the area since migrating to Palestine from Egypt. 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. They had aligned themselves to the 'Amr clan of Hebron. Between 1840-46, hostilities were ranging between the Qais
Qais
Qais , also spelled Qays or Kais, were an Arabian tribe branched from the Mudhar Adnani groups.-Main branches of Qais:The main branches of the Qais tribes are the Banu Sulaym, Hawazin and the Banu Ghatafan. These three main groups remained in the Eastern Hejaz until the 7th century...
and Yaman
Yaman
*Yaman , a raga in Hindustani classical music*Yemen*Yaman ; a political party in 19th and early 20th century in Palestine. The adversaries of the Qays , or Qais, see Husayni...
tribo-political factions in southern Palestine.
Abu Ghosh
Abu Ghosh is an Israeli Arab town in Israel, located west of Jerusalem on the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway. It is situated 610–720 meters above sea level. In 2010, it set the Guinness World Record for largest dish of hummus...
. In 1846, the shaykh
Sheikh
Not to be confused with sikhSheikh — also spelled Sheik or Shaikh, or transliterated as Shaykh — is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor"...
of Bayt Jibrin, Muslih al-'Azza, (known as the "giant of Bayt Jibrin") and the leader of the 'Amr clan and other local leaders were exiled, but were allowed to return in the early 1850s.
In 1855, the newly-appointed Ottoman pasha
Pasha
Pasha or pascha, formerly bashaw, was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire political system, typically granted to governors, generals and dignitaries. As an honorary title, Pasha, in one of its various ranks, is equivalent to the British title of Lord, and was also one of the highest titles in...
("governor") of the sanjak
Sanjak
Sanjaks were administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire. Sanjak, and the variant spellings sandjak, sanjaq, and sinjaq, are English transliterations of the Turkish word sancak, meaning district, banner, or flag...
("district") of Jerusalem, Kamil Pasha
Kibrisli Mehmed Kamil Pasha
Kâmil Pasha , also spelled as Kiamil Pasha was an Ottoman statesman of Turkish Cypriot origin in the late 19th century and early 20th century, who became, as aside regional or international posts within the Ottoman state structure, grand vizier of the Empire during four different periods.He was...
, 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 the opposition, he ordered local shaykhs to summon to his camp. Several men, including the leader of the 'Amr clan and Muslih al-'Azza, did not obey the summons. Kamil Pasha then requested that the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
consul in Jerusalem, James Finn
James Finn
James Finn was a British Consul in Jerusalem, in the then Ottoman Empire . He arrived in 1845 with his wife Elizabeth Anne Finn. Finn was a devout Christian, who belonged to the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews, but who did not engage in missionary work during his years in...
, 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 late taxes. The Pasha took an oath of loyalty from all the local shaykhs in the Hebron region, including those under the rule of Muslih al-'Azza.
European travelers 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 in the village. According to Bayt Jibrin's shaykh, in 1863, he was in command of 16 villages in the area and was pledged "to provide as many as 2,000 men to the government if necessary." 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
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
and then beheaded
Decapitation
Decapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...
.
Bayt Jibrin's status began to decline throughout the 1800s. According to Western travelers it was "a small and insignificant village". The primary reasons for the decline was 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:...
raids on Bayt Jibrin's countryside villages, the 'Azza revolt, tribal warfare among the inhabitants of the towns and villages throughout Palestine and epidemics which struck the town and the nearby area.
British Mandate era
After the British armyBritish Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
captured Palestine from the Ottomans in 1917-1918, 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
Souk
A souq is a commercial quarter in an Arab, Berber, and increasingly European city. The term is often used to designate the market in any Arabized or Muslim city, but in modern times it appears in Western cities too...
. After 157 villagers (one-sixth of the population) died of malaria in 1920, the British established an anti-malaria committee together with Jewish and other bodies to seal open wells, improve drainage and distribute quinine
Quinine
Quinine is a natural white crystalline alkaloid having antipyretic , antimalarial, analgesic , anti-inflammatory properties and a bitter taste. It is a stereoisomer of quinidine which, unlike quinine, is an anti-arrhythmic...
.
On January 10, 1938, during the Arab National revolt of 1936-1939 J. L. Starkey
James Leslie Starkey
James Leslie Starkey was a noted British archaeologist of the ancient Near East and Palestine in the period before the Second World War...
, a well-known archaeologist, was killed by a group of armed Arabs on the track leading from Bayt Jibrin to Hebron. Bayt Jibrin was in the territory allotted to the Arab state under the 1947 UN Partition Plan. The first Battalion of the Egyptian Army were ordered to take up position in Bayt Jibrin during the second half of May during the 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...
. At the same time, the New York Times correspondent reported that thousands of Jaffa
Jaffa
Jaffa is an ancient port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world. Jaffa was incorporated with Tel Aviv creating the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical story of the prophet Jonah.-Etymology:...
's inhabitants had fled inland, including "large numbers" to the Bayt Jibrin area.
1948 war
In October 1948, the Israel Defense ForcesIsrael Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
(IDF) launched Operation Yoav
Operation Yoav
Operation Yoav was an Israeli military operation carried out from 15–22 October 1948 in the Negev Desert, during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Its goal was to drive a wedge between the Egyptian forces along the coast and the Beersheba–Hebron–Jerusalem road and ultimately to conquer the whole Negev...
, which differed from operations three months earlier, as the IDF was now equipped with aircraft, artillery, and tanks. On October 15–16, the IDF launched bombing and strafing
Strafing
Strafing is the practice of attacking ground targets from low-flying aircraft using aircraft-mounted automatic weapons. This means, that although ground attack using automatic weapons fire is very often accompanied with bombing or rocket fire, the term "strafing" does not specifically include the...
attacks on a number of towns and villages, including Bayt Jibrin. According to Morris, the towns caught in the fighting were neither psychologically nor defensively prepared for aerial strikes, and Israeli Air Force
Israeli Air Force
The Israeli Air Force is the air force of the State of Israel and the aerial arm of the Israel Defense Forces. It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Independence...
bombing of Bayt Jibrin on October 19 set off a "panic flight" of residents from the town.
On October 23, a United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
-imposed ceasefire went into effect, however, there was an IDF raid on the neighboring police fort on the night of October 24, which resulted in more villagers fleeing Bayt Jibrin. Israeli troops from the Giv'ati Brigade then occupied Bayt Jibrin and its police fort on October 27.
In 2008, a former resident of the town who was eight months old at the time of the raid, described his family's ordeal as follows:
"In the 1948 war, the village was attacked by IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i military units and bombed by Israeli aircraft. By that time, Beit Jibreen already hosted many refugeeRefugeeA refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...
s 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."
In 1949, a Jewish communal settlement, Kibbutz Beit Guvrin, was founded on the former town's lands.
Geography
Bayt Jibrin was situated on a plain 275 metres (902.2 ft) above sea level west of the Hebron HillsJudean Mountains
The Judaean Mountains, ;, also Judaean Hills and Hebron Hills is a mountain range in Israel and the West Bank where Jerusalem and several other biblical cities are located. The mountains reach a height of 1,000 m.-Geography:...
, 21 kilometres (13 mi) northwest of Hebron. Nearby localities included the depopulated villages of Kudna
Kudna
Kudna was a Palestinian Arab village, located 25 kilometers northwest of Hebron.-History:Kudna was known to the Crusaders as Kidna. An archaeological site in Kudna contained remnants of a fort, the foundations of buildings, previously inhabited caves, and cisterns...
to the north, al-Qubayba
Al-Qubayba
al-Qubayba was a Palestinian village, located 24 kilometers northwest of Hebron.-History:Known in Crusader times as Deirelcobebe, the ruins of the ancient Canaanite city of Lachish lay adjacent to the village, which was subject to extensive archaeological excavations by the British Mandatory...
to the southwest, al-Dawayima
Al-Dawayima
Al-Dawayima was a Palestinian town, located northwest of the city of Hebron. It is identified with the Old Testament town of Bosqat. According to a 1945 census, the town's population was 3,710, and the village lands comprised a total land area of 60,585 dunums of which nearly half was cultivable...
to the south and the existing Palestinian towns of Beit Ula
Beit Ula
Beit Ula is a Palestinian town in the Hebron Governorate, located ten kilometers northwest of Hebron, in the southern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 10,885 inhabitants in 2007....
to the east and Idhna
Idhna
Idhna is a Palestinian town in the southern West Bank, located in the Hebron Governorate, 13 kilometers west of Hebron and about one kilometer east of the Green Line. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of approximately 19,012 inhabitants in...
to the southeast. Historically, it was located on the main road between Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
to Hebron, via Gaza.
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 (0.0709191817853842 acre), with 33.2 km² (8,203.9 acre) of cultivable land and 21.6 km² (5,337.5 acre) 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.
The Bayt Jibrin region contains a 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, 80 of them, known as the Bell Caves, on the grounds of the Beit Guvrin National Park.
Archaeology
In 1838, the American Bible scholar Edward RobinsonEdward Robinson (scholar)
Edward Robinson was an American biblical scholar, known as the “Father of Biblical Geography.” He has been referred to as the “founder of modern Palestinology.” -Biography:...
visited Bayt Jibrin, and identified it as ancient Eleutheropolis. The ruins of three Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
-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, known as Khirbet Mar Hanna was dedicated to Saint Anne
Saint Anne
Saint Hanna of David's house and line, was the mother of the Virgin Mary and grandmother of Jesus Christ according to Christian and Islamic tradition. English Anne is derived from Greek rendering of her Hebrew name Hannah...
— mother of the Virgin Mary. In Christian tradition, Bayt Jibrin is the birthplace of Saint Anne. Today, the apse
Apse
In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...
and arched windows are still intact. The largely preserved remains of the amphitheater built by the Romans were excavated by archaeologist Amos Kloner
Amos Kloner
Amos Kloner is an archaeologist and professor emeritusin the Martin Szusz Department of the Land of Israel Studies at the Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel, where he teaches Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine archaeology....
. Among the unique finds was a Roman bath that has been confirmed to be the largest in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Excavations conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority
Israel Antiquities Authority
The Israel Antiquities Authority is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of Antiquities. The IAA regulates excavation and conservation, and promotes research...
in the Nahal Guvrin region have unearthed artifacts from a village believed to be 6,500 years old. The finds include pottery vessels and lithic
Stone tool
A stone tool is, in the most general sense, any tool made either partially or entirely out of stone. Although stone tool-dependent societies and cultures still exist today, most stone tools are associated with prehistoric, particularly Stone Age cultures that have become extinct...
tools, among them flint sickle blades, cultic objects, clay figurines of horned animals, ceramic spindle whorls and animal bones belonging to pigs, goats, sheep and larger herbivores. The inhabitants probably chose this area due to the arable land and copious springs flowing in the summer months. Archaeologists believe the villagers grew grain, as indicated by the sickle blades and the grinding and pounding tools, and raised animals that supplied milk, meat and wool, as attested to by the spindle whorls. The settlement was small in scope, approximately 1.5 dunams, but there is evidence of bartering, based on the presence of basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
vessels and other lithic objects brought to the site from afar.
Demographics
During the Roman period, Bayt Jibrin had a mixed population of Jews, ChristianChristian
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 and pagans. Under Muslim rule, Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
gradually became the dominant religion and by the 1900s, the entire population was 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...
.
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, and to 1,420 in the next decade. According to the 1931 census of Palestine
1931 census of Palestine
The 1931 census of Palestine was the second census carried out by the authorities of the British Mandate of Palestine. It was carried out on 18 November 1931 under the direction of Major E. Mills. The first census had been conducted in 1922...
, Bayt Jibrin's population was 1,804. A 1945 land and population survey by Sami Hadawi
Sami Hadawi
Sami Hadawi was a Palestinian scholar and author. He is known for documenting the effects of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War on the Arab population in Palestine and published statistics for individual villages prior to Israel's establishment. Hadawi worked as a land specialist until he was exiled from...
reported a dramatic increase to 2,430. 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.
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
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
.
Culture
Embroidery
Bayt Jibrin, together with Hebron and the surrounding villages, was known for its fine Palestinian embroideryPalestinian costumes
Palestinian costumes are the traditional clothing worn by Palestinians. Foreign travelers to Palestine in the 19th and early 20th centuries often commented on the rich variety of the costumes worn, particularly by the fellaheen or village women...
. An example is a woman's jillayeh (wedding dress)
from Bayt Jibrin, dated about 1900, in the Museum of International Folk Art
Museum of International Folk Art
The Museum of International Folk Art is a state-run institution in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. It is one of many cultural institutions operated by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs...
(MOIFA) collection in Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
. 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.
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. 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
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...
coins minted in AH 1223 (1808), as well as Maria Theresa coin
Maria Theresa thaler
The Maria Theresa thaler is a silver bullion-coin that has been used in world trade continuously. Maria Theresa Thalers were first minted in 1741, using the then Reichsthaler standard of 9 thalers to the Vienna mark. In 1750 the thaler was debased to 10 thalers to the Vienna Mark...
s. 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.
Shrines
In Islamic tradition, Bayt Jibrin is the burial place of the sahabaSahaba
In Islam, the ' were the companions, disciples, scribes and family of the Islamic prophet...
(companion) of the prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
, Tamim al-Dari
Tamim al-Dari
Tamim bin Aws al-Dari was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.-Biography:Originally a priest Christian, al-Dari lived in southern Palestine and belonged to the Bani al-Dar—a clan of the Banu Lakhm tribal confederation. His first contact with Muhammad was in 628 CE when he led a delegation...
, who was famously known for his piety and briefly served as the Governor of Jerusalem in the late 600s. Al-Dari and his family were granted the Hebron Hills, including Bayt Jibrin and were assigned as the supervisors of the Cave of the Patriarchs
Cave of the Patriarchs
The Cave of the Patriarchs or the Cave of Machpelah , is known by Muslims as the Sanctuary of Abraham or Ibrahimi Mosque ....
in Hebron. His sanctuary
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...
is the most venerated site in Bayt Jibrin, located just northwest of it. Until the present day al-Dari's sanctuary has been a place of local Muslim pilgrimage. Other Islamic holy sites in the village include the maqam
Shrine
A shrine is a holy or sacred place, which is dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon or similar figure of awe and respect, at which they are venerated or worshipped. Shrines often contain idols, relics, or other such objects associated with the figure being venerated....
for a local shaykh named Mahmud and a tomb for a shaykha named Ameina.
See also
- IbelinIbelinIbelin was a castle in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century , which gave its name to an important family of nobles.-The castle:...
Crusader fortification - List of Arab towns and villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
- List of villages depopulated during the Arab-Israeli conflict
External links
- Welcome To Bayt Jibrin
- Bayt Jibrin 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...
. - Bayt Jibrin by Rami Nashashibi (1996), Center for Research and Documentation of Palestinian Society.
- The Imaginary Village by Sandy Tolan & Melissa Robbins
- Testimony: Army demolishes village housing over 200 Palestinians, west of the Barrier, Oct. 2007, Btselem
- Army demolishes village housing over 200 Palestinians, west of the Barrier, 25 November 2007, Btselem