Khulda
Encyclopedia
Khulda was a Palestinian
Arab
village located 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) south of Ramla
in the Mandatory Palestine. Known as Huldre to the Crusaders, it is also mentioned in documents dating to the periods of Mamluk, Ottoman, and Mandatory rule over Palestine
. During the 1948 war
, the village was depopulated as part of Operation Nachshon
and was subsequently destroyed. The Israeli kibbutz of Mishmar David
was established that same year on land belonging to the village.
to the Ramla-Jerusalem highway. During the Crusades
, the village was known as Huldre. Situated 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) west-south-west of Imwas
, prior to the 12th century C.E., it lay on the border between the Greek archbishopric of Lydda
and the ecclesiastical division of Emmaus
, the latter of which was governed directly by archpriest of the Patriarch of Jerusalem
.
During the period of Mamluk
rule over Palestine
, Mujir al-Din al-'Ulaymi
narrates how the under-Governor of Ramleh in 1495 C.E. had to take refuge against marauding Bedouin
in a small fort which then existed at Khulda.
Khulda, like the rest of Palestine, was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire
in 1517 and in 1596, it formed part of the nahiya ("subdistrict") of Ramla
, in the liwa of Gaza
. The village paid taxes on wheat, barley, beehives, and goats, and had a population of sixty-six.
When Edward Robinson
passed by in 1838, he described Khulda as "a large village" on a hill. Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau
also visited Khulda in 1871, and was told by the inhabitants that the village used to be surrounded by a fortified wall, two gates of which were still supposed to be in situ
. Clermont-Ganneau noted that this agreed well with what Mujir al-Din had written about the place. At the end of the 19th century, Khulda was described as a large village, built of stone and mud, situated on a hill. The village had a masonry well
to the east.
During British rule over Mandate Palestine
, ten labourers from Khulda worked gratis for the Jewish National Fund
on the Khulde drainage project, most of which took place on the Arab village's lands. The project, like others of its kind was essential to Jewish settlement in Palestine, as malaria had impeded permanent settlement at Jewish Khulde
in 1921.
At the time of 1931 census
, there were 29 inhabited houses in Khulda for a population of 178 Muslims, and toward the end of the Mandate in 1945, the population had grown to 280. The villagers maintained a mosque
and there were two water wells for domestic use.
Villagers in Khulda were engaged in the rearing of animal livestock. The Lydda District
had one of the largest animal markets in Palestine, alongside that of the Nazareth District
; however, starvation was a common affliction among the herds in the former in the 20th century, and the herd at Khluda was described as 'a typical specimen of extreme debility'.
Prior to the outbreak of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war
, Khulda was conquered by Jewish forces on April 6, 1948 during Operation Nachshon
. On April 20, 1948 it was leveled by bulldozers.
Kibbutz Mishmar David
was established in 1948, about 0.5 km (0.310686368324903 mi) west of the village site, on village land. Tal Shachar is nearby, about 2 km (1.2 mi) south of the village site, but it is not on village land.
Andrew Petersen, an archaeologist specializing in Islamic architecture
visited Khulda in 1993, and notes that the remains of at least four stone buildings can be seen, although only two of them are standing. The first of these is a rectangular structure (12 m (39.4 ft) x 6.5 m (21.3 ft)) with two separate rooms, each with its own entrance. Each door is flanked with two large windows. Both doors and windows are covered with lintels
, above which is a relieving arch. An inscription above one of the doors have been removed. The roof is made with iron girder
s, with reinforced concrete, while the walls are dressed limestone
. According to Petersen, the building must have served some public purpose, and it probably dates from the final years of the Ottoman rule, or the early British Mandate of Palestine period.
The second building stands north of first one, and is about half in size (6m x 6m). The roof is made in the same manner as the first house. The walls are made of boulders and rubble stone, joined together with mud mortar. A shallow niche in the south wall might be a mihrab
. The walls are decorated with stencilled friezes of palm tree and palmette
s in blue-green. A barely legible inscription above the door gives a fourteenth century H
(Late 19th cent. AD). date.
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 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) south of Ramla
Ramla
Ramla , 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...
in the Mandatory Palestine. Known as Huldre to the Crusaders, it is also mentioned in documents dating to the periods of Mamluk, Ottoman, and Mandatory rule over 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....
. During the 1948 war
1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine
The 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine lasted from 30 November 1947, the date of the United Nations vote in favour of the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the UN Partition Plan, to the termination of the British Mandate itself on 14 May 1948.This period constitutes the...
, the village was depopulated as part of Operation Nachshon
Operation Nachshon
Operation Nachshon was an Jewish military operation during the 1948 war. Lasting from 5–20 April 1948, its objective was to break the Siege of Jerusalem by opening the Tel-Aviv - Jerusalem road blockaded by Palestinian Arabs and to supply food and weapons to the isolated Jewish community of...
and was subsequently destroyed. The Israeli kibbutz of Mishmar David
Mishmar David
Mishmar David is a communal settlement in central Israel. Located in the Shephelah near Mazkeret Batya, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gezer Regional Council and had a population of 197 in 2006...
was established that same year on land belonging to the village.
History
Khulda lay close to a highway connecting GazaGaza
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,...
to the Ramla-Jerusalem highway. During the Crusades
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...
, the village was known as Huldre. Situated 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) west-south-west of Imwas
Imwas
Imwas was a Palestinian Arab village located southeast of the city of Ramla and from Jerusalem in the Latrun salient of the West Bank. Often identified with the biblical Emmaus, over the course of two millennia, Imwas was intermittently inhabited and was ruled by the Romans , Arab caliphates,...
, prior to the 12th century C.E., it lay on the border between the Greek archbishopric of Lydda
Lod
Lod is a city located on the Sharon Plain southeast of Tel Aviv in the Center District of Israel. At the end of 2010, it had a population of 70,000, roughly 75 percent Jewish and 25 percent Arab.The name is derived from the Biblical city of Lod...
and the ecclesiastical division of Emmaus
Emmaus
Emmaus was an ancient town located approximately northwest of present day Jerusalem...
, the latter of which was governed directly by archpriest of the Patriarch of Jerusalem
Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem
The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem is the head bishop of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, ranking fourth of nine Patriarchs in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Since 2005, the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem has been Theophilos III...
.
During the period of Mamluk
Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)
The Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt was the final independent Egyptian state prior to the establishment of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty in 1805. It lasted from the overthrow of the Ayyubid Dynasty until the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517. The sultanate's ruling caste was composed of Mamluks, Arabised...
rule over 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....
, Mujir al-Din al-'Ulaymi
Mujir al-Din al-'Ulaymi
Mujīr al-Dīn al-'Ulaymī , often simply Mujir al-Din, was a Jerusalemite qadi and Arab historian whose principal work chronicled the history of Jerusalem and Hebron in the Middle Ages. Entitled al-Uns al-Jalil bi-tarikh al-Quds wal-Khalil Mujīr al-Dīn al-'Ulaymī (Arabic: ) (1456–1522), often...
narrates how the under-Governor of Ramleh in 1495 C.E. had to take refuge against marauding 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:...
in a small fort which then existed at Khulda.
Khulda, like the rest of Palestine, was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire
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...
in 1517 and in 1596, it formed part of the nahiya ("subdistrict") of Ramla
Ramla
Ramla , 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...
, in 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....
. The village paid taxes on wheat, barley, beehives, and goats, and had a population of sixty-six.
When Edward Robinson
Edward 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:...
passed by in 1838, he described Khulda as "a large village" on a hill. Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau
Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau
Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau was a noted French Orientalist and archaeologist.-Biography:Clermont-Ganneau was born in Paris, son of a sculptor of some repute...
also visited Khulda in 1871, and was told by the inhabitants that the village used to be surrounded by a fortified wall, two gates of which were still supposed to be in situ
In situ
In situ is a Latin phrase which translated literally as 'In position'. It is used in many different contexts.-Aerospace:In the aerospace industry, equipment on board aircraft must be tested in situ, or in place, to confirm everything functions properly as a system. Individually, each piece may...
. Clermont-Ganneau noted that this agreed well with what Mujir al-Din had written about the place. At the end of the 19th century, Khulda was described as a large village, built of stone and mud, situated on a hill. The village had a masonry well
Water well
A water well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, boring or drilling to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The well water is drawn by an electric submersible pump, a trash pump, a vertical turbine pump, a handpump or a mechanical pump...
to the east.
During British rule over Mandate Palestine
Mandate Palestine
Mandate Palestine existed while the British Mandate for Palestine, which formally began in September 1923 and terminated in May 1948, was in effect...
, ten labourers from Khulda worked gratis for the Jewish National Fund
Jewish National Fund
The Jewish National Fund was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Palestine for Jewish settlement. The JNF is a quasi-governmental, non-profit organisation...
on the Khulde drainage project, most of which took place on the Arab village's lands. The project, like others of its kind was essential to Jewish settlement in Palestine, as malaria had impeded permanent settlement at Jewish Khulde
Hulda, Israel
Hulda is a kibbutz in central Israel. Located in the Shephelah near the Hulda forest and the Burma Road, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gezer Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 332...
in 1921.
At the time of 1931 census
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...
, there were 29 inhabited houses in Khulda for a population of 178 Muslims, and toward the end of the Mandate in 1945, the population had grown to 280. The villagers maintained a 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...
and there were two water wells for domestic use.
Villagers in Khulda were engaged in the rearing of animal livestock. The Lydda District
Districts of the British Mandate of Palestine
During the period of British rule over Palestine, 1918–1948, the territory of the British Mandate for Palestine was divided into administrative regions known as districts, divisions, or sub-districts. The number of parts and the boundaries between them were adjusted repeatedly...
had one of the largest animal markets in Palestine, alongside that of the Nazareth District
District of Nazareth
The District of Nazareth was an administrative district, situated in the British Mandate of Palestine around the city of Nazareth. After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the district disintegrated.-Depopulated settlements: Indur Ma'lul al-Mujaydil Saffuriyya...
; however, starvation was a common affliction among the herds in the former in the 20th century, and the herd at Khluda was described as 'a typical specimen of extreme debility'.
1948, and aftermath
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...
, Khulda was conquered by Jewish forces on April 6, 1948 during Operation Nachshon
Operation Nachshon
Operation Nachshon was an Jewish military operation during the 1948 war. Lasting from 5–20 April 1948, its objective was to break the Siege of Jerusalem by opening the Tel-Aviv - Jerusalem road blockaded by Palestinian Arabs and to supply food and weapons to the isolated Jewish community of...
. On April 20, 1948 it was leveled by bulldozers.
Kibbutz Mishmar David
Mishmar David
Mishmar David is a communal settlement in central Israel. Located in the Shephelah near Mazkeret Batya, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gezer Regional Council and had a population of 197 in 2006...
was established in 1948, about 0.5 km (0.310686368324903 mi) west of the village site, on village land. Tal Shachar is nearby, about 2 km (1.2 mi) south of the village site, but it is not on village land.
Andrew Petersen, an archaeologist specializing in Islamic architecture
Islamic architecture
Islamic architecture encompasses a wide range of both secular and religious styles from the foundation of Islam to the present day, influencing the design and construction of buildings and structures in Islamic culture....
visited Khulda in 1993, and notes that the remains of at least four stone buildings can be seen, although only two of them are standing. The first of these is a rectangular structure (12 m (39.4 ft) x 6.5 m (21.3 ft)) with two separate rooms, each with its own entrance. Each door is flanked with two large windows. Both doors and windows are covered with lintels
Lintel (architecture)
A lintel can be a load-bearing building component, a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented structural item. It is often found over portals, doors, and windows.-Structural uses:...
, above which is a relieving arch. An inscription above one of the doors have been removed. The roof is made with iron girder
Girder
A girder is a support beam used in construction. Girders often have an I-beam cross section for strength, but may also have a box shape, Z shape or other forms. Girder is the term used to denote the main horizontal support of a structure which supports smaller beams...
s, with reinforced concrete, while the walls are dressed limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
. According to Petersen, the building must have served some public purpose, and it probably dates from the final years of the Ottoman rule, or the early British Mandate of Palestine period.
The second building stands north of first one, and is about half in size (6m x 6m). The roof is made in the same manner as the first house. The walls are made of boulders and rubble stone, joined together with mud mortar. A shallow niche in the south wall might be a mihrab
Mihrab
A mihrab is semicircular niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the qibla; that is, the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca and hence the direction that Muslims should face when praying...
. The walls are decorated with stencilled friezes of palm tree and palmette
Palmette
The palmette is a motif in decorative art which, in its most characteristic expression, resembles the fan-shaped leaves of a palm tree. It has an extremely long history, originating in Ancient Egypt with a subsequent development through the art of most of Eurasia, often in forms that bear...
s in blue-green. A barely legible inscription above the door gives a fourteenth century H
Islamic calendar
The Hijri calendar , also known as the Muslim calendar or Islamic calendar , is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to date events in many Muslim countries , and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper day on which to celebrate Islamic...
(Late 19th cent. AD). date.
External links
- Welcome To Khulda
- Khulda, 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...