Yibna
Encyclopedia
Yibna was a Palestinian
village of 5,420 inhabitants, located 15 kilometers southwest of Ramla
. Yibna was occupied by Israel
i forces on June 4, 1948, and was depopulated during the military assault and expulsion.
mentioned Yibna as one of ten towns in Jund Filastin
conquered by the Rashidun army
led by 'Amr ibn al-'As
in the early 7th century.
In the 9th century, Ya'qubi
wrote that Yubna was an ancient city built on a hill that was inhabited by Samaritans.
Al-Muqaddasi
, writing around 985, said that "Yubna has a beautiful mosque
. From this place come the excellent figs known by the name of Damascene." Yaqut
wrote that in Yubna there was a tomb said to be that of Abu Hurairah
, the companion (sahaba
) of the Prophet
. The author of Marasid also adds that tomb seen here is also said to be that of ´Abd Allah ibn Abi Sarh, another companion (sahaba
) of the Prophet. A mosque
built in 1386 survives until today.
In 1596, Yibna was part of the Ottoman Empire
, nahiya (subdistrict) of Gaza
under the liwa'
(district) of Gaza
with a population of 710. It paid taxes on a number of crops, including wheat, barley, summer crops, sesame seeds and fruits, as well as goats, beehives and vineyards.
The American missionary, William Thomson, who visited Yibna in 1834, described it as a village on hill inhabited by 3,000 Muslim residents who worked in agriculture. He wrote that an inscription on the mosque indicated that it had been built in 1386.
In the late nineteenth century, the Yibna was described as a large village partly built of stone and situated on a hill. It had olive trees and corn to the north, and gardens nearby.
In 1921, an elementary school for boys was founded in Yibna. By 1941-42 it had 445 students. A school for girls was founded in 1943, and by 1948 it had 44 students.
In 1944/45 the village had a population of 5,420, in addition to 1,500 nomads living around the village. A total of 6,468 dunum
s of village land was used for citrus
and banana
s, 15,124 dunums were used for cereals, and 11,091 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards, of which 25 dunums were planted with olive trees.
In 1941, Kibbutz
Yavne
was established nearby by immigrants from Germany, followed by a Youth Aliyah
village, Givat Washington
, in 1946.
and Beit Gamliel
in 1949, Ben Zakai
in 1950, Kfar Aviv
(originally: "Kfar HaYeor") in 1951, Tzofiyya in 1955. According to Walid Khalidi
, a railroad crosses the village. The old mosque and minaret
, together with a shrine can still be seen, and some of the old houses are inhabited by Jewish and Arab families.
Archaeological excavations in modern day Yavne found three wall segments probably from buildings in the pre-1948 Arab village of Yibna, alongside an unguentarium
dating to the Early Roman period. In Square A, where artifacts from the Byzantine
and Roman
eras were found, it is noted that "part of the Arab village at Yibna also extended on top of the cemetery and refuse pits from the Byzantine period to the foot of the tel
l."
made Yibna the subject of one of his paintings. The work, named for the village, was one of a series of four on destroyed Palestinian villages that he produced in 1988; the others being Yalo
, Imwas
and Bayt Dajan
.
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...
village of 5,420 inhabitants, located 15 kilometers southwest 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...
. Yibna was occupied 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 on June 4, 1948, and was depopulated during the military assault and expulsion.
History
The Islamic historian al-BiladhuriAhmad 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...
mentioned Yibna 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.
In the 9th century, Ya'qubi
Ya'qubi
Ahmad ibn Abu Ya'qub ibn Ja'far ibn Wahb Ibn Wadih al-Ya'qubi , known as Ahmad al-Ya'qubi, or Ya'qubi, was a Berber Muslim geographer.-Biography:He was a great-grandson of Wadih, the freedman of the caliph Mansur...
wrote that Yubna was an ancient city built on a hill that was inhabited by Samaritans.
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...
, writing around 985, said that "Yubna has a beautiful 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...
. From this place come the excellent figs known by the name of Damascene." Yaqut
Yaqut al-Hamawi
Yāqūt ibn-'Abdullah al-Rūmī al-Hamawī) was an Islamic biographer and geographer renowned for his encyclopedic writings on the Muslim world. "al-Rumi" refers to his Greek descent; "al-Hamawi" means that he is from Hama, Syria, and ibn-Abdullah is a reference to his father's name, Abdullah...
wrote that in Yubna there was a tomb said to be that of Abu Hurairah
Abu Hurairah
Abu Hurairah , was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the narrator of Hadith most quoted in the isnad by Sunnis.-Early life:...
, the companion (sahaba
Sahaba
In Islam, the ' were the companions, disciples, scribes and family of the Islamic prophet...
) of the Prophet
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...
. The author of Marasid also adds that tomb seen here is also said to be that of ´Abd Allah ibn Abi Sarh, another companion (sahaba
Sahaba
In Islam, the ' were the companions, disciples, scribes and family of the Islamic prophet...
) of the Prophet. 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...
built in 1386 survives until today.
In 1596, Yibna was part of 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...
, nahiya (subdistrict) of 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,...
under the liwa'
Liwa (arabic)
Liwa or Liwa is an Arabic term meaning district, banner, or flag, a type of administrative division. It was interchangeable with the Turkish term "Sanjak" in the time of the Ottoman Empire. After the fall of the empire, the term was used in the Arab countries formerly under Ottoman rule...
(district) of 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,...
with a population of 710. It paid taxes on a number of crops, including wheat, barley, summer crops, sesame seeds and fruits, as well as goats, beehives and vineyards.
The American missionary, William Thomson, who visited Yibna in 1834, described it as a village on hill inhabited by 3,000 Muslim residents who worked in agriculture. He wrote that an inscription on the mosque indicated that it had been built in 1386.
In the late nineteenth century, the Yibna was described as a large village partly built of stone and situated on a hill. It had olive trees and corn to the north, and gardens nearby.
In 1921, an elementary school for boys was founded in Yibna. By 1941-42 it had 445 students. A school for girls was founded in 1943, and by 1948 it had 44 students.
In 1944/45 the village had a population of 5,420, in addition to 1,500 nomads living around the village. A total of 6,468 dunum
Dunum
Dunum is a municipality in the district of Wittmund, in Lower Saxony, Germany....
s of village land was used for citrus
Citrus
Citrus is a common term and genus of flowering plants in the rue family, Rutaceae. Citrus is believed to have originated in the part of Southeast Asia bordered by Northeastern India, Myanmar and the Yunnan province of China...
and banana
Banana
Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....
s, 15,124 dunums were used for cereals, and 11,091 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards, of which 25 dunums were planted with olive trees.
In 1941, 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...
Yavne
Yavne
Yavne is a city in the Central District of Israel. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , at the end of 2009 the city had a population of 33,000.-History:...
was established nearby by immigrants from Germany, followed by a Youth Aliyah
Youth Aliyah
Szold was initially skeptical about the merits of Freier's proposal, as she believed that Germany offered better educational opportunities for Jewish children than Palestine. However, Hitler's rise to power convinced her otherwise. The Nuremberg Laws were enacted in 1935 and on 31 March 1936 German...
village, Givat Washington
Givat Washington
Givat Washington , also known as Beit Raban is a religious youth village in central Israel. Located near Kvutzat Yavne, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hevel Yavne Regional Council...
, in 1946.
After 1948
After 1948, a number of Israeli villages were founded on Yibna land: Kfar HaNagidKfar HaNagid
Kfar HaNagid , is a moshav in central Israel. Located in the coastal plain around 20 km south of Tel Aviv and north of Yavne, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gan Raveh Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 958....
and Beit Gamliel
Beit Gamliel
Beit Gamliel is a religious moshav in central Israel. Located south-east of Yavne, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hevel Yavne Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 914....
in 1949, Ben Zakai
Ben Zakai
Ben Zakai is a religious moshav in central Israel. Located in the Shephelah, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hevel Yavne Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 668....
in 1950, Kfar Aviv
Kfar Aviv
Kfar Aviv is a moshav in the South District of Israel, near Ashdod. It belongs to the Gederot Regional Council.Kfar Aviv was founded in 1952 by the Jewish Agency. It was intended to absorb immigrants to Israel from Egypt. Its original name was Kfar HaYeor...
(originally: "Kfar HaYeor") in 1951, Tzofiyya in 1955. According to Walid Khalidi
Walid Khalidi
Walid Khalidi is an Oxford University-educated Palestinian historian who has written extensively on the Palestinian exodus. He is General Secretary and co-founder of the Institute for Palestine Studies, established in Beirut in December 1963 as an independent research and publishing center...
, a railroad crosses the village. The old mosque and minaret
Minaret
A minaret مناره , sometimes مئذنه) is a distinctive architectural feature of Islamic mosques, generally a tall spire with an onion-shaped or conical crown, usually either free standing or taller than any associated support structure. The basic form of a minaret includes a base, shaft, and gallery....
, together with a shrine can still be seen, and some of the old houses are inhabited by Jewish and Arab families.
Archaeological excavations in modern day Yavne found three wall segments probably from buildings in the pre-1948 Arab village of Yibna, alongside an unguentarium
Unguentarium
An unguentarium is a small ceramic or glass bottle found frequently by archaeologists at Hellenistic and Roman sites, especially in cemeteries. Its most common use was probably as a container for oil, though it is also suited for storing and dispensing liquid and powdered substances. Some finds...
dating to the Early Roman period. In Square A, where artifacts from the Byzantine
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
and Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
eras were found, it is noted that "part of the Arab village at Yibna also extended on top of the cemetery and refuse pits from the Byzantine period to the foot of the tel
TEL
- Acronyms :TEL is a three-letter acronym for:* Tetra-ethyl lead, a gasoline additive to make leaded gasoline* Tokyo Electron, a semiconductor equipment manufacturer* Transporter erector launcher, a mobile missile launch platform...
l."
Artistic representations
Palestinian artist Sliman MansourSliman Mansour
Sliman Mansour , is a Palestinian painter, considered an important figure among contemporary Palestinian artists. Mansour is considered an artist of the intifada whose work gave visual expression to the cultural concept of sumud....
made Yibna the subject of one of his paintings. The work, named for the village, was one of a series of four on destroyed Palestinian villages that he produced in 1988; the others being Yalo
Yalo
Yalo was a Palestinian Arab village located 13 kilometres southeast of Ramla. Identified by Edward Robinson as the ancient Canaanite city of Aijalon, after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, Jordan formally annexed Yalo along with the rest of the West Bank...
, 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,...
and Bayt Dajan
Bayt Dajan
Bayt Dajan was a Palestinian Arab village situated approximately southeast of Jaffa. It is thought to have been the site of the biblical town of Beth Dagon, mentioned in the Book of Joshua and in ancient Assyrian and Egyptian texts....
.
See also
- List of Arab towns and villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
- Palestinian cultural clubPalestinian cultural clubFounded in 1998, the Palestinian Cultural Club or the PCC as it is sometimes referred to, was established by a group of Palestinian students at the American University of Sharjah to facilitate the objectives the Palestinian community...
External links
- Welcome to Yibna
- Yibna at 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...
- Yousef Al Hums: 60 Years and Counting, WREMEA, May–June 2008