Khirbat Umm Burj خربة أم برج | |
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![]() Khirbat Umm Burj (ruined house) | |
Etymology: the mother of the tower [1] | |
A series of historical maps of the area around Khirbat Umm Burj (click the buttons) | |
Location within Mandatory Palestine | |
Coordinates: 31°38′12″N34°58′11″E / 31.63667°N 34.96972°E | |
Palestine grid | 147/115 |
Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
Subdistrict | Hebron |
Date of depopulation | Not known [2] |
Area | |
• Total | 13,083 dunams (13.083 km2 or 5.051 sq mi) |
Population (1945) | |
• Total | 140 [4] [3] |
Current Localities | Nehusha [5] |
Khirbat Umm Burj was a Palestinian Arab village in the Hebron Subdistrict, sometimes designated in modern maps as Burgin. [6] Its ruins are today located within the borders of Israel. It occupied an extensive site, stretching about 30 dunams (7.4 acres) on the crest of a hill, rising some 430 metres (1,410 ft) above sea level, and commanding a good prospect of the surrounding region. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War on October 28, 1948, during the third stage of Operation Yo'av under the command of Yigal Allon. The site is located 17 km northwest of Hebron.
The site was occupied from the Iron Age. A large ancient necropolis was here, including a church or synagogue, residential buildings and numerous agricultural installations. [7] Israeli archaeologists, Amir Ganor and Boaz Zissu, think that Umm Burj may be a corruption of the 1st-century Jewish village, Kefar Bish, a view earlier rejected by Klein who said that Kefar Bish still bears its namesake in the nearby ruin of Khirbet al-Bis. [8] [9] A Jewish inscription, possibly dating from the Bar Kokhba revolt, has been found in a hiding complex at the site; it mentions a "Shelamzion daughter of...". [10]
In the late 19th century, extensive Christian remains were noted in the area surrounding Umm Burj. [11] Finnish scholar, Aapeli Saarisalo, visited the site of Umm Burj in the early 20th-century, and described its ruins as being of Byzantine and Arab origin. [12]
In 1838 Um Burj was noted as village, located in the area between the mountains and Gaza, but subject to the government of el-Khulil. [13]
In 1863, Victor Guérin passed north of Khirbat Umm Burj, and described the village as being on a mountain, dominating the surroundings. [14]
An Ottoman village list from about 1870 found that um-burdsch had a population of 150, in 25 houses, though the population count included men, only. [15] [16]
French orientalist and archaeologist, Charles Clermont-Ganneau, visited the site in 1874 where he noticed a well situated nearby, called Bîr Hârûn, surmounted with a rude structure, near which were troughs hollowed out in large stone blocks. [17]
In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Umm Burj as: "A ruined village, with a central tower; apparently not ancient; caves and cisterns round it, and a well". [18] Khalidi believed that the SWP assumption that the tower was not ancient might have been wrong. [19]
The village was settled in the 19th century by the Al-Husayni family, who purchased the land, that was initially proposed for purchase by Jews. [20]
In the 1931 census of Palestine, Umm Burj and Sanabra, listed in the sub-district of Hebron, had a joint population of 119 Muslims, in a total of 26 houses. [21]
In the 1945 statistics it had a population of 140 Muslims, [4] with a total of 13,083 dunums of land. [3] Of this, 28 dunums were irrigated or used for plantations, 3,546 were for cereal, [22] while 15 dunams were built-up (urban) areas. [23]
The villagers used to obtain drinking water from three wells on the northern outskirts of the village. [19]
After the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the ruin of Umm Burj came under Israeli control under the terms of the 1949 Armistice Agreements [24] between Israel and Jordan. Today, the site lies in the Adullam-France Park.
The moshav of Nehusha was established in 1955 on land that had belonged to the village, west of the village site, [25] but collapsed in 1968. It was re-established in 1981.
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In the years 1995–2012, archaeological fieldwork was conducted by a team of archaeologists at Khirbet Umm Burj on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), among whom were Boaz Zissu and Amir Golan, et al., where they uncovered at the site two Byzantine churches, and a Jewish inscription incised on a doorjamb of an underground room in a hiding tunnel system. [26]
Ar'ara is an Arab town in the Wadi Ara region in northern Israel. It is located southwest of Umm al-Fahm just northwest of the Green Line, and is part of the Triangle. In 2022, the population was 26,147.
Barbara was a Palestinian Arab village in the Gaza Subdistrict located 17 km northeast of Gaza city, in the vicinity of modern Ashkelon. It had an entirely Arab population of 2,410 in 1945. The village consisted of nearly 14,000 dunums of which approximately 12,700 dunums was able to be cultivated. It was captured by Israel during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
Barqa was a Palestinian Arab village located 37 km north of Gaza near the modern-day Israeli city of Ashdod. It was referred to as Barka by the Greeks and Bareca by the Romans during their rule over the ancient Philistine city. In 1945, the village had a population of 890 and total land area of 5,206 dunums.
Meiser is an Arab village in northern Israel. Located half a kilometre west of the Green Line, north of the city of Baqa al-Gharbiyye in the triangle area of Wadi Ara, it is one of three Arab villages under the jurisdiction of Menashe Regional Council. In 2022 it had a population of 2,115.
Fajja was a Palestinian town located 15 kilometers northeast of Jaffa. Depopulated and destroyed during the Arab-Israeli war, its land area is today part of the Israeli city of Petah Tikva.
Farwana, was a Palestinian village, located 4.5 kilometers (2.8 mi) south of Bisan, depopulated in 1948.
al-Tira was a Palestinian town located 7 kilometres south of Haifa. It was made up of five khirbets, including Khirbat al-Dayr where lie the ruins of St. Brocardus monastery and a cave complex with vaulted tunnels.
Sur Baher, also Tsur Baher, is a Palestinian neighborhood on the southeastern outskirts of East Jerusalem. It is located east of Ramat Rachel and northeast of Har Homa. In 2006, Sur Baher had a population of 15,000.
Al-Muzayri'a was a Palestinian village in the Ramle Subdistrict. It was depopulated in 1948. In 1998 the new Israeli city of El'ad was built over the ruins.
Taibe, meaning "The goodly", or colloquially al-Tayiba al-Zu'biyya after its main clan, is a Muslim Arab village in northeastern Israel on the Issachar Plateau. It falls under the jurisdiction of Gilboa Regional Council. In 2022 it had a population of 1,986.
Khirbat Al-Burj was a former Palestinian village, depopulated in 1948. Presently, Khirbat Al-Burj or Burj Binyamina is a ruined stone-built structure in the Sharon Plain 1 km south of Binyamina from the Ottoman period, situated at a crossroads and believed to be either a mansion connected to an estate, a fortified farmhouse, or a khan (caravanserai).
Kasla was a Palestinian village in the Jerusalem Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War on July 17, 1948, by the Harel Brigade of Operation Dani. It was located 17 km west of Jerusalem.
Al-Qabu was a Palestinian Arab village in the Jerusalem Subdistrict. The name is an Arabic variation of the site's original Roman name, and the ruins of a church there are thought to date to the era of Byzantine or Crusader rule over Palestine.
Al-Tira was a Palestinian village in the Ramle Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War on July 10, 1948, by the Alexandroni and Armored (Eighth) brigades under Operation Dani. It was located 12 km northeast of Ramla. al-Tira was mostly destroyed with the exception of a few houses survived destruction.
Khirbat Zakariyya was a Palestinian village in the Ramle Subdistrict of Mandatory Palestine. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War on July 12, 1948, under the second stage of Operation Dani. It was located 9 km (5.6 mi) east of Ramla.
Fardisya was a Palestinian Arab hamlet in the Tulkarm Subdistrict, 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) south of Tulkarm.
Horvat 'Ethri, Hebrew for "Ethri ruin", Arabic name: Umm Suweid, is an archaeological site situated in the Judean Lowlands in modern-day Israel. Excavations at the site uncovered the remains of a now partially restored Jewish village of the Second Temple period, wherein are preserved an ancient synagogue, wine presses, cisterns, ritual baths and stone ossuaries, as well as an underground hideout system. The village was violently destroyed during the Bar Kokhba revolt.
Adullam-France Park, also known as Parc de France-Adoulam, is a sprawling park of 50,000 dunams (ca. 12,350 acres) in the Central District of Israel, located south of Beit Shemesh. The park, established in 2008 for public recreation, features two major hiking and biking trails, and four major archaeological sites from the Second Temple period. It stretches between Naḥal Ha-Elah, its northernmost boundary, to Naḥal Guvrin, its southernmost boundary. To its west lies the Beit Guvrin-Beit Shemesh highway, and to its east the "green line" – now territories under joint Israeli-Palestinian Arab control – which marks its limit.
Lavnin (Hebrew: חורבת לבנין)(Arabic: خربة تل البيضة), is a late Bronze Age archaeological site situated in Israel's Adullam region, rising some 389 metres (1,276 ft) above sea level. The site lies 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) northwest of Beit Gubrin, and about 1 kilometer west-north-west of Khirbat Umm Burj, directly south of Nehusha.
Horvat Bet Bad is located east of the Ela valley, 2.5 km south east from Khirbet Beit Natif and about 3 km north east of Adullam. The site has the remains of a Jewish village from the Second Temple Period, a monastery from the 12th century and a two-story Ottoman structure.
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