Khirbet Tana et-Tahta

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Khirbet Tana et-Tahta
tnA A-tKHtA.jpg
Aerial view of Tana et-Tahta
West Bank location map.svg
Archaeological site icon (red).svg
Shown within the West Bank
Alternative nameTana et-Tahta
RegionWest Bank
Coordinates 32°09′09″N35°23′44″E / 32.152418°N 35.395459°E / 32.152418; 35.395459
Typesettlement
History
Periods Iron Age, Roman period, Byzantine period
Cultures Israelites, Samaritans
Site notes
ArchaeologistsManasseh Hill Country Survey
ConditionIn ruins

Khirbet Tana et-Tahta (or simply Khirbet Tana) is a village [1] and archeological site located in the West Bank. It lies east of Beit Furik, and is home to approximately 250 villagers. [1]

Contents

History

Population

Khirbet Tana has been owned by Palestinians since the Jordanian and Turkish rule of the area. [2] About 250 [3] people live in Khirbet Tana today– approximately forty families. [4] According to a report by the United Nations, villagers are shepherds that rely on agriculture for their livelihood and have lived in the area for decades. [5] Many villagers have been forced to move underground into caves to prevent the destruction of their homes. [4] [1]

Occupation

A few weeks after the Israeli army took control of the West Bank in 1967, Khirbet Tana was "repurposed" for Israeli training, despite the Palestinian shepards who had been tending to and living on the land for generations. [4]

In July 2005, the Israeli Civil Administration demolished nearly all village buildings on the grounds of "construction without permit in a firing zone," despite the fact that the firing zone had been inactive for at least 15 years. The buildings were rebuilt by villagers, who then petitioned the High Court of Justice to prepare a plan for the village and not demolish their homes again. [1]

In 2011, Israeli authorities demolished "all the structures in the Palestinian village Khirbet Tana" [6] including the community's original school. [3]

On 4 March 2016, Israel demolished 41 buildings in Khirbet Tana, including an elementary school that had been funded by Oxfam and built by international volunteers. [7] Later that month, on 23 March 2016, an additional 53 structures were destroyed, including animal shelters, latrine units, traditional ovens, and a water reservoir. Some of these structures predated the Israeli occupation in 1967, and others had recently been constructed by donor-funded humanitarian assistance. [5]

In June 2021, Israeli settlers set fire to pastureland used by Palestinian villagers in Khirbet Tana. [8]

Biblical identification

Khirbet Tana et-Tahta is identified with Taanath Shiloh (Hebrew : תַּאֲנַת שִׁלֹה), a place mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as one of the landmarks on the boundary of Tribe of Ephraim. [9] [10] Taanath Shiloh was previously identified with the nearby site of Khirbet Tana et-Foqa, but based on archeological evidence, Tana et-Tahta seems like the more probable candidate. [11] [12]

Yanun, believed by some archeologists to be the location of biblical Janohah, lies nearby.

Archeology

The site was surveyed by the Manasseh Hill Country Survey and no orderly excavation was conducted. [11] The survey documented the remains of a multi-period settlement that was proposed to be identified with the biblical town of Taanath Shiloh and with Thena, a city mentioned in several sources from the Roman and Byzantine periods. [13]

In his Onomasticon , Eusebius mentions a place called Thena on the road to the Jordan river, around 10 milestones east of Neapolis. Ptolemy describes Thena, as a town in Samaria. [14]

The remains of the Roman-Byzantine city covered an area of over 100 dunams across the summit and also on the slope north of it. The ethnic identity of its residents remains unclear; it is believed that they were Samaritans or that it had a mixed population of Samaritans and other ethnicities.

Significant remains at the site include a public structure (maybe a Samaritan synagogue), several underground systems, burial caves and a water supply system which has its origins in the Ein al-Foqa spring. The remains of a Roman road have been also discovered near Khirbet Tana et-Tahta; the location of several Iron Age sites nearby suggests that the road dates back to biblical times. [12]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "The village of Khirbet Tana". B'Tselem: The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. 11 June 2014. Archived from the original on 22 May 2023. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  2. ↑ "Khirbet Tana: A Story of Resistance". Palestinian News and Info Agency. 31 December 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  3. 1 2 "Wide-scale demolitions in Khirbet Tana". OCHA: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. 4 March 2016. Archived from the original on 28 April 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 Jaclynn, Ashly (9 May 2023). "Israel's Occupation Is Forcing Palestinians Underground. Literally". Jacobin.
  5. 1 2 "Third large-scale demolition in Khirbet Tana in 2016". OCHA: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. 21 March 2016. Archived from the original on 3 October 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  6. ↑ "Civil Administration demolishes Jordan Valley village Khirbet Tana". B'Tselem - The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. 15 March 2011. Archived from the original on 4 August 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  7. ↑ Baroud, Ramzy (6 March 2016). "The Destruction of Khirbet Tana – Interview with Ramzy Baroud, RT". The Palestine Chronicle. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  8. ↑ "Settlers violently attack farmers from Khirbet Tana and Beit Furik in Nablus District and threaten them". B'Tselem: The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. 2 August 2021. Archived from the original on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  9. ↑ Joshua 16:6–7
  10. ↑ Bar, Shay; Zertal, Adam (2021-03-25). The Manasseh Hill Country Survey Volume 6. BRILL. pp. 74–75. doi:10.1163/9789004463233. ISBN   978-90-04-46323-3.
  11. 1 2 Bar, Shay; Zertal, Adam (2021-03-25). The Manasseh Hill Country Survey Volume 6. BRILL. pp. 74–75. doi:10.1163/9789004463233. ISBN   978-90-04-46323-3.
  12. 1 2 Dorsey, David A. (1987). "Shechem and the Road Network of Central Samaria". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research (268): 57–70. doi:10.2307/1356994. ISSN   0003-097X. JSTOR   1356994.
  13. ↑ "Bible Map: Taanath-shiloh". bibleatlas.org. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
  14. ↑ "Taanath-shiloh in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". International Standard Bible Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
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