Barfiliya برفيلية Barfilia, Barfilya, Berfilya, Berfilia[1] | |
|---|---|
 Ruins of the village, 2008 | |
| Etymology: a personal name[2] | |
.jpg) 1870s map.jpg) 1940s map.jpg) modern map.jpg) 1940s with modern overlay mapA series of historical maps of the area around Barfiliya (click the buttons) | |
  Barfiliya Location withinMandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates:31°54′39″N34°59′18″E / 31.91083°N 34.98833°E /31.91083; 34.98833 | |
| Palestine grid | 149/146 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Ramle |
| Date of depopulation | July 14, 1948[5] |
| Area | |
• Total | 7,134 dunams (7.134 km2 or 2.754 sq mi) |
| Population (1945) | |
• Total | 730[3][4] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Military assault byYishuv forces |
| Current Localities | Military firing range |
Barfiliya (Arabic:برفيلية) was aPalestinian village located 10.5 kilometres (6.5 mi) east ofRamla that was depopulated during the1948 Arab–Israeli War.[6] Located on atell, excavations conducted there byIsraeli archaeologists beginning in 1995 foundartifacts dating back to thePre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) period (circa 9,500-8,000 BCE).
Barfiliya lay on a road betweenJerusalem andLydda that was built in Roman times. In the earlyOttoman era, it was a small village of 44 inhabitants. By 1945, before the end of theMandatory Palestine and the outbreak of 1948 Arab–Israeli War, its population had grown to 730. Depopulated on July 14, 1948, Barifiliya was subsequently destroyed.
Barfīlyā /Barfīlya/ is aGreekplace name, derived from Πορφυρίων/Πορφυρεών, which was the name of a mythological king, based on the word for “purple-fish”. The name is recorded in its Greek form inCrusader documents: Porphilia. By 1552, it was known in its modernArabic form.[7]
Barfiliya was located inWadi Jaar, along with the villages ofAnnabeh,Al-Burj, andBir Main.[8] A high road betweenJerusalem andJaffa ran through Barfiliya andLydda, after passing the Plain ofAjalon and crossing theBeth Horon roads.[9]
During the rule of theRoman Empire inPalestine, a road was built that connected Lydda to Jerusalem and passed through Barfiliya and other villages likeBeit Liqya,Biddu andBeit Iksa.[10]
TheCrusaders knew Barfiliya by the namePorfylia orPorphiria.[11] Under their rule, it was one of five villages to make up thediocese of Lydda. The village came to belong to the prior andcanons of theHoly Sepulchre in November 1136,[12] granted permission to build a church there by their bishop in 1170–1, it is unknown if they ever did in fact do so.[13] The first Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, which ruled over most of Palestine, came to an end after the victory ofSaladin's forces over those of the Crusaders in the 1187Battle of Hattin.
Barfiliya, like the rest of Palestine, was ruled by theOttoman Empire between 1517 and 1917/18. In 1596, the village formed part of thenahiya (subdistrict) of al-Ramla under theliwa' (district) ofGaza. It had a population of 8 households, an estimated 44 persons, allMuslim. Villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, sesame and fruit, as well as goats, beehives and vineyards and occasional revenues; a total of 6,000akçe.[14]
In 1838, it was noted as aMuslim village,Burfilia, in theIbn Humar area in the District ofEr-Ramleh.[15][16] In 1863,Victor Guérin found the village to have 150 inhabitants.[17]
An official Ottoman village list of about 1870 showed that "Berfilija" had 28 houses and a population of 175, though the population count included only men.[18][19] In the late 19th century, Barfiliya is described as a small hamlet, situated on a slope, 2,000 feet (610 m) above a valley. The villagers cultivatedolives.[20]
During theSinai and Palestine Campaign ofWorld War I, in the lead up to the 1917Battle of El Burj, theAustralian Light Horse Brigades led by Major-General Hodgson reached Barfiliya on November 28–29 in an effort to relieveCommonwealth troops in their battles against German and Turkish troops.[21]
After the war's end, theOttoman Empire was partitioned and aPalestine mandate was accorded toBritain by theLeague of Nations. In acensus conducted in 1922 by the British Mandate authorities, Barfilia had a population of 411 residents; allMuslims,[22] increasing in the1931 census to 544, still all Muslims, in a total of 132 houses.[23]
Still under Mandatory rule in the1945 statistics, the village comprised a total area of 7,134dunums, and the population was entirely Muslim.[4][3] A large number of inhabitants were employed in cereal farming.[24] However, some land was allocated to irrigation and plantation as well as the growing of olives.
Types of land use indunams by Arabs in 1945:[24][25]
| The land ownership of the village before occupation indunams:[4]
|
17 dunams were classified as built-up public areas.[25]
During the1948 Arab–Israeli War, Barfiliya briefly became a destination forPalestinian refugees from Lydda. One survivor of the1948 Palestinian expulsion from Lydda and Ramle, Haj As'ad Hassouneh, reports that whenJews came to Lydda in July 1948, they called the people together and told them to, "Go to Barfiliya," where theArab Legion was still stationed.[26][27] Only one or two knew where Barfiliya was, and though the distance could usually be travelled in about 4 hours, it took the group made up of men, women, children, the elderly, the sick, among others, three days to make the journey. In the hot, dry summer, without adequate provisions, many died of thirst along the way.[26]
Barfiliya itself was depopulated as a result of a military assault byIsraeli forces on July 14, 1948.[5] It was captured by the8th Armoured Brigade and by elements of theKiryati Brigade along with other villages in the area north of theLatrun enclave.[28] On September 13,David Ben-Gurion requested the destruction of Barfiliya, among other Palestinian villages whose inhabitants fled or were expelled.[29] All 58 Palestinian villages in the al-Ramla district that came under Israeli control were depopulated in 1948, and those mentioned in Ben-Gurion's memorandum were either partially or totally destroyed.[30]
The village of Barfiliya stood on a largetell, considered one potential site for ancientBe'eroth (the other possibilities being the tells ofDaniyal orSimzu).[31] Since 1995, Shimon Gibson and Egon Lass have conducted salvage excavations in the hills ofModi'in in units of land belonging to "one of the main ancient settlements in the region," identified by Gibson as having been in "Khirbet el-Burj (Titura), Bir Ma'in (Re'ut) and Berfilya."[32] Archaeological remains of ancient human activities are designated 'features' and numbered accordingly. The landscape archaeology survey and excavations to date have idenitifed the following features: "farm buildings, towers,cisterns,sherd scatters,PPNA flint scatters, roads, terraces, stone boundaries, stone clearance heaps, threshing floors, caves, tombs,wine presses, cupmarks, stone quarries, limekilns, and charcoal burners."[32]
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