Bashshayt بشيت Beshshayt, Beit Shayt | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Etymology: "House of Seth"[1] | |
.jpg) 1870s map.jpg) 1940s map.jpg) modern map.jpg) 1940s with modern overlay mapA series of historical maps of the area around Bashshit (click the buttons) | |
  Bashshayt Location withinMandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates:31°49′27″N34°44′56″E / 31.82417°N 34.74889°E /31.82417; 34.74889 | |
| Palestine grid | 126/136 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Ramle |
| Date of depopulation | May 13, 1948[4] |
| Area | |
• Total | 18.6 km2 (7.2 sq mi) |
| Population (1945) | |
• Total | 1,620[2][3] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Military assault byYishuv forces |
| Current Localities | Neve Mivtah[5]Meshar,[5]Kfar Mordechai,[5]Misgav Dov,[5]Kannot,[5]Shedema,[5] andAseret.[5] |
Bashshayt (Arabic:بشيت), alsoBeshshayt, was an Arab village in theRamle Subdistrict, located 16.5 kilometers (10.3 mi) southwest ofRamla about half a mile fromwadi Bashshit. Archaeological artifacts from the village attest to habitation in theEarly Islamic period and 12th and 13th centuries. Mentioned by Arab geographers from the 13th century onward, there was a tomb for theNeby Shayt ("prophetSeth") in the village.
Like much of the rest ofPalestine, Bashshayt was ruled by theCrusaders,Mamluks,Ottomans and theBritish. It was depopulated at the beginning of the1948 Palestine war duringOperation Barak. Along with the villages ofBarqa,Bayt Daras,al-Batani al-Sharqi, andal-Maghar, among others, Bashshayt was attacked byHaganah'sGivati Brigade.[6] Following its depopulation, Bashshayt was mostly destroyed. There are sevenIsraeli localities now situated on what were the village lands.
According to thePalestine Exploration Fund, Beshshayt stands forBeit Shayt, meaning "house ofSeth.[7] Thetomb ofNeby Shit ("prophet Seth") was in Bashshayt, and other sanctuaries for him in the region included one inSamaria (Haram en Neby Shayt), as well asAl-Nabi Shayth further north inLebanon.[8] The tomb lies within a triple-domed mosque of the same name located on the side of a hill that lay in the center of the former village.[9]
Pottery remains from the earlyIslamic era[10] and a coin from theUmayyad era (697–750 CE) have been found here,[11] together with pottery remains from the 12th–13th centuries CE.[10]
During theCrusader period inPalestine, Bashshayt was referred to asBasit. It is documented in the writings ofYaqut al-Hamawi (died 1228) who mentioned it in hisMu'jam, describing its proximity toal-Ramla.[5][12]
Coins from the Mamluk era (14th century CE) have been found here.[11]
Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali gave an account of the village in the 17th century, noting that the Arab scholar Jamal al-Bashshiti (d.1417) was from the village.[5]
In 1838 it was noted as a village,Beshayt, in the Gaza district.[13]
In May 1863Victor Guérin found the village to have 350 inhabitants, surrounded by tobacco fields,[14] while anOttoman village list of about 1870 showed that Bashshit had a population of 159, with a total of 57 houses, though the population count included men only. It was also noted that the name came from "House of Seth".[15][16]
In the late 19th century, while underOttoman rule, Bashshayt was an important village betweenYibna andIsdud.[9] The village structures in Bashshit were made ofadobe bricks. There were cultivated gardens withcactus hedges, and on a hill, stood a three-domed shrine.[5][9][17]
At the end ofWWI there apparently was some fighting in/around Bashshayt, as used ammunition dating from that era have been found. TheNew Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade operated in the area in 1917.[11]
During theBritish Mandate period, Bashshayt had an elementary school, built in 1921, in which 148 students were enrolled in the mid-1940s. The village had amosque and severalartesian wells. Most of the residents were farmers.[5]
In the1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Bashayt had a population of 936; allMuslims,[18] increasing in the1931 census to 1,125, still all Muslims, in a total of 333 houses.[19]
Between August and October 1942 theAnders' Army ran itsJunacka Szkoła Kadetów (JSK), a Young Soldiers Batalion, in Bashshit, before it moved toQastina.[20]
By 1945, the population had increased to 1,620, the population being entirely Arab in ethnicity. The village comprised a total area of 18,553dunums.[3]
A large number of inhabitants were employed in cereal farming, which occupied most of the land area. Some land was also allocated for irrigation and plantation, and the growing of citrus fruits and olives.[5][21]
Types of land use indunams by Arabs in the1945 statistics:[21][22]
| The land ownership of the village before occupation indunams:[3]
|
Between May 10 and May 13, 1948, the village was attacked by the 52nd and 53rd battalions of theGivati Brigade as part ofOperation Barak. The villagers put up a major struggle, but the houses were mostly all destroyed.[23]
Today, there are seven Israeli settlements on the village land, includingNewe Mivtach, Meshar,Kfar Mordechai,Misgav Dov,Kannot, Shedema, andAseret. Of Bashshayt's former structures, three houses and a pool remain; two of the houses are deserted and an Israeli family occupies one. The surrounding lands today are cultivated by Israelis for agricultural production.[24]
The village contains an archaeological site, al-Nabi 'Ararat, which has some remaining pillars andcisterns. However, the site is fenced off and marked as a "dangerous building" and the cisterns are heavily populated withbats.[25] The remains of a courtyard in front of the khirbat ("ruins") is heavily overgrown with weeds.
In 1999, the village became subject of an archaeological investigation by theIsrael Antiquities Authority. The excavation, directed by T. Kanias, with the assistance of A. Hajian (surveying), R. Graff (drafting) and M. Saltzberger (photography) involved the excavation of the sewer line which revealed building remains and ceramic fragments from the Early Islamic period and the 12th–13th centuries CE.[10] Various sizedkurkar stones were discovered 0.9 m below the surface, pottery fragments from the Early Islamic period and a few animal bones.[10] Numerouspotsherds were excavated also dating to the 12th–13th centuries CE, including the foot of aclay box lined withchalk and decorated with ageometric pattern and the remains of aplaster floor.[10]
A salvage excavation in 2016 revealed remains from theUmayyad,Mamluk andOttoman era.[11]
{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help){{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help){{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)
