Bayt Dajan بيت دجن Beit Dajan, Bait Dajan, Dajūn, Beit Dejan | |
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![Bayt Dajan, before 1935. From the Khalil Raad-collection.[1]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aBait_Dajan.jpg) Bayt Dajan, before 1935. From theKhalil Raad-collection.[1] | |
| Etymology: "The house of Dagon"[2] | |
.jpg) 1870s map.jpg) 1940s map.jpg) modern map.jpg) 1940s with modern overlay mapA series of historical maps of the area around Bayt Dajan (click the buttons) | |
  Bayt Dajan Location withinMandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates:32°0′13″N34°49′46″E / 32.00361°N 34.82944°E /32.00361; 34.82944 | |
| Palestine grid | 134/156 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Jaffa |
| Date of depopulation | 25 April 1948[4] |
| Area | |
• Total | 17,327 dunams (17.327 km2 or 6.690 sq mi) |
| Population (1945) | |
• Total | 3,840[3] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Influence of nearby town's fall |
| Current Localities | Beit Dagan[6][7]Mishmar HaShiv'a[7]Hemed[7]Ganot[7] |
Bayt Dajan (Arabic:بيت دجن,romanized: Bayt Dajan;Hebrew:בית דג'ן), also known asDajūn, was aPalestinian Arab village situated approximately 6 kilometers (3.7 mi) southeast ofJaffa. It is thought to have been the site of the biblical town ofBeth Dagon, mentioned in theBook of Joshua and in ancientAssyrian andAncient Egyptian texts. In the 10th century CE, it was inhabited mostly bySamaritans.
In the mid-16th century, Bayt Dajan formed part of anOttomanwaqf established byRoxelana, the wife ofSuleiman the Magnificent, and by the late 16th century, it was part of thenahiya ofRamla in theliwa ofGaza. The villagers, who were all recorded as Muslim, paid taxes to the Ottoman authorities for property and agricultural goods and animal husbandry conducted in the villages, including the cultivation of wheat, barley, fruit, and sesame, as well as on goats, beehives and vineyards. In the 19th century, the village women were locally renowned for their intricate, high qualityembroidery designs, a feature of traditionalPalestinian costumes.
During theBritish Mandate, the village housed two elementary schools, a library and an agronomic school. After an assault by theAlexandroni Brigade duringOperation Hametz on 25 April 1948 in the lead up to the1948 Arab–Israeli war, the village was entirely depopulated.[8] The Israeli town ofBeit Dagan was founded at the same site in October 1948.[9]
AnotherBayt Dajan, not to be confused with this one, is located southeast ofNablus.[10]
Bayt Dajan /Bēt Dajan/ is aCanaanite name that appears in standard Babylonian (in a Neo-Assyrian inscription from 701 BC) Bīt(É)-da-gan-na78 and [Bητ]οδεγανα on theMadaba Map.[11]
The village is mentioned inAssyrian andAncient Egyptian texts as "Bīt Dagana" andbet dgn, respectively.[12] ItsArabic name, Bayt Dajan, preserves this ancient name.[12]
Jerome describes the village in the 4th century CE as "very large", noting its name then as "Kafar Dagon" or "Caphardagon", situating it betweenDiospolis (modern Lod) and Yamnia (Yavne/Yibna).[10][12] Bayt Dajan also appears on the 6th centuryMap of Madaba under the name[Bet]o Dagana.[12]
The nearby site of Khirbet Dajūn, atel with ruins to the southwest of Bayt Dajan, preserves theDagon rather thanDagan spelling.[12] InArabic literature, there are many references toDajūn, which was also used to refer to Bayt Dajan itself.[12][13]
During his reign of 724–743 CE, theUmayyad caliphHisham ibn Abd al-Malik built a palace in Bayt Dajan withwhite marble columns.[14]
TheContinuation of the Samaritan Chronicle ofAbu'l-Fath mentions a prominentSamaritan from Dajūn named Yosef ben Adhasi. When the governor ordered all dhimmis to display a wooden figure on their doors, he persuaded the authorities to allow the Samaritans to use amenorah symbol.[15] In the 880s, a Samaritan named Ibn Adhasi, from the same prominent family in Dajūn, was accosted by the local governor, Abdullah Ibn al-Fatah, who demanded a large sum of money as blackmail and sought to punish him. Ibn Adhasi fled to the mountains, taking refuge in caves.[16]
Arab geographeral-Muqaddasi mentions in the 10th century, a road in theRamla area,darb dajūn, as connecting to the town of Dajūn which had a Fridaymosque. In a separate entry he adds that most of the town's inhabitants were Samaritans. At this time, one of the eight gates to the city ofRamla was also named "Dajūn".[17][18][19]
In the 11th century, Bayt Dajan served as a headquarters for theFatimid army inPalestine.[20]
During theCrusader period,Richard the Lionheart built a small castle in the village in 1191. Known as Casal Maen (or Casal Moein), it "was the utmost limit of inland occupation allowed [to the Crusaders] by Saladin," and was destroyed bySaladin following the signing of the Treaty of Jaffa on 2 September 1192.[12][21][22]
In 1226, duringAyyubid rule,Yaqut al-Hamawi writes that it was "one of the villages in the district of Ramla" and devotes the rest of his discussion of it to Ahmad al-Dajani, also known as Abu Bakr Muhammad, a renownedMuslim scholar who hailed from there.[12]
In 1553, during the earlyOttoman era, 18.33carats of the revenues of the village of Bayt Dajan were designated for the newwaqf ofHasseki Sultan Imaret inJerusalem, established by Hasseki Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana), the wife ofSuleiman the Magnificent.[23] Administratively, the village belonged to the Sub-district ofRamla in the District ofGaza.[24]
In the 1596tax records, Bayt Dajan was a village in thenahiya ("subdistrict") of Ramla, part of theLiwa of Gaza. It had a population of 115Muslim households; an estimated 633 persons. The villagers paid taxes to the authorities for the crops that they cultivated, which includedwheat,barley, fruit, andsesame as well as on other types of agricultural products, such asgoats,beehives and vineyards; a total of 14,200akçe. All of the revenue went to awaqf.[25]
In 1051 AH/1641/2, the Bedouin tribe ofal-Sawālima from theJaffa vicinity attacked the villages ofSubṭāra, Bayt Dajan,al-Sāfiriya,Jindās,Lydda andYāzūr belonging toWaqf Haseki Sultan.[26]
An Arabic inscription on marble dating to 1762 was found in Bayt Dajan. Held in the private collection ofMoshe Dayan,Moshe Sharon identified it as a dedicatory inscription for aSufi maqam for a Ibrahim al-Matbuli, an Egyptian saint buried inIsdud.[12] The village appeared on the map ofPierre Jacotin compiled in 1799 during theFrench campaign in Egypt and Syria, though he calls itAl-Qubab.[27]
In 1838Beit Dejan was among the villagesEdward Robinson says he could see from the top of theWhite Mosque, Ramla.[28] It was described as a Muslim village in the Lydda District.[29] A headstone, made of limestone with a poetic inscription in Arabic from Bayt Dajan, dating to 1842, was also in Dayan's private collection.[12]
Albert Socin cites an Ottoman village list from 1870 that shows Bayt Dajan had a population of 432, with a total of 184 houses, though the population count included men, only.[30]Hartmann found thatBet Dedschan had 148 houses.[31]
In the late 19th century, Bayt Dajan was described as moderate-sized village surrounded byolive trees.[32] Philip Baldensperger noted of Bayt Dajan in 1895 that:
The inhabitants are very industrious, occupied chiefly in making mats andbaskets for carrying earth and stones. They owncamels for carrying loads fromJaffa toJerusalem, cultivate the lands, and work at building etc., in Jaffa or on the railway works. The women flock every day to Jaffa and on Wednesday toRamla—to the market held there, with chickens, eggs and milk.[33]
In 1903, a cache of gold coins were found in Khirbet Dajun by villagers from Bayt Dajan, who used the site as a quarry. The discovery promptedR. A. Macalister to visit. Based on his observations detailed in a report for thePalestine Exploration Fund (PEF), Macalister believes the area was inhabited on a continuous basis:
"Thus we have three epochs in the history of Beth-Dagon — the first on an as yet unknown site, from theAmorite to theRoman periods; the second at Dajiin, extending over the Roman and early Arab periods; the third at the modern Beit Dejan, lasting to the present day. It is probable that the present population could, had they the necessary documents, show a continuous chain of ancestry extending from the first city to the last."[34]
By the 20th century, the village had two elementary schools, one for boys, and one for girls. The school for boys was established during theBritish Mandate in Palestine in 1920. It housed alibrary of 600 books and acquired 15dunams of land for teachingagronomy.[35]
In the1922 census of Palestine,Bait-Dajan had a population of 1,714 residents, allMuslims.[36] The1931 census of Palestine lists 2,664 inhabitants: 2,626 Muslims, 27 Christians and 11 Jews, in a total of 591 houses.[37]
In 1934, whenFakhri al-Nashashibi established theArab Workers Society (AWS) inJerusalem, an AWS branch was also opened in Bayt Dajan.[38] By 1940, 353 males and 102 females attended the schools.[35]
In the1945 statistics the population was 3,840; 130 Christians and 3,710 Muslims,[3] while the total land area was 17,327dunams.[5] Of this, a total of 7,990dunams of land was used forcitrus andbanana cultivation, 676 dunams forcereals and 3,195 dunams were irrigated or used for orchards,[35][39] while 14 dunams were classified as built-up areas.[40]
The village of Bayt Dajan was depopulated in theweeks leading up to the1948 Arab–Israeli war, during theHaganah's offensiveMivtza Hametz (Operation Hametz) on 28–30 April 1948. This operation was held against a group of villages east of Jaffa, including Bayt Dajan. According to the preparatory orders, the objective was "opening the way [for Jewish forces] to Lydda". Though there was no explicit mention of the prospective treatment of the villagers, the order spoke of "cleansing the area" [tihur hashetah].[41] The final operational order stated: "Civilian inhabitants of places conquered would be permitted to leave after they are searched for weapons."[42] On the 30 April, it was reported that the inhabitants of the Bayt Dajan had left, and that Iraqi irregulars had moved into the village.[43]
Bayt Dajan was one of villages occupied in June-July 1948 on the advice of a committee headed byJoseph Weitz.[44][45] On 16 June 1948,David Ben-Gurion, probably based on a progress report from Weitz, cited Bayt Dajan as one of the villages that had been destroyed.[46] On 23 September 1948, the military government proposed resettling Bayt Dajan with new immigrants.[47]
Following the war the area was incorporated into theState of Israel. Four villages,Beit Dagan (established six months after the conquest),Mishmar HaShiv'a (1949),Hemed (1950) andGanot (1953) were later established on land that had belonged to the Bayt Dajan.[7]
The Palestinian historianWalid Khalidi described the village in 1992: "A number of houses remain; some are deserted, others are occupied by Jewish families, or used as stores, office buildings, or warehouses. They exhibit a variety of architectural features. One inhabited house is made of concrete and has a rectangular plan, a flat roof, rectangular front windows, and two arched side windows. Another has been converted into the Eli Cohen synagogue; it is made of concrete and has a flat roof and a round-arched front door and window. Stars of David have been painted on its front door and what appears to be a garage door. One of the deserted houses is made of concrete and has a gabled, tiled roof that is starting to collapse; others are sealed and stand amid shrubs and weeds. Cactuses and cypress, fig, and date palm trees grow on the site. The land in the vicinity is cultivated by Israelis."[7]
During early Ottoman rule in 1596, there were 633 inhabitants in Bayt Dajan.[25] In the 1922 British Mandate census, the village had 1,714 residents,[36] rising to 2,664 in 1931.[37] There were 591 houses in the latter year.[48]Sami Hadawi counted a population of 3,840 Arab inhabitants in his 1945 land and population survey.[5] From the 4th century CE to the 10th century,Samaritans populated Bayt Dajan.[48] In 1945, Most of the inhabitants wereMuslims, but aChristian community of 130 also existed in the village.[35]Palestinian refugees amounted to 27,355 people in 1998.[8]
Philip J. Baldensperger noted in 1893: "At Beit Dejan I copied the following marks or drawings with which the houses are ornamented. The woman of the house generally paints them in whitewash. I was given the following signification:"[49] "They also very often print hands on the doors, by dipping their own into whitewash, and pressing them against the door. They very often mark withhenna at the feasts the door-posts of theMakam or Wely."[50]
Bayt Dajan was known to be among the wealthiest communities in the Jaffa area, and theirembroideresses were reported to be among the most artistic.[51] A center for weaving and embroidery, it exerted influences on many other surrounding villages and towns. Costumes from Beit Dajan were noted for their varied techniques, many of which were adopted and elaborated from other local styles.[52]
White linen garments inspired byRamallah styles were popular, using patchwork and appliqued sequins in addition to embroidery.[52] A key motif was thenafnuf design: a floral pattern thought to be inspired by the locally grown orange trees.[52] Thenafnuf design evolved afterWorld War I into embroidery running down the dress in long panels known as "branches" (erq). Thiserq style was the forerunner of the "6 branch" style dresses worn by Palestinian women in different regions today.[52] In the 1920s, a lady fromBethlehem named Maneh Hazbun came to live in Bayt Dajan after her brother bought some orange groves there. She introduced therashek (couching withsilk) style of embroidery, a local imitation of the Bethlehem style.[53]
Thejillayeh (the embroidered outer garment for wedding costume) used in Bayt Dajan was quite similar to those of Ramallah. The difference was in decoration and embroidery. Typical for Bayt Dajan would be a motif consisting of two triangles, mirror-faced, with or without an embroidered stripe between them, and with invertedcypresses at the edges.[54] Ajillayeh from Bayt Dajan (c. 1920s) is exhibited at theBritish Museum. The caption notes that the dress would be worn by the bride at the final ritual of wedding week celebrations, a procession known as 'going to the well'. Accompanied by all the village women in their finest dress, the bride would go to the well to present a tray of sweets to the guardian of the well and fill her pitcher with water to ensure good fortune for her home.[55] There are also several items from Bayt Dajan and the surrounding area is in theMuseum of International Folk Art (MOIFA) collection atSanta Fe, United States.[54]
Palestinian artistSliman Mansour made Bayt Dajan 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 beingYalo,Imwas andYibna.[56]
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