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Lod
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  Lod | |
| Coordinates:31°57′7″N34°53′17″E / 31.95194°N 34.88806°E /31.95194; 34.88806 | |
| Country |  Israel |
| District | Central |
| Subdistrict | Ramla Subdistrict |
| Founded | 5600–5250 BCE(Initial settlement) 1465 BCE(Canaanite/Israelite town) |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Yair Revivo |
| Area | |
• Total | 12,226 dunams (12.226 km2 or 4.720 sq mi) |
| Population (2022)[1] | |
• Total | 85,351 |
| • Density | 7,000/km2 (18,000/sq mi) |
Lod (Hebrew:לוד, orfully vocalizedלֹד), also known asLydda (Ancient Greek:Λύδδα) andLidd (Arabic:اللِّد,romanized: al-Lidd, orاللُّد,al-Ludd), is a city 15 km (9+1⁄2 mi) southeast ofTel Aviv and 40 km (25 mi) northwest ofJerusalem in theCentral District ofIsrael. It is situated between the lowerShephelah on the east and thecoastal plain on the west. The city had a population of 85,351 in 2019.[1]
Lod has been inhabited since at least theNeolithic period.[2] It is mentioned a few times in theHebrew Bible and in theNew Testament.[3] Between the 5th century BCE and up until the lateRoman period, it was a prominent center forJewish scholarship and trade.[3][4] Around 200 CE, the city became aRoman colony and was renamedDiospolis (Ancient Greek:Διόσπολις,lit. 'city ofZeus'). Tradition identifies Lod as the 4th century martyrdom site ofSaint George;[5][6] theChurch of Saint George and Mosque of Al-Khadr located in the city is believed to have housed his remains.[3][7]
Following theArab conquest of the Levant, Lod served as the capital ofJund Filastin; however, a few decades later, the seat of power was transferred toRamla, and Lod slipped in importance.[3][8] UnderCrusader rule, the city was a Catholicdiocese of theLatin Church and it remains atitular see to this day.[citation needed]
Lod underwent a major change in its population in the mid-20th century.[9] Exclusively Palestinian Arab in 1947,[9] Lod was part of the area designated for an Arab state in theUnited Nations Partition Plan for Palestine; however, in July 1948, the city was occupied by theIsrael Defense Forces, and most of its Arab inhabitants were expelled in the1948 Palestinian expulsion from Lydda and Ramle.[10][11] The city was largely resettled by Jewish immigrants, most of themexpelled from Arab countries.[12][13]
Today, Lod is one of Israel'smixed cities, with anArab population of 30%.[14] Lod is one of Israel's major transportation hubs. The main international airport,Ben Gurion Airport, is located 8 km (5 miles) north of the city. The city is also a major railway and road junction.[3]
The Hebrew name Lod appears in theHebrew Bible as a town ofBenjamin, founded along withOno by Shamed or Shamer (1 Chronicles 8:12; Ezra 2:33; Nehemiah 7:37; 11:35). InEzra 2:33, it is mentioned as one of the cities whose inhabitantsreturned after theBabylonian captivity. Lod is not mentioned among the towns allocated to the tribe of Benjamin inJoshua 18:11–28.[15]
The name Lod derives from atri-consonental root not extant inNorthwest Semitic, but only inArabic (“to quarrel; withhold, hinder”). An Arabic etymology of such an ancient name is unlikely (the earliest attestation is from theAchaemenid period).[16]
In theNew Testament, the town appears in its Greek form, Lydda,[17][18][19] as the site ofPeter's healing ofAeneas inActs 9:32–38.[20]
The city is also mentioned in an Islamichadith as the location of the battlefield where the false messiah (al-Masih ad-Dajjal) will be slain before theDay of Judgment.[21]
The first occupation was in the Neolithic period.[22][23] Occupation continued in the Chalcolithic.[24][25][26] Pottery finds have dated the initial settlement in the area now occupied by the town to 5600–5250 BCE.[27]
In the Early Bronze, it was an important settlement in the central coastal plain between the Judean Shephelah and the Mediterranean coast, along Nahal Ayalon.[28] Other important nearby sites were Tel Dalit, Tel Bareqet, Khirbat Abu Hamid (Shoham North),Tel Afeq,Azor andJaffa.
Two architectural phases belong to the late EB I in Area B.[29] The first phase had a mudbrick wall, while the late phase included a circulat stone structure. Later excavations have produced an occupation later, Stratum IV.[30] It consists of two phases, Stratum IVb with mudbrick wall on stone foundations and rounded exterior corners. In Stratum IVa there was a mudbrick wall with no stone foundations, with imported Egyptian potter and local pottery imitations.
Another excavations revealed nine occupation strata. Strata VI-III belonged to Early Bronze IB. The material culture showed Egyptian imports in strata V and IV.[31]
Occupation continued into Early Bronze II with four strata (V-II). There was continuity in the material culture and indications of centralized urban planning.
North to the tell were scattered MB II burials.[32]
The earliest written record is in a list ofCanaanite towns drawn up by theEgyptianpharaohThutmose III atKarnak in1465 BCE.[33]
From the fifth century BCE until theRoman period, the city was a centre of Jewish scholarship[34] and commerce.[35]
According to British historianMartin Gilbert, during theHasmonean period,Jonathan Maccabee and his brother,Simon Maccabaeus, enlarged the area under Jewish control, which included conquering the city.[36]
The Jewish community in Lod during the Mishnah and Talmud era is described in a significant number of sources, including information on its institutions, demographics, and way of life. The city reached its height as a Jewish center between theFirst Jewish-Roman War and theBar Kokhba revolt, and again in the days ofJudah ha-Nasi and the start of theAmoraim period. The city was then the site of numerous public institutions, including schools, study houses, and synagogues.[4]
In 43 BC,Cassius, the Roman governor ofSyria, sold the inhabitants of Lod into slavery, but they were set free two years later byMark Antony.[37][38]
During the First Jewish–Roman War, the Romanproconsul of Syria,Cestius Gallus, razed the town on his way toJerusalem inTishrei 66 CE. According to Josephus, "[he] found the city deserted, for the entire population hadgone up to Jerusalem for theFeast of Tabernacles. He killed fifty people whom he found, burned the town and marched on".[4][39] Lydda was occupied by EmperorVespasian in 68 CE.[40]
In the period following the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE,Rabbi Tarfon, who appears in many Tannaitic and Jewish legal discussions, served as a rabbinic authority in Lod.[41]
During theKitos War, 115–117 CE, the Roman army laid siege to Lod, where the rebel Jews had gathered under the leadership of Julian and Pappos. Torah study was outlawed by the Romans and pursued mostly in the underground.[42] The distress became so great, the patriarch RabbanGamaliel II, who was shut up there and died soon afterwards, permitted fasting onḤanukkah. Other rabbis disagreed with this ruling.[43] Lydda was next taken and many of the Jews were executed; the "slain of Lydda" are often mentioned in words of reverential praise in the Talmud.[44]
In 200 CE, emperorSeptimius Severus elevated the town to the status of a city, calling itColonia Lucia Septimia Severa Diospolis.[45] The nameDiospolis ("City of Zeus") may have been bestowed earlier, possibly by Hadrian.[46] At that point, most of its inhabitants wereChristian. The earliest knownbishop is Aëtius, a friend ofArius.[37]
During the following century (200-300CE), it's said thatJoshua ben Levi founded a yeshiva in Lod.
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In December 415, theCouncil of Diospolis was held here to tryPelagius; he was acquitted. In the sixth century, the city was renamed Georgiopolis[47] afterSt. George, a soldier in the guard of the emperorDiocletian, who was born there between 256 and 285 CE.[48]
TheChurch of Saint George and Mosque of Al-Khadr is named for him.[33]The 6th-centuryMadaba map shows Lydda as an unwalled city with a cluster of buildings under a black inscription reading "Lod, also Lydea, also Diospolis".[49] An isolated large building with a semicircular colonnaded plaza in front of it might represent the St George shrine.[50]
After theMuslim conquest of Palestine byAmr ibn al-'As in 636 CE,[51] Lod which was referred to as "al-Ludd" inArabic served as the capital ofJund Filastin ("Military District of Palaestina") before the seat of power was moved to nearbyRamla during the reign of theUmayyad CaliphSuleiman ibn Abd al-Malik in 715–716. The population of al-Ludd was relocated to Ramla, as well.[52] With the relocation of its inhabitants and the construction of theWhite Mosque in Ramla, al-Ludd lost its importance and fell into decay.[8]
The city was visited by the local Arab geographeral-Muqaddasi in 985, when it was under theFatimid Caliphate, and was noted for its Great Mosque which served the residents of al-Ludd, Ramla, and the nearby villages. He also wrote of the city's "wonderful church (of St. George) at the gate of which Christ will slay theAntichrist."[53]
TheCrusaders occupied the city in 1099 and named it St Jorge de Lidde.[35] It was briefly conquered bySaladin, but retaken by the Crusaders in 1191. For the EnglishCrusaders, it was a place of great significance as the birthplace ofSaint George. The Crusaders made it the seat of aLatin Church diocese,[54] and it remains atitular see.[37] It owed the service of 10 knights and 20 sergeants, and it had its own burgess court during this era.[55]
In 1226, Ayyubid Syrian geographerYaqut al-Hamawi visited al-Ludd and stated it was part of the Jerusalem District duringAyyubid rule.[56]
SultanBaybars brought Lydda again under Muslim control by 1267–8.[57] According toQalqashandi, Lydda was an administrative centre of awilaya during the fourteenth and fifteenth century in theMamluk empire.[57]Mujir al-Din described it as a pleasant village with an active Friday mosque.[57][58] During this time, Lydda was a station on thepostal route between Cairo and Damascus.[57][59]
In 1517, Lydda was incorporated into theOttoman Empire as part of theDamascus Eyalet, and in the 1550s, the revenues of Lydda were designated for the newwaqf ofHasseki Sultan Imaret in Jerusalem, established by Hasseki Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana), the wife ofSuleiman the Magnificent.[60]
By 1596 Lydda was a part of thenahiya ("subdistrict") ofRamla, which was under the administration of theliwa ("district") ofGaza. It had a population of 241 households and 14 bachelors who were all Muslims, and 233 households who were Christians.[61] They paid a fixed tax-rate of 33,3 % on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, vineyards, fruit trees, sesame, special product ("dawalib" =spinning wheels[57]), goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues and market toll, a total of 45,000Akçe. All of the revenue went to theWaqf.[62]
In 1051 AH/1641/2, the Bedouin tribe ofal-Sawālima from aroundJaffa attacked the villages ofSubṭāra,Bayt Dajan,al-Sāfiriya,Jindās, Lydda andYāzūr belonging toWaqf Haseki Sultan.[63]
The village appeared asLydda, though misplaced, on the map ofPierre Jacotin compiled in1799.[64]
MissionaryWilliam M. Thomson visited Lydda in the mid-19th century, describing it as a "flourishing village of some 2,000 inhabitants, imbosomed in noble orchards ofolive,fig,pomegranate,mulberry,sycamore, and other trees, surrounded every way by a very fertile neighbourhood. The inhabitants are evidently industrious and thriving, and the whole country between this and Ramleh is fast being filled up with their flourishing orchards. Rarely have I beheld a rural scene more delightful than this presented in early harvest ... It must be seen, heard, and enjoyed to be appreciated."[65]
In 1869, the population of Ludd was given as: 55 Catholics, 1,940 "Greeks", 5 Protestants and 4,850 Muslims.[66] In 1870, the Church of Saint George was rebuilt. In 1892, the firstrailway station in the entire region was established in the city.[67] In the second half of the 19th century, Jewish merchants migrated to the city, but left after the1921 Jaffa riots.[67]
In 1882, thePalestine Exploration Fund'sSurvey of Western Palestine described Lod as "A small town, standing among enclosure of prickly pear, and having fine olive groves around it, especially to the south. Theminaret of themosque is a very conspicuous object over the whole of the plain. The inhabitants are principally Moslim, though the place is the seat of a Greek bishop resident of Jerusalem.The Crusading church has lately been restored, and is used by the Greeks. Wells are found in the gardens...."[66]
From 1918, Lydda was under the administration of theBritish Mandate in Palestine, as per aLeague of Nations decree that followed theGreat War. During theSecond World War, the British set up supply posts in and around Lydda and its railway station, also building an airport that was renamedBen Gurion Airport after the death of Israel's first prime minister in 1973.[67][68]
At the time of the1922 census of Palestine, Lydda had a population of 8,103 inhabitants (7,166 Muslims, 926 Christians, and 11 Jews),[69] the Christians were 921 Orthodox, 4 Roman Catholics and 1Melkite.[70] This had increased by the1931 census to 11,250 (10,002 Muslims, 1,210 Christians, 28 Jews, and 10 Bahai), in a total of 2475 residential houses.[71]
In 1938, Lydda had a population of 12,750.[72]
In 1945, Lydda had a population of 16,780 (14,910 Muslims, 1,840 Christians, 20 Jews and 10 "other").[73] Until 1948, Lydda was an Arab town with a population of around 20,000—18,500 Muslims and 1,500 Christians.[74][75] In 1947, the United Nations proposeddividing Mandatory Palestine into two states, oneJewish state and one Arab; Lydda was to form part of the proposed Arab state.[76] In theensuing war, Israel captured Arab towns outside the area the UN had allotted it, including Lydda.
In December 1947, thirteen Jewish passengers in a seven-car convoy toBen Shemen Youth Village were ambushed and murdered.[77][78]In a separate incident, three Jewish youths, two men and a woman were captured, then raped and murdered in a neighbouring village.[78] Their bodies were paraded in Lydda’s principal street.[78]
TheIsrael Defense Forces entered Lydda on 11 July 1948.[79] The following day, under the impression that it was under attack,[80] the 3rd Battalion was ordered to shoot anyone "seen on the streets". According to Israel, 250 Arabs were killed. Other estimates are higher: Arab historianAref al Aref estimated 400, andNimr al Khatib 1,700.[81][82]
In 1948, the population rose to 50,000 during theNakba, asArab refugees fleeing other areas made their way there.[67] A key event was theLydda Death March, with the expulsion of 50,000-70,000 Palestinians from Lydda andRamle by the Israel Defense Forces. All but 700[83] to 1,056[12] were expelled by order of the Israeli high command, and forced to walk17 km (10+1⁄2 mi) to the JordanianArab Legion lines. Estimates of those who died from exhaustion and dehydration vary from a handful to 355.[84][85] The town was subsequentlysacked by the Israeli army.[86] Some scholars, includingIlan Pappé, characterize this asethnic cleansing.[87] The few hundred Arabs who remained in the city were soon outnumbered by the influx of Jews whoimmigrated to Lod from August 1948 onward, most of them from Arab countries.[12] As a result, Lod became a predominantly Jewish town.[75][88]
After the establishment of the state, the biblical name Lod was readopted.[89]
The Jewish immigrants who settled Lod came in waves,first fromMorocco andTunisia, later fromEthiopia, and then from the formerSoviet Union.[90]
Since 2008, many urban development projects have been undertaken to improve the image of the city. Upscale neighbourhoods have been built, among them Ganei Ya'ar and Ahisemah, expanding the city to the east. According to a 2010 report in theEconomist, a three-meter-high wall was built between Jewish and Arab neighbourhoods and construction in Jewish areas was given priority over construction in Arab neighborhoods. The newspaper says that violent crime in the Arab sector revolves mainly around family feuds over turf and honour crimes.[91] In 2010, the Lod Community Foundation organised an event for representatives of bicultural youth movements, volunteer aid organisations, educational start-ups, businessmen, sports organizations, and conservationists working on programmes to better the city.[92]
In the2021 Israel–Palestine crisis, a state of emergency was declared in Lod after Arab rioting led to the death of an Israeli Jew.[93] The Mayor of Lod, Yair Revivio, urgedPrime Minister of IsraelBenjamin Netanyahu to deployIsrael Border Police to restore order in the city.[94][95] This was the first time since 1966 that Israel had declared this kind of emergency lockdown.[96][97] International media noted that both Jewish and Palestinian mobs were active in Lod, but the "crackdown came for one side" only.[98][99][100][101][102]
In the 19th century and until theLydda Death March, Lod was an exclusively Muslim-Christian town, with an estimated 6,850 inhabitants, of whom approximately 2,000 (29%) were Christian.[103]
According to theIsrael Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), the population of Lod in 2010 was 69,500 people.[104]
According to the 2019 census, the population of Lod was 77,223, of which 53,581 people, comprising 69.4% of the city's population, were classified as "Jews and Others", and 23,642 people, comprising 30.6% as "Arab".[1]
According to CBS, 38 schools and 13,188 pupils are in the city. They are spread out as 26 elementary schools and 8,325 elementary school pupils, and 13 high schools and 4,863 high school pupils. About 52.5% of 12th-grade pupils were entitled to a matriculation certificate in 2001.[citation needed]
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The airport and related industries are a major source of employment for the residents of Lod. Other important factories in the city are the communication equipment company "Talard", "Cafe-Co" - a subsidiary of theStrauss Group and "Kashev" - the computer center ofBank Leumi.
AJewish Agency Absorption Centre is also located in Lod. According to CBS figures for 2000, 23,032 people were salaried workers and 1,405 were self-employed. The mean monthly wage for a salaried worker wasNIS 4,754, a real change of 2.9% over the course of 2000. Salaried men had a mean monthly wage of NIS 5,821 (a real change of 1.4%) versus NIS 3,547 for women (a real change of 4.6%). The mean income for the self-employed was NIS 4,991. About 1,275 people were receiving unemployment benefits and 7,145 were receiving an income supplement.
In 2009-2010,Dor Guez held an exhibit,Georgeopolis, at thePetach Tikva art museum that focuses on Lod.[105]
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A well-preserved mosaic floor dating to the Roman period was excavated in 1996 as part of asalvage dig conducted on behalf of theIsrael Antiquities Authority and the Municipality of Lod, prior to widening HeHalutz Street. According toJacob Fisch, executive director of the Friends of the Israel Antiquities Authority, a worker at the construction site noticed the tail of a tiger and halted work.[106] The mosaic was initially covered over with soil at the conclusion of the excavation for lack of funds to conserve and develop the site.[107] The mosaic is now part of theLod Mosaic Archaeological Center. The floor, with its colorful display of birds, fish, exotic animals and merchant ships, is believed to have been commissioned by a wealthy resident of the city for his private home.[108]
The Lod Community Archaeology Program, which operates in ten Lod schools, five Jewish and five Israeli Arab, combines archaeological studies with participation in digs in Lod.[109]
The city's major football club,Hapoel Bnei Lod, plays inLiga Leumit (the second division). Its home is at theLod Municipal Stadium. The club was formed by a merger of Bnei Lod and Rakevet Lod in the 1980s. Two other clubs in the city play in the regional leagues: Hapoel MS Ortodoxim Lod inLiga Bet and Maccabi Lod inLiga Gimel.
Hapoel Lod played in the top division during the 1960s and 1980s, and won theState Cup in 1984. The club folded in 2002. A new club, Hapoel Maxim Lod (named after former mayorMaxim Levy) was established soon after, but folded in 2007.
Lod istwinned with:
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)By 1099 crusading armies had captured the city of Lydda, the site of St George's martyrdom and tomb.
The Palestinian quarters of Safad, Tiberias, Haifa, Jaffa, and West Jerusalem and the Jewish quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem were in a state of sociological catastrophe, with no community to speak of to even bury the dead and mourn the old existence... By late 1949 only one of the five towns that had been effectively mixed on the eve of the war, namely, Haifa, still had a Palestinian contingent. Even there, however, the urban mix had been transformed beyond recognition. The 3,000 remaining Palestinians, now representing less than 5 percent of the original community, had been uprooted and forced to relocate to downtown Wadi Ninas... More relevant for our concerns here are Acre, Lydda, Ramle, and Jaffa, which, although exclusively Palestinian before the war of 1948, became predominantly Jewish mixed towns after. All of them had their residual Palestinian populations concentrated in bounded compounds, in one case (Jaffa) surrounded for a while by barbed wire. As late as the summer of 1949, all of these compounds were subjected to martial law.
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