an-Nabi Samwil | |
|---|---|
| Arabic transcription(s) | |
| • Arabic | النبي صموئيل |
| • Latin | an-Nebi Samwil (official) an-Nabi Samuil (unofficial) |
 Aerial view | |
.jpg) Nabi Samwil shown within the Area C "National Park" (hashed area) | |
  an-Nabi Samwil Location of an-Nabi Samwil withinPalestine | |
| Coordinates:31°49′58″N35°10′49″E / 31.83278°N 35.18028°E /31.83278; 35.18028 | |
| Palestine grid | 167/137 |
| State | State of Palestine |
| Governorate | Jerusalem |
| Government | |
| • Type | Local Development Committee |
| Area | |
• Total | 1,592 dunams (1.6 km2 or 0.6 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 908 m (2,979 ft) |
| Population (2017)[1] | |
• Total | 234 |
| • Density | 150/km2 (380/sq mi) |
| Name meaning | "the prophetSamuel"[2] |
An-Nabi Samwil, also calledal-Nabi Samuil (Arabic:النبي صموئيلan-Nabi Samu'il, translit: "the prophetSamuel"), is aPalestinian village in theQuds Governorate of theState of Palestine, located in theWest Bank (Area C), four kilometers north ofJerusalem. The village is built up around theMosque of Nabi Samwil, containing theTomb of Samuel; the village's Palestinian population has since been removed by the Israeli authorities from the village houses to a new location slightly down the hill. The village had a population of 234 in 2017.[1]
A tradition dating back to theByzantine period places here the tomb ofProphetSamuel. In the6th century, a monastery was built at the site in honor of Samuel, and during the early Arab period the place was known asDir Samwil (the Samuel Monastery).[3] In the12th century, during theCrusader period, a fortress was built on the area.[3] In the14th century, during theMameluk period, a mosque was built over the ruins of the Crusader fortress.[3] The purported tomb itself is in an underground chamber of the mosque, which has been repurposed after 1967 as asynagogue, today with separate prayer areas for Jewish men and women.
Nabi Samwil is situated atop of a mountain, 890 meters above sea level, in theSeam Zone, four kilometers north of the Jerusalem neighborhood ofShuafat and southwest ofRamallah.[4] Nearby localities includeBeit Iksa to the south,al Jib to the north,Beit Hanina to the east andBiddu to the west.[5]
The village consisted of 1,592dunams of which only 5 dunams were built-up.[6]
A 6th-century Christian author identified the site as Samuel's burial place, and it has been traditionally associated as such by Jews, Christians and Muslims. According to theHebrew Bible, the prophet was buried at his hometown,Ramah (1 Samuel 25:1, 28:3), a view repeated byJosephus (Antiquities 6.13.5.). According to some scholars, since Samuel is buried at Nabi Samwil, hence it follows that Nabi Samwil is the biblical Ramah.[7] Others, namely,Edward Robinson, disputed this view, saying that Nabi Samwil was to be identified withMizpeh, a view supported byGleichen.[8] AsJudas Machabeus, preparing for war with the Syrians, gathered his men "to Maspha [sic], over against Jerusalem: for in Maspha was a place of prayer heretofore in Israel".[9]
The 12th-century Jewish travellerBenjamin of Tudela visited the site in 1173. According to him, theChristian Crusaders had found the bones of Samuel "close to a Jewish synagogue" inRamla on the coastal plain (which he misidentified as biblical Ramah), and reburied them at present-day Nabi Samwil. He wrote that a large church dedicated to St. Samuel had been built over the reburied remains.[10]
An old tradition holds that the village contains thetomb of the prophetSamuel, whose Arabic name isNabi Samwil,[4][11] hence the name of the Arab village.
Amonastery was built by the Byzantines at Nabi Samwil, serving as a hostel forChristian pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem. The monastery was restored and enlarged during the reign ofJustinian I in the mid-6th-century CE.[12] Since then, the site has been a place of pilgrimage forJews, Christians andMuslims alike.[4]
The tomb continued to be in use throughout the Early Muslim period in Palestine from the 7th to the 10th century.[12]
Jerusalem-born geographeral-Muqaddasi recounted in 985 CE, a story which he had heard from his uncle concerning the place: A certain sultan wanted to take possession of Dayr Shamwil, which he describes as a village about afarsakh from Jerusalem. The Sultan asked the owner to describe the village, at which the owner enumerated the ills of the place ("hard is the labour,/the profit is low./Weeds are all over,/almonds are bitter,/one bushel you sow,/one bushel you reap.") After hearing this the ruler exclaimed "Begone! We have no need for your village!"[13] 13th-century Syrian geographerYaqut al-Hamawi, describes"Mar Samwil" or "Maran Samwil" as "a small town in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem. Mar inSyriac signifiesal-Kass, 'the priest', and Samwil is the name of the Doctors of Law."[14] During Islamic times, Nabi Samwil became a centre forpottery production,[15] supplying nearby Jerusalem, as well asRamla andCaesarea.[16]
In 1099, theCrusaders conqueredPalestine from theArabFatimids and received their first view of Jerusalem from the mountain upon which Nabi Samwil is built, thus naming itMont Joie ("Mountain of Joy"). They soon constructed a fortress there to fend off Muslim raiding of Jerusalem's northern approaches as well as to shelter pilgrim convoys.[12]
In 1157, the Crusaders constructed a church at Samuel's tomb.[4] KingBaldwin II of the LatinKingdom of Jerusalem entrusted Nabi Samwil toCistercians religious order, who built a monastery there and then handed it over to thePremonstratensians in the 1120s.[15] The 12th-century Jewish traveller, RabbiBenjamin of Tudela, visited the site when he travelled the land in 1173, noting that the Crusaders had found the bones of Samuel in a Jewish cemetery inRamla on the coastal plain and reburied them here, overlooking the Holy City. He wrote that a church dedicated to St. Samuel ofShiloh had been built on the hill.[17] This may refer to the abbey church of St. Samuel built byPremonstratensian canons and inhabited from 1141 to 1244.[18]
After theAyyubids underSaladin conquered much of interiorPalestine in 1187, the church and monastery were turned into amosque and since then remained in Muslim hands. in 1192,Richard the Lionheart reached Nabi Samwil, but did not take it.[19] Jewish pilgrimage, which favoured visits in April and May each year, resumed after the Ayyubids conquered the area, and it became an important center for Muslim-Jewish interaction.[20]
During theMamluk period, Christian pilgrims continued to visit the site, including the traveller known asJohn Mandeville, andMargery Kempe.[21]
In the 15th-century, Jews built a synagogue adjacent to the mosque and resumed pilgrimages to the site after losing that privilege during the Crusader period. Though they occasionally encountered difficulties with local notables, the Jews' right to visit the shrine was reaffirmed twice by the Ottomans, and the sultan asked theqadi of Jerusalem to punish anyone who might obstruct their right and the long tradition of Jewish pilgrimage.Mujir ad-Din referring to Jerusalem's size writes "From the north it reaches the village wherein is the tomb of the prophet Shamwil, mayAllah bless him and give him peace."[22]
In 1517, Palestine incorporated into theOttoman Empire after it was captured from theMamluks, and by 1596, Nabi Samwil appeared in the Ottomantax registers as being in thenahiya of Quds in theliwa ofAl-Quds. It had a population of 5 households, allMuslim. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on various agricultural products, including wheat, barley, olive trees, vineyards, fruit trees, occasional revenues, goats and/or beehives; a total of 2,200akçe.[23]
The Crusader church was incorporated into the village mosque,[4] built in 1730 under theOttoman Empire.[12]
In 1838Edward Robinson noteden-Neby Samwil as a Muslim village, part of theEl-Kuds district.[24] He further noted that the "mosk is here the principal object; and is regarded by Jews, Christians, and Muhammedans, as covering the tomb of the prophet Samuel."[25]
An Ottoman village list of about 1870 showed that Nabi Samwil had 6 houses and a population of 20, though the population count included only men.[26][27]
In 1883, thePalestine Exploration Fund'sSurvey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it as smallhamlet ofadobe huts, perched on top of the ridge, amid the remains of the Crusader ruins. There was a spring to the north.[28]
In 1896 the population of Nebi Samwil was estimated to be about 81 persons.[29]
Nabi Samwil was heavily damaged byTurkish shells in 1917 whilefightingBritish forces, but the village was rebuilt and resettled in 1921.[30] The Ottoman mosque, destroyed in war, was restored by theSupreme Muslim Council during theBritish Mandate period.[11][12]
In the1922 census of Palestine conducted by theBritish Mandate authorities,Nabi Shemweil had a population 121, all Muslims.[31] increasing slightly in the1931 census to 138, one Christian and the rest Muslim, occupying a total of 117 houses.[32]
In the1945 statistics Nabi Samwil had a population of 200, all Muslims,[33] with 2,150dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.[34] Of this, 293 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 986 used for cereals,[35] while 3 dunams were built-up land.[36]
On April 23, 1948, during the1948 Arab-Israeli War, aPalmach division attacked Nabi Samwil with the intention of capturing the village for Israel. Theoperation failed, since its local defenders had been notified that nearbyBeit Iksa was attacked and thus prepared for a Jewish assault. Over 40 Palmach troops were killed in the battle with minimal Arab casualties.[37]
From 1948 to 1967, Nabi Samwil was used by theArab Legion ofJordan as a military post guarding access to Jerusalem.[4]
In 1961, the population of Nabi Samwil was 168.[38]
Since the 1967Six-Day War, Nabi Samwil has been underIsraeli occupation.[4]
After Israel's victory and occupation in the war, during which most of the village's 1,000 inhabitants[39][40] had fled, the shrine became predominantly Jewish, and settlers attempted to wrest control of the area.[41][20] Throughout the 1970s, the Israeli authorities demolished the historic village built around the shrine, forcing its inhabitants into ramshackle buildings further down the hill.[42][41] Nabi Samwil was drawn in good part within Jerusalem's municipal boundaries, while the inhabitants themselves were excluded, and its inhabitants were defined in their identity cards as West Bankers, and are prohibited by the Israeli military administration from leaving the village in any direction without authorisation.[42] Since the mid-2000s, Nabi Samwil, excluding the shrine, became part of an area known as the "Seam Zone", which denotes the land between theseparation barrier erected during theSecond Intifada, and the borders of Jerusalem municipality.[43] The only exit from the village is to nearbyBir Nabala via an Israeli checkpoint.[42][dead link]
The village, which is not recognized as such by Israel, was designated as anational park in the 1990s and the remains of former homes adjacent to the mosque form part of an archaeological site in the park. The mosque has been cordoned off and the section containing Samuel's tomb has been converted into asynagogue. Partly due to Israeli military restrictions, Palestinian construction in the village is banned. Economic activity is also significantly restricted and residents live in poverty, with many young residents leaving for jobs in nearbyRamallah. Israel states its policies are intended to preserve the site of Nabi Samwil.[43]
In 1922, Nabi Samwil had 121 inhabitants,[31] rising to 138 in 1931.[32] InSami Hadawi's land and population survey in 1945, 200 people resided there.[34] By 1981 the number dropped to 66 inhabitants but was up to 136 within five years.[6] According to the 2007 census by thePalestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Nabi Samwil had a population of 258 inhabitants in 2007.[44] About 20 Muslim families live there. A group of 90Bedouins living in al Jib who had been evicted from Nabi Samwil were refused permission to move back because the village lies inArea C and it would be difficult for them to acquire building permits.[45]
| Subdistrict | Jerusalem J1(Territories ofEast Jerusalem unilaterally annexed byIsrael in itsJerusalem Municipality) |   |
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| Cities | ||
| Municipalities | ||
| Villages | ||
| Refugee camps | ||
