Bayt Jibrin بيت جبرين | |
|---|---|
 Historic Bayt Jibrin mansion | |
.jpg) 1870s map.jpg) 1940s map.jpg) modern map.jpg) 1940s with modern overlay mapA series of historical maps of the area around Bayt Jibrin (click the buttons) | |
  Bayt Jibrin Location withinMandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates:31°36′19″N34°53′54″E / 31.60528°N 34.89833°E /31.60528; 34.89833 | |
| Palestine grid | 140/112 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Hebron |
| Date of depopulation | 29 October 1948[3] |
| Area | |
• Total | 56.2 km2 (21.7 sq mi) |
| Population (1945) | |
• Total | 2,430[1][2] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Military assault byYishuv forces |
| Current Localities | Beit Guvrin (kibbutz)[4] |
Bayt Jibrin orBeit Jibrin (Arabic:بيت جبرينlit. 'House of the Powerful') was an Arab village in theHebron Subdistrict ofBritish Mandatory Palestine, in what is today theState of Israel, which was depopulated during the1948 Arab–Israeli War. It was preceded by the Iron AgeJudahite city ofMaresha, the laterHellenistic Marissa, located slightly south of Beit Jibrin's built-up area; and the Roman and Byzantine city ofBeth Gabra, known from theTalmud asBeit Guvrin (also Gubrin or Govrin,Hebrew:בית גוברין,romanized: Beit Gubrin), renamedEleutheropolis (Greek, Ἐλευθερόπολις, "Free City") after 200 CE. After the 7th-centuryArab conquest of the Levant, the Arabic name of Beit Jibrin was used for the first time, followed by the Crusaders'Bethgibelin, given to a Frankish colony established around aHospitaller castle. After the Muslim reconquest the Arab village of Beit Jibrin was reestablished.
During the days ofHerod the Great, Bet Gabra was the administrative center for the district ofIdumea.[5][clarification needed] In 200 CE, after the turmoil of theFirst Jewish–Roman War (64-70) and theBar Kokhba revolt (132-135), the town became a thrivingRoman colony, a major administrative centre and one of the most important cities in theRoman province ofSyria Palaestina under the name of Eleutheropolis. The city was then inhabited byJews,Christians andpagans.[6] Under theBritish Mandate of Palestine, Bayt Jibrin again served as a district centre for surrounding villages. It was captured by Jewish forces during the 1948 war, causing its Arab inhabitants to flee eastward. Today, many of thePalestinian refugees of Bayt Jibrin and their descendants live in the camps ofBayt Jibrin (ʽAzza) andFawwar in the southernWest Bank.
Thekibbutz ofBeit Guvrin was established to the north of Bayt Jibrin, on the villages' lands, in 1949. The archaeological sites of Maresha and Beit Guvrin are today anIsraeli national park known as theBeit Guvrin-Maresha National Park, including their burial caves and underground dwellings, workshops and quarries, which are listed as aUNESCOWorld Heritage Site.[7] Eleutheropolis remains atitular see in theRoman Catholic Church.[8]
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The entire site is located in theLakhish region of central Israel, between thecoastal plain to the west and theHebron Hills to the east, near the1949 ceasefire line.
Ancient Maresha was identified at Tell Sandahanna, renamed Tel Maresha. The Hellenised city of Marissa included a lower city of 320dunams during its heydays, which surrounded thetell (mound). It covers the southern part of the Beit Guvrin-Maresha archaeological park.
Bet Gabra or Betogabris grew around a hill c. 1.5 km north of Tel Maresha, after the demise of Marissa in 40 BCE.
The Crusader colony of Bethgibelin stood at what had been the northern margin of the classical city, with its castle built over the remains of the Roman amphitheatre. Its ruins now stand adjacent to and north of the regional road.
The built-up area of the modern Arab village of Beit Jibrin was largely south of the Crusader castle, adjacent to and mainly south of the regional road.
Kibbutz Beit Guvrin was built north of the Bethgibelin Castle and former Beit Jibrin.
Historically, the site was located on the main road betweenCairo and Hebron viaGaza,[9] in an area of plains and soft hills known as theShfela (Shephelah) in Hebrew.[10] Beit Jibrin's average elevation was of 275 meters (902 ft) above sea level.[10]
The region contains a large number of caverns, both natural formations and caves dug in the soft chalk by inhabitants of the region over the centuries for use as quarries, burial grounds, animal shelters, workshops and spaces for raising doves and pigeons. There is estimated to be 800 such caverns,[11] many linked by an underground maze of passageways. Eighty of them, known as the Bell Caves, are located on the grounds of theBeit Guvrin National Park.[12]
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The settlement was renamed over the centuries. TheAramaic nameBeth Gabra, attested from at least the Early Roman period, was preserved by the geographerPtolemy in the Greek variation of Βαιτογάβρα,Baitogabra, translates as the "house of the [strong] man" or "house of the mighty one".[13] The antecedent might be seen in the name of anEdomite king: Ḳaus-gabri or Kauš-Gabr, found on an inscription ofTiglathpileser III.[14][15]
According to historical geographerA. Schlatter, the nameBetaris mentioned byJosephus should either be identified withBittir, or else the 't'[clarification needed] amended togamma, so as to readBegabrin.[16][17]
In the year 200 CE, Roman EmperorSeptimius Severus gave it the status of a city under a newGreek name,Eleutheropolis (Ἐλευθερόπολις), meaning 'City of the Free', and its inhabitants were given the rank ofRoman citizens under the laws ofius italicum.[18][19][20][21]In thePeutinger Table in 393 CE, Bayt Jibrin was calledBeitogabri. In theTalmud, compiled between the 3rd and 4th centuries, it was known asBeit Gubrin orGuvrin.[13] To the Crusaders, it was known asBethgibelin orGibelin.[22][23]Another name inmedieval times may have beenBeit Jibril, meaning "house of Gabriel".[23] InArabic,Bayt Jibrin orJubrin (بيت جبرين) means "house of the powerful",[24] reflecting its original Aramaic name,[13] and the town was probably called Bayt Jibrin or Beit Jibril throughout its rule by various Muslim dynasties.
The excavations have revealed no remains older than theIron Age, a time when theJudahite town ofMaresha rose on thetell to the south of Bay Jibrin known inArabic as Tell Sandahanna and inHebrew as Tel Maresha.[25]This corresponds to severalHebrew Bible mentions of Maresha. However, local folklore tells that the former Arab village of Bayt Jibrin was first inhabited byCanaanites.[10][26]After the destruction of the Kingdom of Judah in 586 BCE, the city of Maresha became part of theEdomite kingdom. In the latePersian period aSidonian community settled in Maresha, and the city is mentioned three times in theZenon Papyri (259 BCE).[27] During theMaccabean Revolt, Maresha was a base for attacks against Judea and suffered retaliation from theMaccabees. In 112 BCE, Maresha was conquered and destroyed by theHasmonean king,John Hyrcanus I, after which the region of Idumea (the Greek name of Edom) remained under Hasmonean control and Idumeans were forced to convert toJudaism. In 40 BCE, theParthians devastated completely the "strong city", after which it was never rebuilt. After this date, nearby Beit Guvrin succeeded Maresha as the chief center of the area.[citation needed]
In theJewish War (68 CE),Vespasian slaughtered or enslaved the inhabitants ofBetaris. According toJosephus: "When he had seized upon two villages, which were in the very midst ofIdumea,Betaris [sic] (corrected to readBegabris),[28] and Caphartobas, he slew above ten thousand of the people, and carried into captivity above a thousand, and drove away the rest of the multitude, and placed no small part of his own forces in them, who overran and laid waste the whole mountainous country."[29]However, it continued to be a Jewish-inhabited city until theBar Kokhba revolt (132-135 CE).[30]
Septimius Severus, Roman Emperor from 193 to 211, granted the city municipal status,[31] under a newGreek name,Eleutheropolis, meaning "City of the Free", and giving its citizens theius italicum and exempting them from taxes.[32][33][34] Coins minted by him, bearing the date 1 January 200, commemorate its founding and the title ofpolis.[35]Eleutheropolis, which covered an area of 65 hectares (160 acres) (larger at the time thanAelia Capitolina - the Roman city built over the ruins of JewishJerusalem), flourished under the Romans, who built public buildings, military installations,aqueducts and a largeamphitheater. Towards the end of the 2nd century CE, RabbiJudah the Prince ameliorated the condition of its Jewish citizens by releasing the city from the obligations oftithing home-grown produce, and from observing theSeventh Year laws with respect to the same produce, as believing this area of the country was not originally settled by Jews returning from theBabylonian captivity.[36]The vita[clarification needed] ofEpiphanius of Salamis, born into a Christian family near Eleutheropolis, describes the general surroundings in Late Antique Judaea.[37]The second chapter of the vita describes the details of the important market of Eleutheropolis.[38]Seven routes met at Eleutheropolis,[39]andEusebius, in hisOnomasticon, uses the Roman milestones indicating the city as a central point from which the distances of other towns were measured.[21] TheMadaba Map (dated 542-570 CE) shows Eleutheropolis as a walled city with three towers, a curving street with acolonnade in the central part and an importantbasilica. In the centre is a building with a yellowish-white dome on four columns.[40]Eleutheropolis was last mentioned in the ancient sources by the near contemporaryitinerarium of thePiacenza Pilgrim,[41]about 570.
In the 1st and 2nd centuries CE,Christianity penetrated the city due to its location on the route between Jerusalem andGaza. The city's firstbishop,Justus, was one of the70 Disciples. Eleutheropolis was a "City of Excellence" in the fourth century[42] and a Christianbishopric with the largest territory in Palaestina. In 325 CE, Eleutheropolis was the seat ofBishop Macrinus, who in that year attended theFirst Council of Nicaea.Epiphanius of Salamis, Bishop of Salamis inCyprus, was born at Eleutheropolis; at Ad nearby he established a monastery which is often mentioned in the polemics ofJerome with Rufinus and John, Bishop of Jerusalem. Epiphanius also mentions thatAkouas, a disciple ofMani, had been the first to spreadManichaeism in Eleutheropolis and the rest of Palestine during the reign ofAurelian (270-275 AD).[43]
Beit Guvrin is mentioned in theTalmud in the 3rd and 4th centuries, indicating a revival of the Jewish community around that time.[30] Thetanna Judah b. Jacob and theamora Jonathan (referred to in the Talmud as "Yonatan me-Bet Guvrin" or Jonathan of Bet Guvrin) were residents of the city. The Talmudic region known as Darom was within the area of Eleutheropolis ("Beit Guvrin"),[44]later known by its Arabic corruptionad-Dārūm.[45]Excavations at Eleutheropolis show a prosperous city, and confirm the presence of Jews and Christians in the area. It was described as one of Palestine's five "Cities of Excellence" by 4th-century Roman historianAmmianus Marcellinus.[31] During the Roman-Byzantine era, water was brought into Beit Gubrin (Bayt Jibrin) via an aqueduct that passed throughWādi el-ʻUnqur, a watercourse that originates from a natural spring to the south-west ofHebron, and running in a north-westerly direction, bypassingIdhna on the north, for a total distance of about 25 kilometres (16 mi).[46] Remnants of the aqueduct are still extant.The territory under the administration of Eleutheropolis encompassed most of Idumea, with the districts of Bethletepha, westernEdom andHebron up toEin Gedi, and included over 100 villages.[44]
Bayt Jibrin is mentioned in theTalmud (redacted 5th–6th century CE) under the name Beit Gubrin. In thePeutinger Tables (393 CE), the place is calledBeto Gabra, and shown as 16 Roman miles fromAscalon.[47] The true distance is 20 English miles.[47]
TheMidrash Rabba (Genesis Rabba, section 67) mentions Beit Gubrin in relation to Esau and his descendants (Idumaeans) who settled the region, and which region was renowned for its fertile ground and productivity.[citation needed]
The 9th-century historianal-Baladhuri mentions Bayt Jibrin (the name given to it by the Arabs following theMuslim conquest) as one of ten towns inJund Filastin (military district of Palestine) conquered by the Muslims underAmr ibn al-As during the mid-630s' Muslim conquest. Amr enclosed a domain to Bayt Jibrin, which he named Ajlan, after one of his freemen.[48]The 1904Analecta Bollandiana recounts that in 638 the Muslim army beheaded fifty soldiers in Bayt Jibrin from the Byzantine garrison of Gaza who refused to abandon Christianity and who were then buried in a church built in their honor.[49]In the beginning of thepower struggle betweenAli andMu'awiya for the position ofcaliph, Amr leftMedina in theHejaz and took up residence at his estate called Ajlan in Bayt Jibrin with his sons Muhammad and Abdallah. The latter died there. TheUmayyad prince and governor of Palestine,Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik, received the news of his becoming caliph in 715 during his stay in Bayt Jibrin.[50]
In 750 Palestine came underAbbasid rule. Bayt Jibrin may have already been devastated in 788,[51]but in any event, in 796, it was destroyed byBedouin tribesmen in an effort to combat Christian influence in the region during acivil war between the Arab tribal federations of the area. According to a monk named Stephen, "it was laid waste, and its inhabitants carried off into captivity".[52] However, by 985, Bayt Jibrin seemed to have recovered, judging by the writings of the Jerusalemite geographeral-Muqaddasi:
"[Bayt Jibrin] is a city partly in the hill country, partly in the plain. Its territory has the name of Ad Darum (the ancientDaroma and the modern Dairan), and there are heremarble [sic] quarries. The district sends its produce to the capital (Ar Ramlah). It is anemporium for the neighbouring country, and a land of riches and plenty, possessing fine domains. The population, however, is now on the decrease...."[53][54]
There is no marble quarry anywhere in Israel/Palestine, but al-Muqaddasi probably referred to the undergroundchalkstone quarries known today as "bell caves". Surfacenari (local name forcaliche) is harder than chalk.[citation needed]
In 1099,Crusaders invaded Palestine and established theKingdom of Jerusalem. In 1135,King Fulk of Jerusalem erected a castle on the lands of Bayt Jibrin, the first of a series of Crusader fortifications built at this time to ensure control over the ports ofCaesarea andJaffa.[22][10] In 1136, King Fulk donated the castle to theKnights Hospitallers. In 1168, the Hospitallers were granted a charter to establish aFrankish colony, which they named "Bethgibelin".[55]Christian settlers in Beit Jibrin were promised a share of property looted from the Muslims.[56] It was on the itinerary ofBenjamin of Tudela, who found three Jews living there when he visited the country.[57]TheAyyubid army underSaladin sacked Bethgibelin in 1187, after most of the Kingdom of Jerusalem came under Muslim control as a consequence of his victory at theBattle of Hittin. Soon after its capture Saladin ordered the demolition of the Crusader castle. From 1191 to 1192, the town was held inprobate byHenry of Champagne, as lord of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, while Saladin andRichard the Lionheart negotiated a ceasefire.[58]
However, the Crusaders remained in control of Bethgibelin until 1244, when the Ayyubids reconquered it under Sultanas-Salih Ayyub. By 1283, theMamluks had taken control and it was listed as a domain of SultanQalawun.[59]The city prospered under the Egypt-basedMamluk Sultanate and served as a postal station.[10] During Mamluk rule, Bayt Jibrin administratively belonged to Hebron and was under the jurisdiction of theShafi'i (a school of law inSunni Islam)qadi (head judge) of that city.[59]
Bayt Jibrin and all of Palestine was conquered by theOttomans after their victory over the Mamluks during the 1516Battle of Marj Dabiq. Bayt Jibrin subsequently became part of thenahiya (subdistrict) ofHebron (al-Khalīl), which was part of thesanjak ("district") ofGaza.An Ottoman fiscal source from c. 1525-1528 mentions Beit Jibrin as one of the villages whose peasants had deserted.[60]
The Ottomans did not exercise strict control over their territories and tended to keep local leaders in their traditional positions as long as they complied with the higher authorities and paid imperial taxes.[10]
DuringSuleiman the Magnificent's reign, in 1552, the destroyed Crusader castle in Bayt Jibrin was partially rebuilt in order to protect the main road between Gaza and Jerusalem.[59] In 1596, the inhabitants of Bayt Jibrin, consisting of 50 Muslim families, paid taxes on wheat, barley andsesame seeds, as well as goats and beehives.[61]
In the 17th century, Bayt Jibrin may have absorbed residents from Khursa, whose village had been destroyed in an attack by the people of Dura.[62]
In the 19th century, Bayt Jibrin was theseat of the 'Azza family, who had ruled the area since migrating to Palestine from Egypt.[63]In the 1840s, after the Ottomans attempted to crush local leaders in theHebron Hills for their refusal to pay taxes, the 'Azza family joined a revolt against Ottoman rule. They had aligned themselves to the 'Amr clan of the Hebron-area village ofDura. Between 1840 and 1846, hostilities were raging between theQays and Yaman tribo-political factions in southern Palestine. The 'Azza and 'Amr families, part of the Qays confederation, were constantly clashing with the Yaman-alignedAbu Ghosh clan, who were based in the vicinity of Jerusalem.[64] In 1846, theshaykh (chief) of Bayt Jibrin, Muslih al-'Azza (known as the "giant of Bayt Jibrin"), the leader of the 'Amr clan, and other local leaders were exiled, but were allowed to return in the early 1850s.[65]
In 1855, the newly appointed Ottomanpasha ("governor") of thesanjak ("district") of Jerusalem,Kamil Pasha, attempted to subdue the rebellion in the Hebron region. Kamil Pasha marched towards Hebron with his army in July 1855, and after crushing the opposition, he ordered the localshaykhs to summon to his camp.[66]Several of theshaykhs, including the leader of the 'Amr clan and Muslih al-'Azza, did not obey the summons. Kamil Pasha then requested that theBritish consul in Jerusalem,James Finn, serve as an envoy and arrange a meeting with Muslih. Finn sent his vice-consul to assure Muslih of his safety in Hebron and convinced him to meet with Kamil Pasha. Muslih was well received in Hebron and returned to Bayt Jibrin escorted by twenty of the governor's men. Soon after, the Kamil Pasha paid a visit to Bayt Jibrin to settle affairs and collect the town's overdue taxes.[66][67]Kamil Pasha took an oath of loyalty from all the localshaykhs in the Hebron region, including those under the rule of Muslih al-'Azza.[66]
In 1838, American archeologistEdward Robinson identified Bayt Jibrin as the site of both ancient Eleutheropolis and ancient Bethgebrim.[68]He cited William of Tyre's reference to the Arabic name.[69]Later travelers who visited Bayt Jibrin during that time were very impressed both by theshaykh of Bayt Jibrin, as well as by his "castle" or "manor". At the time, the remains of the Crusader fortress still served for defensive purposes in the village.[70]According to Bayt Jibrin'sshaykh, in 1863, he was in command of 16 villages in the area and pledged "to provide as many as 2,000 men to the government if necessary."[71]In 1864, however, Muslih's brother told a traveler that Muslih and his property had been seized on "false charges of treason," and that he had been banished toCyprus and thenbeheaded.[72]
Socin found from an official Ottoman village list from about 1870 that Bayt Jibrin had a population of 508, with a total of 147 houses, though the population count included men, only.[73][74]
Bayt Jibrin's status began to decline throughout the 19th century. According to Western travelers it was "a small and insignificant village". The primary factors that contributed to the decline were the Bedouin raids on Bayt Jibrin's countryside villages, the 'Azza revolt, tribal warfare among the inhabitants of the towns and villages throughout Palestine and epidemics which struck the town and the nearby area.[64]
In 1896 the population ofBet dschibrin was estimated to be about 1,278 persons.[75]
TheBritish Army, primarily under the command of General Edmund Allenby, defeated theOttoman Empire in a series of successful operations in the Middle East, in World War I.[76]
Beit Jibrin stood 21 kilometers (13 mi) northwest ofHebron, the district capital during Mandate times.[10]
Bayt Jibrin resumed its role as an important town in the District of Hebron. The population was entirely Muslim, and had two schools, a medical clinic, a bus and a police station. The town's inhabitants cultivated grain and fruit, and residents from nearby towns flocked to its weekly market orsouk.[77] During the winter of 1920-1921 there was a severe outbreak of malaria. 157 villagers (one-sixth of the population) died with the mortality rate in the district reaching 68 per 1,000. Crops remained unharvested due to lack of people strong enough to work in the fields. The British authorities began a program of sealing open wells, improving drainage and distributingquinine across Palestine.[78][79]In the1922 census of Palestine conducted by theBritish Mandate authorities, Bayt Jibrin had a population of 1,420, all Muslim,[80]increasing the1931 census to 1,804, still all Muslim, in a total of 369 houses.[81]
On 10 January 1938, during thePalestinian Arab revolt of 1936-1939,J. L. Starkey, a well-known British archaeologist, was killed by a group of armed Arabs on the track leading from Bayt Jibrin to Hebron.[82]
In the1945 statistics, Bayt Jibrin had 2,430 Muslim inhabitants,[1] with a total of 56,185 dunams or 56.1 km2 (13,900 acres) of land.[2] Of this, 2,477 dunams were irrigated or used for plantations, 31,616 dunams used forcereals,[83]while 287 dunams (0.28 km2 (69 acres)) were built-up (urban) areas.[84] 98% of which was Arab-owned. The town's urban area consisted of 287 m2 (0.071 acres), with 33.2 km2 (8,200 acres) of cultivable land and 21.6 km2 (5,300 acres) of non-cultivable land. 54.8% of the town's land was planted with cereal crops, 6.2% with olives and 4.4% with irrigated crops.[2][84]
Bayt Jibrin was in the territory allotted to the Arab state under the 1947UN Partition Plan.[85]
The First Battalion of theEgyptian Army were ordered to take up position in Bayt Jibrin during the second half of May during the1948 Arab-Israeli War. At the same time,The New York Times correspondent reported that thousands ofJaffa's inhabitants had fled inland, including "large numbers" to the Bayt Jibrin area.[86]In October 1948, theIsraeli Army (IDF) launchedOperation Yoav, which differed from operations three months earlier, as the IDF was now equipped with aircraft, artillery, and tanks. On October 15–16, the IDF launched bombing andstrafing attacks on a number of towns and villages, including Bayt Jibrin.[87]According to Morris, the towns caught in the fighting were neither psychologically nor defensively prepared for aerial strikes, andIsraeli Air Force bombing of Bayt Jibrin on October 19 set off a "panic flight" of residents from the town.[88]
On October 23, aUnited Nations-imposed ceasefire went into effect, however, there was an IDF raid on the neighboring police fort on the night of October 24, which resulted in more villagers fleeing Bayt Jibrin.[89]Israeli troops from theGiv'ati Brigade then occupied Bayt Jibrin and its police fort on October 27.[89] In 2008, a former resident of the town who was eight months old at the time of the raid, described his family's ordeal as follows:
In the 1948 war, the village was attacked byIsraeli military units and bombed by Israeli aircraft. By that time, Beit Jibreen already hosted manyrefugees from neighboring villages. The fighting and bombing frightened the people. They escaped the fighting and sought shelter in the surrounding hills. [My] family found protection in a cave 5 km east of the village. They had left everything in their home, hoping to return after a few days when the attack would be over. TheIsraelis, however, did not allow them to return. Several men of Beit Jibreen were killed when they tried to go back.[90]
The village was located near the 1949 ceasefire line.
In 1949,kibbutzBeit Guvrin, was founded on the former village's lands.[4] The excavated areas of the successive Judahite, Hellenistic, Roman-Byzantine and Crusader towns have been included in theBeit Guvrin National Park with major points of attraction for tourists. There is little focus on any traces of Arab presence within the park, the period from the 7th century onward receiving little attention.[citation needed]
Today many of the excavated areas of Maresha and Beit Guvrin can be visited as part of theIsraeliBeit Guvrin-Maresha National Park. Furthermore, the Archaeological Seminars Institute, under the license of theIsrael Antiquities Authority, conducts excavations of Maresha's many quarried systems, and invites visitors to participate.[citation needed]
In 1838, the AmericanBible scholarEdward Robinson visited Bayt Jibrin, and identified it as ancient Eleutheropolis.[91]The remains of the city ofMaresha on Tell Sandahanna/Tel Maresha were first excavated in 1898-1900 byBliss andMacalister, who uncovered a planned and fortifiedHellenistic city encircled by a town wall with towers. Two Hellenistic and oneIsraelite stratum were identified by them on the mound. Between 1989 and 2000, large-scale excavations were held by theIsrael Antiquities Authority (IAA) under the direction of Prof.Amos Kloner and conducted mainly in the Lower City of Maresha, concentrating both on the surface and on the subterranean complexes. Excavations continued in several subterranean complexes between 2001 and 2008.[citation needed]
The largely preserved remains of the amphitheater built by theRomans were excavated by Kloner. Among other unique finds was a Roman bath that has been confirmed to be the largest in Israel and the Palestinian territories.[92] Many of the ancient city's olive presses,columbaria and water cisterns can still be seen. Less than 10 percent of the caves on Tel Maresha have been excavated.[93]
The ruins of threeByzantine-era churches are located in Bayt Jibrin. A church on a northern hill of the town, later used as a private residence, had elaborate mosaics depicting the four seasons which were defaced in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.[52] A church south of the town, known as Khirbet Sandahanna, was dedicated toSaint Anne. TheNew Testament does not give any information about the mother of theVirgin Mary, but the widely circulatedapocryphalGospel of James gives her name as Anne, and her birthplace as Bethlehem. In another Christian tradition though, Bayt Jibrin is the birthplace ofSaint Anne.[92]The initial Byzantine church was rebuilt by Crusaders in the 12th century. Today, theapse with its three arched windows and half-dome ceiling are still intact.[52]
The wider area of theShfela has been inhabited for much longer. Excavations were conducted by theIsrael Antiquities Authority (IAA) about 12 kilometres northeast from Bayt Jibrin at a site located on the samewadi, Nahal Guvrin, near moshavMenuha. The IAA has unearthed there artifacts from a village believed to be 6,500 years old, placing it at the end of the Stone Age or at the beginning of theChalcolithic or "copper-and-stone age". The finds include pottery vessels andstone tools, among them flint sickle blades, cultic objects, clay figurines of horned animals, ceramic spindle whorls and animal bones belonging to pigs, goats, sheep and larger herbivores. The inhabitants probably chose this area due to the arable land and copious springs flowing even in the rainless summer months. Archaeologists believe the villagers grew grain, as indicated by the sickle blades and the grinding and pounding tools, and raised animals that supplied milk, meat and wool, as attested to by the spindle whorls. The settlement was small in scope, approximately 1.5 dunams, but there is evidence of bartering, based on the presence ofbasalt vessels and other lithic objects brought to the site from afar.[94]
During the Roman period, Bayt Jibrin had a mixed population of Jews,Christians andpagans.[31] Under Muslim rule,Islam gradually became the dominant religion and by the 20th century, the entire population wasMuslim.[10]
In Ottoman tax records from 1596, the town had a population of 275 inhabitants. In the late 19th century its population reached 900, while in 1896 the population was estimated to be about 1,278 persons.[75] In 1912 it was estimated to be about 1,000,[95]and to 1,420 in the next decade.[80] According to the1931 census of Palestine, Bayt Jibrin's population was 1,804.[81] A 1945 land and population survey bySami Hadawi reported a sharp increase to 2,430.[2] The general growth pattern over every 9–11 years from 1912 to 1945 was around 400–500. In 1948, the projected population was 2,819.[96]
The number of refugees from Bayt Jibrin, including their descendants, was estimated to be 17,310 in 1998. Many live in the al-'Azza (also called Bayt Jibrin) and Fawwar camps in the southernWest Bank.[96]
Bayt Jibrin, together with Hebron and the surrounding villages, was known for its finePalestinian embroidery.[97]An example is a woman'sjillayeh (wedding dress)from Bayt Jibrin, dated about 1900, in theMuseum of International Folk Art (MOIFA) collection inSanta Fe, New Mexico. The dress is made of handwoven indigo linen with long, pointed wing-sleeves. Theqabbeh ("chest-piece") is embroidered with theqelayed pattern; themaya ("water") motif,el-ferraneh ("the bakers wife") pattern, and thesaru ("cypress") motif. The side panels are also covered with cross-stitch embroidery in a variety of traditional patterns.[98]
Also on show is a late 19th-centuryshambar (large veil) from Bayt Jibrin worn at weddings and festivals. It is made of embroidered handwoven black silk with a separate heavy red silk fringe.[99][100]A woman wore theshambar mainly on her wedding day, positioned so that when she covered her face the embroidered end would show. Another item in the collection is a headdress (iraqiyeh) embroidered with cross-stitch and decorated withOttoman coins minted in AH 1223 (1808), as well asMaria Theresa coins. Theiraqiyeh was worn by married women and elaborate pieces were passed down as family heirlooms. Long embroidered headbands made of cotton hanging from both sides were wrapped around the woman's braids to facilitate the bundling of her hair, then secured to the back of the headdress.[101]
In Islamic tradition, Bayt Jibrin is the burial place of thesahaba (companion) ofMuhammad,Tamim al-Dari,[10] who was famously known for his piety and briefly served as the governor of Jerusalem in the late 7th century. Al-Dari and his family were granted trusteeship over theHebron Hills, including Bayt Jibrin, and were assigned as the supervisors of theCave of the Patriarchs (Ibrahimi Mosque) in Hebron. Hismaqam or sanctuary is the most venerated site in Bayt Jibrin, located just northwest of it. Until the present day, al-Dari's sanctuary has been a place of local Muslim pilgrimage.[103]
Other Islamic holy sites in the village include themaqam of a localshaykh named Mahmud, and the tomb of ashaykha (female religious figure) named Ameina.[104]
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