Dallata دلاّتة | |
|---|---|
| Etymology: from personal name[1] | |
.jpg) 1870s map.jpg) 1940s map.jpg) modern map.jpg) 1940s with modern overlay mapA series of historical maps of the area around Dallata (click the buttons) | |
  Dallata Location withinMandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates:33°01′19″N35°29′56″E / 33.02194°N 35.49889°E /33.02194; 35.49889 | |
| Palestine grid | 197/269 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Safad |
| Date of depopulation | Not known[4] |
| Area | |
• Total | 9,072dunams (9.072 km2; 3.503 sq mi) |
| Population (1945) | |
• Total | 360[2][3] |
| Current Localities | Dalton[5] |
Dallata (Arabic:دلاّتة) was anArab village, located on a hilltop 6 kilometers (3.7 mi) north ofSafad. Constructed upon an ancient site, it was known to the Crusaders asDeleha. Dallata was included in the late 16th centuryOttoman census and British censuses of the 20th century. Its inhabitants were primarily agriculturalists, with some involved in carpentry or trade.
Dallata was depopulated during the1948 Palestine war on around May 10, 1948 by the Palmach's First Battalion ofOperation Yiftach. Following the establishment ofIsrael, the Israeli locality ofDalton was established about 1 kilometer (0.62 mi) southwest of the village site.
Dallata was located on the upper slope of a hill, built on the ruins of an ancient occupied site.[6] Excavations have found remains of settlements and agricultural installation from theChalcolithic andEarly Bronze Age.[7] Tombs had been located in the vicinity.[8]
An excavation carried out in 2006 on a location halfway between the center of Dallata and the new Israeli settlement ofDalton, found alluvial soil that contained worn Late Roman and Byzantine potsherds.[9][10] Among the findings from Dallata is a marble column inscribed withHebrew andAramaic blessings, though only the ends of the lines remain. This column might have been part of a chancel screen within asynagogue.[11]
The village was referred to by theCrusaders asDeleha.[6]Mamluk remains have also been found.[7]
In 1517, the village was incorporated into theOttoman Empire with the rest of Palestine, and in 1596 the village appeared in thetax registers as being in thenahiya (subdistrict) of Jira (part ofSafad Sanjak), with an estimated population of 127. The inhabitants paid taxes onwheat,barley,olives,goats,beehives,vineyards, and a press for processing grapes or olives; a total of 4416Akçe.[12] All the inhabitants wereMuslim.[13][14]
In 1662, it was mentioned as a place of Jewish graves,[15][16] while in 1838Delata was noted as a village located in the Safad district.[16][17]
In 1875Victor Guérin visited, and noted that all the inhabitants were Muslim.[18] In 1881, thePEF'sSurvey of Western Palestine (SWP) noted the village had about 100 Muslim residents. There were a few gardens around the village, and water was supplied from a well and a birket.[19] The villagers worked primarily in agriculture throughout its history, and some worked in carpentry and trade.[6]
A population list from about 1887 showedDalata to have about 355 Muslim inhabitants.[20]
The 2006 excavation found a structure dating to the Late Ottoman Period.[9]
In the1922 census of Palestine conducted by theBritish Mandate authorities,Dallatha had a population of 204, all Muslims,[21] increasing in the1931 census to 256, still all Muslims, in a total of 43 houses.[22]
In the1945 statistics it had a population of 360, all Muslims,[2] with a total of 9072Dunams of land.[3] Of this, 3,651 was allocated tocereal, 302 were used for orchards,[6][23] while 36 dunams were classified as built-up (urban) land.[24] The village had a small school which had an enrollment of 37 students in 1945.[6]
Dallata was depopulated in the1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine. The Israeli historianBenny Morris writes that the date and cause of the depopulation is unknown,[4] whileWalid Khalidi assumes it was occupied some time after the fall of the district capital ofSafed, 10–11 May 1948. According to Khalidi, the indirect evidence points to the village being seized duringOperation Yiftach, and, in that case, it was probably one of the villages attacked in the latter stages of the operation, like neighboring'Ammuqa, which was occupied on 24 May.[6] The American historianRosemarie Esber reports that Dallata was one of the villages that locals fled to in the first days of May 1948, whenFir'im,Mughr al-Khayt andQabba'a were attacked with mortars by Israeli forces.[25] Esber gives the depopulation date as 10 May 1948, and the causes twofold: "Direct mortar attacks on civilians, siege, shooting at fleeing Arabs", and "Terror raids, house demolitions, sniping, hostage-taking, looting, destruction of crop and livestock".[26]
In 1950 after the 1948 war, the settlement ofDalton was established by the Israelis about 1 km southwest of the village site, on village land.[6]
The Palestinian historianWalid Khalidi described the village remains in 1992: "All that remains are the debris of the houses scattered across the site, partly covered by grass, shrubs, and trees. A few stone terraces on village land are still intact, and some olive trees still grow. About 1 km south of the site lies the Israeli settlement of Dalton."[6]
In 2000, a 117-page book was published about Dallata. Included in it was ten pages on the families of the village, listing the father and sons and where they were living in 2000.[27]
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