Dayr Aban دير آبان | |
|---|---|
 Entrance to a house in Dayr Aban | |
| Etymology: The Monastery of Aban[1] | |
.jpg) 1870s map.jpg) 1940s map.jpg) modern map.jpg) 1940s with modern overlay mapA series of historical maps of the area around Dayr Aban (click the buttons) | |
  Dayr Aban Location withinMandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates:31°44′33″N35°00′34″E / 31.74250°N 35.00944°E /31.74250; 35.00944 | |
| Palestine grid | 151/127 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Jerusalem |
| Date of depopulation | October 19–20, 1948[4] |
| Area | |
• Total | 22,734dunams (22.734 km2; 8.778 sq mi) |
| Population (1945) | |
• Total | 2,100[2][3] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Military assault byYishuv forces |
| Current Localities | Tzora,[5]Mahseya,[5]Beit Shemesh,[5] andYish'i[5] |
Dayr Aban (also spelledDeir Aban;Arabic:دير آبان) was aPalestinianArab village in theJerusalem Subdistrict, located on the lower slope of a high ridge that formed the western slope of a mountain, to the east ofBeit Shemesh. It was formerly bordered by olive trees to the north, east, and west. The valley,Wadi en-Najil, ran north and south on the west-side of the village.
The village is associated with the biblical site ofEben-Ezer.[6][7][8] The prefix "Dayr" hints at a historicalmonastery.[9] EarlyOttoman records document a mixed Christian and Muslim population.[10] However, by the 17th century, historical records highlights a communalconversion to Islam.[9] Nonetheless, traditions linked to the village's Christian past persisted in later periods.[11][12][13][14]
Dayr Aban was depopulated during the1948 Arab-Israeli War on October 19, 1948, duringOperation Ha-Har.[15][16] It was located 21 km west ofJerusalem. Today there are over 5000 people originally from Deir Aban living in Jordan.
In pre-Roman and Roman times the settlement was referred to as "Abenezer", and may have been the location of thebiblical siteEben-Ezer.(1 Samuel 4:1–11).[6][7][8]
The name Dayr indicates that this was the site of a Christianmonastery.[9]
In 1596, Dayr Aban appeared inOttomantax registers as being in theNahiya of Quds of theLiwa ofQuds. It had a population of 23 Muslim households and 23 Christian households;[10] that is, an estimated 127 persons.[17] They paid a fixed tax rate of 33,3% on agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, olives, and goats or beehives; a total of 9,700Akçe.[10]
In the 17th century, the inhabitants of Dayr Aban collectivelyconverted to Islam, an unusual event within the Middle East during the Ottoman period. Jerusalem court records document four related conversion certificates. The earliest, dated 1635, records the conversion of a person named Gimʿa bin Dāfir. Subsequently, in 1649-1650, three additional certificates were issued. Two, from September 5, 1649, concern individuals named Rabīʿa and Nāṣir bin Manṣūr. Later, on March 7, 1650, a communal conversion of all Dayr Abān's residents was documented. The document lists both the original and new names of the converts, along with a note indicating the entire village's conversion.[9]
In 1838,Deir Aban was noted as aMuslim village, located in the el-Arkub District, south west ofJerusalem.[18]
Victor Guérin described it in 1863 as being a large village, and its adjacent valley "strewn with sesame."[19] An Ottoman village list from about 1870 found that the village had a population of 443, in a total of 135 houses, though the population count included men, only.[20][21]
In 1883, thePEF'sSurvey of Western Palestine described Dayr Aban as "a large village on the lower slope of a high ridge, with a well to the north, and olives on the east, west, and north. This place no doubt represents the fourth century site of Ebenezer(I Sam. IV. I) which is mentioned in the Onomasticon (s.v. Ebenezer) as near Beth Shemesh. The village is 2 miles east of 'Ain Shems."[8]
Baldensperger, writing in 1893, stated that the village's residents had beenGreek Orthodox until theyconverted to Islam at a "very recent date [...] perhaps it was about the beginning of this century". He noted that the Christians ofBeit Jala and the citizens of the village continue to share the same names, and added that the village's original GreekNew Testament is still kept in the church in Beit Jala.[13][12] In another article, he mentioned that women in Dayr Aban have smallcrosses tattooed on their foreheads.[22]Yitzhak Ben-Zvi mentioned a local tradition according which elderly Muslim women at Dayr Aban preserved old miniature crosses.[14]H. Stephan wrote thatpersecutions brought Christians from Dayr Aban to seek refuge at Beit Jala andRamallah, where they stayed in touch with family members that continued to live in the village as Muslims.[11][12]
In 1896, the population ofDer Aban was estimated to be about 921 persons.[23]
In the1922 census of Palestine, conducted by theBritish Mandate authorities, Dayr Aban had a population of 1,214 inhabitants, allMuslims,[24] increasing in the1931 census to 1,534 inhabitants, in 321 houses.[25]
In the1945 statistics, the village had a total population of 2,100 Arabs; 10 Christians and 2,090 Muslims,[2] with a total of 22,734dunums of land.[3] Of this, Arabs used 1,580 dunams for irrigable land or plantations, 14,925 forcereals,[26] while 54 dunams were built-up (urban) Arab land.[27]
Dayr Aban had a mosque and a pipeline transporting water from 'Ayn Marjalayn, 5 km to the east.[5] The village contains three khirbats:Khirbat Jinna'ir,Khirbat Haraza, andKhirbat al-Suyyag.[5]
On 4 August 1948, two weeks into theSecond truce of the1948 Arab–Israeli War,Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestinian nationalistAmin al Husseini noted that ‘for two weeks now . . . the Jews have continued with their attacks on the Arab villages and outposts in all areas. Stormy battles are continuing in the villages ofSataf, Deiraban,Beit Jimal,Ras Abu ‘Amr,‘Aqqur, and‘Artuf . . .’[15]
The village became depopulated on 19–20 October 1948, after a military assault duringOperation Ha-Har.[4][16][28] Through the second half of 1948, theIDF, underBen-Gurion’s tutelage, continued to destroy Arab villages, including Dayr Aban on 22 October 1948.[29]
After the war, the ruin of Dayr Abban remained under Israeli control under the terms of the1949 Armistice Agreement[30] between Israel andJordan, until such time that the agreement was dissolved in 1967.[31][32]
Themoshav ofMahseya was later established near the site of the old village,[33] on the land of Dayr Aban, as wasTzora,Beit Shemesh andYish'i.[5]
The prefix "Dayr" which appears in many village names is of Aramaic and Syriac-Aramaic origin, and has the connotation of "habitation," or "dwelling place," usually given to places where there was once a Christian population, or settlement of monks. In most cases, a monastery was formerly built there, and, throughout time, the settlement expanded.[34] Dayr Aban would, therefore, literally mean, "the Monastery of Aban."[1]
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