Farwana فرونه Khirbet Farwana, Rohob, Rehob, Tel Rehov | |
|---|---|
| Etymology: Tellûl Farwanah, the mounds of Farwannah, p.n.[1] | |
.jpg) 1870s map.jpg) 1940s map.jpg) modern map.jpg) 1940s with modern overlay mapA series of historical maps of the area around Farwana (click the buttons) | |
  Farwana Location withinMandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates:32°27′47″N35°29′37″E / 32.46306°N 35.49361°E /32.46306; 35.49361 | |
| Palestine grid | 196/207 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Baysan |
| Date of depopulation | 11 May 1948[4] |
| Area | |
• Total | 4,996dunams (4.996 km2; 1.929 sq mi) |
| Population (1945) | |
• Total | 330[2][3] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Military assault byYishuv forces |
| Current Localities | Rechov[5]Chawwat Eden[5] |
Farwana (Arabic:فرونه), was aPalestinian village, located 4.5 kilometers (2.8 mi) south ofBisan, depopulated in 1948.
Thetell, or archaeological mound, ofTell es-Sarem (Arabic name) orTel Rehov (Hebrew name) is located on the former village's lands.[citation needed] The tell, which stands about 800 metres southeast of the village site,[6] has been identified with the ancientCanaanite andIsraelite city ofRehov.[7] It was one of the largest cities in the region during the LateBronze Age (1550–1200 BCE) andIron Age I-IIA (1200–900 BCE).[7] During the Late Bronze Age,Egypt ruled overCanaan, and in this time period Rehov was mentioned in at least three sources dated between the 15th-13th century BCE, and again in thelist of conquests ofPharaohShoshenq I, whose campaign took place around 925 BCE.[7]
During theByzantine period, aJewish town that preserved the old name in the form ofRohob, stood one kilometre northwest of Tel Rehov, at Khirbet Farwana/Horbat Parva and was mentioned byEusebius as being on the fourth mile from Scythopolis, modern-dayBeit She'an/Bisan.[7]
Identification of Tell es-Sarem/Tel Rehov with ancient Rehob was based on the preservation of the name at the nearbyIslamic holy tomb of esh-Sheikh er-Rihab (one kilometre to the south of Tel Rehov), and the existence of the ruins of Byzantine-period Rohob one kilometre northwest of Tel Rehov.[7] The name of the excavation site of Rohob is given asKhirbet Farwana (khirbet meaning "site of ruins" in Arabic) andHorbot Parva ("Parva Ruins" in Hebrew).[7][8]
Archaeological work at Farwana proper has also exposed pottery and other finds from theIron Age, thePersian,Hellenistic,Roman, Byzantine,Early Islamic,Crusader,Mamluk andOttoman periods.[6]
Remains of aByzantine-periodsynagogue from the fourth to the seventh century CE were found at Tulul Farwana ("mounds of Farwana").[6]
In 1517, Farwana was incorporated into theOttoman Empire with the rest of Palestine. In 1596, it appeared in Ottomantax registers asFarina, being in theNahiya of Gawr of theLiwa ofAjlun. It had a population of 80 households and 2 bachelors, allMuslim. The villagers paid taxes on wheat, barley, sesame, goats or beehives, and water buffaloes, in addition to "occasional revenues"; a total of 13,000akçe.[9]
In 1870Victor Guérin noted that the place was strewn with black stones, apparentlybasaltic.[10]
In 1882, thePEF'sSurvey of Western Palestine found atTellul Farwana "small mounds, apparently artificial."[11]
In the1922 census of Palestine, conducted inMandatory Palestine authorities, Farwaneh had a population of 84 Muslims,[12] increasing in the1931 census to 286, still all Muslims, in 72 houses.[13]
In the 1945 statistics, the population was 330 Muslims,[2] with a total of 4,996 dunams of land.[3] Of this, 42 dunams were for plantations or irrigable land, 3,847 for cereals,[14] while 11 were built-up (urban) land.[15]
Farwana had a population of over 300 people when it was depopulated in the lead up to the1948 Arab-Israeli war.[16] ItsArab inhabitants, along with those of the neighbouring village ofal-Ashrafiyya fled toJordan with the approach of the pre-stateYishuv forces of theGolani Brigade duringOperation Gideon on 11 May 1948.[16][17] The following day, the more than 72 houses that made up the village were completely destroyed.[16] Farwana's inhabitants never returned to the village, and they and their descendants make up one small part of the current population of more than 4 millionPalestinian refugees worldwide.
The Jewish Israelimoshav ofRechov (established in 1951) and the government field stationHavat Eden were established on the former lands of Farwana.[5]KibbutzEin HaNatziv was established in 1946 northeast of the village site, but on land belonging toBaysan, whileSdei Trumot, west of the village site, is on land belonging toAl-Samiriyya.[5]
In 1992 the village site was described: "The only remains of the village are the ruined walls and floors of houses. The site is overgrown with wild vegetation and contains an archeological dig. The lands around it are cultivated by Israelis."[5]
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