Isdud / Esdud اسدود | |
|---|---|
Former village | |
.jpg) Isdud, pre-1914 | |
  Isdud / Esdud Location withinMandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates:31°45′13″N34°39′42″E / 31.75361°N 34.66167°E /31.75361; 34.66167 | |
| Palestine grid | 118/129 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Gaza |
| Date of depopulation | 28 October 1948[1] |
| Area | |
• Total | 7,391dunams (7.391 km2; 2.854 sq mi) |
| Population (1945) | |
• Total | 4,910 |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Military assault byYishuv forces |
| Secondary cause | Fear of being caught up in the fighting |
| Current Localities | Sde Uzziyyahu,Shetulim,Bene Darom, andGan ha-Darom |
Isdud (Arabic:إسدود,romanized: ʾisdūd) was aPalestinian village in the region ofTel Ashdod that wasdepopulated in the1948 Arab-Israeli War. Khalidi says it may have had historic links to Azdud, a postal stop betweenal-Ramla andGaza,[2] and theancient city of Ashdod. The name appears in documents from the time ofMamluk-rule in the mid-15th century. In theOttoman period, there were 75 households. In 1922, it had a population of 2,566 (2,555 Muslims and 11 Christians) and in 1945, 4,620 Arabs and 290 Jews. During the 1948 war, the Arab inhabitants fled or were expelled.
Today, the village's ruins form part of theTel Ashdod archaeological site,[3] which lies within the jurisdiction of theBe'er Tuvia Regional Council.[4][5] The central village mosque stands at the top of the site, as does the khan and the tomb of Sheikh Abu Qubal.[6]
The name "Isdud" is a variant on the name ofancient Ashdod, which is first attested in the form of 11th century BCE Egyptian lists, where is it transcribed as "ísdd", which scholars have determined is derived from theLate Bronze Age Canaanite "'aṯdādu".[7]
In the Islamic period, the geographerIbn Khordadbeh referred to the city as "Azdud", echoing the pre-Hellenistic name.[2] By the 16th century, it had lost its initial vowel to become just "Sdud",[8] before regaining it by the 19th century as "Esdud,"[9] and then "Isdud."[10]
The ancient city of Ashdod rose to prominence in the 12th century BCE, when thePhilistines ruled the city asAsdadu and the city was a member of theirpentapolis, a group of five key cities.[11] alongsideAscalon,Gaza,Ekron andGath.
Asdûdu later led the revolt ofPhilistines,Judeans,Edomites, andMoabites againstAssyria,[12] before one ofSargon II's generals destroyed the city and exiled its residents, including someIsraelites who were subsequently settled inMedia andElam.[13][14] In 605 BCE,Babylonian kingNebuchadnezzar conquered it,[15] and in 539 BCE it was rebuilt by thePersians, before being conquered in 332 BCE byAlexander the Great.
During theHellenistic period, the city was known asΑzotus (Greek:Άζωτος) and prospered until theMaccabean Revolt, during whichJudas Maccabeus took the city and "laid it waste".[16][non-primary source needed] It was then ruled byAlexander Jannaeus of theHasmoneans,[16][non-primary source needed] before being made independent again by the Roman generalPompey.[16][non-primary source needed] In 55 BCE, the Roman generalGabinius also helped to rebuild Azotus.[16][17]
During the Byzantine period, Azotus was overshadowed byAzotus Paralios, a nearby port and the inland city's maritime counterpart. The 6th-centuryMadaba Map shows both under their respective names.[18]
The geographerIbn Khordadbeh (c. 820 – 912) referred to the inland city as "Azdud" and described it as a postal station betweenal-Ramla andGaza.[2]
12-centuryCrusaderchurch endowments and land deeds mention settlement in Azotum/Azdūd.[19]
Isdūd was very likely occupied without interruption starting in the 1200s CE.[20] During theMamluk period, Isdud was a key village along theCairo—Damascus road, which served as a center for rural religious and economic life.[19]
In theOttoman period, the location of the village of Isdud on the ancient "Via Maris" route preserved the village's importance. In the first Ottomantax register of 1526/7, the village had a population of 40Muslim households and fourbachelors, and it belonged to thenahiya of Gaza (Gaza Sanjak).[21] Sixteenth-century Ottoman fiscal registers from Isdūd document a diversified subsistence economy that included the cultivation of staple field crops such aswheat,barley, andsesame, alongside fruit tree planting, smalllivestock herding (sheep and goats), andapiculture.[22] By 1596 CE, the population of Ashdod (namedSdud) reached 75 households, about 413 persons, allMuslims. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 33,3% on wheat, barley, sesame and fruit crops, as well as goats and beehives; a total of 14,000Akçe.[23][8]
Marom andTaxel have shown that during the seventeenth to eighteenth centuries, nomadic economic and security pressures led to settlement abandonment around Majdal 'Asqalān, and the southern coastal plain in general. The population of abandoned villages moved to surviving settlements, while the lands of abandoned settlements continued to be cultivated by neighboring villages. Thus, Isdud absorbed the lands of Kharijat Isdud, an unidentified subsidiary settlement near Isdud mentioned in the Ottoman tax registers.[24]
In 1838,Esdud was noted as a Muslim village in the Gaza district.[9][25]
During the latter half of the nineteenth century CE, Isdud was organized into four distinct quarters, each led by aheadperson from one of the village's majorclans: the Da‘ālisa, Zaqqūt/Zaqāqita, Manā‘ima, and Jūda, which were further divided into smaller family groups. This division into quarters was a common feature of larger settlements in the region, also observed in neighboringHamāma andal-Majdal.[26]
In the late nineteenth century, Isdud was described as a village spread across the eastern slope of a low hill, covered with gardens. A ruinedkhan stood southwest of the village. Its houses were one-storey high with walls and enclosures built ofadobe brick. There were two main sources of water: a pond and a masonry well. Both were surrounded by groves of date-palm and fig-trees.[27]
Rimal Isdud, the coastalsand dunes of Isdud were cultivated using traditional Palestinian agricultural techniques adapted to sandy and shifting soils. Local farmers developed systems such as mawāsī (plot-and-berm cultivation), kurūm (vineyards), and basātīn (orchard gardens), which enabled sustainablefarming in ecologically marginallandscapes. These methods combined indigenous knowledge with environmental adaptation strategies, including the stabilization of dunes and the strategic planting ofdrought-resistant crops. Contrary tocolonial-era perceptions of the dunes as barren wastelands, recent studies have highlighted the productivity and ecological sophistication of these traditionalland-use practices, contributing to a broader reevaluation of Palestinian agrarian history in thesouthern Levant.[22]
In the1922 census of Palestine, conducted by theBritish Mandate authorities, Isdud had a population of 2,566 inhabitants; 2,555 Muslims and 11 Christians,[10] where the Christians were allCatholics.[28]
The population increased in the1931 census to 3,240; 3,238 Muslims and 2 Christians, in a total of 764 houses.[29]
During the Mandatory period, Isdud had two elementary schools; one for boys which was opened in 1922, and one for girls which started in 1942. By the mid-1940s the boy-school had 371 students, while the girl-school had 74.[30]
The officialVillage Statistics, 1945 for "Isdûd" gave a population of 4,620 Arabs and 290 Jews in a total land area of 47,871dunams [4,787.1 hectares (11,829 acres)].[31][32] Of this, 3,277 dunams were used citrus and bananas, 8,327 for plantations and irrigable land, 23,762 for cereals,[33] while 131 dunams were built-on land.[34]
In addition to agriculture, residents practicedanimal husbandry which formed was an important source of income for the town. In 1943, they owned 480 heads ofcattle, 117sheep over a year old, 50goats over a year old, 169camels, 18horses, 21mules, 328donkeys, 5790fowls, and 3079pigeons.[35]
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The village of Isdud was occupied by theEgyptian army on May 29, 1948, and became the Egyptians' northernmost position during the1948 Arab-Israeli War. While the Israelis failed to capture territory, and suffered heavy casualties, Egypt changed its strategy from offensive to defensive, thus halting their advance northwards.[36] Egyptian and Israeli forces clashed in the surrounding area, with the Egyptians being unable to hold theAd Halom bridge over theLachish River. Israeli forces surrounded the town duringOperation Pleshet, and shelled and bombed it from the air.[37] For three nights from 18 October theIsraeli Air Force bombed Isdud and several other locations.[38] Fearing encirclement, Egyptian forces retreated on October 28, 1948, and the majority of the residents fled.[39] The 300 townspeople who remained were driven southwards by theIsrael Defense Forces.[40][41] The village was part of territory that was granted to Israel in the1949 Armistice Agreements following the end of the war.
In 1950, twomoshavim,Sde Uziyahu andShtulim, were established to the east of Isdud, on village land.Bnei Darom (in 1949) andGan HaDarom (in 1953) were established north of Isdud, on village land.[42] The city ofAshdod was founded in 1956 4 kilometers (2.5 mi) north of Isdud.
In 1992, Isdud was reported as destroyed, with only a few ruined buildings including the village mosque remaining.[43]
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Four kilometres out of town and just west of Route 4, Tel Ashdod was the centre of the village of Isdud - ancient Ashdod - and site of the Philistine port. Get off the bus if you like old mounds, derelict Palestinian homes...
Tel Ashdod... Ancient tel, 7 km S. of modern Ashdod within abandoned Arab village of Isdud ...
