Khulda خُلدة Khuldeh | |
|---|---|
 The largest remaining house in Khulda | |
| Etymology: "the perpetual"[1][2] | |
.jpg) 1870s map.jpg) 1940s map.jpg) modern map.jpg) 1940s with modern overlay mapA series of historical maps of the area around Khulda (click the buttons) | |
  Khulda Location withinMandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates:31°49′10″N34°54′14″E / 31.81944°N 34.90389°E /31.81944; 34.90389 | |
| Palestine grid | 141/136 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Ramle |
| Date of depopulation | April 6, 1948[5] |
| Area | |
• Total | 9,461dunams (9.461 km2; 3.653 sq mi) |
| Population (1945) | |
• Total | 280[3][4] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Military assault byYishuv forces |
| Current Localities | Mishmar David[6] |
Khulda (Arabic:خُلدة), alsoKhuldeh, was aPalestinian Arab village located 12 kilometers (7.5 mi) south ofRamla in theMandatory Palestine. Known asHuldre to theCrusaders, it is also mentioned in documents dating to the periods of Mamluk, Ottoman, and Mandatory rule overPalestine. During the1948 war, the village was depopulated as part ofOperation Nachshon and was subsequently destroyed. TheIsraeli kibbutz ofMishmar David was established that same year on land belonging to the village.
Khulda lay close to a highway connectingGaza to the Ramla-Jerusalem highway.[7] During theCrusades, the village was known asHuldre. Situated 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) west-south-west ofImwas, prior to the 12th century CE, it lay on the border between the Greek archbishopric ofLydda and the ecclesiastical division ofEmmaus, the latter of which was governed directly by archpriest of thePatriarch of Jerusalem.[8]
During the period ofMamluk rule overPalestine,Mujir al-Din al-'Ulaymi narrates how the under-Governor ofRamleh in 1495 had to take refuge against maraudingBedouin in a small fort which then existed at Khulda.[9][10]
Khulda, like the rest ofPalestine, was incorporated into theOttoman Empire in 1517 and in 1596, it formed part of thenahiya ("subdistrict") ofRamla, in theliwa of Gaza. It had a population of 12 households, an estimated sixty-six persons, allMuslim. They paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, beehives, and goats, in addition to occasional revenues; a total of 4,500akçe.[11]
WhenEdward Robinson passed by in 1838, he described Khulda as "a large village" on a hill.[12] It was also noted as aMuslim village in the southern area in the District ofEr-Ramleh.[13]
In 1863Victor Guérin noted a village with two hundred and fifty inhabitants, situated on a plateau.[14]
An official village list of about 1870 showed that the village had 28 houses and a population of 76, though the population count included only men.[15][16]Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau visited Khulda in 1871, and was told by the inhabitants that the village used to be surrounded by a fortified wall, two gates of which were still supposed to bein situ. Clermont-Ganneau noted that this agreed well with what Mujir al-Din had written about the place.[17]
In 1882, thePEF'sSurvey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Khulda as a large village, built of stone and mud, situated on a hill. The village had a masonrywell to the east.[18]
During British rule overMandate Palestine, ten labourers from Khulda worked gratis for theJewish National Fund on the Khulde drainage project, most of which took place on the Arab village's lands.[19] The project, like others of its kind was essential to Jewish settlement in Palestine, as malaria had impeded permanent settlement at JewishKhulde in 1921.[20]
In the1922 census of Palestine,Khulda had a population of 53 inhabitants, allMuslims,[21] increasing in the1931 census to 178, still all Muslims, in 29 inhabited houses.[22]
The villagers maintained amosque and there were twowater wells for domestic use.[7] Villagers in Khulda were engaged in the rearing of animal livestock. TheLydda District had one of the largest animal markets in Palestine, alongside that of theNazareth District; however, starvation was a common affliction among the herds in the former in the 20th century, and the herd at Khulda was described as 'a typical specimen of extreme debility'.[23]
In the1945 statistics, the population had grown to 280 Muslims,[3] with a total of 9,461dunams of land.[4] Of this, a total of 8,994 dunums were used forcereals, 9 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards,[24] while 8 dunams were classified as built-up public areas.[25]
Prior to the outbreak of the1948 Arab-Israeli war, Khulda was conquered by Jewish forces on April 6, 1948 duringOperation Nachshon.[26] On April 20, 1948 it was leveled by bulldozers.[26]
KibbutzMishmar David was established in 1948, about 0.5 km (0.31 mi) west of the village site, on village land.Tal Shachar is nearby, about 2 km (1.2 mi) south of the village site, but it is not on village land.[7]
Andrew Petersen, an archaeologist specializing inIslamic architecture visited Khulda in 1993, and notes that the remains of at least four stone buildings can be seen, although only two of them are standing. The first of these is a rectangular structure (12 m (39 ft) x 6.5 m (21 ft)) with two separate rooms, each with its own entrance. Each door is flanked with two large windows. Both doors and windows are covered withlintels, above which is arelieving arch. An inscription above one of the doors have been removed. The roof is made with irongirders, with reinforced concrete, while the walls are dressedlimestone. According to Petersen, the building must have served some public purpose, and it probably dates from the final years of the Ottoman rule, or the earlyBritish Mandate of Palestine period.[27]
The second building stands north of first one, and is about half in size (6 m x 6 m). The roof is made in the same manner as the first house. The walls are made of boulders and rubble stone, joined together with mud mortar. A shallow niche in the south wall might be amihrab. The walls are decorated with stencilled friezes of palm tree andpalmettes in blue-green. A barely legible inscription above the door gives a 14th-centuryAH (late 19th-century CE) date.[27]
