Bani Na'im | |
|---|---|
| Arabic transcription(s) | |
| • Arabic | بني نعيم |
| • Latin | Kafr Barik (official) Bani Nu'aym (unofficial) |
  Bani Na'im Location of Bani Na'im withinPalestine | |
| Coordinates:31°30′58″N35°09′51″E / 31.51611°N 35.16417°E /31.51611; 35.16417 | |
| Palestine grid | 165/102 |
| State | Palestine |
| Governorate | Hebron |
| Government | |
| • Type | City |
| • Head of Municipality | Issa Hassan al-Khdour |
| Population (2017)[1] | |
• Total | 24,628 |
| Name meaning | Tribe of Na'im (or Nu'aym) |
| Website | Bani Na'im Municipality |
Bani Na'im (Arabic:بني نعيم,romanized: Banī Naʾīm,lit. 'children of bliss') is a town in the southernWest Bank located 8 kilometers (5.0 mi) east ofHebron in theHebron Governorate ofPalestine. It is situated at a higher elevation than most localities in the area, with an altitude of 951 meters (3,120 ft). The town is best known as the burial place ofLot, a fact already mentioned around 400 CE, when it was known as 'Caphar Barucha'. Following theMuslim conquest, its name was eventually Arabicized asKafr al-Burayk. The tomb ofLot was turned into a mosque duringIslamic rule and remained so underCrusader rule. Later, theArab tribe of Bani Nu'aym settled there, giving the town its current name, Bani Na'im, first used by Muslim scholarAbd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi in 1690.
During the late 1930s, the population took part in theArab Revolt against theBritish Mandate. Following the1948 Arab–Israeli War, the town came underJordanian rule. Since the1967 Six-Day War, Bani Na'imhas been occupied byIsrael; since 1995, it has been governed by thePalestinian National Authority (PNA). In 2017 the town had a population of 24,628.[1]
Biblical scholarEdward Robinson identified the site with theLatin placenameCaphar Barucha (Hebrew:כּפר בּרָכָה,romanized: Kp̄ar brāḵā,lit. 'Village of Blessing') mentioned byJerome (fl. around 400) in connection withAbraham andLot.[2] Jerome wrote thatPaula of Rome, departing fromHebron, stopped at the height of Caphar Barucha and looked upon the surrounding region, remembering Lot andhis sin.[2] According to Jerome, Abraham observed the destruction ofSodom and Gomorrah from that location.[2] The name Caphar Barucha sometimes appears in literature in the form Caparbaricha.[3]
Euthymius the Great established a monastery at Caparbaricha in 422; it is likely the ruins atEin el-Skhaniya.[4]
SeveralByzantine period stones that had beenreused in later structures have been found in the village. One is embedded in the mosque's surrounding wall and bears a broken cross. The mosque has possibly replaced an earlier church.[5]
Following theMuslim conquest of the Levant, the name of the village eventually took the Arabic formKafr Burayk, or in itsvernacular formKefr Breik orIbreik.[6]Ali of Herat passed through the village in 1173 CE, noting that it was near Hebron and the burial place of Lot.[7] Along with the town ofDura, Kafr Burayk became a part of thewaqf (endowment) for theIbrahimi Mosque (Cave of the Patriarchs) in Hebron on orders from theAyyubid ruler ofDamascus,al-Mu'azzam Isa, on 2 May 1215.[6] The 15th-century Muslim geographeral-Suyuti also acknowledged that Lot was buried in Kafr Burayk and that in a cave west of the village, beneath an oldmosque, laid "sixty prophets of whom twenty wereApostles". He noted that Lot's tomb was a site of "visitation and veneration from ancient times, the men of the age succeeding those who have gone before".[7]
Kafr Burayk was included in the Ottomantax registers of 1596, where it was listed in thenahiya of Khalil (Hebron) of theLiwa ofQuds (Jerusalem).[8] It had a population of 42 Muslim households who paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on various agricultural products, including wheat, barley, vineyards or fruit trees, grape syrup or molasses, and goats or beehives; a total of 10,500akçe.[8] For much of the latter half of Ottoman rule, the village was under the administration of theMutasarrifate of Jerusalem.[9]
The first known mention of the name 'Bani Na'im' was by the Muslim travelerAbd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi in 1690.[6] He wrote that the village had been known as 'Kafr al-Barik' and "now it is called Qaryat Bani Nu'aym in a diminutive form".[6] It received this name from theBedouins of Banu Nu'aym, also referred to as the Bani Na'im, who settled there after migrating from the vicinity ofPetra in theTransjordan.[6] Until the end of the 19th century, the early Arabic name was still known by the residents, as mentioned by Western travelers.[6]
The biblical scholarEdward Robinson visited Bani Na'im in 1838, noting that it was a village with amosque, "lying on very high ground, to which the ascent is gradual on every side, forming a conspicuous object to all the region far and near".[10] He noted that its homes were "built of large hewn stones" and that the inhabitants, like other peasants in the area, lived in the houses in autumn and winter and took up abode in tents and caves in the spring to tend their flocks and cultivate their grain fields.[11]
When the French travelerVictor Guérin visited in 1860, he found the village almost deserted since the population had left to live in tents as nomads to avoid military conscription.[12] He found them living in a tent village one kilometer away, ready to flee to the desert if an attempt was made to enlist them.[12] However, in 1874 thePalestine Exploration Fund'sSurvey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it as "a good-sized village" bordered by olive groves to the south and west with many structures built out of ancient materials.[6] The residences there were mostly one-story stone cabins. In their second visit in 1881, the SWP described Bani Na'im as well-cultivated with abundant flocks that grazed in desert areas east of the town.[13] The town was a major supplier of sand for theHebron glass industry.[14]
In 1924, under British Mandatory rule, the first government school in Bani Na'im was founded.[15] It joined the1936–39 Arab revolt as the site of a battle between the irregular Palestinian Arab forces ofAbd al-Qadir al-Husayni and theBritish Army.[16] In December 1937, British forces ordered the demolition of a house whose owners were accused of involvement in an anti-British incident near the town. They fined Bani Na'im'smukhtars (village headmen) 50British pounds and ordered the residents to carry 200 kilograms of explosives to the building for its demolition and watch the explosion as a deterrent measure.[17]
Palestinian Arab irregulars led by al-Husayni and his local deputy, Abd al-Halim Jawlani, battled the British Army in Bani Na'im in December 1938. According to British military accounts, a resident of Bani Na'im called for intervention when the rebels entered the town.[18] Israeli scholarHillel Cohen wrote thatFakhri Nashashibi, a political rival of al-Husayni, informed military authorities on three rebel units forcing Bani Na'im's largely pro-Nashashibi inhabitants to join the revolt.[19] The British promptly confronted a force of 100 irregulars. WithBritish Air Force assistance, al-Husayni's troops dispersed and fled east of Bani Na'im where they were pinned down. British forces killed 60 rebels and captured 15. One British soldier was killed.[18]
In the wake of the1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the1949 Armistice Agreements, Bani Na'im came underJordanian rule.
In June 1967, after theSix-Day War, the town came underIsraeli occupation along with the rest of theWest Bank.[16]
Both Bani Na'im and Hebron have grown massively during the late 20th century, practically merging into one inhabited area.[6]
In 1997, in the wake of the 1995Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, administrative control over Bani Na'im was transferred to the jurisdiction of thePalestinian National Authority (PNA). It concurrently became a municipality. Today, Bani Na'im serves as a commercial center for Hebron area villages, although most government services are in Hebron.[16]
In 1982, an 18-year-old resident of the town was shot and killed byJewish settlers from nearbyKiryat Arba.[20] In 1987, during theFirst Intifada, a committee against the Israeli occupation was set up in Bani Na'im.[21] In May 1988, two residents were killed by theIsraeli army (IDF) in the center of the town.[22] On August 31, 2010, four Israelis, two men and two women, were killed in aHamasdrive-by shooting on the road betweenKiryat Arba and Bani Na'im.[23] The attack was condemned by Israel and the PNA.[23] In October 2023, a 16-year old Palestinian, Munes Ziyadan, was fatally shot by the IDF.[24]
Bani Na'im houses the purported tomb ofLot, a prophet inIslam and a righteous person inJudaism andChristianity, in the center of the town.[25] The tomb is located within a rectangular mosque that contains an inner court andminaret. The lintel of the mosque's northern gate is built from stones dating to theByzantine era when a church had possibly stood. Lot's tomb was first mentioned bySaint Jerome, then by John of Wirtzburg in 1100, and Ali of Herat in 1173. While theCrusaders, who ruled the area from 1148 to 1187, were aware the tomb belonged to Lot, it remained a Muslim sanctuary.[26] In 1322, writerSir John Mandeville noted "two miles from Hebron, is the grave of Lot, Abraham's brother".[6]Ibn Battuta noted in 1326 that the tomb was covered by a "fine building" made of white stone and without columns.[26] Muslim writers al-Suyuti andMujir ad-Din wrote in the 15th and 16th centuries, respectively, that Lot was buried in Bani Na'im.[6]Tawfiq Canaan, a researcher of Palestinian popular heritage, described the golden embroidered writing on the red silk cloth covering the tomb as reading, "This is the tomb of prophet Lut, peace be upon him".[27]
Islamic-eraKufic inscriptions on the front entrance to the mosque state that the Muslim scholar Abdullah bin Muhammad declared:
… the hills, the plains, the buildings, the paths, the gardens, the trees and the passage that transverses it [Bani Na'im]" are an endowment "for the prophet Lot, the son of Haran brother of Ibrahim (Abraham), the friend of the Compassionate (Allah), may the blessings of Allah be upon them.[29]
According to Muslim tradition, Lot lived in Bani Na'im before moving to Sodom.[30] The shrine encasing the tomb was restored in 1410 by theMamluk sultanan-Nasir Faraj, son of SultanBarquq. The restoration work was entrusted by him to Shams al-Din al-Ansari, a member of the prominent Ansari family which specialized in religious endowments.[29]
The purported tomb of Lot's daughters are on an opposite hill nearby.[25] To the southeast of Bani Na'im is a separate shrine dedicated to Lot, known asMaqam an-Nabi Yaqin ('Shrine of the Truthful Prophet') Local legend claims Lot prayed at the site and that imprints of his feet in a rock there are visible.[31][30] According to Muslim and Christian tradition, Bani Na'im is the place where Abraham, after the departure of the angels, saw the smoke ofSodom and Gomorrah "rising as the smoke of a furnace".[25]
Bani Naim forms a generally rough rectangular layout, and widens in the northwest and southwest.[32] The town covers a mountainous area, with an average altitude of 958 meters (3,143 ft) above sea level. It is 7 kilometers (4.3 mi) to 8 kilometers (5.0 mi) southeast of Hebron, though the two localities have practically merged. The Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba is situated northwest of Bani Na'im, between it and Hebron. To its south lies the village ofHureiz and the town ofYatta, to the north areSa'ir andash-Shuyukh, whileHalhul and the forest of Hebron lie to the west. Bani Na'im's lands extend east to the mountains that overlook theDead Sea.[32]
Bani Na'im's total land area is about 157,000dunams, but the town's built-up area is roughly 2,500 dunams. The town itself is mostly located inArea A (Palestinian security and civilian administration) andArea B (Palestinian civil administration and Israeli military control.) The nearby town of ar-Rawa'in to the east is located within Bani Na'im's municipal jurisdiction and is under Area A. However, the Israeli settlement ofMa'ale Hever which was established in 1982, has a population of 400 and is also located within the Bani Na'im's municipal borders, comes under full Israeli control.[33] Most of Bani Na'im's lands (59.6%) fall under Area C, or full Israeli security and civilian administration.[34]
Average annual rainfall in Bani Na'im is 369 millimeters (14.5 in). The average temperature is 16 °C (61 °F) and the average annual humidity is 61%.[33]
An Ottoman village list of about 1870 showed that Bani Na'im had 67 houses and a population of 145, though the population count included only men.[35][36] In acensus conducted in 1922 by theBritish Mandate authorities, Bani Na'im had a population of 1,279 inhabitants, all Muslims,[37] rising to 1,646 Muslims, in 320 houses, according to the1931 census.[38] In the1945 statistics, it increased to 2,160 according to an official land and population survey.[39][40] UnderJordanian rule, in 1952, the population surged to 5,778, partly due to large numbers ofPalestinian refugees who settled in the town as a result of the1948 Arab-Israeli War. Later, the number of inhabitants declined due to the emigration of refugees from the town to other parts of the West Bank and Jordan. In 1961, the population of Bani Na'im was 3,392.[41] By 1967, there were 4,271 inhabitants, gradually increasing to 6,703.[32] In 1987, the population rose to roughly 7,600.[42] In the 1997 census by thePalestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), Bani Na'im had 13,535 inhabitants of whom 604 were refugees.[43] The gender distribution was 6,779 males and 6,756 females.[44]
In the 2007 census, there were 20,084 people living in the town and 217 in nearby Masaferet Bani Na'im which is located within the municipal jurisdiction. The gender makeup of Bani Na'im's population was 50.2% male and 49.8% female. There were 3,490 housing units and the average household size consisted of 6.5 family members.[16] Then, Bani Na'im accounted for 3.67% of the Hebron Governorate's population and the town is officially considered an urban area. The inhabitants areMuslims and the town contains 16mosques. The main families are al-Manasrah (the largest), Zeidan, Trayrah, Humeidat, Ubeid, Harahsheh and Amr.[33] The population grew to 24,498 in the 2017 census, of whom 843 had refugee status.[45]
Bani Na'im was established as avillage council in 1971. After most of the built-up areas of Bani Na'im were transferred to Area A giving the Palestinian National Authority full control of the town, amunicipal council was established on May 20, 1997. The first council was formed from the old members of the previous village council. The council was made up of seven members, while there were 18 municipal employees.[33]
The amount of municipal seats was expanded to 13 during thePalestinian municipal elections in 2005.[33] A local group, the Bani Na'im Martyrs list, won the most seats: five. The Al-Aqsa list won three seats, Independent lists also won three and theHamas-backed Reform and Change list won the remaining two seats. Gender-wise, females won two seats and males eleven. Issa Hassan al-Khdour, member of the Bani Na'im Martyrs, had the most votes (3,281), and thus became the head of the municipality.[46] In addition, the number of municipal employees increased to 30.[33]
The municipal borders of Bani Na'im extend beyond the town and include the following villages: Birin, ar-Rawa'in and Masaferet Bani Na'im. The latter is a grouping of the followinghamlets: Mantiqat al-Ein, Mantiqat as-Sahel, Mantiqat Qaber K'heil, Mantiqat Hilmi, Mantiqat al-Hamra, Mantiqat al-Qurun, Mantiqat al-Mathbah, Mantiqat as-Sweidat, Mantiqat Umm ar-Raqam and Khor Atara. Despite having a municipality, most official services are provided by the city of Hebron. However, Bani Na'im has a police station, a post office, and a local security office.[33]
Bani Na'im has 14 schools: 7 boys' schools, 5 girls' schools and 2 co-educational schools. The first school was established in 1929. Consisting of one classroom, the enrollment at the time did not exceed 20 female and male students and the highest grade level was the fourth grade.[32] According to the 2017 census, 96% of the population was literate; most of the illiterate population was female. A total of 3,908 students were in elementary school, 5,050 in preparatory school, and 3,194 in high school. 2,404 people had college diplomas.[47]
Most of Bani Na'im's health facilities are privately owned. The town has a maternity hospital, five health clinics, three dental clinics and a physiotherapy center. ThePalestinian Ministry of Health runs a childcare center and medical lab in the town, while an additional health center and an x-ray center are run by a charitable society. In addition, there are five pharmacies in Bani Na'im. In 2009, the town had one ambulance; residents travelled to Hebron for emergency treatment.[33]
Bani Na'im serves as a commercial center in the Hebron area. Approximately 50% of the labor force is engaged in the industrial and civil service sector. About 20% are employed in the Israeli labor market while 19% work inagriculture. Economic enterprises include four stone-cutting factories, a brick factory, a textile factory, an olive press, eleven metal workshops, four carpentry workshops, seven butcher shops, 13 clothing stores, and 110 other shops.[33]
Decline in market demand combined with movement restrictions imposed by the Israeli military have led to a deterioration of the local economy, particularly in the trade and the stone-cutting industries.[33] In 2017, unemployment reached 13.6%.[48] Consequently, many unemployed persons began looking into agriculture to earn income. The most cultivated crops are grains, especially barley, followed bylentils andchick peas. A sizable segment of the population raise livestock and 10% breed their own domestic animals. In total, there are 144 cows, 7,000 goats, 14,000 sheep, and 500 beehives.[33] Much of the town's agricultural products are sold in Hebron.[32][33]
In 2017, there were 4,071 buildings in Bani Na'im, of which 3,301 were houses and 580 were solely working establishments.[49] Pipe water reaches more than 95% of the residents. The water pipe line, 2.5 kilometers (1.6 mi) in length, is linked to the main water supply of theIsraeli settlement ofEfrat, south ofBethlehem. Around 9 kilometers (5.6 mi) of main and sub lines were recently repaired. The cost of this project was roughly one millionNIS.[33]
In 1994, Bani Na'im was linked to the electricity grid and the municipality installed street lights. Before then, generators operated for five hours daily at most and for house use only.[32]
| Cities |
|   |
|---|---|---|
| Towns | ||
| Villages |
| |
| Refugee camps | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
