Beit Zayit
Beit Zayit
בֵּית זַיִת | |
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Etymology: House of Olives | |
Coordinates:31°46′58″N35°9′34″E/ 31.78278°N 35.15944°E | |
Country | ![]() |
District | Jerusalem |
Council | Mateh Yehuda |
Affiliation | Moshavim Movement |
Founded | 1949 |
Founded by | Egyptian,RomanianandYugoslav Jews |
Population (2022)[1] | 1,621 |
Website | www |
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/BeitZayitNov042021.jpg/250px-BeitZayitNov042021.jpg)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/46/BeitZayitReservoirJan222022_06.jpg/250px-BeitZayitReservoirJan222022_06.jpg)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/BeitZayitReservoirJan222022_04.jpg/250px-BeitZayitReservoirJan222022_04.jpg)
Beit Zayit(Hebrew:בֵּית זַיִת,lit. 'House of Olives') is amoshavinIsrael.Located just outside theJerusalemmunicipal border to the west, it falls under the jurisdiction ofMateh Yehuda Regional Council.In 2022 it had a population of 1,621.[1]
Beit Zayit lies on the edge of theJerusalem Forest.Nearby is a dam, built to collect winter flood waters[2]and create the Beit Zayit Reservoir, meant to slow down the flow of theSoreq Streamand allow water to seep into the Western Mountain Aquifer, a task it seems not to fulfill properly (lookherefor the Hebrew article).
Name
[edit]A village named Beit Zayit is mentioned in the Book[which?]of theMaccabees,but it is believed to have been further north, possibly at the site of the Palestinian Christian town ofBir Zeit,north ofRamallah.[2]
History
[edit]Beit Zayit was established after the1947-49 Arab-Israeli waron land that had belonged to the depopulatedPalestinianvillage of'Ayn Karim.[3]
The village was established in 1949 byJewish immigrantsfromEgypt,RomaniaandYugoslavia.The economy was based on fruit orchards, vegetables, poultry, and other farm products.[2]
With the expansion of the moshav in the late 1990s, including the purchase of land by newcomers and renovation of old homes, Beit Zayit became a trendy alternative to living in Jerusalem.[4]
Dinosaur footprints
[edit]In 1962,dinosaurfootprints were discovered in the garden of one of Beit Zayit's residents, and are on display at theHebrew University of Jerusalem.[5]This is the only place in Israel where evidence of dinosaurs was discovered, and one of few such sites in the Middle East.[6]
In popular culture
[edit]In the Israeli TV showFauda,the village is visited by the main characters since one of the characters, Yaara, lives there.[7]
References
[edit]- ^ab"Regional Statistics".Israel Central Bureau of Statistics.Retrieved21 March2024.
- ^abcBard, Mitchell G.(2016)."Bet Zayit".Jewish Virtual Library.American–Israeli Cooperative Enterprise.RetrievedMay 2,2019.
- ^Khalidi, W.(1992).All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948.Washington D.C.:Institute for Palestine Studies.p. 273.ISBN0-88728-224-5.
- ^Steinberg, Jessica (2 January 2009)."Posh Israeli suburb grows out of a farming co-op".The New York Times.RetrievedMay 2,2019.
- ^Sofer, Barbara (1995).Kids Love Israel, Israel Loves Kids: A Travel Guide for Families.Kar-Ben Publishing. p. 103.ISBN9780929371894.
- ^Feinberg Vamosh, Miriam (16 September 2013)."Way Before the Flood: Dinosaur Tracks by Jerusalem".Haaretz.Retrieved2 May2019.
- ^"Fauda: Season 3, Episode 12 script".Subs Like Script.Retrieved18 April2023.
External links
[edit]- Village website(in Hebrew)