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Beitin

Coordinates:31°55′42″N35°14′18″E/ 31.92833°N 35.23833°E/31.92833; 35.23833
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For Bavarian Poker, seeBieten.For Beiting, seeRalph W. BeitingandBeiting Protectorate.
Beitin
Municipality type D (Village council)
Arabic transcription(s)
•Arabicبيتين
•LatinBaytin (official)
Bittin (unofficial)
Beitin, late 19th century, by Felix Bonfils
Beitin, late 19th century, byFelix Bonfils
Beitin is located in State of Palestine
Beitin
Beitin
Location of Beitin withinPalestine
Coordinates:31°55′42″N35°14′18″E/ 31.92833°N 35.23833°E/31.92833; 35.23833
Palestine grid172/148
StateState of Palestine
GovernorateRamallah and al-Bireh
FoundedEarly 19th century[citation needed]
Government
• TypeVillage council(from 1996)
• Head of MunicipalityDIAB YASIN
Area
• Total4,764dunams(4.8 km2or 1.9 sq mi)
Population
(2017)[1]
• Total2,242
• Density470/km2(1,200/sq mi)
5k
house of faithcorruption of the Hebrew "Bethel",[2]house ( "beth" or "beit" ) of God ( "el" )[3]

Beitin(Arabic:بيتين,romanized:Baytīn) is aPalestinianvillage in theRamallah and al-Bireh Governoratein the centralWest Bank,located 5 kilometers (3.1 mi) northeast ofRamallahalong theRamallah-Nablus road.The Palestinian village ofDura al-Qar'andEin Yabrudlie to the north,Rammunto the east,Deir Dibwanto the southeast andal-Birehto the southwest. TheIsraeli settlementofBeit Elis northwest of Beitin.

Beitin was established in the mid-19th century by settlers from the nearbyBurqa.[4]It stands on the site of the ancient town and biblical sanctuary ofBethel,[4][5][6]which was left abandoned after theCrusaderperiod. The area remained uninhabited until the lateOttomanperiod, when modern Beitin was founded.[4]

Geography

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There are several springs around Beitin, which is known for its olive,almond,figand plum groves.[7]

History

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Early history and archaeology

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Main article:Bethel

Beitin is identified with the ancient settlement ofBethel,and preserves its ancient name.[8][5][9]The site was first settled during theChalcolithicperiod.Sherdsfrom theEarly,Intermediate,MiddleandLate Bronze Age,as well as theIron AgeI and II, thePersian,Hellenistic,Roman,[10]theByzantine[10][11]andCrusader/Ayyubidperiods have been found.[10]At the ruins of the Crusader watchtower (al-Burj), residential remains from theMamluk periodwere discovered.[12]

According to theHebrew Bible,Bethel is whereJacobslept and dreamt of the angels coming up and down a ladder (Genesis 28:19).[13]Some scholars believe that Bethel was located on the site of the ruins surrounding Beitin.[14]According to Genesis,JacobencounteredGodnear Luz and renamed the placeBethelor "House of God." However, based on the biblicalBook of Joshua(Joshua 16:2), which saysmibBeit-el Luzah( "from Bethel to Luz" ), Luz and Bethel may have been two different places.[15]

In theHellenisticandRomanperiods, Bethel was mentioned in1 Maccabees,Josephus' writings, and in severalpatristictexts.[5]The town was garrisoned byBacchides(during theMaccabean revolt) and later byVespasian(during theFirst Jewish–Roman War).[16]InByzantinetimes, Bethel held annual festivals on October 18. The population wasEastern Orthodox Christianand monks from theSinai Peninsula,particularlyZosimas of Palestine,were known to have visited the town.[17]A church dating from the fifth century CE was found at the site.[16]

Bethel was abandoned after the 1187 defeat of the Crusaders at the hands ofSaladinand the ensuing destruction of Christian sites. It remained obscure and unmentioned by various sources from the 13th to the 19th century, includingYaqut,Mujir al-Din,and European travelers, likely indicating a state of ruin since the fall of theCrusader kingdom.[4]

Ottoman period

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The ruins ofBethelin the mid-19th century

Beitin was absent fromOttoman censusesof the 16th century. When visited byRobinsonin 1838 and Schwartz before 1845, it still lay in ruins. However, byGuérin's visit in 1863, it had become inhabited, with its residents originating from the nearbyBurqa.[4]

After Beitin was reestablished, the village came under the administration of theMutasarrif( "Governorate" ) of Jerusalem.[18]In the early 19th century, people fromTransjordanand other places migrated to Beitin[19][20]and built amosquenear the site of the old church.[21]

In 1838 Edward Robinson notedBeitinas a place "in ruins or deserted," located immediately north of Jerusalem.[22][23]

In 1863 Victor Guérin found the village to have 400 inhabitants,[24]while an Ottoman village list from around 1870 showed that Beitin had an adult male population of 140, in a total of 55 houses (thus excluding women and children).[25][26]

In 1882 thePEF'sSurvey of Western Palestinedescribed Beitin as a village "built on the side of a flat spur which rises slightly on the north. On the south-east is a flat dell, with good fig andpomegranategardens, and there are other fig-trees round the village and among the houses. The cottages have a ruinous appearance, with rough stone walls. There is one square white house in two stories, which is visible from a great distance. The ground is very open, and the slopes gentle; the village slopes down gradually south-east. The surrounding ground is quite bare of trees, of whitechalk,very barren and stony on the south; of hardlimestonecropping up on the north; the fields divided off by low drystone walls. The contrast of the grey rocks, the red ploughland and the dark green figs is very striking. The remains of a good-sized tower exist towards the north, and on the south the walls of a church ofCrusadingdate, once dedicated toSt. Joseph.The population is stated at 400. The place is supplied from a fine spring on the south, which wells up in a circular basin. The spring is double, and was surrounded with a large reservoir, 314 feet long north-west and south-east, by 217 feet; of massive stones. The eastern and southern walls are standing about 10 feet high. The spring isperennial... "[27]

In 1896 the population ofBetinwas estimated to be about 360 persons.[28]

In 1907, small gardens and a few old tombs were found in the vicinity, and the Muslim population was known for its strength and fearlessness.[29]

British Mandate period

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Young people in Beitin, ca 1925-30, postcard byKarimeh Abbud

In the1922 census of Palestineconducted by theBritish Mandate authorities,Baitinhad a population of 446; allMuslims,[30]increasing at the time of the1931 censusto 566, still all Muslim, in 135 houses.[31]

In the1945 statisticsthe population was 690 Muslims,[32]while the total land area was 4,764dunams,according to an official land and population survey.[33]Of this, 1,348 were allocated for plantations and irrigable land, 1,853 for cereals,[34]while 38 dunams were classified as built-up areas.[35]

Jordanian period

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In the wake of the1948 Arab–Israeli War,and after the1949 Armistice Agreements,Beitin came underJordanianrule.

In 1961, a Jordanian census found the population to be 1,017.[36]

Post-1967

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After theSix-Day Warin 1967, Beitin has, with the rest of the West Bank, been held underIsraeli occupation.The population in the 1967 census conducted by the Israeli authorities was 958, of whom 134 originated from the Israeli territory.[37]

After the1995 accords,19,1% of the village land is classified asArea B,while the remaining 80.9% is defined asArea Cland (full Israeli control). Beitin village land has also been taken in order to construct the illegal Israeli outpostGivat Asaf.[38][39]

On 19 December 2011,Israeli settlerswere accused of carrying out a secondprice tag attackin only four days, in which five Palestinian-owned cars were burnt and the walls of several houses were sprayed with graffiti.[40]During the first incident (15 December 2011), the assailants not only vandalized a mosque, but also attacked anIDFmilitary base in the West Bank, injuring a top Israeli commander.[41]According to witnesses of the second incident, the Israeli army dispersed the settlers without arresting any of them,[40]presumably also those who attacked the Israeli commander, although four days earlier the incident had prompted Israeli Prime-Minister,Benjamin Netanyahu,to say: "We won't let them attack our soldiers. We won't let them ignite a religious war with our neighbors. We won't let them desecrate mosques. We won't let them harm Jews or Arabs."[41]

Landmarks

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Church ruins

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The ruins of the Byzantine church are known in Arabic as "al-Muqater" or "Khirbet al-Kenise" ( "Ruins of the Church" ).[19][42]According toRöhricht,when theCrusadersarrived, they found a ruined church. They built another and placed it first under the Abbey ofSt. Joseph of Arimathea,later under the Canons of theHoly Sepulcher.[19][43]The ruins of the church were drawn in the 1880s.[44][45]

Tower ruins ( "al-Burj" )

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Ruins of al-Burj, 1935

Another ruin, called "al-Burj Beitin" ( "the Tower of Beitin" ) or simplyal-Burjis located in the western part of the village.[19]They were also drawn in the 1880s.[46]The ruins of the Burj are about 1 meter tall, and apparently built on the older ruins of aByzantinemonastery.[47]Some have believed that it was constructed on the site whereAbrahambuilt analtar.[21][48]According to biblical scholarEdward Robinsonwho visitedPalestinein the 19th century, al-Burj Beitin consisted of dilapidated stones that used to form part of a fortress and a Greek church.[22]Al-Burj was used as a watch tower by the Crusaders.[19]

Demographics

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Roadside view of Beitin, 2011

In 1997,Palestinian refugeesaccounted for exactly 30% of the population, which was 1,510 at the time.[49]

According to thePalestinian Central Bureau of Statistics(PCBS), Beitin had a population of over 3,050 inhabitants in 2006.[50]In 2007, a PCBS census recorded a population of 2,143 (1,128 men and 1,015 women). There were 717 homes in the village and the average household size consisted of 4.9 family members.[51]

References

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  1. ^"Main Indicators by Type of Locality - Population, Housing and Establishments Census 2017"(PDF).Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics(PCBS).Retrieved2021-01-19.
  2. ^Palmer, 1881, p.226
  3. ^Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 2, pp.128-129
  4. ^abcdeElitzur, Yoel (2004).Ancient Place Names in the Holy Land: Preservation and History.Jerusalem; Winona Lake, Virginia: The Hebrew University Magness Press; Eisenbrauns. pp. 59–60.
  5. ^abcAvi-Yonah, Michael (1976)."Gazetteer of Roman Palestine".Qedem.5:38.ISSN0333-5844.
  6. ^Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 2, pp.125-130.
  7. ^"Palestinian Cultural Sites: Beitin-Ramallah".Jerusalem Media and Communications Center (JMCC). Archived fromthe originalon 2007-03-10.Retrieved2011-12-19.
  8. ^Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 2, pp.125-130.
  9. ^Elitzur, Yoel (2004).Ancient Place Names in the Holy Land: Preservation and History.Jerusalem; Winona Lake, Virginia: The Hebrew University Magness Press; Eisenbrauns. pp. 59–60.
  10. ^abcFinkelstein and Lederman, 1997, p. 518
  11. ^Dauphin, 1998, p. 835
  12. ^Keio University,Archaeological Excavations and Development of Resources for Tourism at Beitin (Bethel),website of the Japan Consortium for International Cooperation in Cultural Heritage Independent Administrative Instituti. Accessed 15 April 2019.
  13. ^Easton, 1893, p.94
  14. ^Trisdam, 1865, pp.164-166
  15. ^Luza, also Bethel - (Beitin)Archived2013-10-03 at theWayback MachineStudium Biblicum Franciscanum - Jerusalem. 2000-12-19.
  16. ^abAvi-Yonah, Michael (1976)."Gazetteer of Roman Palestine".Qedem.5:38.ISSN0333-5844.
  17. ^Luza, also Bethel - (Beitin)Archived2013-10-03 at theWayback MachineStudium Biblicum Franciscanum - Jerusalem. 2000-12-19.
  18. ^"Palestinian Places: Beitin".Jerusalem Media and Communications Center (JMCC).Retrieved2011-12-19.
  19. ^abcdeLuza, also Bethel - (Beitin)Archived2013-10-03 at theWayback MachineStudium Biblicum Franciscanum - Jerusalem. 2000-12-19.
  20. ^Lutfiyya, 1966, p.36
  21. ^abVisit Palestine: BittinVisit Palestine.
  22. ^abRobinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 2, pp.125-130.
  23. ^Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p.122
  24. ^Guérin, 1869, pp.14-26
  25. ^Socin, 1879, p.148.It was noted in the Bire District
  26. ^Hartmann, 1883, p.127also noted 55 houses
  27. ^Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, pp.295-296
  28. ^Schick, 1896, p.121
  29. ^Grant, 1907, p.218
  30. ^Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Ramallah, p.16
  31. ^Mills, 1932, p.47
  32. ^Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p.26
  33. ^Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics.Village Statistics, April, 1945.Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p.64
  34. ^Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics.Village Statistics, April, 1945.Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p.111
  35. ^Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics.Village Statistics, April, 1945.Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p.161
  36. ^Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p.24It was further noted (note 2) that it was governed by amukhtar.
  37. ^Perlmann, Joel (November 2011 – February 2012)."The 1967 Census of the West Bank and Gaza Strip: A Digitized Version"(PDF).Levy Economics Institute.Retrieved23 January2018.
  38. ^Beitin (village profile),ARIJ, pp. 17-19
  39. ^Nahum Barnea,'Beitunian nights: The IDF in the West Bank',Ynet18 March 2016.
  40. ^ab"Settlers burn 5 cars in Ramallah village".Ma'an News Agency.2011-12-19.Retrieved2011-12-19.
  41. ^abTeibel, Amy (15 December 2011)."Jewish radicals get off hook in Israel".NewsOK.Retrieved17 February2017.
  42. ^Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p.305
  43. ^Röhricht, 1887, ZDPV 10, pp.207,292
  44. ^Wilson, c1881, vol 1, pp.219(ill.),221
  45. ^Pringle, 1993, pp.104-105
  46. ^Wilson, c1881, vol 1, p.217(ill.)
  47. ^Finkelstein and Lederman, 1997, p. 522
  48. ^Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p.307
  49. ^Palestinian Population by Locality and Refugee StatusArchived2008-11-19 at theWayback MachinePalestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.
  50. ^Projected Mid -Year Population for Ramallah & Al Bireh Governorate by Locality 2004- 2006Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics(PCBS)
  51. ^2007 PCBS Census.Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.p.114.

Bibliography

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