Dayr Nakhkhas

Dayr Nakhkhas
Maqam of Sheikh 'Usheish
Dayr Nakhkhas
Arabic دير النخّاس
Name meaning "monastery of the cattle drover"[1]
Also spelled Deir Nakhkhas, Deir Nakh-khas, Deir Nakhas
Subdistrict Hebron
Coordinates 31°36′57″N 34°55′18″E / 31.61583°N 34.92167°E / 31.61583; 34.92167Coordinates: 31°36′57″N 34°55′18″E / 31.61583°N 34.92167°E / 31.61583; 34.92167
Palestine grid 142/113
Population 600[2][3] (1945)
Area 14,476[3] dunams
Date of depopulation October 29, 1948[4]
Cause(s) of depopulation Military assault by Yishuv forces

Dayr Nakhkhas (Arabic: دير النخّاس‎, Deir Nakh-khâs) was a Palestinian Arab village located 20 km northwest of Hebron, overlooking Wadi Bayt Jibrin to the north.[5]

Location

Dayr Nakkhas was situated on the road to Hebron about two miles east of Bayt Jibrin.[6] Perched on a hill, an open corn valley lay below the village.[7] Located in an area rich in archaeological sites, in the land area that belonged to the village, there were some 15 sites, including the village itself (which was built on an earlier ancient site).[5]

History

In a 1596 census for the Ottoman Empire, it is recorded that Dayr Nakhkhas was part of nahiya (subdistrict) of Halil [i.e. al-Khalil, or Hebron], under the liwa' (district) of Jerusalem, with a population of 13 Muslim households; an estimated 72 persons. The inhabitants paid taxes on a number of crops, including wheat, barley, olives, as well as on goats and beehives; a total of 4,000 akçe.[8]

In 1863 Victor Guérin noted about the village: "This village is located on a mountain whose flanks were once exploited as quarries. The lower part of some houses are made with beautiful antique stones. A very deep well, partly built and partly dug out of the rock, is also dated from antiquity. On the slopes of the hill, where the village occupies the summit, grows olive and fig trees; here and there are also a number of artificial caverns which once served as dwellings or storehouses."[9]

I the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) the name of the village is transcribed, "Deir Nakhkhâs", and translated as, "the monastery of the cattle drover.[1]

In 1883, SWP described it as; "A very small village perched on a high, steep hill, looking down on the valley to the north.[5][10] "This is possibly Ir-Nahash (i Chronicles iv. 12)."[10] It is also said to contain, "A ruined birkeh and a cave with 250 niches."[11]

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Deir Nakhas had a population of 336 inhabitants, all Muslims,[12] increasing in the 1931 census to 451, still all Muslim, in a total of 86 inhabited houses.[13]

The village was rectangular in layout, with houses built of stone, expanding along and towards the road linking it to Hebron.[5] The children attended schools in the neighbouring villages.[5]

By the 1945 statistics, the population was recorded at 600 Muslims.[2][3][5] In the 1944/45 growing season, a total of 4,887 dunums of village land was planted in cereals; 362 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards,[5][14] while 22 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[15]

1948, and aftermath

During the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, Dayr Nakhkhas was defended by the Egyptian Army. The village was depopulated as a result of a military assault by Israeli forces on October 29, 1948.[4]

Following the war the area was incorporated into the State of Israel. The land that had belonged to Dayr Nakhkhas was left undeveloped;[5] the Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi described the village land in 1992: "Nothing remains of the village except a few deserted houses and the rubble of others. One deserted house is made of concrete and has rectangular windows and a flat roof. It is marked with Arabis graffiti and stands in the midst of tall wild grasses and weeds. There is a fenced-in cave. The surrounding land is cultivated by Israeli farmers."[5]

References

  1. 1 2 Palmer, 1881, p. 367
  2. 1 2 Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 23
  3. 1 2 3 Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 50. Also gives land area in dunams.
  4. 1 2 Morris, 2004, p. xix, village #325. Also gives cause of depopulation.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Khalidi, 1992, p. 217.
  6. ↑ Alexander and Kitto, 1864, p. 407.
  7. ↑ Conder, 2002,p. 149.
  8. ↑ Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 123. Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p. 217
  9. ↑ Guérin, 1869, p. 366
  10. 1 2 Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 258
  11. ↑ Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 275
  12. ↑ Barron, 1923, Table V, Sub-district of Hebron, p. 10
  13. ↑ Mills, 1932, p. 28
  14. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 93
  15. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 143

Bibliography

  • Alexander, W.L.; Kitto, J. (eds.). A cyclopædia of biblical literature (3rd ed.). 1864.
  • Barron, J.B., ed. (1923). Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922. Government of Palestine.
  • Conder, C.R.; Kitchener, H.H. (1883). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. 3. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
  • Conder, C.R. (1878). Tent work in Palestine. A record of discovery and adventure Vol. 1. Internet.archive (from Harvard collection).
  • Department of Statistics (1945). Village Statistics, April, 1945. Government of Palestine.
  • Guérin, V. (1869). Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine (in French). 1: Judee, pt. 2. Paris: L'Imprimerie Nationale.
  • Hadawi, S. (1970). Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine. Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center.
  • Hütteroth, Wolf-Dieter; Abdulfattah, Kamal (1977). Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century. Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. ISBN 3-920405-41-2.
  • Khalidi, W. (1992). All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948. Washington D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies. ISBN 0-88728-224-5.
  • Mills, E., ed. (1932). Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas. Jerusalem: Government of Palestine.
  • Morris, B. (2004). The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-00967-6.
  • Palmer, E.H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
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