Taybeh

Taybeh has been identified as the site of Ophrah, mentioned in the Book of Joshua of the Hebrew Bible (Joshua 18:23) as a town of Benjamin, which was later renamed Ephraim.[7]

According to the Bible, Jesus, after Lazarus' resurrection, retired with his disciples to this town. John says, "Since that day on, they (the Pharisees) made the decision to kill him. Jesus did not walk in public among the Jews anymore. He went away to a region near the desert, to a city called Aphram, and it was there that he and his disciples dwelt" (John 11: 53–54). This happened during the first days of Nissan, probably around the year 30. According to the Evangelist, Taybeh-Aphram is the isolated place where Jesus found the diaphanous quietness to prepare himself and his disciples for the great sacrifice.

The Mount of Temptation, Jebel Quruntul in Arabic, and its monastery, an important Christian pilgrimage site, is about 12 km southeast towards the Jordan as the crow flies.

In the 5th century, a church, known today as St. George's Church, was built in the east of the town.[6]

In the 12th century, another church was built by the Crusaders attached to the first one.[6]

The Crusaders fortified Taybeh by means of a castle named in English the Castle of St. Elias. In February 1182, Joscelin III gave the castle to king Baldwin IV of Jerusalem along with some other properties in return for the lordship of Mi'ilya.[8][9] In 1185, the king Baldwin V of Jerusalem granted the castle to his grandfather William V, Marquess of Montferrat.[10]

However, in 1187 Taybeh fell to Saladin in the wake of the Battle of Hattin.[11] Imad ad-Din al-Isfahani (1125–1201) described it as a Crusader fortress taken by Saladin,[12] while Yaqut al-Hamawi (1179–1229) described it, under the name of 'Afra, as "a fortress in the Filastin Province, near Jerusalem."[13]

In 1596, a village named Tayyibat al-Isem appeared in Ottoman tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Quds of the Liwa of Quds. It had a population of 63 Muslim households and 23 Christian families. The village paid taxes on wheat, barley, vines or fruit trees, and goats or beehives; a total of 22,100 akçe. All of the revenue went to a Waqf.[14]

Around 1810–1820 a large battle was fought in the village between rival factions of the Kais and the Yamani. Eventually the Yamani faction, led by the sheikh of Abu Ghosh, managed to regain Taybeh from the Kais faction.[15] When Edward Robinson visited in 1838, he found it to contain 75 taxable inhabitants, indicating a population of about 300–400 people.[16] It was noted as a Greek Christian village in the District of Beni Salim, east of Jerusalem.[17]

French explorer Victor Guérin visited the village in 1863, and described Thayebeh as having an estimated 800 villagers, 60 Catholics, and the rest Greek Orthodox.[18] He further noted the remains a large building on the top of a hill.[18] An Ottoman village list of about 1870 showed Taybeh to be a Christian town with 87 houses and a population of 283, though the population count included only men.[19][20]

In 1882, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described Taiyibeh as a "large Christian village in a conspicuous position, with well-built stone houses. A central tower stands on the top of the hill; on either side are olive and fig gardens in the low ground. The view is extensive on either side. A ruined church of St George exists near, and there are remains of a ruined castle in the village. The inhabitants are Greek Christians."[21]

Charles de Foucauld (1853–1916), an explorer and French hermit, passed through Taybeh in January 1889 and returned in 1898. Inspired by his visit, he wrote "Eight Days in Aphram, retreat of 1898, from Monday after IV Lent Sunday, (March 14) through Monday, after IV Lent Sunday (March 21)."[6]

In 1896 the population of Et-taijibe was estimated to be about 672 persons.[22]

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Al Taibeh had a population of 961: 954 Christians and 7 Muslims,[23] where 663 were Orthodox, 249 Roman Catholic, 60 Greek Catholic (Melchite) and 2 were Anglican.[24]

In 1927 a Greek Orthodox church was built on a Byzantine church, carefully incorporating architectural elements, like columns, lintels, capitals, two fonts, and a fragmentary mosaic pavement with a Greek inscription.[25]

At the time of the 1931 census, Taybeh had a population of 1,125; 1,038 Christians and 87 Muslims living in 262 houses.[26]

The population had increased in 1945 to 1,330; 1,180 Christians and 150 Muslims,[27] while the total land area was 20,231 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.[28] Of this 5,287 were allocated for plantations and irrigable land, 5,748 for cereals,[29] while 80 dunams were classified as built-up areas.[30]

In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Taybeh came under Jordanian rule.

The Jordanian census of 1961 found 1,677 inhabitants in Taybeh, of whom 1,176 were Christian.[31][32]

Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Taybeh have been under Israeli occupation.

In 1986, the Charles de Foucauld Pilgrim Center funded by the French Lieutenancy of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher opened in the village.[33]

After the 1995 accords, 35% of village land was classified as Area B, the remaining 65% as Area C.[34] According to ARIJ, Israel has confiscated 393 dunam of land from Taybeh for the construction of the Israeli settlements of Rimmonim, and 22 dunams for Ofra.[35]

In September 2005, hundreds of Muslim men from Deir Jarir torched homes in Taybeh in response to the affair between a 30-year-old Muslim woman from Deir Jarir who was said to have been romantically involved with a Christian from Taybeh.[36] Taybeh residents called the authorities to intervene, the Israelis arrived first but they watched and did not intervene. Palestinian policemen who were coming from Ramallah were held at an Israeli checkpoint, not allowed to pass for three hours, and finally allowed to pass after constant calls from the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem.[37] Despite the incident, the neighboring towns continue to have healthy relations; residents say "the people of Taybeh and the people of Deir Jarir are one family".[36]

On 19 April 2013 Israeli settlers attempted to take over Taybeh's monastery and its adjacent chapel.[38] Youth from Taybeh and surrounding villages including Deir Jreir, Ramun, Silwad, Kafr Malik and Ein Yabrud drove out the settlers. Palestinians from the nearing zone demonstrate regularly in the monastery's land, and Muslim Palestinians hold Friday's prayers in the terrain in order to protect it from possible Israeli attempts to expropriate it.