Abil al-Qamh
Abil al-Qamh
آبل القمح Abil al-Mayya | ||
---|---|---|
![]() Air-photo of the village in 1945; later excavation areas markedin letters | ||
Etymology: "Meadow of Wheat" | ||
A series of historical maps of the area around Abil al-Qamh (click the buttons) | ||
Geopolitical entity Mandatory Palestine | | |
Subdistrict | Safad | |
Date of depopulation | May 10, 1948[3] | |
Area | ||
• Total | 4,615 dunams (4.6 km2 or 1.8 sq mi) | |
Population (1945) | ||
• Total | 330[1][2] | |
Cause(s) of depopulation | Fear of being caught up in the fighting | |
Secondary cause | Influence of nearby town's fall | |
Current Localities | Yuval |
Abil al-Qamh (
Name
According to historian
History
Bronze Age and Iron Age
Abil al-Qamh was established on a site that had been inhabited since 2900 BCE and remained populated for over 2,000 years. It was captured by
Byzantine period
Ceramics from the
Mamluk period
During the
Ottoman period
In 1517, Abil al-Qamh was incorporated into the
In 1838, it was noted as Catholic village in the Mejr Ayun district.[11][clarification needed]
In 1875 Victor Guérin visited Abil al-Qamh, calling it Tell Abel Kamah.[12] On the highest point, to the north, he found the ruins of a wall and a Muslim cemetery.[13] In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described the village as being near a stream and containing a church and ancient ruins.[14]
British Mandate
Abil al-Qamh was a part of the
In the 1931 census of Palestine, Abil al-Qamh had a total population of 229; 122 Muslims and 107 Christians, in total 58 houses.[15]
In the
1948 and aftermath
Abil al-Qamh was captured and depopulated on May 10, 1948 by the First Battalion of the
In 1952, Israel established the town of Yuval on village lands, 1.5 kilometers (0.93 mi) from the village site. The Abil al-Qamih area itself became "overgrown with grasses and weeds. A grove of trees stands in the northeast corner, and stones from destroyed houses are strewn throughout the site...," according to Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi, writing in 1992.[19]
In recent years, the Lebanese Authorities have claimed that Abil al-Qamh and six other depopulated Shia villages along the border rightfully belong to Lebanon.[20]
The two mounds belonging to the archaeological site known as Tell Abil el-Qameḥ in Arabic and Tel Abel Beth Maacah in Hebrew have been surveyed in 2012 and have since been excavated in annual campaigns (four as of 2016).[21]
Refugees
The inhabitants of Abil al-Qamh fled to neighbouring villages in Lebanon during the 1948 war. While Shiites fled to neighboring Shia villages, Christians notably fled to Deir Mimas, where most of them later acquired Lebanese passports; still living in Deirmimas are for instance the families of Abdo, Keserwany, Harfouch, and Haddad originally from the Abil al-Qamih area.[citation needed]
See also
- List of towns and villages depopulated during the 1947–1949 Palestine war
- Metawali- Shia Twelvers in Lebanon
- Shia villages in Palestine
References
- ^ a b Government of Lebanon, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, . Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 69 Archived 2011-06-04 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ a b c Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 9
- ^ Morris, 2004, p. xvi, village #1. Also gives causes of depopulation.
- ^ a b c d e f g Khalidi, 1992, p.428
- ^ Palmer, 1881, p. 13
- ^ Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 96
- ^ Dauphin, 1998, p. 641
- ^ al-Hamawi quoted in le Strange, 1890, p.381
- ^ Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 183, quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p. 428.
- ^ Note that Rhode, 1979, p. 6 Archived 2016-10-10 at the Wayback Machine writes that the register that Hütteroth and Abdulfattah studied was not from 1595/6, but from 1548/9
- ^ Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 3, p. 347, 2nd appendix. pp. 136-137
- ^ Guérin, 1880, pp. 346 -349
- ^ Guérin, 1880, pp. 346 -349; as given by Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 107
- ^ Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, pp. 85,86. Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p. 428
- ^ Mills, 1932, p. 105
- ^ United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine, Appendix B Archived 2012-06-09 at the Wayback Machine, p. 4
- ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 118
- ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 168
- ^ Khalidi, 1992, pp.428-429.
- ^ Lamb, Franklin. Completing The Task Of Evicting Israel From Lebanon 2008-11-18.
- ^ Tel Abel Beth Maacah Excavations (official website)
Bibliography
- Conder, C.R.; Kitchener, H.H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. Vol. 1. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
- ISBN 0860549054.
- Department of Statistics (1945). Village Statistics, April, 1945. Government of Palestine.
- Guérin, V. (1880). Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine (in French). Vol. 3: Galilee, 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 Centre. Archived from the original on 2018-12-08. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
- 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.
- ISBN 0-88728-224-5.
- Le Strange, G. (1890). Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
- Mills, E., ed. (1932). Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas. Jerusalem: Government of Palestine.
- 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.
- Robinson, E.; Smith, E. (1841). Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838. Vol. 3. Boston: Crocker & Brewster.
- Rhode, H. (1979). Administration and Population of the Sancak of Safed in the Sixteenth Century. Columbia University. Archived from the original on 2020-03-01. Retrieved 2017-11-02.
External links
- Welcome to Abil-al-Qamh
- Abil al-Qamh, Zochrot
- Survey of Western Palestine, Map 2: IAA, Wikimedia commons
- Abil al-Qamh, at Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center
- Abil al-Qamh, Dr. Khalil Rizk.