Al-Khalasa

Coordinates: 31°5′50″N 34°39′9″E / 31.09722°N 34.65250°E / 31.09722; 34.65250
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
al-Khalasa
الخلصة
al-Khalasah, al-Khalus, Elusa
Geopolitical entity
Mandatory Palestine
SubdistrictBeersheba
Date of depopulationOctober 1948
Population
 (1945)
 • TotalNot known populated by nomads
Cause(s) of depopulationMilitary assault by Yishuv forces

Al-Khalasa (

al-Azizma
tribe.

History

Nabataean, Roman, and Byzantine periods

The ancient site was founded by the

rhetorician Zenobius being born there.[1]

Elusa, as of

pagans during the 4th and early 5th century.[1]

Early Muslim period

The

Hellenistic Semitic form.[citation needed] Eventually the city went into decline and was abandoned for centuries.[1]

Thirteenth-century

Al-Dimashqi identifies it as one of the "Israelite" towns of the Negev Desert.[2] Fourteenth century Egyptian geographer, al-Maqrizi said it was one of the larger "cities" in southern desert of Palestine.[when?][dubious ] Khalidi describes how, as the Negev trade routes declined, al-Khalasa eventually diminished[dubious ].[3]

Western rediscovery, Bedouin resettlement

Edward Robinson visited the ruins in 1838 and, with the help of the preserved Arabic name, correctly identified the site as the long-lost Elusa.[1][clarification needed] The constant interest of British, French and other Western archaeologists in the ancient site, encouraged al-Khalasa's resettlement by the al-Azizma Bedouin tribe of the Negev,[3] who started building next to the wells and among the ancient ruins after the end of the First World War.[1] They built the village with a triangular plan in between two wadis, with houses constructed of mud and stone. An elementary school was established in the village in 1941, and there were several shops. Most of the inhabitants earned their living through animal husbandry and commerce, and used a well for drinking water.[3]

1948 war

During the

Arab forces were defeated by Israel's Negev Brigade during Operation Yoav in the last days of October 1948.[4]

See also

  • Depopulated Palestinian locations in Israel
  • List of villages depopulated during the Arab-Israeli conflict

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 0-8264-1316-1. Retrieved 25 July 2021. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help
    )
  2. ^ le Strange, 1890, p.30.
  3. ^ a b c Khalidi, 1992, p.76.
  4. ^ Welcome to al-Khalasa Archived 2010-08-20 at the Wayback Machine, PalestineRemembered.com, retrieved 2008-05-17

Bibliography

External links