Taytaba

Coordinates: 33°00′48″N 35°28′35″E / 33.01333°N 35.47639°E / 33.01333; 35.47639
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Taytaba
طيطبا
Teitaba[1]
Etymology: "Watchtower"[2]
1870s map
1940s map
modern map
1940s with modern overlay map
A series of historical maps of the area around Taytaba (click the buttons)
Geopolitical entity
Mandatory Palestine
SubdistrictSafad
Date of depopulationMay 1948[1]
Area
 • Total8,453 dunams (8.453 km2 or 3.264 sq mi)
Population
 (1945)
 • Total530[3][4]
Cause(s) of depopulationFear of being caught up in the fighting
Current LocalitiesNone

Taytaba (

1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine in May 1948 under Operation Hiram. In 1945 it had a population of 530 and a total area of 8,453 dunams, 99.8% of which was Arab-owned.[5]

It was situated in a rocky area located along the crest of a basaltic hill that overlooks Wadi Taytaba, a tributary of Wadi Waqqas, to the southeast. It was connected to a highway leading to Safad via a secondary road and connected to many of the surrounding villages through secondary roads as well.[5]

History

Taytaba has been suggested as the Biblical site where Elijah received his patronymic of "Tishbite".[2][6]

Ottoman era

During the early

Muslims.[7][8]

In 1838, Robinson noted the village when he travelled in the region,[9] as a village located in the Safad district.[10]

Its population decreased to roughly 200, all

Muslims, by the late Ottoman era when French explorer Victor Guérin visited in 1870. The houses were made of basalt and there was a plantation of figs. An Islamic shrine stood on a nearby hill, with blocks of basalt apparently carved by hand.[11] At that time, Taytaba's inhabitants cultivated gardens to the west of the village site.[5][12]

A population list from about 1887 showed Teitaba to have about 455 inhabitants; all Muslims.[13]

British Mandate era

During the British Mandatory period in the early 20th-century, the houses of the village were built from stone and adobe brick. The inhabitants main source of income and sustenance was from agriculture.[5] A mosque and a boys' elementary school (the latter was built during the British period) was located in the southern section of Taytaba.[14]

In the

Muslim,[15] increasing in the 1931 census to 364, still all Muslims, in a total of 60 houses.[16]

In the 1945 statistics, its population was 530 Muslims,[4] with a total of 8,453 dunams of land.[3] 585 dunams were cultivated for orchards and 5,175 dunams for cereals; a total of 5,763 dunams were cultivable,[17] while the built-up areas of the village amounted to 61 dunams.[18]

1948 War and aftermath

In February 1948 Taytaba reportedly hosted Arab volunteers participating in the

New York Times. The newspaper stated that on 18 February a British Army patrol approaching Taytaba was attacked by Arab fighters prompting the dispatch of British reinforcements. British forces eventually withdrew and no casualties were reported. On 15 February a unit from the Haganah (precursor to the Israeli Army) attacked Taytaba following a mass killing they committed at the nearby Palestinian-Arab village of Sa'sa'. No details of the attack on Taytaba were mentioned the Associated Press report.[14]

It is not known exactly when Taytaba was captured by Israel or emptied of its residents, but most likely fell in May during the later stages of the Israeli offensive

Ras al-Ahmar. However, armed men remained in Taytaba until retreating after Jewish forces attacked in October.[20]

In 1992 Khalidi noted about Taytaba: "The village site contains the stone rubble of razed houses. A few olive trees still stand, growing among the thorny plants and grass. Part of the surrounding land is used by the settlement of Dalton for agriculture and pastures; other parts are wooded."[14]

Archaeology

To the east of Taytaba lies the ruins (khirba) of al-Tasarif.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b c Morris, 2004, p. xvi, village #44. Gives cause of depopulation as "?"
  2. ^ a b Palmer, 1881, p. 95
  3. ^ a b Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p.71
  4. ^ a b Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 11
  5. ^ a b c d Khalidi, 1992, p. 499.
  6. ^ Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 257
  7. ^ Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 175, cited by Khalidi, 1992, p. 499
  8. ^ Note that Rhode, 1979, p. 6 Archived 2019-04-20 at the Wayback Machine writes that the register that Hütteroth and Abdulfattah studied was not from 1595/6, but from 1548/9
  9. ^ Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, p. 367
  10. ^ Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. 134
  11. ^ Guérin, 1880, pp. 442–443
  12. ^ Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 200
  13. ^ Schumacher, 1888, p. 188
  14. ^ a b c d e Khalidi, 1992, p. 500.
  15. ^ Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Safad, p. 41
  16. ^ Mills, 1932, p. 111
  17. ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p.121
  18. ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 171
  19. ^ Morris, 2004, p. 226, note #459, p. 290
  20. ^ Esber, 2008, p. 337.

Bibliography

External links

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