Teqoa
Teqoa | ||
---|---|---|
Governorate Bethlehem | | |
Government | ||
• Type | Municipality (from 1997) | |
• Head of Municipality | Khaled Ahmad Hamida | |
Area (built-up) | ||
• Total | 590 dunams (0.6 km2 or 0.2 sq mi) | |
Population (2017)[2] | ||
• Total | 8,767 | |
• Density | 15,000/km2 (38,000/sq mi) | |
Name meaning | "The ruin of Tekua",[3] or "the place for pitching tents" |
- Khirbet ad-Deir, part of Teqoa, should not be confused with Khirbet ad-Deir in Hebron Governorate.
Teqoa (
The town is a part of the 'Arab al-Ta'amira village cluster, along with
Etymology
Strong's Concordance states that Tekoa means in
Location
Teqoa is located 12 km (horizontal distance) south-east of
In the Hebrew Bible
According to biblical sources, Ephrathites from Bethlehem and the Calebites from Hebron founded Teqoa.[citation needed] Samuel speaks of a "wise woman" of Tekoa in the time of David (2 Samuel 14:2).[10] King Rehoboam fortified the city and made it strategically important (2 Chronicles 11:6).[10] The people of Teqoa who returned from Babylon were Calebites (1 Chronicles 2:24), and they participated in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 3:5,27).[10]
Identification
The location of biblical Teqoa is well defined in Scripture.
Archaeology of Khirbet Teqoa
Teqoa, the town known from the Hebrew Bible and other classical ancient sources, has been identified with Khirbet Teqoa ("ruins of Teqoa"), immediately east of modern Teqoa,[11] both of which are c. 5 miles (8 km) south of Bethlehem,[12] also spelled Khirbet al-Tuq'u.[13][14]
Various ruins were seen at the site in the mid-19th century. These included the walls of houses, cisterns, broken columns and heaps of building stones, some of which had "bevelled edges" which supposedly indicated ancient
History of excavation
Khirbet Teqoa (Grid Ref. 170100/115600), has been excavated by Martin Heicksen (1968), John J. Davis (1970), and Sayf al-Din Haddad (1981).[16]
Periods
The main periods of habitation brought to light by archaeological digs at Khirbet Teqoa are the
Byzantine-period remnants
The Bible indicates Teqoa as the birthplace of prophet
When Victor Guérin visited the site in 1863, he described the remains of an almost completely destroyed church, and an octagonal baptismal font, carved into a monolithic block of reddish
A magical amulet etched on a silver plate and written in Aramaic is among the findings from the Byzantine period. The amulet contains 16 lines, 11 of which use Hebrew script; the others show magic characters. It dates to the fifth to seventh centuries CE, and is currently located in the SBF Museum, Jerusalem.[21]
Other archaeological sites and landmarks
The site of Khirbet Teqoa is considered "qualified in terms of tourism".[4] A second archaeological site near Teqoa, Khirbet Umm El 'Amd, is "not qualified" in terms of tourism.[4] The New Lavra of Saint Sabas (est. 507) is today in ruins at the site of Bir el-Wa'ar, c. 3 km south of Tuqu'.[22]
Paleolithic caves in Wadi Khureitun
Outside Teqoa, adjacent to the Israeli settlement of
History of Teqoa
Hellenistic period
During the Maccabean Revolt it was fortified by the Greek general Bacchides (Josephus, Ant. XIII, 15).[12]
Roman period
Josephus again mentions Teqoa in connection with the First Jewish–Roman War (Life 420, War IV, 518).[12] Teqoa is mentioned in a few letters dated to the Bar Kokhba Revolt. In one of the letters refugees from Teqoa seek refuge in Ein Gedi[24]
Eusebius (c. 260s-340) mentions a village by the name of Teqoa (Onomasticon 98:17, etc.).[12]
Byzantine period
Teqoa is again mentioned in Byzantine sources.[12]
Muslim conquest and Early Muslim period
Teqoa was captured by during the Muslim conquest of Syria and with time, several of its inhabitants converted to Islam. There was a significant nomadic Bedouin presence in the village's vicinity.[13]
Crusader and Ayyubid period
Teqoa was known as "Casal Techue" by the Crusaders who conquered Palestine in 1099. Its Christian residents welcomed the Crusaders.[13] Medieval chronicler William of Tyre relates that the Christians of the village aided the Crusaders during the Siege of Jerusalem in 1099, by guiding them to local springs and food sources. Many of the villagers also joined the Crusader army.[25]
In 1108, the Russian traveller
The ruins of a castle, a Frankish manor house[13] from the period, are found at Khirbat at-Teqoa at the edge of the biblical and Byzantine archaeological mound, some 41x48x60 m in size, and protected by a rock-cut ditch.[14][26]
Zengid forces captured Casal Techue in 1138. The Knights Templar under Robert the Burgundian managed to recapture the town easily, but experienced their first military defeat when Zengid forces counterattacked, leaving the area between the town and Hebron "strewn with Templar bodies" according to William of Tyre. He blamed the Templars' defeat on their failure to pursue fleeing Muslim forces which allowed them to regroup just outside Casal Techue.[27]
Syrian geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi described it as "a village famous for its honey" during a visit there in 1225,[14][28] during Ayyubid rule.
Ottoman period
Teqoa, like all of Palestine, was incorporated into the
The majority of Teqoa's
French explorer Victor Guérin visited the place in 1863, and he described finding the scarce remains of a church, and an octagonal baptismal font.[19]
The PEF's Survey of Western Palestine in 1883 mentions that Khurbet Tequa "seems to have been large and important in Christian times. It is still inhabited by a few persons living in the caves [...]"[20]
Jordanian period
The modern town of Teqoa was established in 1948 during
Post-1967
During the Six-Day War in 1967, Teqoa came under Israeli occupation, remaining so until this day. The population in the 1967 census conducted by the Israeli authorities was 1,362.[32]
Over the years,
In May 2001, after the
Demographics
According to a 1997 census by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), Teqoa had a population of 4,890 inhabitants. There were only 24 Palestinian refugees, making up 0.5% of the population.[35] There were 2,534 males and 2,356 females.[36] Tuqu's population grew to 8,881 in the 2007 PCBS census. There were 1,368 households, with the average household size consisting of between six and seven members. The gender ratio was 49% women and 51% men.[37]
Teqoa has a Muslim majority and there are ten mosques in the town. They are the following: Abu Bakr as-Siddik Mosque, Bilal Ibn Rabah Mosque, al-Sahaba Mosque, al-Tawba Mosque, Abd al-Rahman Ibn 'Oof Mosque, Zaid Ibn Haritha Mosque, al-Abbas Mosque and Salah ad-Deen Mosque, al-Ansar Mosque and Ali Ibn Abi Talib Mosque. Most of the inhabitants belong to the 'Arab al-Ta'amira tribe. Principal clans include Badan, Jibreen, Sha'er, 'Emur, Nawawra, 'Urooj, Abu Mifrih, az-Zawahra, Sbeih, at-Tnooh, Sleiman and Sabbah.[4]
Tuqu' is one of the villages of the Ta'amra tribe. There are people who trace their origins to Tuqu' that now live in Tarqumiya.[38]
Economy
Agriculture, particularly livestock, dominates Teqoa's economy. Dairy is produced and sold in local markets and in Bethlehem. Industry is virtually nonexistent, although there is a stone quarry and brick factory in the town. Unemployment is high at about 50% and mostly caused by Israeli restrictions on movement and access to the labor market in Israel proper as a result of the Second Intifada between 2000 and 2004.[4]
As of 2008 around 45% of Teqoa's workforce was employed in the Israeli labor market while another 30% worked in agriculture. The remainder of economic activity was split between employment in the Palestinian government or trade and services.
Government
98.5% of Teqoa's land area has been located in Area C (West Bank), or Nature reserves since 1995, thus giving the Palestinian National Authority no control over its administration and civil affairs. Originally, twelve tribal elders managed the town, but unable to plan and carry out internal improvements, they ceded their power to a council of younger men.[39] The 13-member municipal council was established in 1997 to administer Teqoa as well as the villages of Khirbet al-Deir, al-Halqum and Khirbet Tuqu' which were put under Tuqu's jurisdiction.[4] Its first mayor, Suleiman Abu Mufarreh, initiated the construction of the municipal hall and recovered Tuqu's stolen baptismal font, relocating it to the front of the municipal hall.[39]
Teqoa is governed by a
References
- ^ Thomson, 1859, p. 425
- ^ a b Preliminary Results of the Population, Housing and Establishments Census, 2017 (PDF). Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) (Report). State of Palestine. February 2018. pp. 64–82. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
- ^ Palmer, 1881, p. 402
- ^ Applied Research Institute-Jerusalem, 2008. Retrieved on 2012-03-13.
- ^ '15 Palestinians detained in Tuqu near Bethlehem', Ma'an News Agency 19 March 2015.
- ^ "The Geneva Convention". BBC News. 10 December 2009. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
- ^ Lexicon :: Strong's H8620 - Tĕqowa`, accessed 7 August 2018
- ^ Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon s.v. תְּקוֹעַ
- ^ Teqoa Town Profile, ARIJ, p. 4
- ^ a b c d e f g Singer, I., The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia - Tekoa, accessed 25 July 2017
- ^ a b c d e Taqou' village (1998) Mitri Raheb and Fred Strickert, Bethlehem 2000: Past and Present, Palmyra publishing house, 1998, via This Week in Palestine
- ^ a b c d e Negev and Gibson, 2001, p. 496
- ^ a b c d e f g h Ellenblum, 2003, pp. 136-137
- ^ a b c d e f g Pringle, 1998, pp. 347-348
- ^ William Aldis Wright; et al. (1865). Sir William Smith (ed.). A concise dictionary of the Bible for the use of families and students. London: John Murray. p. 924. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
- ^ ISBN 978-965-91468-0-2. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
Publications: Davis, J.J. 1974. Tekoa Excavations: Tomb 302. Bulletin of the Near East Archaeological Society, New Series, 4:27-49. Herr, L.G. 1986. A Seventh Century B.C. Tomb Group from Tekoa. In: L.T. Geraty and L.G. Herr (eds.), The Archaeology of Jordan and Other Studies. Berrien Springs, MI: 265-284.
- ^ Dauphin, 1998, p. 928
- ^ a b Teqoa area[permanent dead link] Zeiter, Leila. Centre for Preservation of Culture and History.[dead link]
- ^ a b Guérin, 1869, p. 141
- ^ a b Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 368
- )
- HUJIwebsite 2022. Accessed 21 Feb 2022.
- ^ Wadi Khreitoun[permanent dead link] Zeitar, Leila. Centre for Cultural Heritage Preservation.
- ISBN 978-965-217-429-1.
- ^ Thekoa - (Tuqu'a) Archived 2013-03-18 at the Wayback Machine Studium Biblicum Franciscanum - Jerusalem.
- ^ Pringle, 1997, p. 103
- ^ Howarth, Stephen. (1991). The Knights Templar Barnes & Noble Publishing, p.97.
- ^ Le Strange, 1890, p. 542
- ^ Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 114
- ^ a b Kark and Oren-Nordheim, 2001, pp. 202, 241, 279 ff
- ^ Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 23
- ^ Perlmann, Joel (November 2011 – February 2012). "The 1967 Census of the West Bank and Gaza Strip: A Digitized Version" (PDF). Levy Economics Institute. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
- ^ Teqoa Town Profile, ARIJ, pp. 17–18,
- ^ a b Prophet Amos's Words Still Ring True Archived 2008-10-25 at the Wayback Machine Abu Ghazaleh, Sami. International Center of Bethlehem
- ^ Palestinian Population by Locality and Refugee Status Archived 2008-11-18 at the Wayback Machine (1997) Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS)
- ^ Palestinian Population by Locality, Sex and Age Groups in Years Archived 2012-01-11 at the Wayback Machine (1997) Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS)
- ^ 2007 PCBS Census Archived December 10, 2010, at the Wayback Machine Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. p. 117
- ^ Grossman, D. (1986). "Oscillations in the Rural Settlement of Samaria and Judaea in the Ottoman Period". in Shomron studies. Dar, S., Safrai, S., (eds). Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad Publishing House. p. 370
- ^ a b Levin, Jerry. Save our heritage in the Holy Land Al-Ahram Weekly. October 2003.
- ^ Local Elections (Round two)- Successful candidates by local authority, gender and No. of votes obtained Archived 2007-06-30 at the Wayback Machine Central Elections Commission - Palestine, p.25
Bibliography
- Conder, C.R.; Kitchener, H.H. (1883). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. Vol. 3. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
- ISBN 0-860549-05-4.
- ISBN 0521521874.
- Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics (1964). First Census of Population and Housing. Volume I: Final Tables; General Characteristics of the Population (PDF).
- Guérin, V. (1869). Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine (in French). Vol. 1: Judee, pt. 3. Paris: L'Imprimerie Nationale.
- 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 978-0814329092. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
- 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.
- Negev, Avraham; )
- 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.
- ISBN 0521-46010-7.
- ISBN 0-521-39037-0.
- Robinson, E.; Smith, E. (1841). Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838. Vol. 2. Boston: Crocker & Brewster. (pp. 183 ff, Tekoa)
- Röhricht, R. (1893). (RRH) Regesta regni Hierosolymitani (MXCVII-MCCXCI) (in Latin). Berlin: Libraria Academica Wageriana. (pp. 43-44, no. 174)
- Thomson, W.M. (1859). The Land and the Book: Or, Biblical Illustrations Drawn from the Manners and Customs, the Scenes and Scenery, of the Holy Land. Vol. 2 (1 ed.). New York: Harper & brothers.
External links
- Welcome To Taqu'
- Tekoa, Welcome to Palestine
- Survey of Western Palestine, Map 21: IAA, Wikimedia commons
- Tuqu' Town (Fact Sheet), Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem (ARIJ)
- Tuqu’ Town Profile, ARIJ
- Tuqu’ aerial photo, ARIJ