Al-Jammama ( ar, الجمامه) was a

Palestinian Arab Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

village located in the

Negev The Negev or Negeb (; he, הַנֶּגֶב, hanNegév; ar, ٱلنَّقَب, an-Naqab) is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its sout ...

desert 30 km north west of the city of Beersheba. Its settled population was recorded as six in the 1931 census.

History

The village was an archeological site, containing cisterns, an olive press, mosaic floors, tombs, the crown of a stone column, and stone tools from the Middle Paleolithic period have been found in the vicinity. An invocation text, ''May Allah have mercy on you, Amr b. Sahl al Jahmi'', dating from early 2nd century A.H./ 9th century C.E., was found by the remnants of an ancient bath in Al-Jammama. The inscription is presently in Kibbutz

Ruhama Ruhama ( he, רֻחָמָה) is a kibbutz in the Negev desert in southern Israel. The original settlement, established in 1911, is considered the first modern Jewish settlement in the Negev. Located around ten kilometres east of Sderot and surro ...

.Sharon, 2016, pp.
162167
/ref> A construction text, for the construction of a cistern or a

well A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

, dating to late 5th AH/11th century CE, has also been found at Al-Jammama.

Ottoman era

In 1863,

Victor Guérin Victor Guérin (15 September 1821 – 21 Septembe 1890) was a French intellectual, explorer and amateur archaeologist. He published books describing the geography, archeology and history of the areas he explored, which included Greece, Asia Min ...

described it as an ’inconsiderable’ ruin. In 1883, the PEF's ''

Survey of Western Palestine The PEF Survey of Palestine was a series of surveys carried out by the Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF) between 1872 and 1877 for the Survey of Western Palestine and in 1880 for the Survey of Eastern Palestine. The survey was carried out after the ...

'' (SWP) found at ''Khurbet Jemmameh'': "Remains of a ruined village, about 20 houses. Rubble cisterns. A spring

, dry in summer. An olive press and a piece of tesselated pavement."

British Mandate era

At the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, on 8 November 1917, the British defeated the Ottoman force in Al-Jammama, which resulted in a

British occupation The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

of the village. In the 1931 census it had 6 inhabitants; all Muslim, in 1 house.Mills, 1932, p
7
/ref> Al-Jammama had an elementary school, which was founded in 1944. The kibbutz of

was also established in 1944 on the village's land. Jammama 1945

Israel

During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War it was captured by Israel's

and

Givati The 84th "Givati" Brigade ( he, חֲטִיבַת גִּבְעָתִי, , "Hill Brigade" or "Highland Brigade") is an Israel Defense Forces infantry brigade. Until 2005, the Brigade used to be stationed within the Gaza Strip and primarily perf ...

brigades on May 22, 1948, and its inhabitants were expelled. Following the war the area was incorporated into the State of Israel. According to the Palestinian historian

Walid Khalidi Walid Khalidi ( ar, وليد خالدي, born 1925 in Jerusalem) is an Oxford University-educated Palestinian historian who has written extensively on the Palestinian exodus. He is a co-founder of the Institute for Palestine Studies, establish ...

, the remaining structures on the village land were in 1992: "A few walls remain on the slopes of hills, surrounded by shrubs and thorns. Cactuses and gum trees grow on the site. The site is used for animal grazing; it also has a stable for horses. The surrounding lands are used for agriculture. Bedouin still camp near the site occasionally to take advantage of nearby pasture."

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * *

External links

Welcome to al-Jammamaal-Jammama

Zochrot Zochrot ( he, זוכרות; "Remembering"; ar, ذاكرات; "Memories") is an Israeli nonprofit organization founded in 2002. Based in Tel Aviv, its aim is to promote awareness of the Palestinian ''Nakba'' ("Catastrophe"), including the 1948 Pa ...

*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 20
IAAWikimedia commons

from the

Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center () is a leading Palestinian arts and culture organization that aims to create a pluralistic, critical liberating culture through research, query, and participation, and that provides an open space for the community ...

Map, 1946
{{Palestinian Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Palestine War Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War District of Beersheba