Summil ( ar, صميل) is a village in the
Gaza Sub-district of Mandatory Palestine, located northeast of
Gaza. It is situated on a sandy hill on the coastal plain and in 1945 it had 950 inhabitants. became established during the
1948 Arab-Israeli War
Events January
* January 1
** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated.
** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect.
** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...
.
[Khalidi, 1992, p. 137.]
History
Roman period
A marble bust of
Pan, dating from the 1st or 2nd century CE, has been found here.
Crusader and Mamluk periods
Summil was founded in 1168 during the
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
by the
Hospitallers
The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic Church, Catholic Military ord ...
for the purpose of protecting the fortress in
Bayt Jibrin
Bayt Jibrin or Beit Jibrin ( ar, بيت جبرين; he, בית גוברין, translit=Beit Gubrin) was a Palestinians, Palestinian village located northwest of the city of Hebron. The village had a total land area of 56,185 dunams or , ...
.
[ There are some remains of the Crusader castle (see photo]
here
, and a medieval masonry well known as ''Bir Summail'' survives south of it. Local tradition claims it was named after Samuel, one of the Crusaders who established the village. Under Mamluk
Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...
rule in the 13th-15th centuries, it was referred to as Barakat al-Khalil ("the blessing of Ibrahim (Abraham)"), because its tax revenues were used by the sultan Barquq
Al-Malik Az-Zahir Sayf ad-Din Barquq ( Circassian: Бэркъукъу аз-Захьир Сэфудин; ar, الملك الظاهر سيف الدين برقوق; ruled 1382–1389 and 1390–1399; born in Circassia) was the first Sultan of the ...
to endow the Ibrahimi Mosque
, alternate_name = Tomb of the Patriarchs, Cave of Machpelah, Sanctuary of Abraham, Ibrahimi Mosque (Mosque of Abraham)
, image = Palestine Hebron Cave of the Patriarchs.jpg
, alt =
, caption = Southern view of the complex, 2009
, map ...
in Hebron
Hebron ( ar, الخليل or ; he, חֶבְרוֹן ) is a Palestinian. city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies above sea level. The second-largest city in the West Bank (after East J ...
.[
]
Ottoman period
Summil was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
in 1517 with all of Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
, and in the 1596 tax records it was part of ''nahiya
A nāḥiyah ( ar, , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level division w ...
'' (subdistrict) of Gaza under the Gaza Sanjak
Gaza Sanjak ( ar, سنجق غزة) was a sanjak of the Damascus Eyalet, Ottoman Empire centered in Gaza. In the 16th century it was divided into ''nawahi'' (singular: ''nahiya''; third-level subdivisions): Gaza in the south and Ramla in the north ...
, with a population of 66 Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
household, an estimated 363 persons. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 33,3% on wheat, barley, fruit, beehives, and goats; a total of 14,500 akçe
The ''akçe'' or ''akça'' (also spelled ''akche'', ''akcheh''; ota, آقچه; ) refers to a silver coin which was the chief monetary unit of the Ottoman Empire. The word itself evolved from the word "silver or silver money", this word is deri ...
. All of the revenue went to a waqf
A waqf ( ar, وَقْف; ), also known as hubous () or '' mortmain'' property is an inalienable charitable endowment under Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot of land or other assets for Muslim religious or charitabl ...
.
When Edward Robinson visited Summil in the 1838, he noted that it was a "considerable village on an elevation of the plain." He noticed a public 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 ...
over deep and in diameter. He said that there was a "portion of an ancient wall apparently once belonging to a castle." It was also noted as a Muslim village located in the Gaza district.
In 1863, French explorer 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 Mino ...
found the village, which he called ''Soummeil el-Khalil'', to have 400 inhabitants. Some of the houses were built of stone, other of adobe
Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...
. He further noted a ''waly'', dedicated to a Sheikh
Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...
Abdallah, which was a well built enclosure built of large stones. An Ottoman village list of about 1870 indicated 50 houses and a population of 133, though the population count included men, only.
In 1882 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 ...
'' described Summeil as "a small village on the edge of the higher ground, of mud and stone, with cactus hedges. A pond on the south and a well on the north supply the place. Near the latter there is a pointed archway of good masonry, apparently mediæval work, and there are foundations of hewn stones in the village. he wellBir Summeil is south of the village, is also a well-built masonry well, and the place evidently dates back to Crusading times at least." In the late 19th century, Summil had a semi-circular plan.[
]
British Mandate of Palestine
During the British Mandate period, the village expanded toward the southwest and relied on al-Faluja for commercial, medical, and administrative services.[
In the ]1922 census of Palestine
The 1922 census of Palestine was the first census carried out by the authorities of the British Mandate of Palestine, on 23 October 1922.
The reported population was 757,182, including the military and persons of foreign nationality. The divisi ...
conducted by the British Mandate authorities, ''Summail'' had a population of 561 inhabitants, all Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
s,[Barron, 1923, Table V, Sub-district of Gaza, p]
9
/ref> increasing in the 1931 census, to 692, still all Muslims, in 178 houses.[Mills, 1932, p]
6
/ref>
In the 1945 statistics the population of Summeil consisted of 950 Muslims[ and the total land area was 19,304 ]dunam
A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; tr, dönüm; he, דונם), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area equivalent to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amount ...
s, according to an official land and population survey.[ Of this, a total of 54 dunams were used plantations and irrigable land, 18,720 for cereals, while 31 dunams were built-up areas.
A ]mosque
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...
built on the remnants of a Crusader church was maintained by the Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
inhabitants. Village houses were built of adobe brick and a school opened in 1936. By the mid-1940s it had an enrollment of 88 students. The community obtained domestic water from a deep well named "al-Khalil".[
]
1948 and aftermath
Summil was occupied by the Givati Brigade
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 ...
's thrust southward during the period in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
Events January
* January 1
** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated.
** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect.
** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...
known as the Ten Days between the truces of July 8 and July 18, 1948. During this offensive, Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i forces managed to occupy a broad swath of territory south of the Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
-Ramla
Ramla or Ramle ( he, רַמְלָה, ''Ramlā''; ar, الرملة, ''ar-Ramleh'') is a city in the Central District of Israel. Today, Ramle is one of Israel's mixed cities, with both a significant Jewish and Arab populations.
The city was f ...
road, displacing over 20,000 people. Although Israeli military accounts later claimed that the inhabitants fled with the approach of Israeli columns, the Haganah
Haganah ( he, הַהֲגָנָה, lit. ''The Defence'') was the main Zionist paramilitary organization of the Jewish population ("Yishuv") in Mandatory Palestine between 1920 and its disestablishment in 1948, when it became the core of the ...
spoke of "several cleaning operations" with Summil being one of the villages mentioned. Its inhabitants fled east toward the Hebron area.[
On July 19, 1948, an ]IDF
IDF or idf may refer to:
Defence forces
* Irish Defence Forces
* Israel Defense Forces
*Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006
* Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917
Organizations
* Israeli Diving Federation
* Interac ...
patrol clashed with armed infiltrators at Summil, killing one and wounding another. The patrol warned any refugees they encountered that if any one of them entered "the areas under our control-they would be killed". The day after, on the July 20, the IDF
IDF or idf may refer to:
Defence forces
* Irish Defence Forces
* Israel Defense Forces
*Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006
* Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917
Organizations
* Israeli Diving Federation
* Interac ...
were formally instructed to prevent infiltration to Summil, Barqusya, Bi´lin, Masmiya al Saghira, al-Tina
Al-Tina, or Khirbet et-Tineh was a Palestinian Arab village in the Ramle Subdistrict of Mandatory Palestine. The village was located between the Shfela and southern Israeli coastal plain. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War on ...
, Kheima, Idnibba, Jilya, Qazaza, and Mughallis
Mughallis ( ar, مٌغلّس) was a Palestinian Arab village located northwest of Hebron. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War between July 9–10, 1948 as part of Operation An-Far. History Ottoman era
It was incorporated into the ...
. The orders specifically were to "destroy" any "armed force" encountered, and to "expel...unarmed villagers".
The Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi
Walid Khalidi ( ar, وليد خالدي, born 1925 in Jerusalem) is an Oxford University-educated Palestinian people, Palestinian historian who has written extensively on the 1948 Palestinian exodus, Palestinian exodus. He is a co-founder of the ...
described the village remains in 1992 as: "The remnants of a wall, perhaps one that was built around the village, are still visible. Otherwise, much of the site is overgrown with ''khubbayza'' (a wild plant belonging to the mallow family that is cooked as a vegetable in Palestinian peasant cuisine) and grass. There is also a Christ's-thorn trees and dense stands of cactuses; an old cactus-lined village road is visible.
A shanty that houses an Arab family (whose members probably work in one of the Israeli settlements) has been built on the land. The adjacent land is cultivated by Israeli farmers."
Andrew Petersen, who visited in 1994, noted: "The castle appears to be roughly square with a central tower (keep
A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...
) surrounded by an outer enclosure wall with square corner towers. The principal remains are those of the north enclosure wall which stands to a height of over 8m and is over 30m long and 1,5m thick. The lower part of the wall has a well−preserved glacis
A glacis (; ) in military engineering is an artificial slope as part of a medieval castle or in bastion fort, early modern fortresses. They may be constructed of earth as a temporary structure or of stone in more permanent structure. More genera ...
."[Petersen, 2001, p]
289
/ref>)
See also
* Depopulated Palestinian locations in Israel
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* No online access to relevant pages.
*
*
*
*
* ''Summail'' and ''Bir Summail'' (209), p. 97. Describes the remains of the castle and the medieval masonry well (Bir Summail) south of it.
*
*
*
External links
Welcome to Summil
Summil (Gaza)
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
IAA
Wikimedia 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 ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:S
District of Gaza
Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War