Bayt Tima
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Bayt Tima
OR:
Bayt Tima on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

Bayt Tima ( ar, بيت طيما) 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 in the Gaza Subdistrict, located northeast of Gaza and some from the coastline. It was situated in flat terrain on the southern coastal plain of Palestine. Bayt Tima was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Its population in 1945 was 1,060.Khalidi, 1992, p.89.


History

During the Mandate period the village was inspected by the Department of Antiquities, and a number of ancient remains were noted, in addition to two Arabic inscriptions built into the mosque. In the cemetery located just south of Bayt Tima lies a worn mosaic pavement, suggesting an Ancient Roman or
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
presence at the site. A 14th-century
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'') ...
-era
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, ...
existed on the site dedicated to a certain prophet or local saint named "Nabi Tima". In the courtyard of the mosque and near it are imitations of
Corinth Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government refor ...
ian capitals and columns of gray stone. The remainder of the building was built in local ''
kurkar Kurkar ( ar, كركار / he, כורכר) is the term used in Palestinian Arabic and modern Hebrew for the rock type of which lithified sea sand dunes consist. The equivalent term used in Lebanon is ramleh. haron_Horowitz._''The_Quaternary_of__...
''_stone._There_is_no_mention_of_Bayt_Tima_in_early_Arabic_sources_and_the_inscription_on_the_mosque_is_the_only_Mamluk_association_to_it.Sharon,_1999
p.157p.158


_Ottoman_era

Bayt_Tima_came_under_ haron_Horowitz._''The_Quaternary_of__...
''_stone._There_is_no_mention_of_Bayt_Tima_in_early_Arabic_sources_and_the_inscription_on_the_mosque_is_the_only_Mamluk_association_to_it.Sharon,_1999
p.157p.158


_Ottoman_era

Bayt_Tima_came_under_Ottoman_Empire">Ottoman_rule_in_the_early_16th_century,_and_in_the_1596_Defter.html" ;"title="Ottoman_Empire.html" ;"title="Arab.html" ;"title="haron Horowitz. ''The Quaternary of ...
'' stone. There is no mention of Bayt Tima in early Arab">haron Horowitz. ''The Quaternary of ...
'' stone. There is no mention of Bayt Tima in early Arabic sources and the inscription on the mosque is the only Mamluk association to it.Sharon, 1999
p.157p.158


Ottoman era

Bayt Tima came under Ottoman Empire">Ottoman rule in the early 16th century, and in the 1596 Defter">tax records it was under the administration of the ''nahiya'' of Gaza, part of the Liwa of Gaza, with a population of 126 Muslim households, an estimated 693 persons. The inhabitants paid a fixed tax rate of 33,3% on a number of crops, including wheat, barley, fruit, almonds, sesame, beehives, and goats; a total of 21,200 akçe.
Pierre Jacotin Pierre Jacotin (1765–1827) was the director of the survey for the '' Carte de l'Égypte (Description de l'Égypte)'', the first triangulation-based map of Egypt, Syria and Palestine. The maps were surveyed in 1799-1800 during the campaign in E ...
named the village ''Gergieh'' on his map from 1799. In 1838, ''Beit Tima'' was noted as a Muslim village in the Gaza area.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p.
118
/ref> The Ottomans constructed additions to the mosque, and the
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
ians under
Muhammad Ali of Egypt Muhammad Ali Pasha al-Mas'ud ibn Agha, also known as Muhammad Ali of Egypt and the Sudan ( sq, Mehmet Ali Pasha, ar, محمد علي باشا, ; ota, محمد علی پاشا المسعود بن آغا; ; 4 March 1769 – 2 August 1849), was ...
reconstructed it in the 1830s. In 1863 the 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 Min ...
visited Bayt Tima, noting that it had a population of 400 and mentioning the Mamluk mosque. An Ottoman village list of about 1870 indicated 49 houses and a population of 159, though the population count included men, only. 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 ...
'' described it as being of moderate-size, with two pools and shrines, and two small patches of garden nearby.


British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Bait Tima had a population of 606 Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table V, Sub-district of Gaza, p
8
/ref> increasing by the 1931 census to 762, still all Muslim, in 157 houses.Mills, 1932, p
2
/ref> In the 1945 statistics the population of Beit Tima consisted of 1060, all Muslims, and the land area was 11,032 dunams, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 197 dunams were designated for plantations and irrigable land, 10,444 for cereals, while 60 dunams were built-up areas. During the British Mandate period, Bayt Tima had its own shops, the 14th-century mosque, and an elementary school built in 1946. It shared the school with nearby Hulayqat and
Kawkaba Kawkaba (), known to the Crusaders as Coquebel, was a Palestinian Arab village that was occupied by Israel during Operation Yoav during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and depopulated. Location The village was situated on an uneven stretch of red-br ...
. Its adobe houses—which amounted to 157—were grouped together in blocks, separated by streets or open space; the largest block was at the center of the village. Most residents worked in rainfed agriculture, cultivating grain, vegetables, and fruits, especially figs, apricots, and almonds.


1948 War and aftermath

According to the Jaffa-based newspaper '' Filastin'', a "
Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...
attempt" to infiltrate Bayt Tima was recorded as early as February 1948, preceding the outbreak of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Their forces were driven back by a "hail of bullets" from the local militiamen which lasted for half an hour. On 30/31 May the
Negev Brigade The 12th Negev Brigade ( he, חטיבת הנגב, ''Hativat HaNegev'') is an Israeli reserve infantry brigade under the Sinai Division, that originally served in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. History Founding and organization The brigade was f ...
reported that they had conquered Bayt Tima, killing some 20 Arabs and destroying the
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 ...
and a granary.
Morris Morris may refer to: Places Australia *St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia Canada * Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry * Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba ** Morris, Manitob ...
notes that it was later reconquered by the Egyptian army, to finally falling to the Israelis in October. Israeli sources had told the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
that they had occupied Bayt Tima at the beginning of June. They claimed it was captured while "slashing behind an
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
ian coastal spearhead" on June 1. But the occupation was short-lived, since Israeli forces also threatened Bayt Tima a month later, according to
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
ian writer Muhammad Abd al-Munim. He writes that at the end of the first truce, in early July, the village was held by Palestinian militiamen and Israeli forces encroached on Bayt Tima, occupying the hills overlooking it. Its defenders were reinforced by a
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
n company fighting on the southern front and Bayt Tima supposedly remained in
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
hands throughout the second truce. An aerial and artillery bombardment against the village in mid-October 1948 led to the flight of a large number of refugees from Bayt Tima. It was occupied on October 18–19 in the early stages of
Operation Yoav Operation Yoav (also called ''Operation Ten Plagues'' or ''Operation Yo'av'') was an Israeli military operation carried out from 15–22 October 1948 in the Negev Desert, during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Its goal was to drive a wedge between th ...
by the Givati Brigade. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' quoted an
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 communique on October 20 which said that Bayt Tima had fallen, along with Hulayqat and Kawkaba.Morris, 2004, pp.
462 466
/ref> Following the war the area was incorporated into the State of Israel, but the village's land remained undeveloped. According to 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 ...
, "Sycamore and carob trees grow around the rubble on the site. The land is used for agriculture".


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


External links


Welcome to Bayt Tima

Bayt Tima
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 ...

H. Bayt Tima
dr. Khalidi {{Palestinian Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Palestine War District of Gaza Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War