At-Tur, East Jerusalem
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At-Tur (; ) is a neighborhood on the
Mount of Olives The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet (; ; both lit. 'Mount of Olives'; in Arabic also , , 'the Mountain') is a mountain ridge in East Jerusalem, east of and adjacent to Old City of Jerusalem, Jerusalem's Old City. It is named for the olive, olive ...
approximately 1 km east of the Old City of
Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
. At-Tur is situated in
East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the portion of Jerusalem that was Jordanian annexation of the West Bank, held by Jordan after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Captured and occupied in 1967, th ...
, occupied and later effectively annexed by Israel after the
Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...
in 1967.


History

At-Tur is believed to be the location of the site of
Bethphage Bethphage (; ) or Bethsphage, is a Christian religious site on the Mount of Olives east of historical Jerusalem. The Synoptic Gospels mention Jesus stopping in Bethphage before his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. There is an annual Catholic Pa ...
(; ), a place mentioned in the
New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
. Archaeological excavations uncovered rock-cut installations, a quarry, columbarium, and rock-cut caves. Also found at the site are burial caves believed to date from the
Second Temple period The Second Temple period or post-exilic period in Jewish history denotes the approximately 600 years (516 BCE – 70 CE) during which the Second Temple stood in the city of Jerusalem. It began with the return to Zion and subsequent reconstructio ...
. The Chapel of the Ascension is located in At-Tur. Located on the Mount of Olives, the chapel is part of a larger complex consisting first of a Christian church and monastery, then an Islamic mosque. It is located on a site which the Christian faithful traditionally believe to be the earthly spot where Jesus ascended into Heaven forty days after his resurrection.


Ottoman era

In 1596, the village appeared as ''Tur Zayta'' in Ottoman tax registers as being in the ''
Nahiya A nāḥiyah ( , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiyeh, 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 divisi ...
'' of Quds of the '' Liwa'' of Quds. It had a population of 48 households and 8 bachelors, all
Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
, and paid taxes on wheat, barley, vines or fruit trees, and goats or beehives, a total of 3,200
akçe The ''akçe'' or ''akça'' (anglicized as ''akche'', ''akcheh'' or ''aqcha''; ; , , in Europe known as '' asper'') was a silver coin mainly known for being the chief monetary unit of the Ottoman Empire. It was also used in other states includi ...
. In 1838, in the
Biblical Researches in Palestine ''Biblical researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea'' (1841 edition), also ''Biblical Researches in Palestine and the Adjacent Regions'' (1856 edition), was a Travelogues of Ottoman Palestine, travelogue of 19th-century Palestine a ...
, it was noted as a Muslim village, located in ''el-Wadiyeh’ district, east of Jerusalem. An Ottoman village list of about 1870 counted 38 houses and a population of 127, though the population count included only men. It was described as a village on the Mount of Olives. In 1883, the
Palestine Exploration Fund The Palestine Exploration Fund is a British society based in London. It was founded in 1865, shortly after the completion of the Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem by Royal Engineers of the War Department. The Fund is the oldest known organization i ...
's ''Survey of Western Palestine'' (SWP) described At-Tur as "a small straggling village on the top of Olivet. The houses are built of stone, but low and mean. The church of the Ascension, now a mosque, stands towards the west at the brow of the hill." In 1896 the population of ''Et-tur'' was estimated to be about 474 persons.


British Mandate era

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 divis ...
conducted by the British Mandate authorities, At Tur had a population 1,037; 806 Muslims and 231 Christians,Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Jerusalem, p
14
/ref> increasing in the 1931 census to 2,090; 12 Jews, 253 Christians and 1,825 Muslims, in 400 houses. In the 1945 statistics the population of Et Tur was 2,770; 2,380 Muslims and 390 Christians,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p
25
/ref> who owned 8,808
dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; ; ; ), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area analogous in role (but not equal) to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amo ...
s of land according to an official land and population survey. 228 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 2,838 for cereals, while 86 dunams were built-up (urban) land.


Jordanian era

After the
1948 Arab-Israeli War Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...
, At-Tur came under Jordanian rule. The Jordanian census of 1961 found 4,289 inhabitants in At-Tur, of whom 686 were Christian.


Post-1967

During the 1967
Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...
, At-Tur came under
Israeli occupation Israel has occupied the Golan Heights of Syria and the Palestinian territories since the Six-Day War of 1967. It has previously occupied the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt and southern Lebanon as well. Prior to 1967, control of the Palestinian terr ...
, remaining so after the war. At-Tur has a population of 18,150, mostly
Israeli Jews Israeli Jews or Jewish Israelis ( ) comprise Israel's largest ethnic and religious community. The core of their demographic consists of those with a Jewish identity and their descendants, including ethnic Jews and religious Jews alike. Appr ...
, as well as
Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
s and a small
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
minority. Landmarks in At-Tur include the Augusta Victoria Hospital, the Church and Convent of Pater Noster, where the Lord's Prayer is inscribed in 110 languages, and the
Seven Arches Hotel The Hotel 7 Arches Jerusalem is a hotel in East Jerusalem in the Arab neighborhood of at-Tur on the Mount of Olives. The hotel overlooks the old city of Jerusalem. History The hotel was built by the Jordanian government on land that belongs ...
. The Al-Makassed Islamic Charitable Hospital, a 250-bed medical facility with in-patient and out-patient services is located in At-Tur. Jewish Israelis have been buying properties in the neighbourhood and have been resettling the
Mount of Olives The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet (; ; both lit. 'Mount of Olives'; in Arabic also , , 'the Mountain') is a mountain ridge in East Jerusalem, east of and adjacent to Old City of Jerusalem, Jerusalem's Old City. It is named for the olive, olive ...
at a growing rate. On Friday, 24 April 2015, a 16-year-old resident of at-Tur was shot dead by Israeli soldiers at the Az-Zaim checkpoint. The police said he attacked with a knife, but his family denied this.


See also

*
Status of Jerusalem The status of Jerusalem has been described as "one of the most intractable issues in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict" due to the long-running territorial dispute between Israel and the Palestinians, both of which claim it as their capital ...


References


Bibliography

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


External links

*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 17:
IAA
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Silwan & Ath Thuri (Fact Sheet)
Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem The Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem (ARIJ; ) is a Palestinian NGO founded in 1990 with its main office in Bethlehem in the West Bank. ARIJ is actively working on research projects in the fields of management of natural resources, water m ...
(ARIJ)
Ath Thuri and Silwan aerial photo
ARIJ
Locality Development Priorities and Needs in Silwan & Ath Thuri
ARIJ {{DEFAULTSORT:Tur, at- Neighbourhoods of Jerusalem Jerusalem Governorate Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem Mount of Olives