Dura, Hebron

Dura () is a Palestinian city located eleven kilometers southwest of Hebron, in the southern West Bank, in the Hebron Governorate of the State of Palestine. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 39,336 in 2017. The current mayor is Ahmad Salhoub.

In 1517, Dura was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire with the rest of Syria. In the late Ottoman and early Mandatory periods, Dura was the only permanent settlement in the southeastern ridge of the central highlands. Starting as a village and evolving into a town, it sprawled across large territories, becoming a center for influential families, collectively referred to as Abu-Darham.

After the British Mandate, in the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Dura came under Jordanian rule. Dura was established as a municipality on January 1, 1967, five months before it came under Israeli occupation after the Six-Day War. Since 1995, it has been governed by the Palestinian National Authority, as part of Area A of the West Bank and as part of the Hebron Governorate of the State of Palestine.

Etymology

The present-day name of ''Dura'' has been identified with ancient '' Adoraim'' or the ''Adora'' of 1 Macc.13.20Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, p
4
/ref> The village was originally built on two hills: Dura al-‘Amaira and Dura al-Arjan possibly reflecting dual grammatical number of ''Adoraim'' name, which could also be a double village during antiquity.Sharon, 2013, p
86
/ref>

History

Archaeology

Ancient cisterns and fragments of mosaics have been found at Dura.

The settlement was mentioned in the Amarna letters as early as 14th century BC. and in the Papyrus Anastasi I.

A 1st century CE mansion, inhabited till the First Jewish–Roman War (66-73 CE), was partially excavated near Dura, at Khirbet Moraq. The house at the estate's center contained a bath and consisted of rooms surrounded by an open courtyard and fronted by colonnades. According to an inscription, the house belonged to a Jewish family. This distinctive "introverted" house plan design developed in the area during the Hellenistic period. The city retained its Jewish character until at least the end of the Bar Kokhba revolt (135 CE).

Early Muslim period

Mukaddasi, writing around 985 CE, noted that Palestine was famous for its vineyards and a type of raisin called ''Dūrī'', said to be from Dura.Mukaddasi, 1896, p
69
(note 3).

Ottoman period

In 1517, the village was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire with the rest of Palestine. In 1596 it appeared in the tax registers as being in the ''Nahiya'' of Khalil of the '' Liwa'' of Quds. It had a population of 49 Muslim households. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 33,3% on agricultural products, including on wheat, barley, olives, vines or fruit trees, and goats or beehives; a total of 10,000 akçe.

According to a study by William F. Albright, Bedouins overran Dura in the 17th century. As a result, new families became the dominant ones, replacing its previous population. Residents of several villages in the Ramallah Governorate such as At-Tira, Beit 'Anan, Beit Ur al-Fauqa, and Dura al-Qar', trace their ancestry to Dura.

During the late Ottoman and early Mandatory periods, Dura stood as the sole permanent settlement in the southeastern ridge of the central highlands. Beginning as a village and evolving into a town, it expanded across extensive territories, becoming a battleground for influential families, collectively known as Abu-Darham, particularly the al-'Amr, Namura, Dudeen, and Hajji hamulas. These families, associated with the 'Amr and 'Arjan quarters, frequently quarreled for dominance. Some Abu-Darham families claimed non-native ancestry, having integrated into the village during the 18th century. Establishing alliances with Bedouin tribes proved advantageous. 'Abd al-Rahman al-'Amr, a prominent ruler, sought refuge among the Bedouin Tiaha tribe following his escape from a prison in Jerusalem after he revolted in the 1850s. This connection helped deter Bedouin incursions and facilitated peaceful territorial expansions for Dura.

In 1834, Dura's inhabitants participated in an uprising against the Egyptian Ibrahim Pasha, who took over the area between 1831 and 1840.
When Robinson visited in 1838, he described Dura as one of the largest villages in the area, and the residence of the Sheikhs of Ibn Omar, who had formerly ruled the area.

In 1863 the French explorer Victor Guérin visited the place, and noted that "Fragments of ancient columns, and a good number of cut stones taken from old constructions
and built up in the Arab houses, show the antiquity of the place. Two barracks especially have been built in this way. Above the door of one, a block forming the lintel was once ornamented with mouldings, now very much mutilated. Close to the town is a celebrated wely in which lies a colossal sarcophagus, containing, it is said, the body of Noah."

An Ottoman village list from about 1870 found that Dura had a population of 420, in 144 houses, though the population count included men, only.Socin, 1879, p
153
/ref> In 1877 Lieutenant Kitchener had some boys publicly flogged in Dura following an incident when stones were thrown at a member of the Palestine Exploration Fund survey party.

In 1883, the PEF's ''Survey of Western Palestine'' described Dura as "A large and nourishing village on the flat slope of a hill, with open ground on the east for about a mile. This plain is cultivated with corn. To the north of Dura are a few olives, and others on the south. The houses are of stone. South of the village are two Mukams with white domes; and on the west, higher than the village, is the tomb of Neby Nuh (Prophet Noah). Near these there are rock-cut sepulchres. The place is well supplied from three springs on the east and one on the south."Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p
304
/ref>

British Mandate

In 1921, a violent conflict took place between Dura and the nearby town of Ad-Dhahiriya. It was resolved through the imposition of a hefty fine of 20,000 Egyptian pounds on the "brigands" of Dura.
In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Dura was divided into Dura al-‘Amaira, with 2,565 inhabitants, and Dura al-Arjan, with 3,269 inhabitants; a total of 5,834, all Muslims.Barron, 1923, Table V, Sub-district of Hebron, p
10
/ref> The report of the 1931 census wrote that "the village in the Hebron sub-district commonly known as Dura is a congeries of neighbouring localities each of which has a distinctive name; and, while Dura is a remarkable example of neighbourly agglutination, the phenomenon is not infrequent in other villages". The total of 70 locations listed in the report had 1538 inhabited houses and a population of 7255 Muslims.Mills, 1932, pp
Preface, 28–32
/ref>

In the 1945 statistics the population of Dura was 9,700, all Muslims,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p
23
/ref> who owned 240,704 dunams of land according to an official land and population survey. 3,917 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 90,637 for cereals, while 226 dunams were built-up (urban) land. Dura village lands covered in this period an estimated , which included 99 ruined settlement sites.

Jordanian rule

In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases