Bayt Jibrin

{{Unreferenced section|date=September 2024}}

The entire site is located in the Lakhish region of central Israel, between the coastal plain to the west and the Hebron Hills to the east, near the 1949 ceasefire line.

Ancient Maresha was identified at Tell Sandahanna, renamed Tel Maresha. The Hellenised city of Marissa included a lower city of 320 dunams during its heydays, which surrounded the tell (mound). It covers the southern part of the Beit Guvrin-Maresha archaeological park.

Bet Gabra or Betogabris grew around a hill c. 1.5 km north of Tel Maresha, after the demise of Marissa in 40 BCE.

The Crusader colony of Bethgibelin stood at what had been the northern margin of the classical city, with its castle built over the remains of the Roman amphitheatre. Its ruins now stand adjacent to and north of the regional road.

The built-up area of the modern Arab village of Beit Jibrin was largely south of the Crusader castle, adjacent to and mainly south of the regional road.

Kibbutz Beit Guvrin was built north of the Bethgibelin Castle and former Beit Jibrin.

Historically, the site was located on the main road between Cairo and Hebron via Gaza,Sharon (1999), p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=EPFDU8POrXIC&pg=PA117 117]. in an area of plains and soft hills known as the Shfela (Shephelah) in Hebrew. Beit Jibrin's average elevation was of {{convert|275|m|ft|sp=us}} above sea level.

The region contains a large number of caverns, both natural formations and caves dug in the soft chalk by inhabitants of the region over the centuries for use as quarries, burial grounds, animal shelters, workshops and spaces for raising doves and pigeons. There is estimated to be 800 such caverns,{{Cite web|url=http://www.gemsinisrael.com/e_article000012102.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090129115552/http://www.gemsinisrael.com/e_article000012102.htm|title=Gems in Israel: Bell Cave at Beit Guvrin|archivedate=29 January 2009}} many linked by an underground maze of passageways. Eighty of them, known as the Bell Caves, are located on the grounds of the Beit Guvrin National Park.{{Cite web|url=http://www.parks.org.il/ParksENG/company_card.php3?CNumber=509499|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090828082255/http://www.parks.org.il/ParksENG/company_card.php3?CNumber=509499|title=Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority|archivedate=28 August 2009}}

File:Map illustrating the locations of Kibbutz Beit Guvrin, historical Bayt Jibrin-Eleutheropolis, the ancient caves World Heritage Site, and Tel Maresha (1940s Survey of Palestine map with modern overlay).jpg, historical Bayt Jibrin-Eleutheropolis, the ancient caves World Heritage Site, and Tel Maresha (1940s Survey of Palestine map with modern overlay)]]

The settlement was renamed over the centuries. The Aramaic name Beth Gabra, attested from at least the Early Roman period, was preserved by the geographer Ptolemy in the Greek variation of Βαιτογάβρα, Baitogabra, translates as the "house of the [strong] man" or "house of the mighty one".Sharon (1999), p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=EPFDU8POrXIC&pg=PA109 109], following Robinson (1856), p.28 nn 1 and 6. The antecedent might be seen in the name of an Edomite king: Ḳaus-gabri or Kauš-Gabr, found on an inscription of Tiglathpileser III.Peters, 1905, p. 7.[https://books.google.com/books?id=MqQAAAAAMAAJ&dq=Baitogabra&pg=PA178 The Protestant Theological and Ecclesiastical Encyclopedia] (1860) By John Henry Augustus Bomberger, Johann Jakob Herzog p 178

According to historical geographer A. Schlatter, the name Betaris mentioned by Josephus should either be identified with Bittir, or else the 't'{{clarify |Theta or tau? |date= August 2024}} amended to gamma, so as to read Begabrin.{{cite journal |last= Schlatter |first=A. |author-link= Adolf Schlatter |title= Die hebräischen Namen bei Josephus |year= 1913 |lang= de |journal= Beiträge zur Förderung christlicher Theologie |publisher= Bertelsmann |location= Gütersloh |volume=17 |issue= 3/4}}, s.v. Betabrin. Cf. The Jewish Wars Josephus Flavius IV:447. Note: Page 270 in the 1981 Penguin Classics edition.Robinson, Edward & Smith, Eli (1856) J. Murray. p. 67

In the year 200 CE, Roman Emperor Septimius Severus gave it the status of a city under a new Greek name, Eleutheropolis (Ἐλευθερόπολις), meaning 'City of the Free', and its inhabitants were given the rank of Roman citizens under the laws of ius italicum.{{cite book |last1= Negev |first1= Avraham |last2= Gibson |first2= Shimon |title= Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land |year= 2001 |page= 78 |publisher= Continuum |isbn= 9780826413161 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l3JtAAAAMAAJ}}{{cite book|last=Murphy-O'Connor|first=Jerome|title=The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide from Earliest Times to 1700|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cSuErBFmykQC&pg=PA217|date=28 February 2008|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-152867-5|pages=217–ff}}[https://books.google.com/books?id=zYwojXLxSQMC&pg=PA67 Biblical Researches in Palestine] Edward Robinson{{cite EB1911

| last = Macalister | first = R.A. Stewart

| author-link = Robert Alexander Stewart Macalister

| page = 263

| volume = 9

| wstitle = Eleutheropolis

}}

In the Peutinger Table in 393 CE, Bayt Jibrin was called Beitogabri. In the Talmud, compiled between the 3rd and 4th centuries, it was known as Beit Gubrin or Guvrin. To the Crusaders, it was known as Bethgibelin or Gibelin.Richard, Jean (1921). "The Crusaders c1071-c1291", reprinted 2001 Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|0-521-62566-1}}, p. 140.Zev Vilnay(1972). The Guide to Israel. Hamakor Press, Jerusalem, p. 276.

Another name in medieval times may have been Beit Jibril, meaning "house of Gabriel". In Arabic, Bayt Jibrin or Jubrin (بيت جبرين) means "house of the powerful",Khalidi (1992), pp. 209-210. reflecting its original Aramaic name, and the town was probably called Bayt Jibrin or Beit Jibril throughout its rule by various Muslim dynasties.

{{main|Maresha}}

The excavations have revealed no remains older than the Iron Age, a time when the Judahite town of Maresha rose on the tell to the south of Bay Jibrin known in Arabic as Tell Sandahanna and in Hebrew as Tel Maresha.Avraham Negev and Shimon Gibson (editors), Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land, Continuum 2001, p 315.

This corresponds to several Hebrew Bible mentions of Maresha. However, local folklore tells that the former Arab village of Bayt Jibrin was first inhabited by Canaanites.Nashashibi, 1997, [https://web.archive.org/web/20030718004225/http://alcor.concordia.ca/~pal/History/Villages/batj%40vil.html Bayt Jibrin Before 1948] Center for Research and Documentation of Palestinian Society, Birzeit University.

After the destruction of the Kingdom of Judah in 586 BCE, the city of Maresha became part of the Edomite kingdom. In the late Persian period a Sidonian community settled in Maresha, and the city is mentioned three times in the Zenon Papyri (259 BCE).{{cite journal |last=Regev|first=Dalit |title=The Power of the Written Evidence: A Hellenistic Burial Cave at Marisa |journal=Mediterranean Archaeology|publisher=Meditarch|volume=30|issue= |date=2017|pages=19–50 |jstor=26727142|language=en}} During the Maccabean Revolt, Maresha was a base for attacks against Judea and suffered retaliation from the Maccabees. In 112 BCE, Maresha was conquered and destroyed by the Hasmonean king, John Hyrcanus I, after which the region of Idumea (the Greek name of Edom) remained under Hasmonean control and Idumeans were forced to convert to Judaism. In 40 BCE, the Parthians devastated completely the "strong city", after which it was never rebuilt. After this date, nearby Beit Guvrin succeeded Maresha as the chief center of the area.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}

In the Jewish War (68 CE), Vespasian slaughtered or enslaved the inhabitants of Betaris. According to Josephus: "When he had seized upon two villages, which were in the very midst of Idumea, Betaris {{sic}} (corrected to read Begabris),{{cite book|last1=Robinson|first1=E.|author-link1=Edward Robinson (scholar)|last2=Smith|first2=E.|author-link2=Eli Smith|year=1856|url=https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearc02smitgoog#page/n4/mode/2up |title=Biblical Researches in Palestine, and in the Adjacent Regions. Journal of Travels in the Year 1838|location=London / Boston|publisher=Crocker & Brewster|volume=2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/biblicalresearc02smitgoog/page/66/mode/2up?view=theater 67 (note 7)] |oclc=425957927 }}, citing Reland who cites in turn Tyrannius Rufinus, based on his Latin translation of Josephus' The Jewish War (4.8.1.). and Caphartobas, he slew above ten thousand of the people, and carried into captivity above a thousand, and drove away the rest of the multitude, and placed no small part of his own forces in them, who overran and laid waste the whole mountainous country."[http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/mad/sources/sources084.html Josephus, De Bell. Jud., IV.viii.1] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306193909/http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/mad/sources/sources084.html |date=2016-03-06}}

However, it continued to be a Jewish-inhabited city until the Bar Kokhba revolt (132-135 CE).{{cite web

| title = Beit Guvrin, Maresha caves now world heritage site

| date = 23 June 2014

| publisher = San Diego Jewish World

| url = http://www.sdjewishworld.com/2014/06/23/beit-guvrin-maresha-caves-now-world-heritage-site/ | url-status = live

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150617193146/http://www.sdjewishworld.com/2014/06/23/beit-guvrin-maresha-caves-now-world-heritage-site/

| archive-date = 17 June 2015

}}

File:Famous tombs at Beit Jibrin showing wall paintings LOC matpc.04968.tif

File:Carved steps along Ancient Roman Road.jpg

Septimius Severus, Roman Emperor from 193 to 211, granted the city municipal status, under a new Greek name, Eleutheropolis, meaning "City of the Free", and giving its citizens the ius italicum and exempting them from taxes.Sharon, 1999, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=EPFDU8POrXIC&pg=PA111 111]{{cite book|last1=Negev|first1=Avraham|last2=Gibson|first2=Shimon|title=Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l3JtAAAAMAAJ|year=2001|page=78|publisher=Continuum|isbn=978-0-8264-1316-1}}{{cite book|last=Murphy-O'Connor|first=Jerome|title=The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide from Earliest Times to 1700|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cSuErBFmykQC&pg=PA217|date=28 February 2008|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-152867-5|pages=217–}} Coins minted by him, bearing the date 1 January 200, commemorate its founding and the title of polis.[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05380a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia, s.v. "Eleutheropolis"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050502093225/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05380a.htm |date=2005-05-02}}.

Eleutheropolis, which covered an area of {{Convert|65|ha|acre}} (larger at the time than Aelia Capitolina - the Roman city built over the ruins of Jewish Jerusalem), flourished under the Romans, who built public buildings, military installations, aqueducts and a large amphitheater. Towards the end of the 2nd century CE, Rabbi Judah the Prince ameliorated the condition of its Jewish citizens by releasing the city from the obligations of tithing home-grown produce, and from observing the Seventh Year laws with respect to the same produce, as believing this area of the country was not originally settled by Jews returning from the Babylonian captivity.Jerusalem Talmud, Demai 2:1. Since the region of Beit Jibrin (Eleutheropolis) was typically seen as not settled by Jews returning from the Babylonian captivity, it therefore had not the same consecrated status as other areas of the country, making its Jewish citizens exempt from tithing home-grown produce.

The vita{{clarify|date=June 2019}} of Epiphanius of Salamis, born into a Christian family near Eleutheropolis, describes the general surroundings in Late Antique Judaea.The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis: Book I (Sects 1-46) By Epiphanius, Epiphanius of Salamis, Translated by Frank Williams BRILL, (1987) {{ISBN|90-04-07926-2}} p xi

The second chapter of the vita describes the details of the important market of Eleutheropolis.Safrai, Zeev (1994) The Economy of Roman Palestine Routledge, {{ISBN|0-415-10243-X}} p 257

Seven routes met at Eleutheropolis,[http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/mad/articles/KlonerEleutheropolis.html Amos Kloner, 1999. "The City of Eleutheropolis" in The Madaba Map Centenary 1897-1997, (Jerusalem) pp 244-246.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050413160348/http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/mad/articles/KlonerEleutheropolis.html |date=2005-04-13}}

and Eusebius, in his Onomasticon, uses the Roman milestones indicating the city as a central point from which the distances of other towns were measured. The Madaba Map (dated 542-570 CE) shows Eleutheropolis as a walled city with three towers, a curving street with a colonnade in the central part and an important basilica. In the centre is a building with a yellowish-white dome on four columns.{{cite web

| title = Places of Section 6: Mountain of Judah and Shephelah:84. Eleutheropolis - (Bayt Jibrin)

| url = http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/mad/legends/legends084.html | url-status = dead

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120715044030/http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/mad/legends/legends084.html

| access-date = 5 August 2012 | archive-date = 15 July 2012

}} Madaba Map Online

Eleutheropolis was last mentioned in the ancient sources by the near contemporary itinerarium of the Piacenza Pilgrim,Anonymus Placentinus Itinerarium 32

about 570.

In the 1st and 2nd centuries CE, Christianity penetrated the city due to its location on the route between Jerusalem and Gaza. The city's first bishop, Justus, was one of the 70 Disciples. Eleutheropolis was a "City of Excellence" in the fourth centuryKloner 1999 and a Christian bishopric with the largest territory in Palaestina. In 325 CE, Eleutheropolis was the seat of Bishop Macrinus, who in that year attended the First Council of Nicaea. Epiphanius of Salamis, Bishop of Salamis in Cyprus, was born at Eleutheropolis; at Ad nearby he established a monastery which is often mentioned in the polemics of Jerome with Rufinus and John, Bishop of Jerusalem. Epiphanius also mentions that Akouas, a disciple of Mani, had been the first to spread Manichaeism in Eleutheropolis and the rest of Palestine during the reign of Aurelian (270-275 AD).Lieu, Samuel N.C. Manichaeism in the Later Roman Empire and Medieval China: a Historical Survey. Pages 68-69. Manchester University Press, 1985.

Beit Guvrin is mentioned in the Talmud in the 3rd and 4th centuries, indicating a revival of the Jewish community around that time. The tanna Judah b. Jacob and the amora Jonathan (referred to in the Talmud as "Yonatan me-Bet Guvrin" or Jonathan of Bet Guvrin) were residents of the city. The Talmudic region known as Darom was within the area of Eleutheropolis ("Beit Guvrin"),"Encyclopedia Judaica", Bet Guvrin, p.731, Keter Publishing, Jerusalem, 1978

later known by its Arabic corruption ad-Dārūm.Al-Muqaddasi, Description of Syria, Including Palestine, ed. Guy Le Strange, London 1886, p. 53

Excavations at Eleutheropolis show a prosperous city, and confirm the presence of Jews and Christians in the area. It was described as one of Palestine's five "Cities of Excellence" by 4th-century Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus.[http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/mad/articles/KlonerEleutheropolis.html The City of Eleutheropolis] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050413160348/http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/mad/articles/KlonerEleutheropolis.html |date=2005-04-13}} Kloner, Amos. Studium Biblicum Franciscanum - Jerusalem. 2000-12-16. During the Roman-Byzantine era, water was brought into Beit Gubrin (Bayt Jibrin) via an aqueduct that passed through Wādi el-ʻUnqur, a watercourse that originates from a natural spring to the south-west of Hebron, and running in a north-westerly direction, bypassing Idhna on the north, for a total distance of about {{convert|25|km}}.Amit (n.d.), pp. 196-198 Remnants of the aqueduct are still extant.

The territory under the administration of Eleutheropolis encompassed most of Idumea, with the districts of Bethletepha, western Edom and Hebron up to Ein Gedi, and included over 100 villages.

Bayt Jibrin is mentioned in the Talmud (redacted 5th–6th century CE) under the name Beit Gubrin. In the Peutinger Tables (393 CE), the place is called Beto Gabra, and shown as 16 Roman miles from Ascalon.Conder & Kitchener (1883), p. [https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp03conduoft/page/257/mode/1up 257] The true distance is 20 English miles.

The Midrash Rabba (Genesis Rabba, section 67) mentions Beit Gubrin in relation to Esau and his descendants (Idumaeans) who settled the region, and which region was renowned for its fertile ground and productivity.{{cn|date=September 2024}}

File:Umm ar-Rasas Church of St. Stephen Unidentified town 2790.jpg, Jordan. Year 785.|alt=A mosaic showing two buildings within walls. It is labelled {{lang|grc|ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΟΠΟΛΙϹ}}.]]

The 9th-century historian al-Baladhuri mentions Bayt Jibrin (the name given to it by the Arabs following the Muslim conquest) as one of ten towns in Jund Filastin (military district of Palestine) conquered by the Muslims under Amr ibn al-As during the mid-630s' Muslim conquest. Amr enclosed a domain to Bayt Jibrin, which he named Ajlan, after one of his freemen.The conquered towns included "Ghazzah (Gaza), Sabastiyah (Samaria), Nabulus (Shechem), Kaisariyyah (Cæsarea), Ludd (Lydda), Yubna, Amwas (Emmaus), Yafa (Joppa), Rafah, and Bait Jibrin". (Bil. 138), quoted in Le Strange, 1890, [https://archive.org/stream/palestineundermo00lestuoft#page/28/mode/1up p.28] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629022118/https://www.archive.org/stream/palestineundermo00lestuoft |date=2011-06-29}}

The 1904 Analecta Bollandiana recounts that in 638 the Muslim army beheaded fifty soldiers in Bayt Jibrin from the Byzantine garrison of Gaza who refused to abandon Christianity and who were then buried in a church built in their honor.Analecta Bollandiana 1904, pp. 289f, cited in [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05380a.htm Siméon Vailhé, "Eleutheropolis" in Catholic Encyclopedia (New York 1909)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050502093225/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05380a.htm |date=2005-05-02}}

In the beginning of the power struggle between Ali and Mu'awiya for the position of caliph, Amr left Medina in the Hejaz and took up residence at his estate called Ajlan in Bayt Jibrin with his sons Muhammad and Abdallah. The latter died there. The Umayyad prince and governor of Palestine, Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik, received the news of his becoming caliph in 715 during his stay in Bayt Jibrin.Sharon, 1999, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=EPFDU8POrXIC&pg=PA115 115]. Quoting al-Baladhuri, al-Waqidi and Yaqut al-Hamawi.

In 750 Palestine came under Abbasid rule. Bayt Jibrin may have already been devastated in 788,{{Citation

| title = A history of Palestine, 634-1099

| last1 = Gil | first1 = Moshe

| last2 = Broido | first2 = Ethel

| author1-link = Moshe Gil

| year = 1997

| publisher = Cambridge University Press

| page = 283

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=M0wUKoMJeccC&pg=PA78

| isbn = 978-0-521-59984-9

}}

but in any event, in 796, it was destroyed by Bedouin tribesmen in an effort to combat Christian influence in the region during a civil war between the Arab tribal federations of the area. According to a monk named Stephen, "it was laid waste, and its inhabitants carried off into captivity". However, by 985, Bayt Jibrin seemed to have recovered, judging by the writings of the Jerusalemite geographer al-Muqaddasi:

"[Bayt Jibrin] is a city partly in the hill country, partly in the plain. Its territory has the name of Ad Darum (the ancient Daroma and the modern Dairan), and there are here marble [sic] quarries. The district sends its produce to the capital (Ar Ramlah). It is an emporium for the neighbouring country, and a land of riches and plenty, possessing fine domains. The population, however, is now on the decrease...."Muk., 174, quoted in Le Strange (1890), [https://archive.org/stream/palestineundermo00lestuoft#page/412/mode/1up p. 412]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629022118/https://www.archive.org/stream/palestineundermo00lestuoft |date=2011-06-29}}Al-Muqaddasi (1994), p. 157.

There is no marble quarry anywhere in Israel/Palestine, but al-Muqaddasi probably referred to the underground chalkstone quarries known today as "bell caves". Surface nari (local name for caliche) is harder than chalk.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}

File:Beyt-Govrin-346.jpg

In 1099, Crusaders invaded Palestine and established the Kingdom of Jerusalem. In 1135, King Fulk of Jerusalem erected a castle on the lands of Bayt Jibrin, the first of a series of Crusader fortifications built at this time to ensure control over the ports of Caesarea and Jaffa. In 1136, King Fulk donated the castle to the Knights Hospitallers. In 1168, the Hospitallers were granted a charter to establish a Frankish colony, which they named "Bethgibelin".Jean Richard Crusaders c. 1071-c, 1291 p 96

Christian settlers in Beit Jibrin were promised a share of property looted from the Muslims.The Fall of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, Joshua Prawer, Israel Argosy, p.186, Jerusalem Post Press, Jerusalem, 1956 It was on the itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela, who found three Jews living there when he visited the country.Robinson, Edward & Smith, Eli (1856) J. Murray. p 29

The Ayyubid army under Saladin sacked Bethgibelin in 1187, after most of the Kingdom of Jerusalem came under Muslim control as a consequence of his victory at the Battle of Hittin. Soon after its capture Saladin ordered the demolition of the Crusader castle. From 1191 to 1192, the town was held in probate by Henry of Champagne, as lord of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, while Saladin and Richard the Lionheart negotiated a ceasefire.Jean Richard (1921) "The Crusaders c1071-c1291" reprinted 2001 Cambridge University Press {{ISBN|0-521-62566-1}} p. 230

However, the Crusaders remained in control of Bethgibelin until 1244, when the Ayyubids reconquered it under Sultan as-Salih Ayyub. By 1283, the Mamluks had taken control and it was listed as a domain of Sultan Qalawun.Sharon, 1999, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=EPFDU8POrXIC&pg=PA122 122]

The city prospered under the Egypt-based Mamluk Sultanate and served as a postal station. During Mamluk rule, Bayt Jibrin administratively belonged to Hebron and was under the jurisdiction of the Shafi'i (a school of law in Sunni Islam) qadi (head judge) of that city.

File:David Roberts - Eleutheropolis or the modern Beit-Jibrin - 1927.113 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif' The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, and Nubia.]]

Bayt Jibrin and all of Palestine was conquered by the Ottomans after their victory over the Mamluks during the 1516 Battle of Marj Dabiq. Bayt Jibrin subsequently became part of the nahiya (subdistrict) of Hebron (al-Khalīl), which was part of the sanjak ("district") of Gaza.

An Ottoman fiscal source from c. 1525-1528 mentions Beit Jibrin as one of the villages whose peasants had deserted.{{Cite journal |last=Marom |first=Roy |title=Beit Loya: Historicising Marginal Sites in Late Islamic Rural Palestine |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00310328.2024.2420507 |journal=Palestine Exploration Quarterly |date=2024 |language=en |volume=156 |issue=4 |pages=388–392 |doi=10.1080/00310328.2024.2420507 |issn=0031-0328|url-access=subscription }}

The Ottomans did not exercise strict control over their territories and tended to keep local leaders in their traditional positions as long as they complied with the higher authorities and paid imperial taxes.Khalidi, 1992, p.209

During Suleiman the Magnificent's reign, in 1552, the destroyed Crusader castle in Bayt Jibrin was partially rebuilt in order to protect the main road between Gaza and Jerusalem. In 1596, the inhabitants of Bayt Jibrin, consisting of 50 Muslim families, paid taxes on wheat, barley and sesame seeds, as well as goats and beehives.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 149

In the 17th century, Bayt Jibrin may have absorbed residents from Khursa, whose village had been destroyed in an attack by the people of Dura.Grossman D., The expansion of the settlement frontier of Hebron's western and southern fringes. Geography Research Forum, 5, 1982, p. 64

In the 19th century, Bayt Jibrin was the seat of the 'Azza family, who had ruled the area since migrating to Palestine from Egypt.Darwaza, Muhammad ´Izzat. Al -´arab wa-l-´uruba min al-qarn al-thalit hatta al-qarn al-rabi´ ´ashar al-hijri, vol 2 (Damascus, 1960), pp 138-140, quoted in Schölch, 1993, p.189.

In the 1840s, after the Ottomans attempted to crush local leaders in the Hebron Hills for their refusal to pay taxes, the 'Azza family joined a revolt against Ottoman rule. They had aligned themselves to the 'Amr clan of the Hebron-area village of Dura. Between 1840 and 1846, hostilities were raging between the Qays and Yaman tribo-political factions in southern Palestine. The 'Azza and 'Amr families, part of the Qays confederation, were constantly clashing with the Yaman-aligned Abu Ghosh clan, who were based in the vicinity of Jerusalem. In 1846, the shaykh (chief) of Bayt Jibrin, Muslih al-'Azza (known as the "giant of Bayt Jibrin"), the leader of the 'Amr clan, and other local leaders were exiled, but were allowed to return in the early 1850s.Schölch, 1993, p. 234-235. Note 708 states that there is more information about them in Finn, [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/22097/22097-h/22097-h.htm Byeways in Palestine] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109153643/http://www.gutenberg.org/files/22097/22097-h/22097-h.htm |date=2012-11-09}}, pp. 176-183 (in 1849 an elderly fellah from the district asked Finn to inform the sultan in Constantinople of the cruel harassment of the peasants by Muslih al-´Azza and his family.)

File:Beit Jibrin, Palestine, 1859-cropped.jpg]]

In 1855, the newly appointed Ottoman pasha ("governor") of the sanjak ("district") of Jerusalem, Kamil Pasha, attempted to subdue the rebellion in the Hebron region. Kamil Pasha marched towards Hebron with his army in July 1855, and after crushing the opposition, he ordered the local shaykhs to summon to his camp.Schölch, 1993, p. 236-237.

Several of the shaykhs, including the leader of the 'Amr clan and Muslih al-'Azza, did not obey the summons. Kamil Pasha then requested that the British consul in Jerusalem, James Finn, serve as an envoy and arrange a meeting with Muslih. Finn sent his vice-consul to assure Muslih of his safety in Hebron and convinced him to meet with Kamil Pasha. Muslih was well received in Hebron and returned to Bayt Jibrin escorted by twenty of the governor's men. Soon after, the Kamil Pasha paid a visit to Bayt Jibrin to settle affairs and collect the town's overdue taxes.Finn, 1878, Vol II, p. [https://archive.org/stream/stirringtimesor02finngoog#page/n318/mode/1up 305]-[https://archive.org/stream/stirringtimesor02finngoog#page/n321/mode/1up 308]

Kamil Pasha took an oath of loyalty from all the local shaykhs in the Hebron region, including those under the rule of Muslih al-'Azza.

In 1838, American archeologist Edward Robinson identified Bayt Jibrin as the site of both ancient Eleutheropolis and ancient Bethgebrim.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 2, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearc00smitgoog#page/n382/mode/1up 360]

He cited William of Tyre's reference to the Arabic name."Urbem veterem et dirutam ... Arabice Bethgebrim; " ibid. n. 4.

Later travelers who visited Bayt Jibrin during that time were very impressed both by the shaykh of Bayt Jibrin, as well as by his "castle" or "manor". At the time, the remains of the Crusader fortress still served for defensive purposes in the village.Van de Velde, 1854, vol. 2, [https://archive.org/stream/narrativeajourn01veldgoog#page/n175/mode/1up p. 157]; Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp03conduoft#page/257/mode/1up p. 257], [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp03conduoft#page/266/mode/1up p. 266]; Guérin, 1869, [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongog02gu#page/331/mode/1up p. 331]. All quoted in Schölch, 1993, p. 189.

According to Bayt Jibrin's shaykh, in 1863, he was in command of 16 villages in the area and pledged "to provide as many as 2,000 men to the government if necessary."Furrer, Konrad: Wanderungen durch das Heilige Land, Zurich, 1891, pp 118-25. Quoted in Schölch, 1993, p. 189.

In 1864, however, Muslih's brother told a traveler that Muslih and his property had been seized on "false charges of treason," and that he had been banished to Cyprus and then beheaded.Trisdam, 1865, p. [https://archive.org/stream/landisraelajour01trisgoog#page/n452/mode/1up 378]

Socin found from an official Ottoman village list from about 1870 that Bayt Jibrin had a population of 508, with a total of 147 houses, though the population count included men, only.Socin, 1879, p. [https://archive.org/stream/zeitschriftdesde01deut#page/146/mode/1up 146]Hartmann (1883), p. [https://archive.org/stream/bub_gb_BZobAQAAIAAJ#page/n951/mode/1up 143] noted 148 houses

Bayt Jibrin's status began to decline throughout the 19th century. According to Western travelers it was "a small and insignificant village". The primary factors that contributed to the decline were the Bedouin raids on Bayt Jibrin's countryside villages, the 'Azza revolt, tribal warfare among the inhabitants of the towns and villages throughout Palestine and epidemics which struck the town and the nearby area.Sharon, 1999, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=EPFDU8POrXIC&pg=PA123 123]-124

In 1896 the population of Bet dschibrin was estimated to be about 1,278 persons.Schick, 1896, p. [https://archive.org/stream/zeitschriftdesde19deut#page/n233/mode/1up 126] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312165448/https://archive.org/stream/zeitschriftdesde19deut |date=2016-03-12}}

The British Army, primarily under the command of General Edmund Allenby, defeated the Ottoman Empire in a series of successful operations in the Middle East, in World War I.{{cite web

| title = The Palestine Theatre, 1915-1918

| url = http://www.1914-1918.net/palestine.htm | url-status = live

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110611135353/http://www.1914-1918.net/palestine.htm

| archive-date = 11 June 2011

}}

Beit Jibrin stood {{convert|21|km|mi|sp=us}} northwest of Hebron, the district capital during Mandate times.

Bayt Jibrin resumed its role as an important town in the District of Hebron. The population was entirely Muslim, and had two schools, a medical clinic, a bus and a police station. The town's inhabitants cultivated grain and fruit, and residents from nearby towns flocked to its weekly market or souk.Khalidi, 1992, pp. 209-210. During the winter of 1920-1921 there was a severe outbreak of malaria. 157 villagers (one-sixth of the population) died with the mortality rate in the district reaching 68 per 1,000. Crops remained unharvested due to lack of people strong enough to work in the fields. The British authorities began a program of sealing open wells, improving drainage and distributing quinine across Palestine.An Empire in the Holy Land: Historical Geography of the British Administration in Palestine, 1917-1929 Gideon Biger, St. Martin's Press, 1994{{cite book

| title = Quarterly Statement for 1875

| last = Palestine | first = E

| year = 1822

| place = London

| page = 152

}}

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Bayt Jibrin had a population of 1,420, all Muslim,Barron, 1923, Table V, Sub-district of Hebron, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n12/mode/1up 10]

increasing the 1931 census to 1,804, still all Muslim, in a total of 369 houses.Mills, 1932, p. [https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas 28]

On 10 January 1938, during the Palestinian Arab revolt of 1936-1939, J. L. Starkey, a well-known British archaeologist, was killed by a group of armed Arabs on the track leading from Bayt Jibrin to Hebron.[http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/3d14c9e5cdaa296d85256cbf005aa3eb/cc68bab76ec42e79052565d0006f2df4!OpenDocument UN Archives]{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}} REPORT by His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the Council of the League of Nations on the Administration of Palestine and Trans-Jordan for the year 1938

In the 1945 statistics, Bayt Jibrin had 2,430 Muslim inhabitants, with a total of 56,185 dunams or {{Convert|56.1|km2|acre|abbr=on}} of land. Of this, 2,477 dunams were irrigated or used for plantations, 31,616 dunams used for cereals,Village Statistics, Government of Palestine. 1945. Quoted in Hadawi (1970), p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20II/Hebron/Page-093.jpg 93] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120907073152/http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20II/Hebron/Page-093.jpg |date=2012-09-07}}

while 287 dunams ({{Convert|0.28|km2|acre|abbr=on}}) were built-up (urban) areas.Hadawi (1970), p. 143. 98% of which was Arab-owned. The town's urban area consisted of {{Convert|287|m2|acre|abbr=on}}, with {{Convert|33.2|km2|acre|abbr=on}} of cultivable land and {{Convert|21.6|km2|acre|abbr=on}} of non-cultivable land. 54.8% of the town's land was planted with cereal crops, 6.2% with olives and 4.4% with irrigated crops.

Bayt Jibrin was in the territory allotted to the Arab state under the 1947 UN Partition Plan.{{Cite web

| title = Map of UN Partition Plan

| publisher = United Nations

| url = http://domino.un.org/maps/m0103_1b.gif | url-status = live

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071201195133/http://domino.un.org/maps/m0103_1b.gif

| access-date = 6 December 2007 | archive-date = 1 December 2007

}}

File:BaytJibrin.jpg

The First Battalion of the Egyptian Army were ordered to take up position in Bayt Jibrin during the second half of May during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. At the same time, The New York Times correspondent reported that thousands of Jaffa's inhabitants had fled inland, including "large numbers" to the Bayt Jibrin area.NYT, 4/5/48, quoted in Khalidi, 1992, pp. 209-210.

In October 1948, the Israeli Army (IDF) launched Operation Yoav, which differed from operations three months earlier, as the IDF was now equipped with aircraft, artillery, and tanks. On October 15–16, the IDF launched bombing and strafing attacks on a number of towns and villages, including Bayt Jibrin.Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA465 465]

According to Morris, the towns caught in the fighting were neither psychologically nor defensively prepared for aerial strikes, and Israeli Air Force bombing of Bayt Jibrin on October 19 set off a "panic flight" of residents from the town.Morris, 2004, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA414 414], [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA468 468]

On October 23, a United Nations-imposed ceasefire went into effect, however, there was an IDF raid on the neighboring police fort on the night of October 24, which resulted in more villagers fleeing Bayt Jibrin.Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA468 468]

Israeli troops from the Giv'ati Brigade then occupied Bayt Jibrin and its police fort on October 27. In 2008, a former resident of the town who was eight months old at the time of the raid, described his family's ordeal as follows:

In the 1948 war, the village was attacked by Israeli military units and bombed by Israeli aircraft. By that time, Beit Jibreen already hosted many refugees from neighboring villages. The fighting and bombing frightened the people. They escaped the fighting and sought shelter in the surrounding hills. [My] family found protection in a cave 5 km east of the village. They had left everything in their home, hoping to return after a few days when the attack would be over. The Israelis, however, did not allow them to return. Several men of Beit Jibreen were killed when they tried to go back.{{Cite web

| title = Palestinian Refugees - A Personal Story

| publisher = Badil

| url = http://www.badil.org/al-majdal/1999/4_23.html | url-status = dead

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927084432/http://www.badil.org/al-majdal/1999/4_23.html

| archive-date = 27 September 2007

}}

The village was located near the 1949 ceasefire line.

File:Bayt Jibrin i.jpg|Bayt Jibrin after occupation by Harel Brigade, 1948

File:Bayt Jibrin iii.jpg|Building on outskirts of Bayt Jibrin, 1948

File:Beit Jibrin.jpg|Beit Jibrin police station. 1948

File:Beit Guvrin iii.jpg|Beit Guvrin Police station. 1948

File:89th Battalion ii.jpg|Members of the 89th Battalion outside Beit Gurvin, during Operation Yoav, October 1948

In 1949, kibbutz Beit Guvrin, was founded on the former village's lands. The excavated areas of the successive Judahite, Hellenistic, Roman-Byzantine and Crusader towns have been included in the Beit Guvrin National Park with major points of attraction for tourists. There is little focus on any traces of Arab presence within the park, the period from the 7th century onward receiving little attention.{{citation needed|date=March 2016}}

{{Main|Beit Guvrin National Park}}

Today many of the excavated areas of Maresha and Beit Guvrin can be visited as part of the Israeli Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park. Furthermore, the Archaeological Seminars Institute, under the license of the Israel Antiquities Authority, conducts excavations of Maresha's many quarried systems, and invites visitors to participate.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}

In 1838, the American Bible scholar Edward Robinson visited Bayt Jibrin, and identified it as ancient Eleutheropolis.[http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moa;cc=moa;q1=jibrin;rgn=full%20text;idno=afg7241.0002.001;didno=afg7241.0002.001;view=image;seq=00000075 Biblical researches in Palestine, 1838-52. A journal of travels in the year 1838. P. 57ff: Eleutheropolis] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520220443/http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moa;cc=moa;q1=jibrin;rgn=full%20text;idno=afg7241.0002.001;didno=afg7241.0002.001;view=image;seq=00000075 |date=2011-05-20}} 1856,

The remains of the city of Maresha on Tell Sandahanna/Tel Maresha were first excavated in 1898-1900 by Bliss and Macalister, who uncovered a planned and fortified Hellenistic city encircled by a town wall with towers. Two Hellenistic and one Israelite stratum were identified by them on the mound. Between 1989 and 2000, large-scale excavations were held by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) under the direction of Prof. Amos Kloner and conducted mainly in the Lower City of Maresha, concentrating both on the surface and on the subterranean complexes. Excavations continued in several subterranean complexes between 2001 and 2008.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}

The largely preserved remains of the amphitheater built by the Romans were excavated by Kloner. Among other unique finds was a Roman bath that has been confirmed to be the largest in Israel and the Palestinian territories. Many of the ancient city's olive presses, columbaria and water cisterns can still be seen. Less than 10 percent of the caves on Tel Maresha have been excavated.{{cite news

| title = Amateur Archaeologists Get the Dirt on the Past

| last = Gerszberg | first = Caren Osten

| newspaper = The New York Times | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/16/travel/16family.html | url-status = live

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171011222046/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/16/travel/16family.html

| date = 16 July 2006 | archive-date = 11 October 2017

}}

The ruins of three Byzantine-era churches are located in Bayt Jibrin. A church on a northern hill of the town, later used as a private residence, had elaborate mosaics depicting the four seasons which were defaced in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. A church south of the town, known as Khirbet Sandahanna, was dedicated to Saint Anne. The New Testament does not give any information about the mother of the Virgin Mary, but the widely circulated apocryphal Gospel of James gives her name as Anne, and her birthplace as Bethlehem. In another Christian tradition though, Bayt Jibrin is the birthplace of Saint Anne.Sharon, 1999, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=j1rSzWgHMjoC&pg=PA14 14]

The initial Byzantine church was rebuilt by Crusaders in the 12th century. Today, the apse with its three arched windows and half-dome ceiling are still intact.[http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/mad/discussion/084discuss.html Eleutheropolis - (Bayt Jibrin)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306071910/http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/mad/discussion/084discuss.html |date=2016-03-06}} Studium Biblicum Franciscanum - Jerusalem. 2000-12-19.

The wider area of the Shfela has been inhabited for much longer. Excavations were conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) about 12 kilometres northeast from Bayt Jibrin at a site located on the same wadi, Nahal Guvrin, near moshav Menuha. The IAA has unearthed there artifacts from a village believed to be 6,500 years old, placing it at the end of the Stone Age or at the beginning of the Chalcolithic or "copper-and-stone age". The finds include pottery vessels and stone tools, among them flint sickle blades, cultic objects, clay figurines of horned animals, ceramic spindle whorls and animal bones belonging to pigs, goats, sheep and larger herbivores. The inhabitants probably chose this area due to the arable land and copious springs flowing even in the rainless summer months. Archaeologists believe the villagers grew grain, as indicated by the sickle blades and the grinding and pounding tools, and raised animals that supplied milk, meat and wool, as attested to by the spindle whorls. The settlement was small in scope, approximately 1.5 dunams, but there is evidence of bartering, based on the presence of basalt vessels and other lithic objects brought to the site from afar.{{cite web

| title = A 6,500-year-old farming village was exposed in excavations that are being conducted along the route of the national gas carrier in the fields of Moshav Menuha - near Nahal Guvrin

| publisher = Israel Antiquities Authority

| url = http://www.antiquities.org.il/article_Item_eng.asp?sec_id=25&subj_id=240&id=1078&module_id= | url-status = live

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090205174643/http://antiquities.org.il/article_Item_eng.asp?sec_id=25&subj_id=240&id=1078&module_id=

| date = 24 April 2006 | archive-date = 5 February 2009

}}

During the Roman period, Bayt Jibrin had a mixed population of Jews, Christians and pagans. Under Muslim rule, Islam gradually became the dominant religion and by the 20th century, the entire population was Muslim.

In Ottoman tax records from 1596, the town had a population of 275 inhabitants. In the late 19th century its population reached 900, while in 1896 the population was estimated to be about 1,278 persons. In 1912 it was estimated to be about 1,000,Baedecker, in his handbook, 1912, p.116-117, quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p. 209

and to 1,420 in the next decade. According to the 1931 census of Palestine, Bayt Jibrin's population was 1,804. A 1945 land and population survey by Sami Hadawi reported a sharp increase to 2,430. The general growth pattern over every 9–11 years from 1912 to 1945 was around 400–500. In 1948, the projected population was 2,819.{{Cite web

| title = Welcome to Bayt Jibrin

| publisher = Palestine Remembered

| url = http://www.palestineremembered.com/Hebron/Bayt-Jibrin/index.html

| access-date = 6 December 2007

}}

The number of refugees from Bayt Jibrin, including their descendants, was estimated to be 17,310 in 1998. Many live in the al-'Azza (also called Bayt Jibrin) and Fawwar camps in the southern West Bank.

File:OIMPalcost3cropped.jpg]]

Bayt Jibrin, together with Hebron and the surrounding villages, was known for its fine Palestinian embroidery.[http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20020913101705/https://www.palestinecostumearchive.org/regional.htm Palestinian costume before 1948 - by region] Palestine Costume Archive. Retrieved on 01.15.2008.

An example is a woman's jillayeh (wedding dress)

from Bayt Jibrin, dated about 1900, in the Museum of International Folk Art (MOIFA) collection in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The dress is made of handwoven indigo linen with long, pointed wing-sleeves. The qabbeh ("chest-piece") is embroidered with the qelayed pattern; the maya ("water") motif, el-ferraneh ("the bakers wife") pattern, and the saru ("cypress") motif. The side panels are also covered with cross-stitch embroidery in a variety of traditional patterns.Stillman, 1979, p.58-59, illustrated

Also on show is a late 19th-century shambar (large veil) from Bayt Jibrin worn at weddings and festivals. It is made of embroidered handwoven black silk with a separate heavy red silk fringe.Stillman, 1979, p.66, illustratedStillman, 1979, illustrated plate 15, facing p.33

A woman wore the shambar mainly on her wedding day, positioned so that when she covered her face the embroidered end would show. Another item in the collection is a headdress (iraqiyeh) embroidered with cross-stitch and decorated with Ottoman coins minted in AH 1223 (1808), as well as Maria Theresa coins. The iraqiyeh was worn by married women and elaborate pieces were passed down as family heirlooms. Long embroidered headbands made of cotton hanging from both sides were wrapped around the woman's braids to facilitate the bundling of her hair, then secured to the back of the headdress.Weir, 1989, p. 184

File:Beyt-Govrin-3-426.jpg of Sheikh Tamim, traditionally taken to be Tamim al-DariPetersen(2001), p. [https://www.academia.edu/21619490/Gazetteer_3._A-C 122]]]

In Islamic tradition, Bayt Jibrin is the burial place of the sahaba (companion) of Muhammad, Tamim al-Dari, who was famously known for his piety and briefly served as the governor of Jerusalem in the late 7th century. Al-Dari and his family were granted trusteeship over the Hebron Hills, including Bayt Jibrin, and were assigned as the supervisors of the Cave of the Patriarchs (Ibrahimi Mosque) in Hebron. His maqam or sanctuary is the most venerated site in Bayt Jibrin, located just northwest of it. Until the present day, al-Dari's sanctuary has been a place of local Muslim pilgrimage.Sharon (1999), pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=EPFDU8POrXIC&pg=PA140 140]-141.

Other Islamic holy sites in the village include the maqam of a local shaykh named Mahmud, and the tomb of a shaykha (female religious figure) named Ameina.Abu-Sitta (2007), p. 117.

• Justus of Eleutheropolis or Joseph Barsabbas, one of two candidates chosen to replace Judas Iscariot after his betrayal and death{{cn|date=September 2024}}
• Peter of Eleutheropolis, 3rd-century Christian martyr{{cn|date=September 2024}}

{{div col|colwidth=25em}}

;At this site

• Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park
• Kibbutz Beit Guvrin
• Maresha

;Other topics

• Depopulated Palestinian locations in Israel
• Ibelin, Crusader castle at Tel Yavne on the coastal plain
• List of villages depopulated during the Arab-Israeli conflict
• National Parks of Israel
• Zebennus

{{div col end}}

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| last = Josephus | author-link = Josephus

| year = 1981 | orig-year = First published 1959

| translator-last = Williamson | translator-first = G.A.

| publisher = Penguin Books

| series = Penguin Classics

| isbn = 0-14-044420-3

}} with Introduction, notes and appendices by E. Mary Smallwood.

• {{cite book| title = All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948

| last = Khalidi | first = W.

| author-link = Walid Khalidi

| year = 1992

| publisher = Institute for Palestine Studies | location = Washington D.C.

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=_By7AAAAIAAJ

| isbn = 0-88728-224-5

}}

• {{cite book| title = Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500

| last = Le Strange | first = G.

| author-link = Guy Le Strange

| year = 1890

| publisher = Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund

| url = https://archive.org/details/palestineundermo00lestuoft

}}

• {{cite book| title = Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas

| editor-last = Mills | editor-first = E.

| year = 1932

| publisher = Government of Palestine | location = Jerusalem

| url = https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas

}}

• {{cite book| title = The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited

| last = Morris | first = B.

| author-link = Benny Morris

| year = 2004

| publisher = Cambridge University Press

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C

| isbn = 978-0-521-00967-6

}}

• {{cite book| title = 1948: A History of the First Arab-Israeli War

| last = Morris | first = B.

| author-link = Benny Morris

| year = 2008

| publisher = Yale University Press

| isbn = 9780300126969 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=J5jtAAAAMAAJ

}}

• {{cite book| title = The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer

| last = Palmer | first = E.H.

| author-link = Edward Henry Palmer

| year = 1881

| publisher = Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund

| url = https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp00conduoft

}}

• {{Cite book| title = Painted Tombs in the necropolis of Marissa (Marêshah)

| last1 = Peters | first1 = J.P.

| last2 = Theirsch | first2 = H.

| author1-link = John Punnett Peters

| year = 1905

| publisher = Palestine Exploration Fund | location = London

| page = 7

| isbn = 9780790530994 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=iGMUAAAAYAAJ

}}

• {{cite book| title = A Gazetteer of Buildings in Muslim Palestine (British Academy Monographs in Archaeology)

| last = Petersen | first = Andrew

| year = 2001

| volume = 1

| publisher = Oxford University Press

| url = https://www.academia.edu/21619490

| isbn = 978-0-19-727011-0

}}

• {{cite book| title = The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: A-K (excluding Acre and Jerusalem)

| last = Pringle | first = D.

| author-link = Denys Pringle

| year = 1993

| volume = I

| publisher = Cambridge University Press

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=BgQ6AAAAIAAJ

| isbn = 0-521-39036-2

}}

• {{cite book| title = Secular buildings in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: an archaeological Gazetter

| last = Pringle | first = D.

| author-link = Denys Pringle

| year = 1997

| publisher = Cambridge University Press

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=-_NbE5obqRMC

| isbn = 0521-46010-7

}}

• {{Cite book| title = The Crusaders c1071-c1291

| last = Richard | first = Jean

| year = 1921

| publisher = Cambridge University Press

| isbn = 0-521-62566-1

}} reprinted 2001

• {{cite book| title = Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838

| last1 = Robinson | first1 = E.

| last2 = Smith | first2 = E.

| author1-link = Edward Robinson (scholar)

| author2-link = Eli Smith

| year = 1841

| volume = 2

| publisher = Crocker & Brewster | location = Boston

| url = https://archive.org/details/biblicalresearc00smitgoog

}} Visited "Beit Jibrin" in 1838.

• {{cite journal | title = Zur Einwohnerzahl des Bezirks Jerusalem

| last = Schick | first = C.

| author-link = Conrad Schick

| journal = Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins

| year = 1896 | volume = 19 | pages = 120–127

| url = https://archive.org/details/zeitschriftdesde19deut

}}

• {{cite book| title = Palestine in Transformation, 1856-1882

| last = Schölch | first = Alexander

| year = 1993

| publisher = Institute for Palestine Studies

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=cMVtAAAAMAAJ

| isbn = 0-88728-234-2

}}

• {{cite book| title = Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum Palaestinae, B-C

| last = Sharon | first = M.

| author-link = Moshe Sharon

| year = 1999

| volume = 2

| publisher = BRILL

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=EPFDU8POrXIC

| isbn = 90-04-11083-6

}}

• {{cite book| title = Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum Palaestinae, D-F

| last = Sharon | first = M.

| author-link = Moshe Sharon

| year = 2004

| volume = 3

| publisher = BRILL

| url = https://archive.org/details/9004131973

| isbn = 90-04-13197-3

}} (Bayt Jibrin p. [https://archive.org/stream/9004131973#page/n34/mode/1up xxxiv])

• {{cite journal | title = Alphabetisches Verzeichniss von Ortschaften des Paschalik Jerusalem

| last = Socin | first = A.

| author-link = Albert Socin

| journal = Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins

| year = 1879 | volume = 2 | pages = 135–163

| url = https://archive.org/details/zeitschriftdesde01deut

}}

• {{cite book| title = Palestinian Costume and Jewelry

| last = Stillman | first = Yedida Kalfon

| year = 1979

| publisher = University of New Mexico Press | location = Albuquerque

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=fZDYAAAAMAAJ

| isbn = 0-8263-0490-7

}}

• {{cite book| title = The Land and the Book: Or, Biblical Illustrations Drawn from the Manners and Customs, the Scenes and Scenery, of the Holy Land | edition = 1st

| last = Thomson | first = W.M.

| author-link = William McClure Thomson

| year = 1859

| volume = 2 | pages = 358–360, 371, 375

| publisher = Harper & brothers | location = New York

| url = https://archive.org/details/landandbookorbi08thomgoog

}}

• {{cite book| title = Land of Israel, A Journal of travel in Palestine, undertaken with special reference to its physical character

| last = Tristram | first = H.B.

| author-link = Henry Baker Tristram

| year = 1865

| publisher = Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge | location = London

| url = https://archive.org/details/landisraelajour01trisgoog

}} (Mohammed Isa of Bayt Jibrin: February–April 1864, p. 374, p. 377, p. 378, p. 381 and p. 506)

• {{cite book| title = Narrative of a journey through Syria and Palestine in 1851 and 1852

| last = Velde, van de | first = C.W.M.

| author-link = Charles William Meredith van de Velde

| year = 1854

| volume = 2

| publisher = William Blackwood and son

| url = https://archive.org/details/narrativeajourn01veldgoog

}} (Search for "Beit Jebrin" og "Mosleh-el-Hasy": p. 72, 73, 138, 139, 142, 147–154, 157, 185, 190, 191)

• {{cite book| title = Village Statistics, April, 1945

| year = 1945

| publisher = Government of Palestine

| url = http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nli/Hebrew/library/Pages/BookReader.aspx?pid=856390

}}

• {{cite book| title = Palestinian Costume (exhibition catalog)

| last = Weir | first = Shelagh

| year = 1989

| publisher = British Museum Publications | location = London

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=YeffAAAAMAAJ

| isbn = 0-7141-2517-2

}}

{{Refend}}

• [https://www.palestineremembered.com/Hebron/Bayt-Jibrin/ Welcome To Bayt Jibrin]
• [http://www.zochrot.org/en/village/49055 Bayt Jibrin], Zochrot
• Survey of Western Palestine, Map 20: [http://www.iaa-archives.org.il/zoom/zoom.aspx?folder_id=93&type_id=6&id=8382 IAA], [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Survey_of_Western_Palestine_1880.20.jpg Wikimedia commons]
• [http://www.alnakba.org/villages/hebron/jibrin.htm Bayt Jibrin] from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20030718004225/http://alcor.concordia.ca/~pal/History/Villages/batj%40vil.html Bayt Jibrin] by Rami Nashashibi (1996), Center for Research and Documentation of Palestinian Society.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070808084311/http://www.transom.org/shows/2004/200406_imaginary_village.html The Imaginary Village] by Sandy Tolan & Melissa Robbins
• [http://www.btselem.org/english/Testimonies/20071029_Forced_Eviction_of_Khirbet_al_Qassa_Residents_witness_abd_al_Halim_a_Natah.asp Testimony: Army demolishes village housing over 200 Palestinians, west of the Barrier], Oct. 2007, Btselem
• [http://www.btselem.org/english/Separation_Barrier/20071125_Forced_Eviction_of_Khirbet_al_Qassa_Residents.asp Army demolishes village housing over 200 Palestinians, west of the Barrier], 25 November 2007, Btselem
• Edward Robinson: [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moa;cc=moa;q1=jibrin;rgn=full%20text;idno=afg7241.0002.001;didno=afg7241.0002.001;view=image;seq=00000075 Biblical researches in Palestine, 1838-52. A journal of travels in the year 1838. (1856) p. 57ff: Eleutheropolis]
• {{cite EB9 |wstitle = Eleutheropolis |volume= VIII | page=128 |short=1 }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20050413160348/http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/mad/articles/KlonerEleutheropolis.html Amos Kloner, 1999. "The City of Eleutheropolis"]: in The Madaba Map Centenary 1897-1997, (Jerusalem) pp 244–246. Eleutheropolis in the late Roman and Byzantine period
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20061105042928/http://www.archaeology-classic.com/Israel_E/Beth_Guvrin.html Archaeological World:] Eleutheropolis
• [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05380a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia 1908, s.v. "Eleutheropolis"]
• [http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=173&letter=E Jewish Encyclopedia:] "Eleutheropolis"
• [http://holyland-pictures.com/tag/shephela-judea/bet-guvrin/ pictures of Eleutheropolis]
• Early pictures of mosaics at Eleutheropolis, many now in Istanbul:
• [http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/matpc/05700/05715v.jpg Mosaic of warrior, (approximately 1900 to 1926)]
• [http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/matpc/05700/05716v.jpg Mosaic of tethered horse, (approximately 1900 to 1926)]
• [http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/matpc/05700/05710v.jpg Another view of mosaic floor, (approximately 1900 to 1926)]
• [http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/matpc/05700/05717v.jpg Mosaic of Greek inscription, (approximately 1900 to 1926)]
• [http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/matpc/05700/05711v.jpg Mosaic of maiden with fruit, (approximately 1900 to 1926)]
• [http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/matpc/09900/09919v.jpg Mosaic of maiden with fruit, (approximately 1900 to 1926)]

{{Palestinian Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Palestine War}}

{{Crusader sites}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War

Category:Castles and fortifications of the Kingdom of Jerusalem

Category:Castles and fortifications of the Knights Hospitaller

Category:Castles in Israel

Eleutheropolis

Category:District of Hebron

Category:Former populated places in West Asia

Category:History of Palestine (region)

Category:Mandatory Palestine

Category:Throne villages

Category:Talmud places

Category:Archaeological sites in Israel

Category:Roman sites in Israel

Category:200s establishments in the Roman Empire

Category:8th-century disestablishments in the Abbasid Caliphate

Category:790s disestablishments