Beit Sahour

The name Beit Sahour has been translated variously as "House of the Magicians" by Palmer (1881), and more recently on Palestinian websites as "House of Vigilance"Beit Sahour City Profile (ARIJ 2010) or literally as "House of the Night Watch".[http://visitpalestine.ps/get-busy-beit-sahour/ VisitPalestine.ps], 22 Oct. 2016

Modern Beit Sahour is also known as Beit Sahur an-Nasara ("Beit Sahur of the Christians").Sharon (1999), p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=EPFDU8POrXIC&pg=PA154 154] Another, former village near Jerusalem, known as Beit Sahur al-Atiqah ("ancient Beit Sahur") or Beit Sahour al-Wadi ("Beit Sahur of the Valley"), is fully distinct from the town of Beit Sahour in the Bethlehem Governorate.

According to local tradition, Beit Sahour was uninhabited until the 14th century when a number of Muslim and Christian families from Wadi Musa near Petra (today in Jordan) settled in caves on the site of the modern village. Another Christian family of Wadi Musa, from the remnants of the Ghassanids, arrived in the 17th century. Further immigration in the 18th century from Rashda in Upper Egypt{{dubious|Probably Rashda from Dakhleh Oasis, which is not in Upper Egypt. Family traditions are vague... Talk-page! |date= February 2024}}, Shobak in Transjordan and Al-Kukaliya "in Syria" cemented the Christian character of the village.{{cite web |title=Beit Sahour Residents |website= Forefathers Orthodox Church, Beit Sahour |url= http://www.beitsahourchurch.ps/en/church-beitsahour-en/beitsahour-en/residents-en}}{{cite book |last= Robinson |first= Glenn E. |chapter= Abu Barbur: Elite Conflict and Social Change in Bayt Sahur |title= Building a Palestinian State: The Incomplete Revolution |year= 1997 |publisher= Indiana University Press |series= Indiana series in Arab and Islamic studies |page= 72 |isbn= 0253210828 |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=z2hTrLGkUFQC&pg=PA72 |access-date=24 February 2024}}{{cite book |last=Kårtveit |first=Bård |title=Dilemmas of Attachment: Identity and Belonging among Palestinian Christians |date=4 September 2014 |publisher=BRILL |pages=39–40 |lang=en |isbn= 978-90-04-27639-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SggSBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA39 |access-date=23 June 2022}}

In spite of the influx of Christian families, they remained in the minority all until 1839, when Muslims from Palestine fought in the armies led by Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt in his war against the Turkish Sultan. Huge losses, due mainly to heat and dehydration rather than battle, meant that three quarters of the male Muslims of Beit Sahour perished, leaving the Christians in the majority.

Beit Sahour, like the rest of Palestine, was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517, and in the census of 1525/26 (AH 932), Beit Sahur an-Nasara ('Christian Beit Sahur') had 5 Christian and 7 Muslim households, increasing in 1538/39 (AH 945) to 8 Christian and 8 Muslim households.Toledano (1984), p. 312 By 1553/34 (AH 961), 13 Christian and 21 Muslim households were noted, and in 1562/63 (AH 970), 9 Christian and 17 Muslim households were counted. In 1596, Beit Sahur an-Nasara was registered as a village in the nahiyah of Quds (Jerusalem) of the Liwa of Quds, with a total population of 24 households; 15 Muslim and 9 Christian. The villages paid taxes on the same products as the villagers of Beit Sahur al-Atiqah.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah (1977), p. 115.

The Franciscans ceased holding religious services at the shrine{{which|date= February 2024}} by Shepherd's Field around 1820. In 1864 a new Roman Catholic church and school were completed.

An Ottoman village list from about 1870 showed that Beit Sahour el-foka ("upper Beit Sahour") had a population of 37 "Latins" (Catholics) in 11 houses, and 187 "Greeks" (Eastern Orthodox) in 48 houses, bringing the total population of both villages, Beit Sahour el-foka and Beit Sahour et-tahta ("lower Beit Sahour"), to 190 (men only) in 76 houses.

In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Beit Sahur as:

This village is a sort of suburb of Bethlehem, situated on the same ridge, with the broad plateau east of it known as the 'Shepherd's Field' ... [with] the small Greek Church of the Grotto of the Shephard, a subterranean chapel reached by 20 steps, containing pictures and mosaic. Above the vault are ruins with a Latin altar. Bait Sahur contains a well-built modern house belonging to the Latin curé, and is surrounded with olives and vines.Conder and Kitchener (1883), SWP III, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp03conduoft#page/29/mode/1up 29]; partially cited in Sharon (1999), p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=EPFDU8POrXIC&pg=PA154 154]

In 1896 the population of Beit Sahour was estimated to be about 861 persons.Conrad Schick (1896), p. [https://archive.org/stream/zeitschriftdesde19deut#page/n228/mode/1up 121] A construction text, dating to 1897, engraved in the lintel of a door on Municipality Street has been examined, and was found to be a poem in 19th century Christian naskhi script.

File:'Ruth' story. Bethlehem bride & groom after wedding touching green. Leaf & yeast above doorway to prospective house, facing camera LOC matpc.12961.jpg

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Bait Sahur had a population 1,519; 285 Muslims and 1,234 Christians,Barron (1923), Table VII, Sub-district of Bethlehem, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n20/mode/1up 18]. increasing in the 1931 census to 1,942; 395 Muslims and 1,547 Christians, in a total of 454 houses.Mills (1932), p. [https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas 35]

In the 1945 statistics the population of Beit Sahour was 2,770; 370 Muslims and 2,400 Christians,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics (1945), p. [http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VSpages/VS1945_p24.jpg 24] who owned 6,946 (rural) and 138 (urban) dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi (1970), p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/Jerusalem/Page-056.jpg 56] 1,031 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 3,641 for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi (1970), p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20II/Jerusalem/Page-101.jpg 101] while 100 dunams were built-up (urban) land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi (1970), p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20III/Jerusalem/Page-151.jpg 151]

In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Beit Sahur was annexed by Jordan along with the rest of the West Bank.

In 1961, the population of Beit Sahur was 5,316.Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics (1964), p. [http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/JordanCensusPages/JordanCensus1961-p07.pdf 7]

Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Beit Sahour has been under Israeli occupation. The population in the 1967 census was 5,380.{{cite web |author=Perlmann, Joel |title=The 1967 Census of the West Bank and Gaza Strip: A Digitized Version |date=November 2011 – February 2012 |website=Levy Economics Institute |url=http://www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/1967_census/vol_1_tab_2.pdf |access-date=24 June 2016}}

According to ARIJ, 52.8% of the village land is classified as being in Area A, while the remaining 47.2% is in Area C. From 1997 and onwards, Israel has confiscated hundred of dunams of village land for the construction of the Israeli settlement of Har Homa.Beit Sahour City Profile (ARIJ 2010), p. 26. The mainly Christian Palestinian inhabitants are being pressured by encroaching Israeli settlements, with one housing development being ruled as illegal by an Israeli court in the early 2000s and, as of 2013, standing under threat of demolition.

File:Holy Land 2022 (1) P065 Beit Sahour Shepherds Nai Restaurant.jpg

The town's economy is largely based on tourism and related industries, such as the manufacture of olive-wood carvings. Agriculture and work in Israel also play a significant role. The town had a prominent role in the Palestinian national "Bethlehem 2000" project, as extensive renovations of tourist sites, hotels and businesses, and historic sites were carried out prior to the millennium celebrations.

During the First Intifada, residents in the town had attempted to develop their own dairy industry—a move resisted by Israeli authorities. These efforts were documented in 2014 film The Wanted 18, co-directed by Palestinian filmmaker Amer Shomali and Canadian Paul Cowan.{{cite news |title= REVIEW: The Wanted 18 |last= Cullen |first= Patrick |work= Point of View |publisher=Documentary Organization of Canada |url= http://povmagazine.com/articles/view/review-the-wanted-18 |access-date=20 November 2014}}

Social and economic development were disrupted by the Second Intifada.

Image:sahour.jpg

Beit Sahour is a center of Palestinian political activism. The town played a key role in the First and Second Intifadas, with local activists pioneering nonviolent resistance techniques. During the First Intifada and the Second Intifada, the Palestinian Center for Rapprochement between Peoples (PCR) based in Beit Sahour encouraged non-violent activism under the aegis of the International Solidarity Movement. George Rishmawi is director of PCR.[http://www.pcr.ps/reports/PCR-annual-report-2005.htm PCR] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090104122925/http://www.pcr.ps/reports/PCR-annual-report-2005.htm |date=2009-01-04 }} annual report During the First Intifada, the Palestinian Center for Rapprochement between Peoples issued an invitation to Israelis of goodwill to come and spend a weekend (Shabbat) in Palestinian homes using the slogan "Break Bread, Not Bones".

The Alternative Information Center is also partly based in the town. Elias Rishmawi, a member of the Beit Sahour council, is co-founder, together with Ghassan Andoni, Majed Nassar, Rifat Odeh Kassis and Jamal Salameh, of the Alternative Tourism Group (ATG), a non-governmental organisation specializing in tours of the Palestinian territories,[http://www.beitsahourmunicipality.com/english/members.htm Beit Sahour] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080914005544/http://www.beitsahourmunicipality.com/english/members.htm |date=2008-09-14 }} municipality council members biographical details where the olive harvest is used as a backdrop for showing the effects of the Israeli occupation and land confiscation on the Palestinian population.[http://www.jai-pal.org/content.php?page=695 Joint Advocacy Initiative] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724041240/http://www.jai-pal.org/content.php?page=695 |date=July 24, 2011 }} Alternative Tourism group Olive Picking Program 2008

{{Main|Beit Sahour tax strike}}

{{see also|The Wanted 18}}

In 1989, during the First Intifada, the Palestinian resistance (Unified National Leadership of the Uprising, UNLU) and Ghassan Andoni and Kamel Danoun, urged people to stop paying taxes to Israel, which inherited and modified the previous Jordanian tax-collection regime in the West Bank.

• [http://www.worldbank.org/mdf/mdf1/westgaza.htm Local Government in the West Bank and Gaza] (says parenthetically that the property tax "rate and base" were "unchanged since 1963")
• Baxendale, Sidney J. "Taxation of Income in Israel and the West Bank: A Comparative Study" Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 18, No. 3 (Spring, 1989), pp. 134-141 "it retained the Jordanian tax law" "No taxation without representation," said a statement from the organizers. "The military authorities do not represent us, and we did not invite them to come to our land. Must we pay for the bullets that kill our children or for the expenses of the occupying army?"Gradstein, Linda (8 October 1989). "Palestinians Claim Tax is Unjust, Many Don't Pay", [Ft. Lauderdale] Sun-Sentinel, p. 12A. The people of Beit Sahour responded to this call with an organized citywide tax strike that included refusal to pay and file tax returns.

Israeli defense minister Yitzhak Rabin responded: "We will teach them there is a price for refusing the laws of Israel."Sosebee, Stephen J. "The Passing of Yitzhak Rabin, Whose 'Iron Fist' Fueled the Intifada" The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. 31 October 1990. Vol. IX #5, pg. 9 The Israeli military authorities placed the town under curfew for 42 days, blocked food shipments into the town, cut telephone lines to the town, tried to bar reporters from the town, imprisoned ten residents (among them Fuad Kokaly and Rifat Odeh Kassis) and seized in house-to-house raids millions of dollars in money and property belonging to 350 families.

• Grace, Anne "The Tax Resistance at Bayt Sahur" Journal of Palestine Studies 1990
• [https://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/29/opinion/abroad-at-home-it-can-happen-there.html New York Times] Lewis, Anthony "It Can Happen There" 29 October 1989, p. E23
• Curtius, Mary "Palestinian Villagers are Defiant After Israeli Troops End Tax Siege" Boston Globe 2 November 1989, p. 2
• Williams, Daniel "Israeli troops withdraw after failing to stop tax revolt" Austin American Statesman. 1 November 1989, p. A6
• "Israel abandons attempt to crush town's tax revolt" The Ottawa Citizen 1 November 1989, p. A10
• "Food to West Bank Town Blocked" The Washington Post 28 October 1989, p. A18
• "Israelis stop bishops from helping besieged town" The Ottawa Citizen 28 October 1989, p. A10
• Sela, Michal "Elias Rashmawi's 'Tea Party'" Jerusalem Post 29 September 1989, p. 9
• Williams, Daniel "Anti-Israel Boycott: Tax Man Cometh, but an Arab Town Resists" Los Angeles Times 9 October 1989, p. 10 The Israeli military stopped the consuls-general of Belgium, Britain, France, Greece, Italy, Spain and Sweden when they attempted to go to Beit Sahour and investigate the conditions there during the tax strike.
• "Envoys turned back on road to Beit Sahour" The [Toronto] Globe and Mail 7 October 1989, p. A9
• "Israeli Troops Bar Western Envoys" Los Angeles Times 6 October 1989, p. 1

Israel's military occupation had the authority to create and enforce taxes beyond the baseline Jordanian code enacted in 1963 in areas formerly administered by that country, including Beit Sahour. During the Intifada, they used that authority to impose taxes on Palestinians as collective punishment measures to discourage the Intifada, for instance "the glass tax (for broken windows), the stones tax (for damage done by stones), the missile tax (for Gulf War damage), and a general intifada tax, among others.""A Matter of Justice: Tax Resistance in Beit Sahour" Nonviolent Sanctions Albert Einstein Institution, Spring/Summer 1992

The United Nations Security Council considered a resolution demanding that Israel return the property it confiscated during the Beit Sahour tax resistance. The United States vetoed the resolution, which was supported by the other eleven council members."U.S. vetoes UN resolution that Israel return property seized in tax revolt" The [Montreal] Gazette. 8 November 1989, p. A14

'Ush Ghurab, a hill occupied by a military base until 2006, is now the site of a development project. A restaurant, a climbing tower, a football field and a park are being built on the hillside. The municipality of Beit Sahour also has plans for a hospital and a sports center.{{Cite web |url=http://www.merip.org/mero/mero100708.html |title=Middle East Report Online Bypassing Bethlehem's Eastern Reaches |access-date=2008-10-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121020832/http://www.merip.org/mero/mero100708.html |archive-date=2008-11-21 |url-status=dead }}

The municipal council of Beit Sahour was established by the British Mandate on April 16, 1926, but was formally implemented in 1929. Prior to that date, the first village council was established in 1925 at the initiative of the citizens of Beit Sahour. The village council developed into a municipal council in 1955 under the chairmanship of Nicola Abu Eita.{{Cite web|url=http://beit-sahour.info/ar/story-of-beit-sahour?start=5|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161226141653/http://beit-sahour.info/ar/story-of-beit-sahour?start=5|url-status=usurped|archive-date=December 26, 2016|title=Beit-sahour.info|date=3 April 2023 }}

In the 2005 municipal election, two lists gained seats in the municipal council. Eight seats went to 'United Beit Sahour' and five to 'Sons of Beit Sahour'. The most popular vote was for Hani Naji Atallah Abdel Masieh of United Beit Sahour with 2,690 votes, followed by Elen Michael Saliba Qsais of Sons of Bethlehem with 2,280 votes.[http://www.elections.ps/pdf/Municipal_Elections_Results_EN_(2).pdf West Bank] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070630094514/http://www.elections.ps/pdf/Municipal_Elections_Results_EN_%282%29.pdf |date=2007-06-30 }} Local Elections (Round two) - Successful candidates by local authority, gender and No. of votes obtained, Beit Sahour p 24

According to the 1984 census, there were 8,900 Beit Sahouris. 67% were Greek Orthodox, 17% were Sunni Muslim, 8% were Latin Catholic, 6% were Greek Catholic and 2% were Lutheran.Bowman, Glenn (2006). "A Death Revisited: Solidarity and Dissonance in a Muslim-Christian Palestinian Community", in Ussama Samir Makdisi, Paul A. Silverstein (eds.) Memory and Violence in the Middle East and North Africa, Indiana University Press, pp.27-48 ([https://books.google.com/books?id=sAFs5KdQFcMC&pg=PA29 p. 30]).

The old core of Beit Sahour is reputed to be close to the place where, according to the New Testament, an angel announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds—the "Annunciation to the shepherds". The eastern part of Beit Sahour is home to two sites alleged to be the biblical "Shepherds' Field".

File:Beit-Sahour-Shepherds-Orthodox-40980.jpg

Kenisat er-Ruwat is the name of the site where,{{cite book |last=Murphy-O'Connor |first=Jerome |author-link=Jerome Murphy-O'Connor |title=The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide from Earliest Times to 1700 |series=Oxford Archaeological Guides |year=2008 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-923666-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cSuErBFmykQC&pg=PA477 |page=477 |access-date=16 May 2022}} according to tradition, St. Helena built a convent, which is today known as the shepherd's cave.Guérin (1868), p. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongog01gu#page/213/mode/1up 213]; partially cited in Sharon (1999), p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=EPFDU8POrXIC&pg=PA154 154] The Franciscans acquired a shrine there in 1347.Kildani (2010), p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=8N0IvcIjvSYC&pg=PA332 332]

The Status Quo, a 250-year old understanding between religious communities, applies in principle to the site, although no concrete regulations could be found.{{Dubious|The very same is stated about the Catholic site (see that Wiki article). To which one does it actually refer? Pls clarify & amend accordingly.|date=October 2022}}{{cite book |title=United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine Working Paper on the Holy Places |date=1949 |author=UN Conciliation Commission |page=12 |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:United_Nations_Conciliation_Commission_for_Palestine_Working_Paper_on_the_Holy_Places.djvu}}{{cite book |first=L. G. A. |last=Cust |author-link=Lionel George Archer Cust |title=The Status Quo in the Holy Places |date=1929 |page=12 |publisher=H.M.S.O. for the High Commissioner of the Government of Palestine |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Status_Quo_in_the_Holy_Places}}

The new Greek Orthodox monastery, which includes on its grounds the ancient church, was established through the efforts of Archimandrite Serapheim Savvaitis as a metochion of the Lavra of St. Sabbas between 1971 and 1989.

File:Christmas Church (Bethlehem)3.jpg]]

The Catholic site belongs to the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land and includes the Chapel of the Shepherds' Field, along with two cave chapels and the ruins of a Byzantine monastery known in Arabic as Khirbet Siyar el-Ghanem ("Ruins of the Sheepfold").{{cite book |author=Al-Houdalieh, Salah |author2=Abu A'mar, Ibrahim |author3=Hamdan, Osama |author4=Bennelli, Carla |title=Case Study of Beit Sahour, Palestine. In: Archaeological minor sites in the Mediterranean basin, Beit Sahur in Palestine, Gadara in Jordan, Vito Soldana and Finziade in Italy |year=2014 |publisher=Al-Adab Press |location=Jerusalem |url=https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Khirbat-Siyar-al-Ghanam-Ruins-of-the-Sheepfold_fig14_316541219 |access-date=16 May 2022}} (Fig. 18).

Within the environs of Beit Sahour is the ruin Khirbet Umm Toba. An archaeological survey-excavation was conducted at the site in 2010, 2013 and 2016 by Zubair Adawi on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), which yielded pottery from the Byzantine era.Israel Antiquities Authority, [http://www.antiquities.org.il/m_digs_eng.aspx?shana=2013 Excavators and Excavations Permit for Year 2013], Survey Permit # A-6741; [http://www.antiquities.org.il/m_digs_eng.aspx?shana=2010 Excavators and Excavations Permit for Year 2010], Survey Permit # A-5868, led by Zubair Adawi and Ann Eirikh-Rose; [http://www.antiquities.org.il/m_digs_eng.aspx?shana=2016 Excavators and Excavations Permit for Year 2016], Survey Permit # A-7615.Félix-Marie Abel (1938), p. 385Israel Antiquities Authority, [http://www.antiquities.org.il/survey/new/default_en.aspx?pid=8837 Kh. Umm Ṭuba (M) (north)] Some had surmised that the site may have been the Caphartobas of Josephus.

In the southern outskirts of the village is the ruin Khirbet Beit Bassa, which is identified with Bethbassi, a fortress in the toparchy of Herodium in which Hasmonean leader Jonathan Appus was besieged by Seleucid general Bacchides.{{Cite journal |last=Avi-Yonah |first=Michael |date=1976 |title=Gazetteer of Roman Palestine |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43587090 |journal=Qedem |volume=5 |pages=37 |jstor=43587090 |issn=0333-5844}}

Beit Sahour is twinned with many cities and communes across the world.{{Cite web|url=http://www.beitsahourmunicipality.com/en/twinning/twinnings|title=Twinning|website=Welcome in ..:: Beit Sahour ::.. Municipality|access-date=2016-06-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160618063709/http://www.beitsahourmunicipality.com/en/twinning/twinnings|archive-date=2016-06-18|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.ie/regionals/kerryman/news/tralee-signs-twin-deal-with-palestinian-town-37954389.html|title = Tralee signs twin deal with Palestinian town| date=30 March 2019 }}

• Ghassan Andoni (b. 1956), physics professor and non-violent resistance activist
• Laila al-Atrash (1948–2021), writer and journalist
• Israa Ghrayeb, 2019 "honour killing" victim
• Munther Isaac (b. 1979), pastor, author, and theologian
• Rifat Odeh Kassis, human rights and community activist active since the 1990s
• Fuad Kokaly (b. 1962), former mayor, politician and diplomat
• Qustandi Shomali (b. 1946), professor of history
• Mazin B. Qumsiyeh (b. 1957), scientist, national and human rights activist

Beit Saḥur al-Atiqah ('ancient Beit Sahur') or Beit Sahour al-Wadi ('Beit Sahur of the valley'), Palestine grid 171/123,The ancient Beit Sahur, also called Beit Sahur of the valley, according to Palmer (1881), p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp00conduoft#page/287/mode/1up 287] is geographically distinct from Beit Sahour and lies very close to the Old City of Jerusalem, upon a lofty hill across the valley of Kidron, not far from En-Rogel. It surrounded the tomb of Sheikh Ahmad al-Sahuri, a local saint to whom the local Arab tribe of al-SawahrehSharon (1999), p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=EPFDU8POrXIC&pg=PA155 155] Mujir al-Din mentions this place in a biography of a Muslim scholar Sha'ban bin Salim bin Sha'ban, who died in Beit Sahur al-Atiqah in 1483 at the age of 105.

In 1596, Beit Sahour al-Wadi appeared in Ottoman tax registers as a village in the nahiyah of Quds of the Liwa of Quds. Beit Sahour al-Wadi had a population of 40 Muslim households. The villagers paid taxes on wheat, barley, vines or fruit trees, and goats or beehives; a total of 4,500 akçe. All of the revenue went to waqfs;Hütteroth and Abdulfattah (1977), p. 119 half of which was to the madrasah [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Al-Muzhiriyya Muzhiriyya] in Jerusalem.Burgoyne (1987), p. 579

The place was noted by French geographer Guerin in 1863 as being 40 minutes south-east of Jerusalem, a short distance south of the Kidron Valley.Guérin (1868), p. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongog01gu#page/207/mode/1up 207]; partially cited in Sharon (1999), p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=EPFDU8POrXIC&pg=PA154 154]

An Ottoman village list from about 1870 showed that Beit Sahour et-Tahta ("the lower Beit Sahour") [mislabelled?]{{dubious|Go to talk-page, "Lower Beit Sahour conundrum". |date= February 2024}} had a population of 66 (whereby only

men were counted), with a total of 17 houses.Socin (1879), p. [https://archive.org/stream/zeitschriftdesde01deut#page/147/mode/1up 147]Hartmann (1883), p. [https://archive.org/stream/bub_gb_BZobAQAAIAAJ#page/n932/mode/1up 124] noted 76 houses

In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described the place as: "Ruins of a village with wells and a mukam."Conder and Kitchener (1883), SWP III, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp03conduoft#page/85/mode/1up 85]-86; cited in Sharon (1999), p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=EPFDU8POrXIC&pg=PA155 155] Clermont-Ganneau found here several old tombs in the 1890s.Clermont-Ganneau (1899), vol 1, p. [https://archive.org/stream/archaeologicalre01cler#page/435/mode/1up 435]

• Herodium, nearby major archaeological site
• Palestinian Christians
• Palestinian diaspora

{{Reflist|25em}}

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• {{cite book | title = First Census of Population and Housing. Volume I: Final Tables; General Characteristics of the Population | author = Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics | year = 1964|url=http://cs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/JordanCensus1961bits.pdf}}
• {{cite book|title=Village Statistics, April, 1945 |url=http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nli/Hebrew/library/Pages/BookReader.aspx?pid=856390|author=Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics|year=1945}}
• {{cite book|last=Guérin|first=V.|author-link=Victor Guérin|title=Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine|url=https://archive.org/details/descriptiongog01gu|volume=1: Judee, pt. 1|year=1868|publisher= L'Imprimerie Nationale|location=Paris|language=fr}}
• {{cite book|title=Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine|url=http://www.palestineremembered.com/Articles/General-2/Story3150.html|first=S.|last=Hadawi|author-link=Sami Hadawi|year=1970|publisher=Palestine Liberation Organization Research Centre}}
• {{cite journal | last = Hartmann | first =M.| author-link = Martin Hartmann | title = Die Ortschaftenliste des Liwa Jerusalem in dem türkischen Staatskalender für Syrien auf das Jahr 1288 der Flucht (1871) | journal = Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins | volume = 6 | pages = 102–149 | url =https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_BZobAQAAIAAJ | year = 1883}}
• {{cite book | last1= Hütteroth |first1=W.-D.|author-link1=Wolf-Dieter Hütteroth |first2=K. | last2=Abdulfattah |author-link2=Kamal Abdulfattah| title = Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=wqULAAAAIAAJ | year = 1977 | publisher = Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft|isbn= 3-920405-41-2}}
• {{cite book|first=Hanna |last= Kildani |title=Modern Christianity in the Holy Land |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8N0IvcIjvSYC&q=Beit+Jala+local+council |publisher=AuthorHouse |year=2010 |isbn=9781449052843}}
• {{cite book | editor = Mills, E. | title = Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas |url=https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas | publisher = Government of Palestine | location = Jerusalem | year = 1932}}
• {{cite book|last=Palmer |first=E.H.|author-link=Edward Henry Palmer |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 |year=1881 |url= https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp00conduoft |publisher=Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund}}
• {{cite book|last1=Robinson|first1=E.|author-link1=Edward Robinson (scholar)|last2=Smith|first2=E.|author-link2=Eli Smith|year=1841|url=https://archive.org/details/biblicalresearc00smitgoog |title=Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838| location =Boston |publisher=Crocker & Brewster|volume=2}} (pp. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearc00smitgoog#page/n179/mode/1up 157], [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearc00smitgoog#page/n181/mode/1up 159], [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearc00smitgoog#page/n193/mode/1up 171])
• {{cite book|title=Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum Palaestinae, B-C |volume= 2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EPFDU8POrXIC |first=M.|last=Sharon| author-link = Moshe Sharon |year=1999|publisher=BRILL|isbn=90-04-11083-6}}
• {{cite journal | last = Schick | first =C.| author-link = Conrad Schick | title = Zur Einwohnerzahl des Bezirks Jerusalem | journal = Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins | volume = 19 | pages = 120–127 | url =https://archive.org/details/zeitschriftdesde19deut | year = 1896}}
• {{cite journal | last = Socin | first =A.| author-link = Albert Socin | title = Alphabetisches Verzeichniss von Ortschaften des Paschalik Jerusalem | journal = Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins | volume = 2 | pages = 135–163 | url = https://archive.org/details/zeitschriftdesde01deut | year = 1879}}
• {{cite journal|last=Toledano |first=E. |author-link=Ehud R. Toledano |title=The Sanjaq of Jerusalem in the Sixteenth Century: Aspects of Topography and Population |url=http://alkindi.ideo-cairo.org/manifestation/61348|journal =Archivum Ottomanicum|volume=9|pages=279–319 |date=1984}}

{{refend}}

{{commons category}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20131220032249/http://www.beitsahour.ps/en/ Beit Sahour Municipality]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20160826011119/http://www.beitsahourchurch.ps/en/aboutbeitsahourandchurch/beit-sahour/beitsahourresidents History of Beit Sahour residents]
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20141217011647/http://beit-sahour.info/ Beit Sahour City]}}
• [http://www.palestineremembered.com/GeoPoints/Bayt_Sahur_884/index.html Welcome To The City of Bayt Sahur]
• Survey of Western Palestine, Map 17: [http://www.iaa-archives.org.il/zoom/zoom.aspx?folder_id=93&type_id=6&id=8379 IAA], Wikimedia commons
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110304154512/http://vprofile.arij.org/bethlehem/pdfs/VP/Beit%20Sahour_cp_en.pdf Beit Sahour City Profile], Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem (ARIJ), 2010
• p.35, also separately as [https://web.archive.org/web/20171020061851/http://vprofile.arij.org/bethlehem/pdfs/needsfordevelopment/Beit%20Sahour_cp_en.pdf "The priorities and needs for development in Beit Sahour city based on the community and local authorities' assessment"]
• {{YouTube|XDYisoC3SDw|Beit Sahour, A living Heritage}}

{{Cities in Palestinian National Authority areas}}

{{Bethlehem Governorate}}

{{Tax resistance}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Populated places in the Bethlehem Governorate

Category:Cities in the West Bank

Category:Palestinian Christian communities

Category:Municipalities of Palestine

Category:Status quo holy places