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Khirbat Umm Burj

{{Other uses|Burj (disambiguation){{!}}Burj}}

{{Infobox settlement

| name = Khirbat Umm Burj

| native_name = خربة أم برج

| native_name_lang = ar

| settlement_type =

| image_skyline = General view from ruined house.jpg

| image_caption = Khirbat Umm Burj (ruined house)

| etymology = the mother of the tower Palmer, 1881, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp00conduoft#page/408/mode/1up 408]

| pushpin_map = Mandatory Palestine | pushpin_map_caption = Location within Mandatory Palestine | image_map = {{Historical map series|default=2|date1=1870s|date2=1940s|date3=modern|date4=1940s with modern overlay|width=225}} | map_caption = A series of historical maps of the area around Khirbat Umm Burj (click the buttons)

| pushpin_mapsize = 200

| coordinates = {{coord|31|38|12|N|34|58|11|E|type:city_region:PS|display=inline,title}}

| grid_name = Palestine grid

| grid_position = 147/115

| subdivision_type = Geopolitical entity

| subdivision_name = Mandatory Palestine

| subdivision_type1 = Subdistrict

| subdivision_name1 = Hebron

| established_title1 = Date of depopulation

| established_date1 = Not knownMorris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PR19 xix] village #326. Morris gives both cause and date of depopulation as "Not known".

| established_title2 = Repopulated dates

| area_footnotes =

| unit_pref = dunam

| area_total_dunam = 13,083

| population_as_of = 1945

| population_total = 140Department of Statistics, 1945, p. [http://cs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VSpages/VS1945_p23.jpg 23]Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/Hebron/Page-050.jpg 50] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180623032853/http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/Hebron/Page-050.jpg |date=2018-06-23 }}

| blank_name_sec1 = Cause(s) of depopulation

| blank3_name_sec1 = Current Localities

| blank3_info_sec1 = NehushaKhalidi, 1992, p. 224

}}

Khirbat Umm Burj was a Palestinian Arab village in the Hebron Subdistrict, sometimes designated in modern maps as Burgin.In the Topographical Map (Map # 9, Jerusalem Corridor) published by Israel's Nature Protection Society, the site is listed as Ḥurvat Burjin. Its ruins are today located within the borders of Israel. It occupied an extensive site, stretching about 30 dunams (7.4 acres) on the crest of a hill, rising some {{convert|430|m|ft|}} above sea level, and commanding a good prospect of the surrounding region. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War on October 28, 1948, during the third stage of Operation Yo'av under the command of Yigal Allon. The site is located 17 km northwest of Hebron.

History

The site was occupied from the Iron Age. A large ancient necropolis was here, including a church or synagogue, residential buildings and numerous agricultural installations.Ganor and Klein, 2011, [http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=1834&mag_id=118 Horbat Burqin, Preliminary Report] Israeli archaeologists, Amir Ganor and Boaz Zissu, think that Umm Burj may be a corruption of the 1st-century Jewish village, Kefar Bish, a view earlier rejected by Klein who said that Kefar Bish still bears its namesake in the nearby ruin of Khirbet al-Bis.Boaz Zissu and Amir Ganor, Survey and Excavations at Ḥorbat Burgin in the Judean Shephelah: Burial Caves, Hiding Complexes and Installations of the Second Temple and Byzantine Periods, ʿAtiqot (publication of the Israel Antiquities Authority), Issue 58 (2008), p. 63; {{cite journal |last=Zissu|first=Boaz |title=Survey and Excavations at Ḥorbat Burgin in the Judean Shephelah: Burial Caves, Hiding Complexes and Installations of the Second Temple and Byzantine Periods|journal= 'Atiqot|issue= 58|pages=60–64 |jstor=23464336 |date=2008|volume=58 }}Samuel Klein, The Twenty-four City Councils in Judea (ארבע ועשרים בולאות שביהודה), Vienna 1933, p. 293 (Hebrew) A Jewish inscription, possibly dating from the Bar Kokhba revolt, has been found in a hiding complex at the site; it mentions a "Shelamzion daughter of...".{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/663773367 |title=Corpus inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palaestinae: a multi-lingual corpus of the inscriptions from Alexander to Muhammad |publisher=de Gruyter |others=Eran Lupu, Marfa Heimbach, Naomi Schneider, Hannah Cotton |year=2018 |isbn=978-3-11-022219-7 |volume=IV: Iudaea / Idumaea |location=Berlin |pages=843–844 |oclc=663773367}}

In the late 19th century, extensive Christian remains were noted in the area surrounding Umm Burj.Warren and Conder, 1884, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp00warruoft#page/446/mode/1up 446] Finnish scholar, Aapeli Saarisalo, visited the site of Umm Burj in the early 20th-century, and described its ruins as being of Byzantine and Arab origin.Aapeli Saarisalo, "Topographical Researches in the Shephelah", in: The Journal of the Palestine Oriental Society, vol. XI, Jerusalem 1931, p. 16

=Late Ottoman period=

In 1838 Um Burj was noted as village, located in the area between the mountains and Gaza, but subject to the government of el-Khulil.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/117/mode/1up 117]

In 1863, Victor Guérin passed north of Khirbat Umm Burj, and described the village as being on a mountain, dominating the surroundings.Guérin, 1869, p. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongogr06gugoog#page/n349/mode/1up 336]

An Ottoman village list from about 1870 found that um-burdsch had a population of 150, in 25 houses, though the population count included men, only.Socin, 1879, p. [https://archive.org/stream/zeitschriftdesde01deut#page/162/mode/1up 162]Hartmann, 1883, p. [https://archive.org/stream/bub_gb_BZobAQAAIAAJ#page/n956/mode/1up 148]

French orientalist and archaeologist, Charles Clermont-Ganneau, visited the site in 1874 where he noticed a well situated nearby, called Bîr Hârûn, surmounted with a rude structure, near which were troughs hollowed out in large stone blocks.Clermont-Ganneau, 1896, ARP, vol 2, p. [https://archive.org/stream/archaeologicalre02cler#page/462/mode/1up 462]

In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Umm Burj as: "A ruined village, with a central tower; apparently not ancient; caves and cisterns round it, and a well".Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp03conduoft#page/380/mode/1up 380] Khalidi believed that the SWP assumption that the tower was not ancient might have been wrong.Khalidi, 1992, p. 223

The village was settled in the 19th century by the Al-Husayni family, who purchased the land, that was initially proposed for purchase by Jews.Grossman, D. (1986). "Oscillations in the Rural Settlement of Samaria and Judaea in the Ottoman Period". in Shomron studies. Dar, S., Safrai, S., (eds). Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad Publishing House. p. 376

=British Mandate period=

In the 1931 census of Palestine, Umm Burj and Sanabra, listed in the sub-district of Hebron, had a joint population of 119 Muslims, in a total of 26 houses.Mills, 1932, p. [https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas 33]

In the 1945 statistics it had a population of 140 Muslims, with a total of 13,083 dunums of land. Of this, 28 dunums were irrigated or used for plantations, 3,546 were for cereal,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 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 15 dunams were built-up (urban) areas.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20III/Hebron/Page-143.jpg 143] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130131005326/http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20III/Hebron/Page-143.jpg |date=2013-01-31 }}

The villagers used to obtain drinking water from three wells on the northern outskirts of the village.

=1948 and aftermath=

After the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the ruin of Umm Burj came under Israeli control under the terms of the 1949 Armistice Agreements[http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/MFADocuments/Yearbook1/Pages/Israel-Jordan%20Armistice%20Agreement.aspx The 1949 Armistice Agreement between Israel and Jordan] between Israel and Jordan. Today, the site lies in the Adullam-France Park.

The moshav of Nehusha was established in 1955 on land that had belonged to the village, west of the village site,{{Citation|title=All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_By7AAAAIAAJ|first1=Walid|last1=Khalidi|author-link=Walid Khalidi|year=1992|location=Washington D.C.|publisher=Institute for Palestine Studies|isbn=0-88728-224-5|pages=217, 224}}, but collapsed in 1968. It was re-established in 1981.

Archaeology

{{expand section|date=April 2019}}

In the years 1995–2012, archaeological fieldwork was conducted by a team of archaeologists at Khirbet Umm Burj on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), among whom were Boaz Zissu and Amir Golan, et al., where they uncovered at the site two Byzantine churches, and a Jewish inscription incised on a doorjamb of an underground room in a hiding tunnel system.[https://www.ariel.ac.il/images/stories/site/management/rd/Kovez22.pdf Judea and Samaria Research Studies], Miriam Billig (ed.), vol. 22, Ariel University: Ariel 2013, pp. 19–20, 151–ff.

Gallery

File:House in ruins showing jamb of door.jpg|Khirbat Umm Burj

File:Entrance to tunnel in Umm Burj.jpg|Tunnel at Hurvat Burgin (Khirbat Umm Burj)

File:Caves and pit with protective railings.jpg|Cave and pit in Umm Burj

File:Old structure of house.jpg|Old structure of house

File:General view of remaining walls.jpg|General view of remaining walls at Khirbat Umm Burj

File:Mosaic in Byzantine Church.jpg|Mosaic in ruined Byzantine Church at Khirbat Umm Burj

File:Staircase leading to underground cavern.jpg|Staircase leading down to a cavern

File:Umm Burj (Burgin) with general view.jpg|General view

File:Open roof of cavern.jpg|Open roof of cavern (Hurvat Burgin)

File:Plastered pool from Ottoman period.jpg|Plastered pool from Ottoman period at Khirbat Umm Burj

File:'מערת העמוד' ב'שביל חורבת בורגין'.jpg|"Cave of the Column"

File:Beit Jibrin 1945 ii.jpg|Khirbat Umm Burj 1945 1:250,000

File:Kh Umm Burj 1947.jpg|Khirbat Umm Burj 1947 1:20,000

References

{{reflist|25em}}

Bibliography

{{refbegin}}

  • {{cite book|last=Clermont-Ganneau|first=C.S.|author-link=Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau|title=[ARP] Archaeological Researches in Palestine 1873-1874, translated from the French by J. McFarlane|url=https://archive.org/details/archaeologicalre02cler|volume=2|year=1896|publisher=Palestine Exploration Fund|location=London}}
  • {{cite book|last1=Conder|first1=C.R.|author-link1=Claude Reignier Conder|last2=Kitchener|first2=H.H.|author-link2=Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener|year=1883|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp03conduoft|title=The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology|location=London|publisher=Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund|volume=3}}
  • {{cite book|title=Village Statistics, April, 1945|url=http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nli/Hebrew/library/Pages/BookReader.aspx?pid=856390|author=Department of Statistics|year=1945|publisher=Government of Palestine}}
  • {{cite journal |last1=Ganor |first1=Amir |last2=Klein |first2=Alon |date=2011-10-11 |url=http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=1834&mag_id=118 |title=Horbat Burgin |publisher=Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel |number=123 }}
  • {{cite book|last=Guérin|first=V.|author-link=Victor Guérin|title=Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine|url=https://archive.org/details/descriptiongogr06gugoog|volume=1: Judee, pt. 3|year=1869|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 Center|archive-date=2018-12-08|access-date=2009-08-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181208215837/http://www.palestineremembered.com/Articles/General-2/Story3150.html|url-status=dead}}
  • {{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|title=All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_By7AAAAIAAJ|first=W.|last=Khalidi|author-link=Walid Khalidi|year=1992|location=Washington D.C.|publisher=Institute for Palestine Studies|isbn=0-88728-224-5}}
  • {{cite journal|last1=Marco|first1=Eyal|date=2021-03-25|url=http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=25916&mag_id=133|title=Burgin Well|publisher=Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel|number=133}}
  • {{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 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C |first=B. |last=Morris |author-link=Benny Morris |year=2004 |title=The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited |isbn=978-0-521-00967-6 |publisher=Cambridge University Press }}
  • {{cite book|last=Palmer|first=E.H.|author-link=Edward Henry Palmer|year=1881|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp00conduoft|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|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/biblicalresearch03robiuoft|title=Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838|location=Boston|publisher=Crocker & Brewster|volume=3}}
  • {{cite journal |last1=Rotstein |first1=Uzi |last2=Klein |first2=Alon |date=2019-06-03 |url=http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/Report_Detail_Eng.aspx?id=25543&mag_id=127 |title=Horbat Burgin |publisher=Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel |number=131 }}
  • {{cite journal|last1=Shor|first1=Meidad|date=2019-07-18|url=http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/Report_Detail_Eng.aspx?id=25571&mag_id=127|title=Maʻalot Burgin|publisher=Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel|number=131}}
  • {{cite journal | author = Socin, 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 book|last1=Warren|first1=C.|author-link1=Charles Warren|last2=Conder|first2=C.R.|author-link2=Claude Reignier Conder|year=1884|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp00warruoft|title=The Survey of Western Palestine: Jerusalem|location=London|publisher=Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund}}
  • {{cite journal |last1=Zissu |first1= B.|author-link1=:he:בועז זיסו |last2=Ganor |first2=Amir |date=1997 |title=Horbat Burgin |publisher=Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel |number=16}}
  • {{cite journal |last1=Zissu |first1=B. |author-link1=:he:בועז זיסו |last2=Ganor |first2=Amir |date= 1999 |title=Horbat Burgin |publisher=Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel |number=19}}

{{refend}}

External links

  • [https://www.palestineremembered.com/Hebron/Umm-Burj,-Khirbat/index.html Welcome To Umm Burj, Khirbat]
  • [http://www.zochrot.org/en/village/48990 Khirbat Umm Burj], Zochrot
  • [http://www.trekker.co.il/%D7%97%D7%A8%D7%91%D7%AA_%D7%9E%D7%93%D7%A8%D7%A1/photos.asp?number=2373 Khirbat Umm Burj (Burgin)]
  • Survey of Western Palestine, Map 21: [http://www.iaa-archives.org.il/zoom/zoom.aspx?folder_id=93&type_id=6&id=8383 IAA], [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Survey_of_Western_Palestine_1880.21.jpg Wikimedia commons]
  • [http://www.alnakba.org/villages/hebron/burj.htm Umm Burj, Khirbat], from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20120407030131/http://www.zochrot.org/en/node/48990 All About... Khirbat Umm Burj], from Zochrot
  • [http://www.zochrot.org/en/content/tour-umm-burj Tour to Umm Burj]{{Dead link|date=February 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
  • [http://www.zochrot.org/en/content/remembering-umm-burj Remembering Umm Burj], Umm Burj booklet, 08/2008

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

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

Category:District of Hebron

Category:Archaeological sites in Israel