Bashshit
Encyclopedia
Bashshit was a Palestinian
Arab
village located 16.5 kilometres (10.3 mi) southwest of Ramla
about half a mile from Wadi
Bashshit. Archaeological artifacts from the village attest to habitation in the Early Islamic period and 12th and 13th centuries CE. Mentioned by Arab geographers from the 13th century onward, there was a tomb for the Neby Shit ("prophet Seth
") in the village.
Like much the rest of Palestine
, Bashshit was ruled by the Crusaders
, Mamluks, Ottomans
and the British
. It was depopulated at the beginning of the 1948 Palestine War
during Operation Barak
. Along with the villages of Barqa, Bayt Daras, al-Batani-al-Sharqi
, and al-Maghar
, among others, Bashshit was attacked by Haganah
's Givati Brigade
. Following its depopulation, Bashshit was mostly destroyed. There are seven Israel
i localities now situated on what were the village lands.
, Beshshit stands for Beit Shit, meaning "house of Seth
. The tomb
of Neby Shit ("prophet Seth") was in Bashshit, and other sanctuaries for him in the region included one in Samaria
(Haram
en Neby Shit), as well as one further north in Lebanon
. The tomb lies within a triple-domed mosque of the same name located on the side of a hill that lay in the center of the former village.
period in Palestine
, Bashshit was referred to as Basit. The village is mentioned by at least two Arab geographers as far back as the 13th century, when the village was under the rule of the Mamluk
s. It is documented in the writings of Yaqut al-Hamawi
(died 1228) who mentioned it in his Mu'jam
, describing its proximity to al-Ramla.
Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali also gave an account of the village in the 17th century, noting that the Arab grammarian and chronicler Jamal al-Bashshiti (d.1417) was from the village.
In the late 19th century, while under Ottoman
rule, Bashshit was an important village between Yibna
and Isdud. The village structures in Bashshit were made of adobe
bricks. There were cultivated gardens with cactus
hedges, and on a hill, stood a three-domed shrine. During the British Mandate period, the village had a rectangular layout, extending in the east-west direction. Its population of 1,125 inhabitants in 1931 was predominantly Muslim
. By 1945, the population had increased to 1,620. Bashshit had an elementary school, built in 1921, in which 148 students were enrolled in the mid-1940s. A mosque
, possessing a number of artesian wells, was located in the village center. The main economic activities were agriculture and animal husbandry. Grain was the chief crop.
The village comprised a total area of 18,553 dunum
s. The population of the village was entirely Arab in ethnicity. A school for boys was founded in 1921, which by 1945 had an 148 students.
A large number of inhabitants were employed in cereal farming, which occupied most of the land area. Some land was also allocated for irrigation and plantation, and the growing of citrus fruits and olives.
Types of landuse in dunam
s by Arabs in 1945:
The land ownership of the village before occupation in dunam
s:
. The villagers put up a major struggle, but the houses were mostly all destroyed.
Today, there are seven Israeli settlements on the village land; including Newe Mivtach
, Meshar, Kefar Mordekhay
, Misgav Dov
, Kannot
, Shedema, and Aseret
. Of Bashshit's former structures, three houses and a pool remain; two of the houses are deserted and an Israeli family occupies one. The surrounding lands today are cultivated by Israelis for agricultural production.
The village also contains an archaeological site, al-Nabi 'Ararat, which has some remaining pillars and cisterns. However, the site is fenced off and marked as a "dangerous building" and the cisterns are heavily populated with bat
s. The remains of a courtyard in front of the khirbat ("ruins") is heavily overgrown with weeds.
. The excavation, directed by T. Kanias, with the assistance of A. Hajian (surveying), R. Graff (drafting) and M. Saltzberger (photography) involved the excavation of the sewer line which revealed building remains and ceramic fragments from the Early Islamic period and the 12th–13th centuries CE. Various sized kurkar stones were discovered 0.9 m below the surface, pottery fragments from the Early Islamic period and a few animal bones. Numerous potsherds were excavated also dating to the 12th–13th centuries CE, including the foot of a clay
box lined with chalk
and decorated with a geometric pattern and the remains of a plaster
floor.
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
village located 16.5 kilometres (10.3 mi) southwest of Ramla
Ramla
Ramla , is a city in central Israel. The city is predominantly Jewish with a significant Arab minority. Ramla was founded circa 705–715 AD by the Umayyad Caliph Suleiman ibn Abed al-Malik after the Arab conquest of the region...
about half a mile from Wadi
Wadi
Wadi is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some cases, it may refer to a dry riverbed that contains water only during times of heavy rain or simply an intermittent stream.-Variant names:...
Bashshit. Archaeological artifacts from the village attest to habitation in the Early Islamic period and 12th and 13th centuries CE. Mentioned by Arab geographers from the 13th century onward, there was a tomb for the Neby Shit ("prophet Seth
Seth
Seth , in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, is the third listed son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, who are the only other of their children mentioned by name...
") in the village.
Like much the rest of Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
, Bashshit was ruled by the Crusaders
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
, Mamluks, Ottomans
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
and the British
Mandate Palestine
Mandate Palestine existed while the British Mandate for Palestine, which formally began in September 1923 and terminated in May 1948, was in effect...
. It was depopulated at the beginning of the 1948 Palestine War
1948 Palestine war
The 1948 Palestine war refers to the events in the British Mandate of Palestine between the United Nations vote on the partition plan on November 30, 1947, to the end of the first Arab-Israeli war on July 20, 1949.The war is divided into two phases:...
during Operation Barak
Operation Barak
Operation Barak was a Haganah offensive launched just before the end of the British Mandate in Palestine. It was part of Plan Dalet. Its objective was to capture villages North of Gaza in anticipation of the arrival of the Egyptian army...
. Along with the villages of Barqa, Bayt Daras, al-Batani-al-Sharqi
Al-Batani al-Sharqi
Al-Batani al-Sharqi was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Gaza, located northeast of Gaza situated in the flat terrain on the southern coastal plain of Palestine. It had a population of 650 in 1945...
, and al-Maghar
Al-Maghar
al-Maghar was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Ramla. It was depopulated by the Givati Brigade during Operation Barak on 18 May 1948. It was located 12 km southwest of Ramla, situated north of Wadi al-Maghar....
, among others, Bashshit was attacked by Haganah
Haganah
Haganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...
's Givati Brigade
Givati Brigade
The Givati Brigade is an infantry brigade of the Israel Defense Forces, and serves as its amphibious force. Givati soldiers are designated by purple berets...
. Following its depopulation, Bashshit was mostly destroyed. There are seven Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i localities now situated on what were the village lands.
Etymology
According to the Palestine Exploration FundPalestine Exploration Fund
The Palestine Exploration Fund is a British society often simply known as the PEF. It was founded in 1865 and is still functioning today. Its initial object was to carry out surveys of the topography and ethnography of Ottoman Palestine with a remit that fell somewhere between an expeditionary...
, Beshshit stands for Beit Shit, meaning "house of Seth
Seth
Seth , in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, is the third listed son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, who are the only other of their children mentioned by name...
. The tomb
Tomb
A tomb is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes...
of Neby Shit ("prophet Seth") was in Bashshit, and other sanctuaries for him in the region included one in Samaria
Samaria
Samaria, or the Shomron is a term used for a mountainous region roughly corresponding to the northern part of the West Bank.- Etymology :...
(Haram
Haram
The Arabic term has a meaning of "sanctuary" or "holy site" in Islam.-Etymology:The Arabic language has two separate words, and , both derived from the same triliteral Semitic root . Both of these words can mean "forbidden" and/or "sacred" in a general way, but each has also developed some...
en Neby Shit), as well as one further north in Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
. The tomb lies within a triple-domed mosque of the same name located on the side of a hill that lay in the center of the former village.
History
During the CrusaderCrusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
period in Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
, Bashshit was referred to as Basit. The village is mentioned by at least two Arab geographers as far back as the 13th century, when the village was under the rule of the Mamluk
Mamluk
A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...
s. It is documented in the writings of Yaqut al-Hamawi
Yaqut al-Hamawi
Yāqūt ibn-'Abdullah al-Rūmī al-Hamawī) was an Islamic biographer and geographer renowned for his encyclopedic writings on the Muslim world. "al-Rumi" refers to his Greek descent; "al-Hamawi" means that he is from Hama, Syria, and ibn-Abdullah is a reference to his father's name, Abdullah...
(died 1228) who mentioned it in his Mu'jam
Mu'jam Al-Buldan
Mu'jam al-buldan is a book by Yaqut al-Hamawi, a Muslim scholar who is famous for his encyclopedic books.Al-Hamawi started the book in 1224 and finished in 1228, one year before he died....
, describing its proximity to al-Ramla.
Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali also gave an account of the village in the 17th century, noting that the Arab grammarian and chronicler Jamal al-Bashshiti (d.1417) was from the village.
In the late 19th century, while under Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
rule, Bashshit was an important village between Yibna
Yibna
Yibna was a Palestinian village of 5,420 inhabitants, located 15 kilometers southwest of Ramla. Yibna was occupied by Israeli forces on June 4, 1948, and was depopulated during the military assault and expulsion.-History:...
and Isdud. The village structures in Bashshit were made of adobe
Adobe
Adobe is a natural building material made from sand, clay, water, and some kind of fibrous or organic material , which the builders shape into bricks using frames and dry in the sun. Adobe buildings are similar to cob and mudbrick buildings. Adobe structures are extremely durable, and account for...
bricks. There were cultivated gardens with cactus
Cactus
A cactus is a member of the plant family Cactaceae. Their distinctive appearance is a result of adaptations to conserve water in dry and/or hot environments. In most species, the stem has evolved to become photosynthetic and succulent, while the leaves have evolved into spines...
hedges, and on a hill, stood a three-domed shrine. During the British Mandate period, the village had a rectangular layout, extending in the east-west direction. Its population of 1,125 inhabitants in 1931 was predominantly Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
. By 1945, the population had increased to 1,620. Bashshit had an elementary school, built in 1921, in which 148 students were enrolled in the mid-1940s. A mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
, possessing a number of artesian wells, was located in the village center. The main economic activities were agriculture and animal husbandry. Grain was the chief crop.
The village comprised a total area of 18,553 dunum
Dunum
Dunum is a municipality in the district of Wittmund, in Lower Saxony, Germany....
s. The population of the village was entirely Arab in ethnicity. A school for boys was founded in 1921, which by 1945 had an 148 students.
A large number of inhabitants were employed in cereal farming, which occupied most of the land area. Some land was also allocated for irrigation and plantation, and the growing of citrus fruits and olives.
Types of landuse in dunam
Dunam
A dunam or dönüm, dunum, donum, dynym, dulum was a non-SI unit of land area used in the Ottoman Empire and representing the amount of land that can be plowed in a day; its value varied from 900–2500 m²...
s by Arabs in 1945:
| Land Usage | Dunams |
|---|---|
| Citrus | 66 |
| Irrigated & Plantation | 651 |
| Olives | 67 |
| Cereal | 17,558 |
| Urban | 58 |
| Cultivable | 18,275 |
| Non-cultivable | 220 |
The land ownership of the village before occupation in dunam
Dunam
A dunam or dönüm, dunum, donum, dynym, dulum was a non-SI unit of land area used in the Ottoman Empire and representing the amount of land that can be plowed in a day; its value varied from 900–2500 m²...
s:
| Owner | Dunams |
|---|---|
| Arab | 18,538 |
| Jewish | 0 |
| Public | 15 |
| Total | 18,553 |
1948 War and aftermath
Between May 10 and May 13, 1948, the village was attacked by the 52nd and 53rd battalions of the Givati Brigade as part of Operation BarakOperation Barak
Operation Barak was a Haganah offensive launched just before the end of the British Mandate in Palestine. It was part of Plan Dalet. Its objective was to capture villages North of Gaza in anticipation of the arrival of the Egyptian army...
. The villagers put up a major struggle, but the houses were mostly all destroyed.
Today, there are seven Israeli settlements on the village land; including Newe Mivtach
Neve Mivtah
Neve Mivtah is a small moshav in the north end of Be'er Tuvia Regional Council, south near Bnei Ayish and Gedera. It borders Moshav Bitzaron to the south, the agricultural school Kannot to the east, Moshav Misgav Dov to the north, and Kvutzat Yavne to the west.The Moshav was founded in 1950 on...
, Meshar, Kefar Mordekhay
Kfar Mordechai
Kfar Mordechai is a village in central Israel, located about 30 kilometers south of Tel Aviv, between Ashdod, Gedera and Yavne. The village was established in 1950 by British and South African Jews and by some ex-kibbutz members, near the ruins of a Palestinian Arab village called Bashshit...
, Misgav Dov
Misgav Dov
Misgav Dov is a moshav near Gedera in the coastal plain of south-central Israel. It belongs to the Gederot Regional Council. It is named after Dov Gruner, a member of the Irgun....
, Kannot
Kannot
Kannot is an educational institution and youth village in central Israel. Located near Gedera, it falls under the jurisdiction of Be'er Tuvia Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 284....
, Shedema, and Aseret
Aseret
Aseret is a communal settlement near Gedera on the coastal plain of south-central Israel. It belongs to the Gederot Regional Council. The word "Aseret" means ten, and the community is named after the ten members of Bilu who founded Gedera....
. Of Bashshit's former structures, three houses and a pool remain; two of the houses are deserted and an Israeli family occupies one. The surrounding lands today are cultivated by Israelis for agricultural production.
The village also contains an archaeological site, al-Nabi 'Ararat, which has some remaining pillars and cisterns. However, the site is fenced off and marked as a "dangerous building" and the cisterns are heavily populated with bat
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
s. The remains of a courtyard in front of the khirbat ("ruins") is heavily overgrown with weeds.
Excavations
In 1999, the village became subject of an archaeological investigation by the Israel Antiquities AuthorityIsrael Antiquities Authority
The Israel Antiquities Authority is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of Antiquities. The IAA regulates excavation and conservation, and promotes research...
. The excavation, directed by T. Kanias, with the assistance of A. Hajian (surveying), R. Graff (drafting) and M. Saltzberger (photography) involved the excavation of the sewer line which revealed building remains and ceramic fragments from the Early Islamic period and the 12th–13th centuries CE. Various sized kurkar stones were discovered 0.9 m below the surface, pottery fragments from the Early Islamic period and a few animal bones. Numerous potsherds were excavated also dating to the 12th–13th centuries CE, including the foot of a clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
box lined with chalk
Chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
and decorated with a geometric pattern and the remains of a plaster
Plaster
Plaster is a building material used for coating walls and ceilings. Plaster starts as a dry powder similar to mortar or cement and like those materials it is mixed with water to form a paste which liberates heat and then hardens. Unlike mortar and cement, plaster remains quite soft after setting,...
floor.
External links
- Welcome to Bashshit
- Bashshit at Khalil Sakakini Cultural CenterKhalil Sakakini Cultural CenterKhalil Sakakini Cultural Center is an organization established in 1996. It is located at 4 Raja Street, Ramallah in the West Bank. The traditional manor that houses the centre was the former family home of Khalil Salem Salah, the mayor of Ramallah between 1947/1951, is now owned by the Palestinian...
- YouTube video