Kafr Saba
Encyclopedia
Kafr Saba was a Palestinian-Arab
village famous for its shrine dating to the Mamluk
period and for a history stretching back for more than a millennium. The village was depopulated of its Arab residents by Jewish forces on May 13, 1948, one day before the new State of Israel was declared.
Presently the remains of the villages consists of two domed shrines located on either side of Route 55
between Kfar Sava and Qalqiliyya
. The larger of the two is called Nabi Yamin, situated on the east side. About 40 meters away, on the west side of the road, is a much smaller shrine named Nabi Serakha. The Nabi Yamin shrine was later taken over by an ultra-orthodox Jewish sect.
period. is mentioned for the first time in the writings of Josephus
, in his account of the attempt of Alexander Jannaeus
to halt an invasion from the North led by Antiochus
(Antiquities, book 13, chapter 15). Kfar Saba also appears in the Talmud
in connection to corn tithing and the Capharsaba sycamore fig tree. The settlement was likely named after a person called Sava, though this person's importance is not known.
Excavations on the site have revealed the remains of a large Roman
bathhouse. In the Byzantine
periods the ruins of the bathhouse were first converted into fish pools, and later into some form of industrial installation.
Around year 985 C.E. Al-Muqaddasi
described the place as a large village with a mosque
that was situated on the road to Damascus
. In 1047 Nasir-i-Khusraw described it as a town on the road to al-Ramla, rich in fig
and olive
trees.
A five-line inscription recording the grave of Sayf al-Din Bari, dated 1299-1300 CE was recorded within the shrine enclosure in 1922. The present location of this inscription is unknown. A sabil ("water fountain") is situated on the east side of the main enclosure. An inscription embedded on the right side of this sabil referred to the foundation of a fountain for the public by Emir Tankiz, governor of Damascus in 1311-1312 CE.
In 1596, Kafr Saba was part of the Ottoman Empire
, nahiya (subdistrict) of Bani Sa'b under the liwa'
("district") of Nablus
with a population of 231. It paid taxes on wheat, barley, goats and beehives.
In 1730, the Egyptian Sufi traveller al-Luqaymi visited Kafr Saba and saw the shrine for a local religious figure, Binyamin (also called al-Nabi Yamin). In 1808 CE, the riwaq (prayer hall) was constructed, according to a now vanished inscription. This riwaq occupies the south side of the main enclosure of the shrine. In the late nineteenth century, the village of Kafr Saba was described as a village built of stone and adobe brick and was situated on a low hill. It contained a mosque and was surrounded by sandy ground, with olive
groves to the north. Its population was estimated to be 800.
Part of the village was sold to the ICA
during the Ottoman period. Jewish immigrants to Palestine
established a moshava
on the land and called it Kfar Saba
. The village expanded in the British Mandate period; new houses were built along the highway, and new agricultural land were cultivated to the west of the village. By 1944/45 the village used 1,026 dunums for citrus and bananas, 4,600 dunums for cereals, while 355 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards, of which 30 dunums were planted with olive trees.
several times. The Arab Liberation Army
(ALA), an army consisting of volunteers from several neighboring Arab countries, supported the Kafr Saba militia with troops during these intermittent attacks. According to historian Benny Morris
:
historian Walid Khalidi
, described the remaining structures on the village land in 1992:
After the war, the Nabi Yamin shrine near the town was abandoned. After 1967, the ruin was taken over by an ultraorthodox Jewish sect, that claimed it was the tomb of Benjamin
, father of one of the 12 tribes of Israel. Meron Benvenisti
writes in 2002 that, "the dedicated inscriptions from the Mamluk
period remain engraved on the stone walls of the tomb, but the cloths embroidered with verses from the Qur'an
, with which the gravestones were draped, have been replaced by draperies bearing verses from the Hebrew Bible
." Benvenisti frames this transformation, and others similar to it, in the context of, "a wholesale appropriation of the sacred sites of a defeated religious community by members of the victorious one."
The town of Kfar Sava, founded in 1903, was situated southwest of the village on the eve of the war. Currently, it has expanded to cover much of the village land. Beit Berl
, established in 1947 northwest of the village site, is on village land. The settlement of Neve Yamin
was established in 1949 to the east of the village site on land around the shrine for al-Nabi Yamin. The settlement of Nir Eliyahu
was established in 1950 about 1 kilometre (0.621372736649807 mi) northeast of the village site, on lands of nearby Qalqilyah
.
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...
village famous for its shrine dating to 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...
period and for a history stretching back for more than a millennium. The village was depopulated of its Arab residents by Jewish forces on May 13, 1948, one day before the new State of Israel was declared.
Presently the remains of the villages consists of two domed shrines located on either side of Route 55
Highway 55 (Israel)
Highway 55 is an east-west highway in central Israel. Its Western terminus is in Kfar Sava, and it continues east to Nablus.The road passes near Qalqilya, Alfei Menashe, Azzun, Karnei Shomron and Kedumim, and ends in Nablus....
between Kfar Sava and Qalqiliyya
Qalqilyah
-Bibliography: p. -External links:**...
. The larger of the two is called Nabi Yamin, situated on the east side. About 40 meters away, on the west side of the road, is a much smaller shrine named Nabi Serakha. The Nabi Yamin shrine was later taken over by an ultra-orthodox Jewish sect.
History
Kfar Saba (ancient Capharsaba) was an important settlement during the Second TempleSecond Temple
The Jewish Second Temple was an important shrine which stood on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem between 516 BCE and 70 CE. It replaced the First Temple which was destroyed in 586 BCE, when the Jewish nation was exiled to Babylon...
period. is mentioned for the first time in the writings of Josephus
Josephus
Titus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...
, in his account of the attempt of Alexander Jannaeus
Alexander Jannaeus
Alexander Jannaeus was king of Judea from 103 BC to 76 BC. The son of John Hyrcanus, he inherited the throne from his brother Aristobulus I, and appears to have married his brother's widow, Shlomtzion or "Shelomit", also known as Salome Alexandra, according to the Biblical law of Yibbum...
to halt an invasion from the North led by Antiochus
Antiochus
-The Seleucid Empire:* Antiochus , father of Seleucus I Nicator, founder of the Hellenstic Seleucid Empire* Antiochus I Soter , king of the Seleucid Empire...
(Antiquities, book 13, chapter 15). Kfar Saba also appears in the Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
in connection to corn tithing and the Capharsaba sycamore fig tree. The settlement was likely named after a person called Sava, though this person's importance is not known.
Excavations on the site have revealed the remains of a large Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
bathhouse. In the Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
periods the ruins of the bathhouse were first converted into fish pools, and later into some form of industrial installation.
Around year 985 C.E. Al-Muqaddasi
Al-Muqaddasi
Muhammad ibn Ahmad Shams al-Din Al-Muqaddasi , also transliterated as Al-Maqdisi and el-Mukaddasi, was a medieval Arab geographer, author of Ahsan at-Taqasim fi Ma`rifat il-Aqalim .-Biography:Al-Muqaddasi, "the Hierosolomite" was born in Jerusalem in 946 AD...
described the place as a large village with 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...
that was situated on the road to Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
. In 1047 Nasir-i-Khusraw described it as a town on the road to al-Ramla, rich in fig
Ficus
Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...
and olive
Olive
The olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...
trees.
A five-line inscription recording the grave of Sayf al-Din Bari, dated 1299-1300 CE was recorded within the shrine enclosure in 1922. The present location of this inscription is unknown. A sabil ("water fountain") is situated on the east side of the main enclosure. An inscription embedded on the right side of this sabil referred to the foundation of a fountain for the public by Emir Tankiz, governor of Damascus in 1311-1312 CE.
In 1596, Kafr Saba was part of the Ottoman Empire
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...
, nahiya (subdistrict) of Bani Sa'b under the liwa'
Liwa (arabic)
Liwa or Liwa is an Arabic term meaning district, banner, or flag, a type of administrative division. It was interchangeable with the Turkish term "Sanjak" in the time of the Ottoman Empire. After the fall of the empire, the term was used in the Arab countries formerly under Ottoman rule...
("district") of Nablus
Nablus
Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 126,132. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center.Founded by the...
with a population of 231. It paid taxes on wheat, barley, goats and beehives.
In 1730, the Egyptian Sufi traveller al-Luqaymi visited Kafr Saba and saw the shrine for a local religious figure, Binyamin (also called al-Nabi Yamin). In 1808 CE, the riwaq (prayer hall) was constructed, according to a now vanished inscription. This riwaq occupies the south side of the main enclosure of the shrine. In the late nineteenth century, the village of Kafr Saba was described as a village built of stone and adobe brick and was situated on a low hill. It contained a mosque and was surrounded by sandy ground, with olive
Olive
The olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...
groves to the north. Its population was estimated to be 800.
Part of the village was sold to the ICA
Jewish Colonization Association
The Jewish Colonization Association was created on September 11, 1891 by the Baron Maurice de Hirsch. Its aim was to facilitate the mass emigration of Jews from Russia and other Eastern European countries, by settling them in agricultural colonies on lands purchased by the committee, particularly...
during the Ottoman period. Jewish immigrants to Palestine
Aliyah
Aliyah is the immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel . It is a basic tenet of Zionist ideology. The opposite action, emigration from Israel, is referred to as yerida . The return to the Holy Land has been a Jewish aspiration since the Babylonian exile...
established a moshava
Moshava
A moshava , plural: Moshavot is a form of rural settlement in Israel.In a moshava, as opposed to communal settlements like the kibbutz and the moshav, all the land and property are privately-owned. The first moshavot, described as "colonies" in professional literature, were established by...
on the land and called it Kfar Saba
Kfar Saba
Kfar Saba , officially Kfar Sava, is a city in the Sharon region, of the Center District of Israel. At the end of 2009, Kfar Saba had a total population of 83,600.-History:...
. The village expanded in the British Mandate period; new houses were built along the highway, and new agricultural land were cultivated to the west of the village. By 1944/45 the village used 1,026 dunums for citrus and bananas, 4,600 dunums for cereals, while 355 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards, of which 30 dunums were planted with olive trees.
1948 War and aftermath
In the months leading up to the 1948 war, the local militia from Kafr Saba had attacked the neighboring Jewish village of Kfar SabaKfar Saba
Kfar Saba , officially Kfar Sava, is a city in the Sharon region, of the Center District of Israel. At the end of 2009, Kfar Saba had a total population of 83,600.-History:...
several times. The Arab Liberation Army
Arab Liberation Army
The Arab Liberation Army , also translated as Arab Salvation Army, was an army of volunteers from Arab countries led by Fawzi al-Qawuqji...
(ALA), an army consisting of volunteers from several neighboring Arab countries, supported the Kafr Saba militia with troops during these intermittent attacks. According to historian Benny Morris
Benny Morris
Benny Morris is professor of History in the Middle East Studies department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the city of Be'er Sheva, Israel...
:
"By the beginning of May 1948, few Arabs were left in the Coastal Plain. On May 9, 1948 the AlexandroniThe PalestinianAlexandroni BrigadeThe Alexandroni Brigade is an Israel Defense Forces brigade that fought in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Along with the 7th Armoured Brigade both units had 139 killed during the first battle of Latrun - Operation Ben Nun Alef .The unit is currently a reserve unit.-Katz controversy:In 1998, Teddy Katz...
Arab affairs expert, in preparation for the declaration of Israeli statehood and the expected pan-Arab invasion, ... decided to immediately 'expel or subdue' the inhabitants of the villages of Kafr Saba, al Tira, QaqunQaqunQaqun was a Palestinian Arab village located northwest of the city of Tulkarm at the only entrance to Mount Nablus from the coastal Sharon plain....
, Qalansuwa, and Tantura. ... [O]n 13 May Alexandroni units took Kafr Saba, prompting a mass evacuation. ... The local Syrian ALA commander stood at the exit and to the village and extorted P£5 from each evacuee. Nine old men and women ... were left in the village and were later expelled.
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...
historian Walid Khalidi
Walid Khalidi
Walid Khalidi is an Oxford University-educated Palestinian historian who has written extensively on the Palestinian exodus. He is General Secretary and co-founder of the Institute for Palestine Studies, established in Beirut in December 1963 as an independent research and publishing center...
, described the remaining structures on the village land in 1992:
"The village site has been used for the construction of new residential quarters within an industrial area that is part of the settlement of Kefar Sava. Some of the old village houses have survived destruction and are located today within the settlement; a number of them are used as commercial buildings. The two shrines, the school, and the ruins of the village cemetery remain. The shrines have arched entrances and are surmounted with domes. The land around the site is cultivated by Israelis."
After the war, the Nabi Yamin shrine near the town was abandoned. After 1967, the ruin was taken over by an ultraorthodox Jewish sect, that claimed it was the tomb of Benjamin
Benjamin
Benjamin was the last-born of Jacob's twelve sons, and the second and last son of Rachel in Jewish, Christian and Islamic tradition. He was the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Benjamin. In the Biblical account, unlike Rachel's first son, Joseph, Benjamin was born in Canaan. He died in Egypt on...
, father of one of the 12 tribes of Israel. Meron Benvenisti
Meron Benvenisti
Meron Benvenisti is an Israeli political scientist who was Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem under Teddy Kollek from 1971 to 1978, during which he administered East Jerusalem and served as Jerusalem's Chief Planning Officer. He is a medieval scholar and published books and maps on the Crusader period in...
writes in 2002 that, "the dedicated inscriptions from 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...
period remain engraved on the stone walls of the tomb, but the cloths embroidered with verses from the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
, with which the gravestones were draped, have been replaced by draperies bearing verses from the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
." Benvenisti frames this transformation, and others similar to it, in the context of, "a wholesale appropriation of the sacred sites of a defeated religious community by members of the victorious one."
The town of Kfar Sava, founded in 1903, was situated southwest of the village on the eve of the war. Currently, it has expanded to cover much of the village land. Beit Berl
Beit Berl
Beit Berl is a village and the largest academic college in Israel in number of students and the range of programs it offers. Located on the outskirts of Kfar Sava, it falls under the jurisdiction of Drom HaSharon Regional Council...
, established in 1947 northwest of the village site, is on village land. The settlement of Neve Yamin
Neve Yamin
Neve Yamin is a moshav in central Israel. Located near Petah Tikva and covering 3,300 dunams, it falls under the jurisdiction of Drom HaSharon Regional Council. In 2007 it had a population of 1,200....
was established in 1949 to the east of the village site on land around the shrine for al-Nabi Yamin. The settlement of Nir Eliyahu
Nir Eliyahu
Nir Eliyahu is a kibbutz in the Sharon plain region of Israel. Located northwest of Kfar Sava, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Drom HaSharon Regional Council.- History :...
was established in 1950 about 1 kilometre (0.621372736649807 mi) northeast of the village site, on lands of nearby Qalqilyah
Qalqilyah
-Bibliography: p. -External links:**...
.
External links
- Welcome to Kafr Saba Palestine Remembered
- Kafr Saba, 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...