Tuqu'
Encyclopedia
Tuquʿ is a Palestinian
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...

 town in the Bethlehem Governorate
Bethlehem Governorate
The Bethlehem Governorate is one of 16 Governorates of the West Bank and Gaza Strip within the Palestinian Territories. It covers an area of the West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Its principal city and district capital is Bethlehem...

, located 12 km southeast of Bethlehem
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank of the Jordan River, near Israel and approximately south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism...

 in the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...

. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics is the statistical organization under the umbrella of the Palestinian Cabinet of the Palestinian National Authority....

 (PCBS), Tuqu' had a population of 8,881 in 2007.The town is a part of the 'Arab al-Ta'amira cluster, along with Za'atara
Za'atara
Za'atara is a Palestinian town located eleven kilometers southeast of Bethlehem.The town is in the Bethlehem Governorate central West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of over 6,289 in 2007....

, Beit Ta'mir
Beit Ta'mir
Beit Ta'mir is a Palestinian village located six kilometers southeast of Bethlehem.The town is in the Bethlehem Governorate central West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the village had a population of 1,229 in 2007...

, Hindaza
Hindaza
Hindaza is a Palestinian village located six kilometers south-east of Bethlehem. The village is in the Bethlehem Governorate Southern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the village had a population of 4,779 in 2007...

, Khirbet al-Deir
Khirbet al-Deir
Khirbet al-Deir is a Palestinian town located ten kilometers south of Bethlehem.The town is in the Bethlehem Governorate central West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of over 1,564 in mid-year 2006....

 and al-Asakra
Al-Asakra
al-Asakra is a Palestinian village in the Bethlehem Governorate in the south-central West Bank, located 4.5 kilometers southeast of Bethlehem. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the village had a population of over 1,001 inhabitants in mid-year 2006....

. Tuqu's built-up area consists of 899 dunams.

Tekoa

According to biblical sources, Ephrath
Ephrath
Ephrath or Ephratah is the name of a Biblical place.The first mention of Ephrath occurs in Genesis, in reference to where Rachel dies giving birth to Benjamin and is buried on the road from Bethel...

ites from Bethlehem
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank of the Jordan River, near Israel and approximately south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism...

 and the Caleb
Caleb
Caleb is a male given name. A character called Caleb is named in both the Bible and Quran.-Caleb:When the Hebrews came to the outskirts of Canaan, the land that had been promised to them by God, after having fled slavery in Egypt, Moses sent twelve spies into Canaan to report on what was...

ites from Hebron
Hebron
Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...

 founded Tekoa. It served as an administrative center and was fortified by Rehoboam
Rehoboam
Rehoboam was initially king of the United Monarchy of Israel but after the ten northern tribes of Israel rebelled in 932/931 BC to form the independent Kingdom of Israel he was king of the Kingdom of Judah, or southern kingdom. He was a son of Solomon and a grandson of David...

 King of Judah
Kingdom of Judah
The Kingdom of Judah was a Jewish state established in the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. It is often referred to as the "Southern Kingdom" to distinguish it from the northern Kingdom of Israel....

 against invasion from the south.

Tekoa was the birthplace of Ira son of Ikkesh, one of King David's Warriors
King David's Warriors
David's Mighty Warriors are a group of biblical characters explicitly singled out by an appendix of the Books of Samuel. The text divides them into the "Three", of which there are three, and "Thirty", of which there are more than thirty...

, and of the Hebrew prophet Amos
Amos (prophet)
Amos is a minor prophet in the Old Testament, and the author of the Book of Amos. Before becoming a prophet, Amos was a sheep herder and a sycamore fig farmer. Amos' prior professions and his claim "I am not a prophet nor a son of a prophet" indicate that Amos was not from the school of prophets,...

. It was where Joab
Joab
Joab the son of Zeruiah, was the nephew of King David and the commander of his army, according to the Hebrew Bible.- Name :...

 procured a "wise woman" to induce David to bring back Absalom
Absalom
According to the Bible, Absalom or Avshalom was the third son of David, King of Israel with Maachah, daughter of Talmai, King of Geshur. describes him as the most handsome man in the kingdom...

 to Jerusalem. Some residents of Tekoa took part in the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem after the return from the Babylonian captivity
Babylonian captivity
The Babylonian captivity was the period in Jewish history during which the Jews of the ancient Kingdom of Judah were captives in Babylon—conventionally 587–538 BCE....

.

Tekoa continued to be important until after the Crusader period where it served as a benefice to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also called the Church of the Resurrection by Eastern Christians, is a church within the walled Old City of Jerusalem. It is a few steps away from the Muristan....

. William of Tyre
William of Tyre
William of Tyre was a medieval prelate and chronicler. As archbishop of Tyre, he is sometimes known as William II to distinguish him from a predecessor, William of Malines...

 relates that the Christians of the village aided the Crusaders during the Siege of Jerusalem
Siege of Jerusalem (1099)
The Siege of Jerusalem took place from June 7 to July 15, 1099 during the First Crusade. The Crusaders stormed and captured the city from Fatimid Egypt.-Background:...

 in 1099, by guiding them to local springs and food sources. Many of the villagers also joined the Crusader army. Zengid forces captured Tekoa in 1138. The Knights Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...

 under Robert the Burgundian recaptured the town easily, but the Muslim Zengids counterattacked, leaving the town "strewn with Templar bodies" according to William of Tyre. 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...

 described it as "a village famous for its honey" during a visit there in 1225.

In 1596, Tuqu appeared in Ottoman tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Quds of 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...

of Quds. It had a population of 62 Muslim households and 5 Christian households. It paid taxes on wheat, barley, olives, vines or fruit trees, and goats or beehives.

Tuqu'

The modern town of Tuqu' was relocated approximately two kilometers west of the ancient site and most of its original inhabitants migrated north to Bethlehem.

Archaeology and landmarks

The tomb of the Hebrew prophet Amos
Amos (prophet)
Amos is a minor prophet in the Old Testament, and the author of the Book of Amos. Before becoming a prophet, Amos was a sheep herder and a sycamore fig farmer. Amos' prior professions and his claim "I am not a prophet nor a son of a prophet" indicate that Amos was not from the school of prophets,...

 is located in the village and several years after his death, the tomb became sacred; The Byzantine
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...

s erected a church around 300 AD in his honor, which is visible today through its remains. The ruins consist of a double cave over what was a baptismal font, mosaic floors, and a Monophysite monastery is located near the tomb.

Just outside Tuqu' is Wadi Khreiton ("Chariton Valley"). The valley is notable for containing three prominent caves inhabited since the Paleolithic
Paleolithic
The Paleolithic Age, Era or Period, is a prehistoric period of human history distinguished by the development of the most primitive stone tools discovered , and covers roughly 99% of human technological prehistory...

 era: Umm Qatfa, Umm Qala'a and Erq al-Ahmar. The latter was inhabited since 8,000 BCE and traces of fire have been found in Umm Qala'a, dating back 500,000 years. Erq al-Ahmar is also believed to host the oldest surviving stove in history. In nearby Khirbet Tuqu', there are the remains of a Byzantine church and monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...

.

Various ruins were seen at the site in around 1875. These included the walls of houses, cisterns, broken columns and heaps of building stones, some of which had “bevelled edges” which supposedly indicated Hebrew origin.

Demographics

According to a 1997 census by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics is the statistical organization under the umbrella of the Palestinian Cabinet of the Palestinian National Authority....

 (PCBS), Tuqu' had a population of 4,890 inhabitants. There were only 24 Palestinian refugees, making up 0.5% of the population. There were 2,534 males and 2,356 females. In 2004, Tuqu's total population rose to 6,265 and in 2006 there was an estimated population of 6,669 inhabitants. The majority of Tuqu's Christian inhabitants emigrated to Bethlehem in the eighteenth century, thus Tuqu' currently has a Muslim
Islam
Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

 majority. Tuqu's Christian emigrants formed Bethlehem's Qawawsa Quarter.

Economy

In 2006, 65% of the village inhabitants worked in construction jobs in Israel, 20% in agriculture, 8% in trade and commerce and 7% in governmental sectors. Efforts have been made to attract tourists. A municipal center was built near the ruins of a Byzantine
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...

 church in Tuqu'. Tuqu' is well known for its vegetables.

Government

Tuqu' has been located in Area B since 1995, thus giving the Palestinian National Authority
Palestinian National Authority
The Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...

 control over its administration and civil affairs. Originally, twelve tribal elders managed the town, but unable to plan and carry out internal improvements, they ceded their power to a council of younger men. Tuqu's first mayor, Suleiman Abu Mufarreh, initiated the construction of the municipal hall (baladyeh) and recovered Tuqu's stolen baptismal font, relocating it to be positioned in front of the municipal building.

It is governed by a municipal council
Municipality (Palestinian Authority)
In the territories administrated by the Palestinian Authority, a municipality is an administrative unit of local government similar to a city. They were established and decided after the creation of the Local Government Ministry of the Palestinian National Authority in 1994. All municipalities are...

 consisting of eleven members, including the mayor. In the 2005 Palestinian municipal elections, the Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...

-backed Reform list the majority of the seats (eight), while the Independent local United Tuqu' list won three. Reform member Khaled Ahmad Hamida won the post of mayor, succeeding Raed Hamida.

Arab-Israeli conflict

In May 2001, after the bodies of two 14-year-old Israeli boys were found bludgeoned to death near Tuqu', the town was temporarily sealed off by the Israel Defense Forces
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...

. Residents could not reach their jobs in Bethlehem and Israel, and shepherds could not reach grazing lands outside the village.

External link

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