Bayt Daras
| Bayt Daras | |
 Bayt Daras
|
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| Arabic | بيت دراس |
| Also Spelled | Beit Daras, Baydarās-Badarās, Dāris[1] |
| Sub-district | Gaza |
| Coordinates | 31°43′23.60″N 34°40′58.18″E / 31.723222°N 34.6828278°ECoordinates: 31°43′23.60″N 34°40′58.18″E / 31.723222°N 34.6828278°E |
| Population | 2,750[2] (1945) |
| Area | 16,357[2] dunums
16.3 km² |
| Date of depopulation | May 11, 1948[3] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Military assault by Yishuv forces |
| Current localities | Giv'ati[4] |
Bayt Daras (Arabic: بيت دراس) was a Palestinian Arab town located on the Lachish River, 32 kilometers (20 mi) northeast of Gaza and approximately 50 meters (160 ft) above sea level, which was depopulated in 1948.[5]
Contents |
[edit] History
Bayt Daras was an archaeological site that contained stone foundations and vaulted rooms. The Crusaders built a castle on the hill that overlooked the village. During the Mamluk rule in Palestine, (1205-1517), Bayt Daras formed part of a mail route from Cairo to Damascus. In this period a khan, or caravanserai, was built in the village.[6]
In 1596, Bayt Daras was part of the Ottoman Empire, nahiya (subdistrict) of Gaza under the Liwa of Gaza, with a population of 319. It paid taxes on a number of crops, including wheat and barley, as well as on goats, beehives and vineyards.[7] In the late 19th century, the village of Bayt Daras was described as being surrounded by gardens and olive groves, and it was bordered to the north by a pond.[8]
[edit] 1948 War and aftermath
Despite being defended by the Sudanese Army and a number of local militiamen, Bayt Daras was captured by military assault on May 11, 1948 by Israel's Givati Brigade during Operation Barak, just prior to the outbreak of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.[5][9] Bayt Daras had a population of 3,190 living in 709 houses in 1948. Structures in the village were made of stone foundations with vaulted rooms. There were also two elementary schools and two mosques, all of which were demolished after its capture.
The Jewish moshav of Giv'ati was built in 1950 on the land Bayt Daras once occupied.[5] Also in 1950 the Israeli settlements of Azriqam and Emunim were established on village land.[6] Later in the 1950s a farm called Zemorot was built on Khirbat Awda, which was also on village land.[10]
[edit] Culture
A woman's thob (loose fitting robe with sleeves) dated to about 1930 from the village of Beit Daras is part of the Museum of International Folk Art (MOIFA) collection at Santa Fe. The dress fabric is called abu hizz ahmar (black cotton ground with purple, orange and green stipes of cotton and silk), from Majdal. The only embroidery on the front is below the neck opening. The back panel has three horizontal bands of embroidery, and a local version of the khem-el-basha ("the pashas tent") motif along the hem.[11]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Sharon, 1997, p. 229.
- ^ a b Hadawi, 1970, p.45
- ^ Morris, 2004, p. xix, village #282, Also gives cause of depopulation.
- ^ Morris, 2004, p.xxi, settlement #65, 1949-1950
- ^ a b c "Welcome to Bayt Daras: Town Statistics and Facts". PalestineRemembered.com. http://www.palestineremembered.com/Gaza/Bayt-Daras/index.html. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
- ^ a b Khalidi, 1992, p. 87
- ^ Hütteroth, Wolf-Dieter and Kamal Abdulfattah (1977), Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century. Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. p. 146. Quoted in Khalidi, p. 87
- ^ Conder and Kitchener, 1881, II:409. Also quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p.87
- ^ Morris, Benny, 2004, pp. 256-257
- ^ Khalidi, 1992, p.88
- ^ Stillman, 1979, p. 76
[edit] Bibliography
- Conder, Claude Reignier and H.H. Kitchener (1881): The Survey of Western Palestine: memoirs of the topography, orography, hydrography, and archaeology. London:Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund. vol 2
- Hadawi, Sami (1970), Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine, Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center, http://www.palestineremembered.com/Articles/General-2/Story3150.html
- Khalidi, Walid (1992), All That Remains, Washington D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies, ISBN 0-88728-224-5
- Morris, Benny (2004): The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited, Cambridge University Press ISBN 0-521-00967-7
- Nasser, Gamal Abdul (1955/1973): "Memoirs" in Journal of Palestine Studies
- " “Memoirs of the First Palestine War” in 2, no. 2 (Win. 73): 3-32, pdf-file, downloadable
- Sharon, Moshe (1997), Corpus inscriptionum Arabicarum Palaestinae, (CIAP) (Illustrated ed.), BRILL, ISBN 90-04-11083-6, 9789004110830, http://books.google.com/books?id=EPFDU8POrXIC
- Stillman, Yedida Kalfon (1979): Palestinian costume and jewelry, Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, ISBN 0-8263-0490-7 (A catalog of the Museum of International Folk Art (MOIFA) at Santa Fe's [1] collection of Palestinian clothing and jewelry.)
[edit] External links
- Welcome to Bayt Daras Palestine Remembered.
- Bayt Daras from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center
