| Anabta | |
|---|---|
| Other transcription(s) | |
| • Arabic | عنبتا |
| • Also spelled | 'Anabta (official) 'Anabta and Iktaba (unofficial) |
| View of Anabta from the nearby town of Bal'a | |
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Anabta
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| Coordinates: | |
| Governorate | Tulkarm |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipality |
| • Head of Municipality | Yasser Barakat |
| Population (2009) | |
| • Jurisdiction | 8,300 |
Anabta (Arabic: عنبتا) is a Palestinian town in the Tulkarm Governorate in the northern West Bank, located 9 kilometers east of Tulkarm. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Anabta had a population of 7,300 inhabitants in 2006.[1] Anabta is administered by a municipal council and is one of the oldest municipalities in the Tulkarm Governorate.[2] The town has an urban area of about 1,300 dunams. Most of its exterior lands are planted with olives, figs and almonds or covered by forests. Water is provided by five underground wells, with distribution supervised by the town's municipality.[3]
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Anabta is a two-part word consisting of "Anab" (Arabic for grape) and "Ta," a word referencing a Roman village. The name as evidenced by the large number of grape presses hewn in the rocks of the hills surrounding the city.[4] The name 'Anebta may also originate from 'Ain Narbata, Narbata being a place mentioned by Josephus used as a refuge from the Romans by the Jews of Caesarea in 66 CE.[5]
During Roman and Byzantine rule over Palestine, Anabta was a Samaritan village.[6] A tradition connects the village with Dositheos, a Samaritan religious leader possibly active during the 1st-century CE.[7] The Samaritan chronicler Abu l-Fath (14th-century) mentions that Dositheos died of starvation after going to 'Anbata where he hid in a cave, fasting in an effort to gain wisdom.[8] Some olive trees still existing in Anabta are said to date back to Roman times.
During the reign of Mamluk Sultan Baibars al-Bunduqdari in the 13th century, Anabta served as a central staging point from which to supply the Muslim armies fighting Crusader and Mongol incursions. The location was chosen because it was considered relatively easy to protect as the area is nestled between two large hills.[9]
During Ottoman rule, Anabta was listed in the 1596 Ottoman tax register as being in the Nahiya of Jabal Sami of the Liwa of Nablus. It had a population of 55 Muslim households who paid taxes on wheat, barley, summercrops, olives, goats or beehives, and presses for grapes or olives.[10] In 1648, the Ottoman traveller Evliya Çelebi reported that the village was inhabited by 100 Druze families.[11] A portion of the Hejaz Railway used to run through the centre of the town, parallel to the main street.[9]
The first local council in Anabta was established in 1923, during the British Mandate. In 1954, under Jordanian occupation, it was promoted to a municipal council.[2]Between 1922 and 1947, the population of Anabta increased by 110%.[12]On the night of April 15, 1936, in a prelude to the 1936-1939 Arab revolt in Palestine, vehicles traveling on the road outside Anabta were attacked, killing two Jews and wounding a third.[13] In June, a clash between local Arabs and British troops culminated in an aerial bombardment of the village.[14]
After the Six-Day War, Anabta underwent major development and achieved local council status.[15] The village was connected to the Israeli electric grid.[16]Anabta lies on the edge of the Tulkarm district's area A, an administrative division of the 1993 Oslo Accords, which means the city is under full security and civil jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority.
Anabta is located 19 kilometers west of Nablus and 9 kilometers east of Tulkarm. The town is bordered to the north by the village of Kafr Rumman, the south by the town of Kafr al-Labad, the east by the village of Ramin and the northwest by the town of Bal'a. The city is elevated 150 meters above sea level.[17][18] Surrounded by hills on all sides, a small valley that runs through the center of the town. [19]The Israeli settlement Einav is located southeast of the city and an Israeli checkpoint is positioned at the eastern entrance of the town.[20]
In 1875 the population was estimated at 1,800.[21] At the time of the 1922 census of Palestine, Anabta had a population of 1606 Muslims.[22] In the 1931 census of Palestine, the combined population of Anabta, Iktaba and Nur ash Shams was 2,457 Muslims, 34 Christians and 1 Druze living in 502 houses.[23] In 1945, the combined population of Anabta and Iktaba was 3,120.[24] In 1967, the population was 3,400, rising to 5,700 by 1987 and 8,300 by 2009.[3]
Residents of Anabta belong to two large clans, 'Amr and Al-Jetawi. These families are then divided into smaller families.[25] Anabta also contains a significant population of Palestinians from Gaza who are not classified among the families.
The town has two high schools and four elementary schools that are maintained and funded by the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Education.[26]
The St. John of Jerusalem eye hospital group operates a clinic in Anabta envisaged as a center for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy in the northern West Bank. [27]
Anabta Municipality
Anabta & Iktaba - Palestine Remembered Entry
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![[2]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ar/2/2e/Anabtafamilies2.png){kind=link}