| As Samu' | |
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| Other transcription(s) | |
| • Arabic | السموع |
| • Also spelled | es Samu' (official) Samua (unofficial) |
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As Samu'
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| Coordinates: | |
| Governorate | Hebron |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipality |
| • Head of Municipality | abed ennabe elhawamde |
| Area | |
| • Jurisdiction | 13,800 dunams (13.8 km2 / 5.3 sq mi) |
| Population (2007) | |
| • Jurisdiction | 19,649 |
As Samu' or es-Samu' (Arabic: السموع) is a town in the Hebron Governorate of the West Bank, 12 kilometers south of the city of Hebron. as-Samu is 60 kilometers south-west of Jerusalem. The area is a hilly, rocky area cut by some wadis. The Armistice Demarcation Line (ADL, Green line) runs generally east to west approximately five kilometers south of as Samu. The village of as Samu is located on twin hills with a wadi varying from shallow to deep between them.[1] According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics the town had a population of 19,649 in 2007.[2] It has been claimed that this was the Biblical town of Eshtemoa, but this is not universally accepted.
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In the 12th century CE, the Crusaders built a fortress that was part of the eastern defense line.
In 1838, Edward Robinson identified the town of Semua with biblical Eshtemoa.[3] Eshtemoa, meaning obedience, was a priestly allotment mentioned in the Book of Joshua (19:50, 21:14), in Samuel I (30:25), and in the Books of Chronicles I (4:17, 6:42).
The Jerusalem Talmud mentions Eshtemoa as well as an amora active in the town during the 4th-century by the name of Hasa of Eshtemoa.[4] Eusebius of Caesarea (4th-century) describes Eshtemoa in the Onomasticon as being a Jewish town in the 'Daroma', north of Aniam, within the Eleutheropolis (Bet Guvrin) region.
In 1934, remains of the towns ancient synagogue were discovered and the site was later excavated in 1969, by Ze'ev Yeivin.[5]
In 1966, Israel launched a full-scale military operation against the town, which resulted in the deaths of fifteen Jordanian soldiers and three Jordanian civilians; fifty-four other soldiers and ninety-six civilians were wounded. The commander of the Israeli paratroop battalion, Colonel Yoav Shaham, was killed and ten other Israeli soldiers were wounded.
It was reported in 2005 that 10,000 dunums of land in the towns of As Samu, Yatta and ad-Dhahiriya near Hebron were to be seized by the Israel Defense Force for the construction of the separation wall.[6] Palestinian sources have alleged that settler violence from the nearby Israeli settlements of Ma'on and Asa'el has prevented them from accessing their fields.[7][8]
A headdress or 'money hat' (wuqayat al-darahem) from as-Samu (c. 1840s (with later additions)) is exhibited at the British Museum. The caption notes that the headdress was worn in the 19th Century and early 20th Century during the wedding ceremony, especially for the 'going out to the well' ceremony when the bride appeared in public as a married woman for the first time.[9] Generally, the headdress was considered to be one of the most important parts of the Palestinian costume.
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