Kifl Haris
| Kifl Haris | |
|---|---|
| Other transcription(s) | |
| • Arabic | كفل حارس |
| • Also spelled |
Kifl Hares (official) Kefl Harith (unofficial) |
 | |
  Kifl Haris | |
| Coordinates: 32°07′07.02″N 35°09′25.02″E / 32.1186167°N 35.1569500°ECoordinates: 32°07′07.02″N 35°09′25.02″E / 32.1186167°N 35.1569500°E | |
| Governorate | Salfit |
| Government | |
| • Type | Village Council |
| • Head of Municipality | Ahmad Buziah[1] |
| Population (2007)[2] | |
| • Jurisdiction | 3,248 |
| Name meaning | "The village of the guard"[3] |
Kifl Haris (Arabic: كفل حارس) is a Palestinian village in the northern West Bank, located six kilometers west of Salfit and 18 kilometers south of Nablus in the Salfit Governorate, northwest of the Israeli settlement city Ariel.
History
Ottoman Empire
In 1517, the village was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire with the rest of Palestine, and in 1596, Kafr Harit appeared in Ottoman tax registers as being in nahiya (subdistrict) of Jabal Qubal under the liwa' (district) of Nablus. It had a population of 54 households, all Muslim. They paid taxes on occasional revenues, goats and/or beehives, and a fixed amount.[4]
In the late Ottoman period, in 1870, the French explorer Victor Guérin reached the village, after walking trough "beautiful plantations of figs and olives". He estimated it had 600 inhabitants.[5] The name of this place was given to Guérin as Kefil Haris. The Wely marked on the Palestine Exploration Fund 1880s map as Sheikh Ata, 1 mile north-east of Kefr Haris, is called by him Sheikh Khather. He also calls attention to the remains of an old watchtower built of large, well-cut stones, between Deir Estia and Kefr Haris. At the latter place he found two broken marble columns built up in the wall of the mosque.[6]
In 1882, it was described as a "somewhat small village on high ground, with olive groves to the east. It has three sacred places, Neby Kifl, Neby Nun, and Neby Lusha. [..]"[7]
British Mandate of Palestine
In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Kufr Hares had a population of 373, all Muslim,[8] increasing in the 1931 census to 562 persons, still all Muslim, in 130 houses.[9]
In 1945 the population was 770 Arabs while the total land area was 9,393 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.[10] Of this, 4,117 were allocated for plantations and irrigable land, 2,131 for cereals,[11] while 32 dunams were classified as built-up areas.[12]
Tomb of Joshua
According to a Samaritan tradition, noted in 1877, the tombs of Joshua and Caleb were in Kifl Haris.[13]
Biblical tradition places the tomb of Joshua, Caleb, and Nun according to Joshua 24:30 in Timnath-heres which is attributed to be the current location of Kifl Haris.[citation needed] Thousands make the pilgrimage to the tombs on the annual commemoration of Joshua's death, 26th of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar.[citation needed]
References
- ↑ Municipalities Nablus Municipality
- ↑ 2007 PCBS Census Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. p. 112.
- ↑ Palmer, 1881, p. 230
- ↑ Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 131
- ↑ Guérin, 1875, p. 161
- ↑ Guérin, 1875, p. 161, as translated by Conder and Kitchener, 1882, p. 324
- ↑ Conder and Kitchener, 1882, p. 284-285
- ↑ Barron ,1923, Table IX, Sub-district of Nablus, p. 25
- ↑ Mills, 1932, p. 61.
- ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in S. Hadawi, Village Statistics, 1945. PLO Research Center, 1970, p. 60
- ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in S. Hadawi, Village Statistics, 1945. PLO Research Center, 1970, p. 107
- ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in S. Hadawi, Village Statistics, 1945. PLO Research Center, 1970, p. 157
- ↑ Conder and Kitchener, 1882, p. 218 - 219
Bibliography
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kifl Hares. |
- Barron, J. B., ed. (1923). Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922. Government of Palestine.
- Conder, Claude Reignier; Kitchener, H. H. (1882). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology 2. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
- Guérin, Victor (1875). Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine. Vol 2 Samarie; pt. 2.
- Hadawi, Sami (1970), Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine, Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center
- Hütteroth, Wolf-Dieter; Abdulfattah, Kamal (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.
- Mills, E., ed. (1932). Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas. Jerusalem: Government of Palestine.
- Palmer, E. H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
External links
- Welcome To Kifl Harith
- Kifl Haris Town (Fact Sheet)
- Kifl Haris Town Profile
- Kifl Haris Town Areal Photo
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