At-Tur (Mount of Olives)

Pater Noster Church in At-Tur

At-Tur (Arabic: الطور‎, lit. "The Mount" in Arabic[1]) is an Arab majority neighborhood on the Mount of Olives approximately 1 km east of the Old City of Jerusalem. At-Tur is situated in East Jerusalem,[2] which was annexed by Israel after the Six-Day War in 1967.

History

The Chapel of the Ascension is located in At-Tur. Located on the Mount of Olives, the chapel is part of a larger complex consisting first of a Christian church and monastery, then an Islamic mosque. It is located on a site which the Christian faithful traditionally believe to be the earthly spot where Jesus ascended into Heaven forty days after his resurrection.

In 1596, the village appeared as Tur Zayta in Ottoman tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Quds of the Liwa of Quds. It had a population of 48 Muslim households and 8 bachelors, and paid taxes on wheat, barley, vines or fruit trees, and goats or beehives.[3]

In 1883, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described At-Tur as "a small straggling village on the top of Olivet. The houses are built of stone, but low and mean. The church of the Ascension, now a mosque, stands towards the west at the brow of the hill."[4]

In 1945 the population of Et Tur was 2,770, all Arabs, who owned 8,808 dunams of land according to an official land and population survey.[5] 228 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 2,838 for cereals,[6] while 86 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[7]

At-Tur has a population of 18,150, mostly Muslims with a small Christian minority. Landmarks in At-Tur include the Augusta Victoria Hospital, the Church and Convent of Pater Noster, where the Lord's Prayer is inscribed in 110 languages,[8][9] and the Seven Arches Hotel.[10]

The Al-Makassed Islamic Charitable Hospital, a 250-bed medical facility with in-patient and out-patient services is located in At-Tur.[11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Palmer, 1881, p. 330
  2. ↑ "Building and Infrastructure Development in East Jerusalem" (Press release). Municipality of Jerusalem. 3 March 1997. Retrieved 2007-06-02.
  3. ↑ Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 118
  4. ↑ Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 30
  5. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 58
  6. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 104
  7. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945; quoted in Hadawi, 1970 at page 154
  8. ↑ The Pater Noster Church on the Mount of Olives, netours.com; accessed 24 November 2014.
  9. ↑ Church of the Pater Noster (Jerusalem), sacred-destinations.com; accessed 24 November 2014.
  10. ↑ Seven Arches Hotel profile, jerusalemfoundation.org; accessed 24 November 2014.
  11. ↑ Al-Makassed Hospital profile, biojerusalem.org.il; accessed 24 November 2014.

Bibliography

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External links

Coordinates: 31°46′49″N 35°14′47″E / 31.78028°N 35.24639°E