Rafat, Salfit
| Rafat | |
|---|---|
| Other transcription(s) | |
| • Arabic | رافات |
| • Also spelled | Rafat (official) |
|
Rafat in the front, az-Zawiya behind | |
  Rafat Location of Rafat within the Palestinian territories | |
| Coordinates: 32°04′41″N 35°02′43″E / 32.07806°N 35.04528°ECoordinates: 32°04′41″N 35°02′43″E / 32.07806°N 35.04528°E | |
| Palestine grid | 154/164 |
| Governorate | Salfit |
| Government | |
| • Type | Village council |
| Population (2007) | |
| • Jurisdiction | 1,861 |
| Name meaning | Rafat, personal name, meaning "acts of kindness"[1] |
Rafat (Arabic: رافات) is a Palestinian town located in the Salfit Governorate in the northern West Bank, 38 kilometers southwest of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, it had a population of 1,861 in 2007.[2]
Location
Rafa is located south of az-Zawiya, north east of Deir Ballut, and north west of Kafr ad-Dik.
History
Sherds from the Iron Age II, Persian, Hellenistic/Roman, Byzantine, Crusader/Ayyubid and Mamluk eras have been found here.[3][4]
A white mosaic pavements has been found here.[3]
Ottoman era
In 1517, the village was included in the Ottoman empire with the rest of Palestine, and potsherds from the early Ottoman period have been found here.[3] It appeared in the 1596 tax-records as 'Arafat, located in the Nahiya of Jabal Qubal of the Liwa of Nablus. The population was 6 households, all Muslim. They paid a fixed tax rate of 33,3% on agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues and a fixed tax for people of Nablus area; a total of 3,100 Akçe.[5]
In 1870 Guérin found a number of ancient cisterns, and a rectangular birket cut in the rock and measuring 15 paces long by 10 broad. He also speaks of 'several' tombs.[6]
In 1882, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Rafat as "a semi-ruinous stone village on a ridge, apparently an ancient site, with a very conspicuous Mukam on a piece of rock west of the village, and rock-cut tombs. The water supply is from wells and cisterns."[7] They further noted: "On the north-west of the village is a steep rocky descent, in which are two tombs of the kind called 'rock-sunk', one of which is cut in a square block of rock, the top of which is levelled."[8]
British Mandate era
In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Rafat had a population of 92, all Muslim,[9] increasing in the 1931 census to 127, still all Muslim, in a total of 31 houses.[10]
In 1945 the population of Rafat was 180, all Muslims,[11] while the total land area was 8,125 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.[12] Of this, 1,889 dunams were used for cereals,[13] while 24 dunams were classified as built-up areas.[14]
1948-1967
In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Rafat came under Jordanian rule.
Post-1967
After the Six-Day War in 1967, Rafat has been under Israeli occupation.
Notable people
References
- ↑ Palmer, 1881, p. 240
- ↑ 2007 PCBS Census Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. p. 112
- 1 2 3 Finkelstein et al, 1997, pp. 254-255
- ↑ Dauphin, 1998, p. 815
- ↑ Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 134
- ↑ Guérin, 1875, pp. 129 -130; as given in Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 367
- ↑ Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 286
- ↑ Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 367
- ↑ Barron, 1923, Table IX, p. 26
- ↑ Mills, 1932, p. 64
- ↑ Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 19
- ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 60
- ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 107
- ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 157
Bibliography
- 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.
- Dauphin, Claudine (1998). La Palestine byzantine, Peuplement et Populations. BAR International Series 726 (in French). III : Catalogue. Oxford: Archeopress. ISBN 0-860549-05-4.
- Department of Statistics (1945). Village Statistics, April, 1945. Government of Palestine.
- Finkelstein, Israel; Lederman, Zvi, eds. (1997). Highlands of many cultures. 1. Tel Aviv: Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University Publications Section. ISBN 965-440-007-3.
- Guérin, Victor (1875). Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine (in French). 2: Samarie, pt. 2. Paris: L'Imprimerie Nationale.
- 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. ISBN 3-920405-41-2.
- 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 Rafat
- Survey of Western Palestine, Map 14: IAA, Wikimedia commons
- Rafat village (fact sheet), ARIJ
- Rafat village profile, ARIJ
- Rafat, aerial photo, ARIJ
- Development Priorities and Needs in Rafat, ARIJ
- Four Demolition Orders in Rafat – Salfit Governorate, POICA
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