Tuqu'

Tuqu'
Other transcription(s)
 • Arabic تقوع
 • Also spelled Taqua (official)
Teqoa (unofficial)
Tuqu'

Location of Tuqu' within the Palestinian territories

Coordinates: 31°38′11″N 35°12′52″E / 31.63639°N 35.21444°E / 31.63639; 35.21444Coordinates: 31°38′11″N 35°12′52″E / 31.63639°N 35.21444°E / 31.63639; 35.21444
Palestine grid 170/115
Governorate Bethlehem
Government
 • Type Municipality (from 1997)
 • Head of Municipality Khaled Ahmad Hamida
Area (built-up)
 • Jurisdiction 590 dunams (0.6 km2 or 0.2 sq mi)
Population (2007)
 • Jurisdiction 8,881
Name meaning "The ruin of Tekua",[1] or "the place for pitching tents"

Tuquʿ (Arabic: تقوع‎‎, also spelled Teqoa) is a Palestinian town in the Bethlehem Governorate, located 12 km southeast of Bethlehem in the West Bank. It includes three other localities: Khirbet Ad Deir, Al Halkoom, and Khirbet Tuqu’.[2] According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), Tuqu' had a population of 8,881 in 2007.[3]

The town is a part of the 'Arab al-Ta'amira village cluster, along with Za'atara, Beit Ta'mir, Hindaza, Khirbet al-Deir and al-Asakra. Tuqu has a municipal jurisdiction of over 191,262 dunams, but its built-up area consists of 590 dunams,[2] as 98.5% of the village's land is classified by Israel as Area C or Nature Reserves, and 1.5% as Area A.[4] Situated in the immediate vicinity is the Israeli settlement of Tekoa.

History

Ancient period

According to biblical sources, Ephrathites from Bethlehem and the Calebites from Hebron founded Tuqu' (Tekoa). Jewish encyclopedia Isidore Singer notes that "the Greek text of a passage (Joshua 15:60) lost in the Hebrew places it, together with Bethlehem and other towns of the hill-country of Judah, south of Jerusalem".[5]

Tekoa served as an administrative center and was fortified by Rehoboam, a King of Judah, against an invasion from the south.[6] The village was the birthplace of Ira son of Ikkesh, one of King David's Warriors, and of the Hebrew prophet Amos.[7] It was where King David's military commander Joab procured a "wise woman" to induce the king to bring back his exiled son Absalom to Jerusalem. According to Jewish tradition, Isaiah the prophet, after he had been killed by Menashe, was afforded a burial place in Tekoa.[8] Some residents of Tekoa took part in the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem after the return from the Babylonian captivity.[9]

Tuqu' was captured by the Muslim army during the Muslim conquest of Syria and by time, several of its inhabitants converted to Islam. There was a significant nomadic Bedouin presence in the village's vicinity.[10]

Medieval period

Tuqu' was known as "Casal Techue" by the Crusaders who conquered Palestine in 1099. Its Christian residents welcomed the Crusaders.[11] Medieval chronicler William of Tyre relates that the Christians of the village aided the Crusaders during the Siege of Jerusalem in 1099, by guiding them to local springs and food sources. Many of the villagers also joined the Crusader army.[7]

In 1108, the Russian traveler Abbot Daniel noted that it was "a very big village" with a mixed Christian and Muslim population. The Bedouin in the village's vicinity are mentioned in a transaction in which Casal Techue was exchanged for the rights of a church in Bethany called the "Church of the Holy Sepulcher".[11] A manor house was built by the Crusaders in the village, suggesting a Crusader settlement alongside the local population.[10]

Zengid forces captured Casal Techue in 1138. The Knights Templar under Robert the Burgundian managed to recapture the town easily, but experienced their first military defeat when Zengid forces counterattacked, leaving the area between the town and Hebron "strewn with Templar bodies" according to William of Tyre. He blamed the Templars' defeat on their failure to pursue fleeing Muslim forces which allowed them to regroup just outside Casal Techue.[12]

Syrian geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi described it as "a village famous for its honey" during a visit there in 1225,[13][14] during Ayyubid rule.

Ottoman era

A sketch of "Tekoa - Fureidis, Palestine"[15]

Tuqu', like all of Palestine, was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517. According to an Ottoman census in 1526, 82 families lived in the village, 55 of which were Christians.[10] In 1596 the village appeared in Ottoman tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Quds of the Liwa of Quds. It had a population of 62 Muslim households and five Christian households. It paid taxes on wheat, barley, olives, vines or fruit trees, and goats or beehives.[16]

The Byzantine baptismal font, described by Guérin in 1863, photographed in 1940

The majority of Tuqu's Christian inhabitants emigrated to Bethlehem in the 18th century.[6] Tuqu's Christian emigrants formed Bethlehem's Qawawsa Quarter.[17]

French explorer Victor Guérin visited the place in 1863, and he described finding the remains of a church almost completely destroyed, and an octagonal baptismal font, carved into a monolithic block of reddish limestone, measuring a meter and ten centimeters deep inside, and one meter thirty centimeters in diameter. On different sides of the octagon crosses were carved. At the bottom of the baptismal font the water flowed through an opening into a tank.[18]

The Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine in 1883 wrote that Khurbet Tequa "seems to have been large and important in Christian times. It is still inhabited by a few persons living in the caves [...] There is also a very fine octagonal font about 4 feet high and 4 feet 3 inches diameter of inscribed circle; on every other side is a design. Two of these designs represent crosses, a third is a wreath, the fourth is formed by two squares interlaced diagonally to one another. The font is of good reddish stone."[19]

Modern era

General view of the vicinity. The Israeli settlement of Tekoa is situated in the front, while Tuqu' is seen directly behind and the left of the settlement. To the right is the village of Khirbet al-Deir, part of the Tuqu' municipality.

The modern town of Tuqu' was established in 1948 during Jordanian rule.[2][20] The inhabitants were Bedouin tribesmen from the 'Arab al-Ta'amira tribe.[2][20] In 1961, the population was 555.[21]

Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Tuqu' has been under Israeli occupation.The population in the 1967 census conducted by the Israeli authorities was 1,362.[22]

In May 2001, after the killing of two Israeli boys outside the nearby Israeli settlement of Tekoa, Tuqu' was temporarily sealed off by the Israeli Army. Consequently, residents could not reach their jobs in Bethlehem and Israel, and shepherds could not reach grazing lands outside the village.[23]

Archaeology and landmarks

The Byzantines erected a church around 300 CE in the honor of the Hebrew prophet Amos which is visible today through its remains. The ruins consist of a double cave over what was a baptismal font, mosaic floors, and a Monophysite monastery is located near the tomb.[6] At least since the 4th century CE his tomb has been reputed to be in the village of Tekoa.[13] Byzantine ceramics have been found.[24] In the archaeological site Khirbet Tuqu', located about two kilometers east of Tuqu'.[6] Nearby are the remains of a Byzantine church and monastery.[17]

Various ruins were seen at the site in the mid-19th century. These included the walls of houses, cisterns, broken columns and heaps of building stones, some of which had “bevelled edges” which supposedly indicated Hebrew origin.[25]

Outside Tuqu', adjacent to the Israeli settlement of Tekoa is Wadi Khreiton ("Chariton Valley"). The valley is notable for containing three prominent caves inhabited since the Paleolithic era: Umm Qatfa, Umm Qala'a and Erq al-Ahmar. The latter was inhabited since 8,000 BCE and traces of fire have been found in Umm Qala'a, dating back 500,000 years.[26]

Demographics

According to a 1997 census by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), Tuqu' had a population of 4,890 inhabitants. There were only 24 Palestinian refugees, making up 0.5% of the population.[27] There were 2,534 males and 2,356 females.[28] Tuqu's population grew to 8,881 in the 2007 PCBS census. There were 1,368 households, with the average household size consisting of between six and seven members. The gender ratio was 49% women and 51% men.[3]

Tuqu' currently has a Muslim majority and there are ten mosques in the town. They are the following: Abu Bakr as-Siddik Mosque, Bilal Ibn Rabah Mosque, al-Sahaba Mosque, al-Tawba Mosque, Abd al-Rahman Ibn 'Oof Mosque, Zaid Ibn Haritha Mosque, al-Abbas Mosque and Salah ad-Deen Mosque, al-Ansar Mosque and Ali Ibn Abi Talib Mosque. Most of the inhabitants belong to the 'Arab al-Ta'amira tribe. Principal clans include Badan, Jibreen, Sha'er, 'Emur, Nawawra, 'Urooj, Abu Mifrih, az-Zawahra, Sbeih, at-Tnooh, Sleiman and Sabbah.[2]

Economy

Agriculture, particularly livestock, dominates Tuqu's economy. Dairy is produced and sold in local markets and in Bethlehem. Industry is virtually nonexistent, although there is a stone quarry and brick factory in the town. Unemployment is high at about 50% and mostly caused by Israeli restrictions on movement and access to the labor market in Israel proper as a result of the Second Intifada between 2000-04.[2]

As of 2008 around 45% of Tuqu's workforce was employed in the Israeli labor market while another 30% worked in agriculture. The remainder of economic activity was split between employment in the Palestinian government or trade and services.[2] Efforts have been made to attract tourists. A municipal center was built near the ruins of a Byzantine church in Tuqu'.[23] Tuqu' is well known for its vegetables.[6]

Government

Tuqu' has been located in Area B since 1995, thus giving the Palestinian National Authority control over its administration and civil affairs. Originally, twelve tribal elders managed the town, but unable to plan and carry out internal improvements, they ceded their power to a council of younger men.[29] The 13-member municipal council was established in 1997 to administer Tuqu' as well as the villages of Khirbet al-Deir, al-Halqum and Khirbet Tuqu' which were put under Tuqu's jurisdiction.[2] Its first mayor, Suleiman Abu Mufarreh, initiated the construction of the municipal hall and recovered Tuqu's stolen baptismal font, relocating it to the front of the municipal hall.[29]

Tuqu' is governed by a municipal council consisting of eleven members, including the mayor. In the 2005 Palestinian municipal elections, the Hamas-backed Reform list won the majority of the seats (eight), while the independent local United Tuqu' list won three. Reform member Khaled Ahmad Hamida won the post of mayor, succeeding Raed Hamida.[30]

References

  1. ↑ Palmer, 1881, p. 402
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Tuqu' Town Profile. Applied Research Institute-Jerusalem. 2008. Retrieved on 2012-03-13.
  3. 1 2 2007 PCBS Census Archived December 10, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. p. 117
  4. ↑ '15 Palestinians detained in Tuqu near Bethlehem,' Ma'an News Agency 19 March 2015.
  5. ↑ Singer, I., The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia - Tekoa, accessed 25 July 2017
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Taqou' village (1998) Mitri Raheb and Fred Strickert Palmyra publishing house via This Week in Palestine
  7. 1 2 Thekoa - (Tuqu'a) Studium Biblicum Franciscanum - Jerusalem.
  8. ↑ Burial Places of the Fathers, published by Yehuda Levi Nahum in book: Ṣohar la-ḥasifat ginzei teiman (Heb. צהר לחשיפת גנזי תימן), Tel-Aviv 1986, p. 253
  9. ↑ Nehemiah iii. 5, 37
  10. 1 2 3 Ellenblum, p. 137.
  11. 1 2 Ellenblum, p. 136.
  12. ↑ Howarth, Stephen. (1991). The Knights Templar Barnes & Noble Publishing, p.97.
  13. 1 2 Pringle, 1998, pp. 347-348
  14. ↑ le Strange, 1890, p. 542
  15. ↑ Thomson, 1859, p. 425
  16. ↑ Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 114
  17. 1 2 Tqoa’ area Zeiter, Leila. Centre for Preservation of Culture and History.
  18. ↑ Guérin, 1869, p. 141
  19. ↑ Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 368
  20. 1 2 Kark, Ruth; Oren-Nordheim, Michal (2001). Jerusalem and its environs : quarters, neighborhoods, villages, 1800-1948. Detroit, Jerusalem: Wayne State University Press; Hebrew Univ. Magnes Press [u.a.] pp. 202, 241,279ff. ISBN 978-0814329092. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  21. ↑ Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics (1964). First Census of Population and Housing. Volume I: Final Tables; General Characteristics of the Population. p. 23.
  22. ↑ Perlmann, Joel (November 2011 – February 2012). "The 1967 Census of the West Bank and Gaza Strip: A Digitized Version" (PDF). Levy Economics Institute. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
  23. 1 2 Prophet Amos’s Words Still Ring True Abu Ghazaleh, Sami. International Center of Bethlehem
  24. ↑ Dauphin, 1998, p. 928
  25. ↑ William Aldis Wright; Edmonds & Remnants (1865). A concise dictionary of the Bible for the use of families and students. John Murray. p. 924. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
  26. ↑ Wadi Khreitoun Zeitar, Leila. Centre for Cultural Heritage Preservation.
  27. ↑ Palestinian Population by Locality and Refugee Status (1997) Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS)
  28. ↑ Palestinian Population by Locality, Sex and Age Groups in Years (1997) Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS)
  29. 1 2 Levin, Jerry. Save our heritage in the Holy Land Al-Ahram Weekly. October 2003.
  30. ↑ Local Elections (Round two)- Successful candidates by local authority, gender and No. of votes obtained Central Elections Commission - Palestine, p.25

Bibliography

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