Abu Zureiq
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Abu Zurayq is a cluster of
archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...
s at a well-watered spot at the western edge of the
Jezreel Valley The Jezreel Valley (from the ), or Marj Ibn Amir (), also known as the Valley of Megiddo, is a large fertile plain and inland valley in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. It is bordered to the north by the highlands o ...
and its transition to the
Menashe Heights The Manasseh Hills or hill country of Manasseh, directly derived from Hebrew: Menashe Heights (), called Bilad ar-Ruha in Arabic, meaning "Land of Winds", is a geographical region in northern Israel, located on the Carmel Range, between Mount Ca ...
, next to Highway 66, between the modern
kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...
im of
HaZore'a HaZore'a (, ''lit.'' The Sower, named after the neighbouring Tel Zariq, ) is a kibbutz in northern Israel established in 1936 by German Jews. It is the only kibbutz that was established by members of the movement. Located in the western rim of ...
and
Mishmar HaEmek Mishmar HaEmek () is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the western Jezreel Valley, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Megiddo Regional Council. Mishmar HaEmek is one of the few kibbutzim that have not undergone privatization and stil ...
. The site includes a tell (archaeological mound) called in Hebrew Tel Zariq (תל זריק) and Tell Abu Zureiq in Arabic, a spring called Ein Zariq, and other sites around it. The site was surveyed by Avner Raban as part of the survey of the Mishmar HaEmek area between 1974 and 1976. Based on the pottery collected by his team, the site was inhabited continuously from the
Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
to the Ottoman periods.Ayala Sussmann, Avner Raban, 2013, Tel Zariq The site is named after a Muslim saint who is buried there. In the 20th century, it was a
Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...
Turkmen Turkmen, Türkmen, Turkoman, or Turkman may refer to: Peoples Historical ethnonym * Turkoman (ethnonym), ethnonym used for the Oghuz Turks during the Middle Ages Ethnic groups * Turkmen in Anatolia and the Levant (Seljuk and Ottoman-Turkish desc ...
village in the Haifa Subdistrict of
Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...
, situated near
Wadi Wadi ( ; ) is a river valley or a wet (ephemerality, ephemeral) Stream bed, riverbed that contains water only when heavy rain occurs. Wadis are located on gently sloping, nearly flat parts of deserts; commonly they begin on the distal portion ...
Abu Zurayq. The area was also named Et Tawatiha, after the al-Tawatiha tribe, one of the three "true" Turkmen tribes in Palestine. It was depopulated on April 12–13 during and after the
Battle of Mishmar HaEmek The Battle of Mishmar HaEmek was a ten-day battle fought from 4 to 15 April 1948 between the Arab Liberation Army ( Yarmouk Battalion) commanded by Fawzi al-Qawuqji and the Haganah (Palmach and HISH) commanded by Yitzhak Sadeh and Dan Laner. ...
of the 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine.


Location; palaeogeography

Abu Zurayq village was situated in the northern foothills of an area overlooking the
Jezreel Valley The Jezreel Valley (from the ), or Marj Ibn Amir (), also known as the Valley of Megiddo, is a large fertile plain and inland valley in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. It is bordered to the north by the highlands o ...
called "Bilad al-Rawha" ('The Fragrant Country'). It depended on a number of water sources in its vicinity including the spring of Ein Abu Zurayq, the Wadi Abu Zurayq stream, and a well.Khalidi, 1992, p. 143 The prehistoric site of Abu Zurayq was found south of the mound, on the sloping terrace east of the foothills of the
Menashe Heights The Manasseh Hills or hill country of Manasseh, directly derived from Hebrew: Menashe Heights (), called Bilad ar-Ruha in Arabic, meaning "Land of Winds", is a geographical region in northern Israel, located on the Carmel Range, between Mount Ca ...
. During the
Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
period there was a large lake next to the site covering part of what is today the
Jezreel Valley The Jezreel Valley (from the ), or Marj Ibn Amir (), also known as the Valley of Megiddo, is a large fertile plain and inland valley in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. It is bordered to the north by the highlands o ...
.


Archaeological exploration

The site was excavated by three different expeditions. The first was headed by
Jean Perrot Jean Perrot (10 June 1920 – 24 December 2012) was a French archaeologist who specialised in the late prehistory of the Middle East and Near East. Biography Perrot was a graduate of the Ecole du Louvre where he studied under two experts in S ...
in 1962 and excavated south of the mound. The final report of the excavation was published by
Yosef Garfinkel Yosef Garfinkel (Hebrew: יוסף גרפינקל; born 1956) is an Israeli archaeologist and academic. He is a professor of Prehistoric Archaeology and of Archaeology of the Biblical Period at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Biography Yosef G ...
and Zinovi Matskevich in 2002. The second expedition included Italians from Centro Camuno di Studi Preistorici and Israelis from the
Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...
and the
Wilfrid Israel Wilfrid Berthold Jacob Israel (11 July 1899 – 1 June 1943) was an Anglo-German businessman and philanthropist, born into a wealthy Anglo-German Jewish family, who was active in the rescue of Jews from Nazi Germany, and who played a significant ...
museum. They excavated the site from December 1970 to April 1971. The third expedition, headed by Aviram Oshri on behalf of the
Israel Antiquities Authority The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, ; , before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of Antiquities. The IAA regulates excavation and conservatio ...
, conducted a salvage excavation at the site after the construction of light posts for the Zariq junction near the site has damaged antiquities.


Archaeological periods

The survey done by A. Raban during the Mishmar HaEmek survey (1974-1976) concluded, based on pottery findings, that the site was inhabited continuously from the Neolithic to the Ottoman periods. Perrot's excavation has revealed a few Paleolithic flints in very bad shape. The Italian-Israeli expedition has dated similar finds to the
Upper Paleolithic The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago (the beginning of the Holocene), according to some theories ...
period. Neither found any artifacts from the preceding
Epipalaeolithic In archaeology, the Epipalaeolithic or Epipaleolithic (sometimes Epi-paleolithic etc.) is a period occurring between the Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic during the Stone Age. Mesolithic also falls between these two periods, and the two are someti ...
period so it is understood the site was abandoned in that period and only resettled again during the
Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
period. The Italian-Israeli expedition noticed two distinct cultures appearing in Abu Zurayq in the Neolithic, one named "Middle Neolithic", beginning in the late
7th Seventh is the ordinal form of the number seven. Seventh may refer to: * Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution * A fraction (mathematics), , equal to one of seven equal parts Film and television *"The Seventh", a second-season ep ...
or
6th millennium BC The 6th millennium BC spanned the years 6000 BC to 5001 BC (c. 8 ka to c. 7 ka). It is impossible to precisely date events that happened around the time of this millennium and all dates mentioned here are estimates mostly based on geo ...
and the other called "Late Neolithic", beginning in the 5th millennium BC. The "Late Neolithic" settlement is identified by Garfinkel and Matskevich as part of the Wadi Raba culture. This period is well documented by all three expeditions. This settlement was succeeded by a
Chalcolithic The Chalcolithic ( ) (also called the Copper Age and Eneolithic) was an archaeological period characterized by the increasing use of smelted copper. It followed the Neolithic and preceded the Bronze Age. It occurred at different periods in di ...
settlement in the
4th millennium BC File:4th millennium BC montage.jpg, 400x400px, From top left clockwise: The Temple of Ä gantija, one of the oldest freestanding structures in the world; Warka Vase; Bronocice pot with one of the earliest known depictions of a wheeled vehicle; Kish ...
and later by the Early Bronze Age in the
3rd millennium BC File:3rd millennium BC montage.jpg, 400x400px, From top left clockwise: Pyramid of Djoser; Khufu; Great Pyramid of Giza, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World; Cuneiform, a contract for the sale of a field and a house; Enheduana, a high pr ...
, indicating a consecutive settlement sequence.


Neolithic and Chalcolithic


6th millennium BC

The Italian-Israeli expedition has found well-preserved remains of the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods. The expedition studied three areas and in one of them, 15 settlement phases of these periods were noticed. Emmanuel Anati has divided the findings into two main periods, the "Middle Neolithic" period from the 6th millennium BC and the "Late Neolithic" period of the 5th millennium. The earliest Neolithic farmers, belonging to the "Middle Neolithic" culture according to Anati, had an advanced culture. Their houses were made of pits dug up to 1.5 meters below the surface. They were roofed with hardened mud mixed with straw. Within these houses, they had campfires and stone installations that stored their various tools. The economy of this settlement was based on various practices such as hunting, fishing, animal husbandry, agriculture and trade. The tools recovered by the excavation were diverse. Flint tools included axes, saws, sickles and others. Among the flint tools were arrow and javelin heads used as weapons. The pottery of this culture was thick and hard, but well fired, a unique phenomenon in the eyes of the excavators. These included simple and large storage and cooking vessels, mostly burnished. The stone objects included
millstone Millstones or mill stones are stones used in gristmills, used for triturating, crushing or, more specifically, grinding wheat or other grains. They are sometimes referred to as grindstones or grinding stones. Millstones come in pairs: a s ...
,
mortar and pestle A mortar and pestle is a set of two simple tools used to prepare ingredients or substances by compression (physics), crushing and shear force, grinding them into a fine Paste (rheology), paste or powder in the kitchen, laboratory, and pharmacy. ...
s and weights, probably used for
fishing net A fishing net or fish net is a net (device), net used for fishing. Fishing nets work by serving as an improvised fish trap, and some are indeed rigged as traps (e.g. #Fyke nets, fyke nets). They are usually wide open when deployed (e.g. by cast ...
s. Since little was known about this period, Anati has described this culture as an independent culture.


5th millennium BC (Wadi Rabah culture)

In the Italian-Israeli excavations at least eight settlement phases of the "Late Neolithic" culture of the 5th millennium were excavated. These settlers had a more complicated architecture that included well-built walls and
plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "re ...
ed or stone-paved floors. Their dwellings were much more permanent than the pit-houses of the previous culture. A large amount of pottery, flint, stone and bone tools were discovered in these layers. The early pottery of this period was mostly painted red. As time progressed, the potters made impressions and incised decorations to their pots. In the later phases of this period, the pottery was lustrous, painted red and black and burnished. Interesting findings from this period are non-local pottery that was acquired by trade. These include pottery of the
Yarmukian culture The Yarmukian culture was a Pottery Neolithic A (PNA) culture of the ancient Levant. It was the first culture in prehistoric Syria and one of the oldest in the Levant to make use of pottery. The Yarmukian derives its name from the Yarmuk Rive ...
but also pottery that is originated in areas further to the north of the Mediterranean coast such as the Amuq Valley and
Mersin Mersin () is a large city and port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of Mediterranean Region, Turkey, southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of the Mersin Province (formerly İçel). It is made up of four district governorates ...
, in
Cilicia Cilicia () is a geographical region in southern Anatolia, extending inland from the northeastern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. Cilicia has a population ranging over six million, concentrated mostly at the Cilician plain (). The region inclu ...
. In the 2002 final report of Perrot's excavation,
Yosef Garfinkel Yosef Garfinkel (Hebrew: יוסף גרפינקל; born 1956) is an Israeli archaeologist and academic. He is a professor of Prehistoric Archaeology and of Archaeology of the Biblical Period at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Biography Yosef G ...
and Zinovi Matskevich claim that this "Late Neolithic" culture is actually the Wadi Raba culture. In Perrot's excavation an area of 70 square meters was excavated and within it, remains of the 5th millennium BC of the Wadi Raba culture were found. The site yielded the remains of stone walls, pebble pavements, pits and installations. Because of the small size of the excavation, these finds did not provide a clear architectural picture, but it is clear that these finds represent more than one settlement phase.Garfinkel and Matskevich (2002), p. 129–132 The findings indicate a wide variety of practices centered around a single entity, which may have been a single autonomous household that relied on domesticated animals and plants. Evidence for external relations are seen in imported raw materials such as basalt, seashells and obsidian, brought to the site from places close or very far from the site. The analysis of the findings is based on pottery, stone objects and others. The pottery analysis is based only on complete vessels and definitive potsherds (such as rims, handles and bases). These were mostly found in a certain area of the excavation. They are divided into three different craft levels. A first group, composed of large vessels, is made of unrefined clay, fired at low heat. A second group includes medium-sized vessels that are made of finer clay and were well fired. The last group represents only a small fraction of the findings and was made of well-refined clay which is also rich in carbonates, appearing white. Most of the pottery is decorated, mostly with
slipping Slipping is a technique used in boxing that is similar to bobbing. It is considered one of the four basic defensive strategies, along with blocking, holding, and clinching. It is performed by moving the head to either side so that the opponent ...
, painting and impressions. Among the stone objects there were over a hundred tools for a variety of uses including agriculture, wood-making and animal products., Other findings include
Sling Sling may refer to: Places *Sling, Anglesey, Wales * Sling, Gloucestershire, England, a small village in the Forest of Dean People with the name * Otto Šling (1912–1952), repressed Czech communist functionary Arts, entertainment, and media * ...
stones, two figurines, one looks like a dog and the other represents a female, a bone tool used for cutting and polishing, punched seashells and a sandstone painted with
ochre Ochre ( ; , ), iron ochre, or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colou ...
. The salvage 1996 salvage excavation yielded a Wadi Rabah
silo A silo () is a structure for storing Bulk material handling, bulk materials. Silos are commonly used for bulk storage of grain, coal, cement, carbon black, woodchips, food products and sawdust. Three types of silos are in widespread use toda ...
, 1 meter deep and 1 meter in diameter, which at some point was used for waste. Next to the silo is a grave with a human skeleton. It seems that before the burial, the
thigh bone The femur (; : femurs or femora ), or thigh bone is the only bone in the thigh — the region of the lower limb between the hip and the knee. In many four-legged animals the femur is the upper bone of the hindleg. The top of the femur fits in ...
was removed from the skeleton.


Bronze Age

Based on Raban's survey, during the Early Bronze Age II-III periods (
3rd millennium BC File:3rd millennium BC montage.jpg, 400x400px, From top left clockwise: Pyramid of Djoser; Khufu; Great Pyramid of Giza, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World; Cuneiform, a contract for the sale of a field and a house; Enheduana, a high pr ...
), the first urban period in the land, a settlement with a size of used to exist in Abu Zurayq. In the Middle Bronze Age II period (2500-2000 BC), the second urban period in the land, the size of the settlement was approximately . South of the unexcavated mound is a burial cave, dug into a soft
limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
exposure, with two chambers and a total length of 9 meters. At least ten people were buried in this cave, which is relatively a small number considering that the pottery found in the cave span a time frame of 300 years from the 17th to 14th centuries BC (From the Middle Bronze Age II to the Late Bronze Age II). The initial analysis of the vessels, oil lamps and bronze objects found in the cave revealed that many of the vessels are of Cypriot origin and one is of Mycenaean origin. Late Bronze Age I pottery is absent from the cave and indicates a possible gap in the use of the cave during the LB I period. and the presence of a
terracotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based non-vitreous ceramic OED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used for earthenware obj ...
figurine A figurine (a diminutive form of the word ''figure'') or statuette is a small, three-dimensional sculpture that represents a human, deity or animal, or, in practice, a pair or small group of them. Figurines have been made in many media, with cla ...
of a bird-shaped woman with large pierced ears, a style common in LB II
Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
. Since it is rare to find such figurine in the Levant, it is likely that it was imported from Cyprus. An isolated Late Bronze Age structure, described as a "farm-house" was also discovered.Gonen, 1992, p
55
/ref>


Modern history


Ottoman period

Benvenisti writes that the grave of Abu Zurayq al-Attili, a local Muslim saint from
Attil Attil () is a Palestinian town in the Tulkarm Governorate in the eastern West Bank, northeast of Tulkarm. Attil is the connection point between the other villages and Tulkarm. It is bordered by Illar to the east; Baqa ash-Sharqiyya to the ...
, predated the establishment of the village and gave its name to the site.Benvenisti, 2000, p
74
/ref> In 1878, Abu Zurayq was listed as a spring, not as a populated place. Towards the start of
WW I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting took place mainly in Europe and the ...
, the first house was built in Abu Zurayq by Samir al-Isa, followed by a second house built during the war by Abd al-Karem Abd al-Shitawi.Benvenisti, 2000, p. 75


British period: Arab Turkmen village

The war brought an end to the Ottoman period and, after a short period of military administration, the beginning of British Mandatory rule. The village of Abu Zurayq took shape in those transitional years. Its inhabitants were largely of nomadic
Turkmen Turkmen, Türkmen, Turkoman, or Turkman may refer to: Peoples Historical ethnonym * Turkoman (ethnonym), ethnonym used for the Oghuz Turks during the Middle Ages Ethnic groups * Turkmen in Anatolia and the Levant (Seljuk and Ottoman-Turkish desc ...
descent, although by the 20th century, they spoke only
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
and considered themselves Arabs. They were part of the larger nomadic Turkmen community that lived in the Marj Ibn Amer plain (the
Jezreel Valley The Jezreel Valley (from the ), or Marj Ibn Amir (), also known as the Valley of Megiddo, is a large fertile plain and inland valley in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. It is bordered to the north by the highlands o ...
) and in their transition to a sedentary lifestyle also founded the nearby villages of
Abu Shusha Abu Shusha () was a Palestinian Arab village in the Ramle Subdistrict of Mandatory Palestine, located 8 km southeast of Ramle. It was ethnically cleansed in May 1948. Abu Shusha was located on the slope of Tell Jezer/Tell el-Jazari, whi ...
, al-Mansi,
Ayn al-Mansi Ayn al-Mansi (, ''Ein el Mansî'') was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Jenin of the Mandatory Palestine. It was depopulated as a result of a military attack in mid-April during the 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine. Hist ...
,
Khirbat Lid Lid was a Palestinian village in the Haifa Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War on April 9, 1948. It was 32 km southeast of Haifa. History The Khirbat al-Manatir contained artifacts from the Byzantine period. ...
, and al-Ghubayya at around the same time Abu Zurayq was founded. Nearly all of Abu Zurayq's residents hailed from the Turkmen Tawhashe clan, although one of the families claimed descent from the village's namesake Abu Zurayq and another claimed
Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...
ish ancestry. There were also four families of
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
n descent in the village, who had either come to the area with the Egyptian army of Ibrahim Pasha in the mid-19th century or were the descendants of African slaves. The Turkmen families also claimed kinship ties with the
Beni Sakhr The Beni Sakhar confederacy is one of the largest and most influential tribal confederacies in The Kingdoms of Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Its founder, Sakher bin Tha'labah al Tayy, a great-grandson of Jalhamah, likely lived in the 3rd century AD, m ...
of
Transjordan Transjordan may refer to: * Transjordan (region), an area to the east of the Jordan River * Oultrejordain, a Crusader lordship (1118–1187), also called Transjordan * Emirate of Transjordan, British protectorate (1921–1946) * Hashemite Kingdom o ...
. All of the inhabitants were
Sunni Muslim Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Musli ...
s, although in general they were not religious. In the 1922 census, the population was 301 (142 males and 159 females), all
Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
; increasing in the 1931 census to 361; still all Muslim, in a total of 78 houses. During the 1936-1939 Arab revolt in Palestine, Abu Zurayq's residents did not participate in the fighting, and most were quietly opposed to the revolt, although there were some sympathizers of the rebels as well. The village ''
mukhtar A mukhtar (; ) is a village chief in the Levant: "an old institution that goes back to the time of the Ottoman rule". According to Amir S. Cheshin, Bill Hutman and Avi Melamed, the mukhtar "for centuries were the central figures". They "were ...
'' (headman) was a man named Dahmus in 1937, but he was replaced by Abd al-Khalaq al-Shabash, a pro-rebel ''mukhtar''.Benvenisti, 2000, p
77
/ref> A small, simply-constructed
mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...
was built in Abu Zurayq in 1938. The
imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...
of the mosque was a resident from nearby
Umm az-Zinat Umm az-Zinat (, ''Umm ez Zînât'') was a Palestinian Arab village in the Haifa Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the 1948 War on May 15, 1948, by Golani Brigade's Fourth Battalion. It was located 20.5 km southeast of Haifa. History C ...
, but was eventually replaced by an imam from
Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...
.Benvenisti, 2000, p
76
/ref> In mid-1937, the population was estimated as 406 Muslims, increasing to 550 Muslims in the 1945 statistics. Abu Zurayq had a total land area of 6,493 Turkish dunams, most of which—4,401 dunams—were privately owned by
Arab Arabs (,  , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
s; the remainder was public property. Of the land, 4,092 was used for grains, the village's principal crop, 282 for plantations and irrigated land, and one dunam for citrus and bananas. while 2,118 dunams were classified as non-cultivable land. In 1942–43, olive trees occupied roughly 100 dunams of Abu Zurayq's land. An unspecified area consisted of built-up space. Abu Zurayq contained a number of houses that were dispersed throughout the village and on a nearby hill near the highway between Jenin and Haifa, most of them built at a relative distance from each other. The homes were built of stone and with either concrete rooftops or roofs built of other material such as mud, straw or wood.


1948 Palestine war and destruction

Abu Zurayq's residents had traditionally maintained cordial relations with the nearby
Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...
ish
kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...
of
HaZorea HaZore'a (, ''lit.'' The Sower, named after the neighbouring Tel Zariq, ) is a kibbutz in northern Israel established in 1936 by German Jews. It is the only kibbutz that was established by members of the movement. Located in the western rim of ...
, including low-level economic cooperation, particularly with regards to agriculture. Arabic language versions of a Jewish labor periodical were regularly distributed in the village. In the lead-up to the
1948 Arab-Israeli War Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...
, as part of
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
efforts to clear the area around
Mishmar HaEmek Mishmar HaEmek () is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the western Jezreel Valley, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Megiddo Regional Council. Mishmar HaEmek is one of the few kibbutzim that have not undergone privatization and stil ...
of Palestinian Arabs, on 12 April 1948,
Palmach The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Phalanges/Companies") was the elite combined strike forces and sayeret unit of the Haganah, the paramilitary organization of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of th ...
units of the
Haganah Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...
took over Abu Zurayq. There they took 15 men and 200 women and children into custody, after which they expelled all of the women and children. Demolitions of homes in the village began on the night of its capture and were completed by 15 April.Morris, 2004, pp
241
€“242.
The '' Filastin'' newspaper reported that of the 30 homes demolished by Palmach forces, five still contained residents. According to the account of a Middle East scholar and resident from
HaZore'a HaZore'a (, ''lit.'' The Sower, named after the neighbouring Tel Zariq, ) is a kibbutz in northern Israel established in 1936 by German Jews. It is the only kibbutz that was established by members of the movement. Located in the western rim of ...
, Eliezer Bauer, following its capture, Abu Zurayq's men, who were unaffiliated with any Palestinian militia and did not resist the Haganah, "tried to escape and save themselves by fleeing" to nearby fields but were intercepted by armed Jewish residents of nearby kibbutzim and
moshav A moshav (, plural ', "settlement, village") is a type of Israeli village or town or Jewish settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 and 1 ...
im. After a firefight in which many of the village's men were killed, several survivors surrendered themselves while other unarmed men were taken captive, and the majority of these men were killed. Other men found hiding in the village itself were executed, while houses were looted before being demolished. Bauer's account of events was discussed by the members of HaZorea's kibbutz council where the events surrounding Abu Zurayq's capture were condemned.Morris, 2004, pp
242
€“243
346
/ref> Most of the people who managed to escape or were expelled from Abu Zurayq ended up in makeshift camps around
Jenin Jenin ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and is the capital of the Jenin Governorate. It is a hub for the surrounding towns. Jenin came under Israeli occupied territories, Israeli occupation in 1967, and was put under the administra ...
. Along with the expelled residents of other nearby villages they complained to the
Arab Higher Committee The Arab Higher Committee () or the Higher National Committee was the central political organ of Palestinian Arabs in Mandatory Palestine. It was established on 25 April 1936, on the initiative of Haj Amin al-Husayni, the Grand Mufti of Je ...
of their situation, asked for help with humanitarian aid and demanded that Arab forces be sent to avenge their loss and return them to their lands.


State of Israel

Following the 1948 war, the area was incorporated into the
State of Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
, and as of 1992, the land had been left undeveloped and the closest populated place is HaZorea. Much of the village land is used for either agricultural or pastoral purposes. The agricultural land largely consists of
cacti A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...
, olive and fig trees.Khalidi, 1992, p. 144


See also

* Village files


References


Bibliography

* * (pp
74
€“77) * Flapan, S. "The Palestinian Exodus of 1948" in 16, no. 4 (Sum. 87): 3–26.Simha Flapan records Eliezer Bauer of the HaShomer Hatiz kibbutz and a member of the Mapam Arab Department reporting during a discussion that the villagers of Abu Zrik and Abu Shusha were arrested or driven out and the villages were then destroyed. * * * * * * * * * *
Tel Zariq

Tel Zariq (south)

‘En Zariq

Tel Zariq (M)
* *


External links


Abu Zurayq
from
Zochrot Zochrot (; "Remembering"; ; "Memories") is an Israeli nonprofit organization founded in 2002. Based in Tel Aviv, its aim is to promote awareness of the Nakba, including the 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight. The group was co-founded by Eitan ...
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 8
IAA Wikimedia Commons
{{Palestinian Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Palestine War Populated places established in the 7th millennium BC 1962 archaeological discoveries Archaeological sites in Israel Neolithic settlements Neolithic sites of Asia Prehistoric sites in the Near East Bronze Age sites in Israel Iron Age sites in Israel Arab villages depopulated prior to the 1948 Arab–Israeli War District of Haifa Yarmukian culture Jezreel Valley