Attil () is 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 ...

town in the Tulkarm Governorate in the eastern

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, 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 north; The Green Line to the west; and

Deir al-Ghusun Deir al-Ghusun () is a Palestinian people, Palestinian town in the Tulkarm Governorate, located eight kilometers northeast of the city of Tulkarm in the northern West Bank, Palestine. The town is near the Green Line (Israel), Green Line (border be ...

to the south. Mountains surrounding the town include the Nabhan, Aboora, Asad, and Shehadeh mountains. Attil has an elevation of above

Sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

, and an area of 7.337 km².

Etymology

According to Palmer, the name was a p.n.(="proper name"), meaning "severe", while according to Zertal the name 'Attil almost certainly has its origins in the

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

form a-tl or ttl (tell), appearing in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Samaria Ostraca as a

prefix A prefix is an affix which is placed before the stem of a word. Particularly in the study of languages, a prefix is also called a preformative, because it alters the form of the word to which it is affixed. Prefixes, like other affixes, can b ...

to place names.Zertal, 2016, p
419
/ref>

History

Attil is an ancient village site on a hill at the edge of the plains.Dauphin, 1998, p. 757 Pottery remain have been found here from Middle Bronze Age II, Iron Age I and IA II, Persian,

Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

, early and late Roman,

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

, early

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 ...

and the Middle Ages have been found here. Fragmentary

mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

floors and

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

shafts from a church have been found, together with

cistern A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster. Cisterns are disti ...

s dug into the rock, as well as caves. Atil is referenced in ''The Continuation of the Samaritan Chronicle of Abu l-Fath'', suggesting it was an important Samaritan settlement during the early Islamic period. The text describes a battle at Attil, where Abū Ḥarb al-Yamānī, who rebelled against

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...

rule in the 840s, was ultimately defeated. The intense bloodshed rendered the village impure to an extent that purification appeared unlikely. However, a Samaritan leader named Pinhas, who was a jurist, undertook the task of purifying the village due to its large size, since it was one of the largest villages, and eventually restored its purity. In 1179, it was mentioned in Crusader sources as ''Azatil''. In March 1265, when Sultan Baibars awarded his officers lands, he gave Attil “To the Atabek Faris al-Din Uqtay al-Salihi“.

Ottoman era

Attil, like the rest of Palestine, was incorporated into the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

in 1517, and in the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 1596 it was a part of the ''

nahiya A nāḥiyah ( , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiyeh, nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level divisi ...

'' ("subdistrict") of Jabal Sami which was under the administration of the '' liwa'' ("district") of

Nablus Nablus ( ; , ) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 156,906. Located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a ...

. The village had a population of 59 households, all

, and paid taxes on wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, occasional revenues, beehives and/or goats, an olive oil press, or press for grape syrup, and a poll tax; a total of 14,872 akçe. In 1838 it was noted as a village, Attil'', in the western ''Esh-Sha'rawiyeh'' administrative region, north of

.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd Appendix, p.
129
/ref> In the late Ottoman period, in 1852, the American scholar Edward Robinson described passing by the villages of Zeita and Jatt on the way to 'Attil. Of 'Attil itself, he writes that it was "a considerable village," located on a hill with plains to the north and south. He further noted: ”It appears, that the land in the district of Nabulus including the plains, is generally freehold; and the taxes are mainly paid in the form of a

poll tax A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources. ''Poll'' is an archaic term for "head" or "top of the head". The sen ...

.”Robinson and Smith, 1856, p
124
In 1863, the French explorer

Victor Guérin Victor Guérin (; 15 September 1821 – 21 September 1890) was a French people, French intellectual, explorer and amateur archaeologist. He published books describing the geography, archeology and history of the areas he explored, which included ...

passed by and noted that the village was also called ''Deir Attil''. In 1870/1871 (1288 AH), an Ottoman census listed the village in the ''

'' (sub-district) of al-Sha'rawiyya al-Gharbiyya. In 1882 the PEF's '' Survey of Western Palestine'' described the village as being of considerable size, situated on a hill on the edge of the plain, and surrounded by a small olive-grove, and supplied by

British Mandate era

In the

1922 census of Palestine The 1922 census of Palestine was the first census carried out by the authorities of the British Mandate of Palestine, on 23 October 1922. The reported population was 757,182, including the military and persons of foreign nationality. The divis ...

conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Attil had a population of 1,656, all

s.Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Tulkarm, p
27
/ref> At the time of the

1931 census of Palestine The 1931 census of Palestine was the second census carried out by the authorities of Mandatory Palestine. It was carried out on 18 November 1931 under the direction of Major E. Mills after the 1922 census of Palestine. * Census of Palestine 1931, ...

, Attil, together with Jalama, Al-Manshiyya and Zalafa had a total of 2207 persons, all Muslim except 1 Druze, living in 473 houses.Mills, 1932, p
53
/ref> In the 1945 statistics the population of Attil was 2,650, all Muslims,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p
20
/ref> who owned 7,337

dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; ; ; ), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area analogous in role (but not equal) to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amo ...

s of land according to an official land and population survey. 4,011 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 2,527 used for cereals, while 86 dunams were built-up (urban) land. File:Attil 1942.jpg, Attil 1942 1:20,000 File:Tulkarm 1945 ii.jpg, Attil 1945 1:250,000

Jordanian era

In the wake of the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war becam ...

, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Attil came under

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

ian rule. It was annexed by Jordan in 1950. In 1961, the population was 4,087.

Post-1967

Since the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

in 1967, Attil has been under

Israeli occupation Israel has occupied the Golan Heights of Syria and the Palestinian territories since the Six-Day War of 1967. It has previously occupied the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt and southern Lebanon as well. Prior to 1967, control of the Palestinian terr ...

Population

Attil had a population of 9,038 in the 2007 census by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. The majority of its people are expatriates living in

, various states in the Persian Gulf, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, and other parts of the world. By 2017, the population had increased to 10,367.

Tomb

The village of Attil is the site of a tomb known as ''Mazar ash-Sheikh Zreiq'', situated near the town hall. This tomb belongs to ''Ahmad Ibn Abi Zreiq a-Rifa'i al-Husseini'', who, according to local tradition, was the supreme religious judge (''

qadi A qadi (; ) is the magistrate or judge of a Sharia court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and minors, and supervision and auditing of public works. History The term '' was in use from ...

'') of

Safed Safed (), also known as Tzfat (), is a city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of up to , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and in Israel. Safed has been identified with (), a fortif ...

and died in Attil in 1440. Hailing from the prominent al-Attili family, he was considered one of the village's most distinguished individuals. The fence surrounding the tomb bears an inscription stating that it was constructed in 1779 by Abd al-Rahman, a descendant of the sheikh, indicating that the tomb itself predates this structure. It is said that ''Ahmad Ibn Abi Zreiq a-Rifa'i al-Husseini'' was the leader of a local Sufi order known as ''Tariqat al-Attil'', which he inherited from his grandfather. He was renowned for performing miracles, including the ability to lie down in the village yard while horses would jump over him without causing any harm.

Demography

Residents of the village originally came from many places, such as

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Khan Yunis Khan Yunis (), also spelled Khan Younis or Khan Yunus, is a city in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestine, and serves as the capital of the Khan Yunis Governorate. It has been largely destroyed during the Gaza war. Before the 14th century, Khan Y ...

(Gaza), Hajjah (West Bank) and more.Grossman, D. (1986). "Oscillations in the Rural Settlement of Samaria and Judaea in the Ottoman Period". in Shomron studies. Dar, S., Safrai, S., (eds). Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad Publishing House. p. 345

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Welcome To 'Attil Attil
Welcome to Palestine *Survey of Western Palestine, Map 11:
Wikimedia commons
{{Authority control Towns in the West Bank Municipalities of Palestine Ancient Samaritan settlements