Baysamun or Beisamoun (, ''Beisamûn'') was a small
Palestinian 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 ...
village, located in the marshy
Hula Valley northeast of
Safad. In 1945, it had a population of 20.
[Hadawi, 1970]
p. 69
It was depopulated during the
1948 War on May 25, 1948, by the
Palmach's First Battalion in
Operation Yiftach.
Beisamoun is an important archaeological site for the Neolithic period, with two
plastered human skulls, cremation signs and house floors found there. It stood in close proximity to another major
Natufian ("Final Old Stone Age") site,
'Ain Mallaha.
History
Prehistoric and Bronze Age site
Kathleen Kenyon notes that Beisamoun disappeared under modern drainage systems set up by
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 ...
; in the fish ponds created,
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 ...
remains were found that included houses and two
plastered skulls.
[Kenyon, 1985]
p. 29
Rectangular houses with plastered floors show striking similarities to those at
Byblos
Byblos ( ; ), also known as Jebeil, Jbeil or Jubayl (, Lebanese Arabic, locally ), is an ancient city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. The area is believed to have been first settled between 8800 and 7000BC and continuously inhabited ...
.
[Wright, 1985]
p. 30
These "Levant
The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...
ine pier house were also found in Yiftahel, Ayn Ghazal, and Jericho
Jericho ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and the capital of the Jericho Governorate. Jericho is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It had a population of 20,907 in 2017.
F ...
.[Negev and Gibson, 2005]
p. 232
A main period of habitation was during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B
Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) is part of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic, a Neolithic culture centered in upper Mesopotamia and the Levant, dating to years ago, that is, 8800–6500 BC. It was Type site, typed by British archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon ...
era, but also Pottery Neolithic and Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
remains have been found.
British Mandate village
The population of Baysamun 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 ...
consisted of 41 Muslims, increasing to 50 Muslims in 11 houses by 1931.
In the 1945 statistics the population was 20 Muslims,[ with a total of 2,102 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.][Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p]
69
Of this, 107 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 1,817 for cereals; while 133 dunams was non-cultivable area.
1948, aftermath
It was depopulated during the 1948 War on May 25, 1948, by the Palmach's First Battalion in Operation Yiftach in a Whispering campaign.[
In 1992 the village site was described: "No traces of the houses remain. The site is occupied by warehouses for agricultural implements used by Kibbutz Manara, which had been established in 1943. The land around the site is cultivated and fish ponds have been constructed close to it."][Khalidi, 1992, p. 438]
References
Bibliography
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External links
Welcome To BaysamunBaysamun
Zochrot
Baysamun
Villages of Palestine
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 4
IAAWikimedia commons
{{Palestinian Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Palestine War
Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War
District of Safad
Archaeological sites in Israel
Neolithic sites of Asia
Pre-Pottery Neolithic B