Dayr Aban

Dayr Aban (also spelled Deir Aban; ) was a Palestinian Arab village in the Jerusalem Subdistrict, located on the lower slope of a high ridge that formed the western slope of a mountain, to the east of Beit Shemesh. It was formerly bordered by olive trees to the north, east, and west. The valley, ''Wadi en-Najil'', ran north and south on the west-side of the village.

The village is associated with the biblical site of Eben-Ezer. The prefix "Dayr" hints at a historical monastery. Early Ottoman records document a mixed Christian and Muslim population. However, by the 17th century, historical records highlights a communal conversion to Islam. Nonetheless, traditions linked to the village's Christian past persisted in later periods.

Dayr Aban was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War on October 19, 1948, during Operation Ha-Har. It was located 21 km west of Jerusalem. Today there are over 5000 people originally from Deir Aban living in Jordan.

History

In pre-Roman and Roman times the settlement was referred to as "Abenezer", and may have been the location of the biblical site Eben-Ezer.().Fetellus, 1896, p
43
/ref>Conder, 1876, p
149
/ref>Conder and Kitchener, 1883, p
24
/ref>

The name Dayr indicates that this was the site of a Christian monastery.

Ottoman era

In 1596, Dayr Aban appeared in Ottoman tax registers as being in the ''Nahiya'' of Quds of the '' Liwa'' of Quds. It had a population of 23 Muslim households and 23 Christian households;Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 119 that is, an estimated 127 persons.Khalidi, 1992, p. 282 They paid a fixed tax rate of 33,3% on agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, olives, and goats or beehives; a total of 9,700 Akçe.

In the 17th century, the inhabitants of Dayr Aban collectively converted to Islam, an unusual event within the Middle East during the Ottoman period. Jerusalem court records document four related conversion certificates. The earliest, dated 1635, records the conversion of a person named Gimʿa bin Dāfir. Subsequently, in 1649-1650, three additional certificates were issued. Two, from September 5, 1649, concern individuals named Rabīʿa and Nāṣir bin Manṣūr. Later, on March 7, 1650, a communal conversion of all Dayr Abān's residents was documented. The document lists both the original and new names of the converts, along with a note indicating the entire village's conversion.

In 1838, ''Deir Aban'' was noted as a Muslim village, located in the el-Arkub District, south west of Jerusalem.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p.
125
/ref>

Victor Guérin described it in 1863 as being a large village, and its adjacent valley "strewn with sesame." An Ottoman village list from about 1870 found that the village had a population of 443, in a total of 135 houses, though the population count included men, only.

In 1883, the PEF's ''Survey of Western Palestine'' described Dayr Aban as "a large village on the lower slope of a high ridge, with a well to the north, and olives on the east, west, and north. This place no doubt represents the fourth century site of Ebenezer (I Sam. IV. I) which is mentioned in the Onomasticon (s.v. Ebenezer) as near Beth Shemesh. The village is 2 miles east of 'Ain Shems."

Baldensperger, writing in 1893, stated that the village's residents had been Greek Orthodox until they converted to Islam at a "very recent date ..perhaps it was about the beginning of this century". He noted that the Christians of Beit Jala and the citizens of the village continue to share the same names, and added that the village's original Greek New Testament is still kept in the church in Beit Jala. In another article, he mentioned that women in Dayr Aban have small crosses tattooed on their foreheads. Yitzhak Ben-Zvi mentioned a local tradition according which elderly Muslim women at Dayr Aban preserved old miniature crosses. H. Stephan wrote that persecutions brought Christians from Dayr Aban to seek refuge at Beit Jala and Ramallah, where they stayed in touch with family members that continued to live in the village as Muslims.

In 1896, the population of ''Der Aban'' was estimated to be about 921 persons.

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Dayr Aban had a population of 1,214 inhabitants, all Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Ramleh, p
21
/ref> increasing in the 1931 census to 1,534 inhabitants, in 321 houses.Mills, 1932, p
19
/ref>

In the 1945 statistics, the village had a total population of 2,100 Arabs; 10 Christians and 2,090 Muslims, with a total of 22,734 dunums of land. Of this, Arabs used 1,580 dunams for irrigable land or plantations, 14,925 for cereals, while 54 dunams were built-up (urban) Arab land.

Dayr Aban had a mosque and a pipeline transporting water from 'Ayn Marjalayn, 5 km to the east. The village contains three khirbats: ''Khirbat Jinna'ir'', ''Khirbat Haraza'', and ''Khirbat al-Suyyag''.

File:Deiraban 1945.jpg, Dayr Aban (Deiraban), Mandate survey, 1:20,000
File:Allar 1945.jpg, Dayr Aban (Deiraban), 1945, 1:20,000

1948, aftermath

On 4 August 1948, two weeks into the Second truce of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestinian nationalist Amin al Husseini noted that ‘for two weeks now . . . the Jews have continued with their attacks on the Arab villages and outposts in all areas. Stormy battles are continuing in the villages of Sataf, Deiraban, Beit Jimal, Ras Abu ‘Amr, ‘Aqqur, and ‘Artuf . . .’Morris, 2004, p.
447
note #211, p
461
/ref>

The village became depopulated on 19–20 October 1948, after a military assault during Operation Ha-Har.Morris, 2004, p.
462
/ref> Through the second half of 1948, the IDF, under Ben-Gurion’s tutelage, continued to destroy Arab villages, including Dayr Aban on 22 October 1948.

After the war, the ruin of Dayr Abban remained under Israeli control under the terms of the 1949 Armistice Agreement between Israel and Jordan, until such time that the agreement was dissolved in 1967.

The moshav of Mahseya was later established near the site of the old village, on the land of Dayr Aban, as was Tzora, Beit Shemesh and Yish'i.

Etymology

The prefix "''Dayr''" which appears in many village names is of Aramaic and Syriac-Aramaic origin, and has the connotation of "habitation," or "dwelling place," usually given to places where there was once a Christian population, or settlement of monks. In most cases, a monastery was formerly built there, and, throughout time, the settlement expanded.Al-Shabeshti, ''Diyārāt'' (Monasteries). Dayr Aban would, therefore, literally mean, "the Monastery of Aban."

Gallery

File:Dayr Aban-Ruin.JPG, Dayr Aban-Ruin
File:Dayr Aban-Ruin 2.JPG, Dayr Aban, stone wall
File:Dayr Aban-Ruin 3.JPG, Dayr Aban, stone façade
File:Dayr Aban Cistern.JPG, Dayr Aban, Cistern
File:Dayr Aban-Ruin 4.JPG, Dayr Aban
File:Dayr Aban-Ruin 5.JPG, Dayr Aban-Ruin
File:Dayr Aban-Ruin 6.JPG, Dayr Aban, in sunlight
File:Ruins of Dayr Aban.JPG, Ruins of Dayr Aban, wall
File:Dayr Aban.JPG, The outer wall of structure in Dayr Aban
File:Ruins of Dayr Aban 2.JPG, Ruins of Dayr Aban
File:Dayr Aban Olive and Almond Tree.JPG, Dayr Aban, Olive and Almond Tree
File:Dayr Aban on the Background of Beit Shemesh.JPG, Dayr Aban on the Background of Beit Shemesh
File:Dayr Aban overlooking Bet Shemesh.JPG, The ruins of Dayr Aban overlooking Beit Shemesh
File:Dayr Aban Ruins.JPG, Projecting wall, in Dayr Aban
File:Dayr Aban - stone structures.JPG, What remains of the inside wall of a house, with niche in wall
File:House in Dayr Aban.JPG, Front wall of house in Dayr Aban
File:Ruins of Dayr Aban (Khurvah).JPG, Razed buildings in Dayr Aban
File:Cistern in Dayr Aban.JPG, Mouth of pit, one of many in Dayr Aban
File:Dayr Aban - General View of ruins.JPG, Razed structures in Dayr Aban
File:Dayr Aban cemetery.JPG, A sign post of the cemetery in Dayr Aban
File:Side of house - Dayr Aban.JPG, What remains of a house still stands tall
File:Stone Structures in Dayr Aban.JPG, Old structures in Dayr Aban
File:Sealed Arch in Dayr Aban.JPG, Sealed Archway in Dayr Aban
File:Razed houses in Dayr Aban.JPG, House and tree amidst ruins, in Dayr Aban

References

Bibliography

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External links

Welcome To Dayr AbanDayr Aban
Zochrot
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 17
IAA
Wikimedia commons

Dayr Aban in Antiquity
Archaeological Survey of Israel

from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center

{{Palestinian Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Palestine War

Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War
District of Jerusalem