Anabta

Sherds from the Hellenistic, early and late Roman and the Byzantine eras have been found here.[5]

During Roman and Byzantine rule, Anabta was a Samaritan village.[6] A tradition connects the village with Dositheos, a Samaritan religious leader possibly active during the 1st-century CE.[5] The Samaritan chronicler Abu l-Fath (14th century) mentions that Dositheos died of starvation after going to 'Anbata where he hid in a cave, fasting in an effort to gain wisdom.[7] Some olive trees still existing in Anabta are said to date back to Roman times.

According to the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine, the site appeared "ancient",[8] and rock-cut tombs and a tank of good masonry had been found.[9][10]

Pottery sherds from the early Muslim and Medieval eras have also been found here.[5]

During the reign of Mamluk Sultan Baibars al-Bunduqdari in the 13th century, Anabta served as a central staging point from which to supply the Muslim armies fighting Crusader and Mongol incursions. The location was chosen because it was considered relatively easy to protect as the area is nestled between two large hills.[3]

During Ottoman rule, Anabta was listed in the 1596 Ottoman tax register as being in the Nahiya of Jabal Sami of the Liwa of Nablus. It had a population of 55 Muslim households who paid a fixed tax rate of 33,3% on wheat, barley, summer crops, olives, goats or beehives, and presses for grapes or olives; a total of 13,757 akçe.[11]

In 1852, the American scholar Edward Robinson visited the village. He described it as "large and well built", with two watermills by the stream. There were many camels there, as the village was on the main route for camels from Nablus to Ramleh.[12] In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described it as a village of moderate size, in the valley, with olives around it. It also had a mill.[8] A portion of the Hejaz Railway used to run through the centre of the town, parallel to the main street.[3]

Anabta. 1945. Survey of Palestine. Scale 1:250,000.

The first local council in Anabta was established in 1921 during the Mandatory Palestine.[13] In the 1936 Anabta shooting, on the night of April 15, 1936, a prelude to the 1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine, about 20 vehicles traveling on the road outside Anabta were stopped at a road block constructed for the purpose by armed villagers, and forced to hand over weapons and cash. 3 Jewish drivers were separated from the non-Jewish drivers and shot, 2 died of their injuries, the third survived.[14][15] In June, an attack by Arab irregulars on a civilian bus convoy escalated into the Battle of Anabta, a brief but intense fight between Arab militants and the British army involving air attacks on the Arab fighters.[16] On October 12, 1936, when the rebellion stopped, the Daily Telegraph reporter described the village during his visit to it, he said: "Anabta, the scene of several encounters between British troops and Arabs, was the only place through which I passed where the inhabitants showed truculence".[17]

Anabta 1947

In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Anabta came under Jordanian rule. It was annexed by Jordan in 1950.

In 1954, Anabta became a municipal council.[3]

In 1961, the population of Anabta was 4,018.[18]

Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Anabta has been under Israeli occupation. Shortly after the war, Anabta underwent major development and achieved local council status.[19] According to Israel's Ministry of Defense, the village was connected to the Israeli electric grid.[20] Anabta lies on the edge of the Tulkarm district's Area A, an administrative division of the 1995 Oslo Accords, which means the city became under full security and civil jurisdiction of the Palestinian National Authority.