Beit Einun

Beit Einun or Bayt 'Anun (Arabic: بيت عينون‎) is a Palestinian village in the Hebron Governorate, located five kilometers northeast of Hebron in the southern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the village had a population of 1,809 inhabitants in 2007.[2]

Beit Einun
Municipality type D (Village council)
Arabic transcription(s)
 • Arabicبيت عينون
 • LatinBeit 'Einun (official)
Bayt 'Anun
Khirbet Abu Rish
Bayt Aynun (unofficial)
Beit Einun
Location of Beit Einun within Palestine
Coordinates: 31°33′54″N 35°07′44″E
Palestine grid162/107
StateState of Palestine
GovernorateHebron
Government
 • TypeVillage council
Population
 (2007)
 • Total1,809
Name meaningKh. Beit ’Ainûn, the ruin of the house of ’Ainûn[1]

The Israeli army has a major road block at Beit Einun Junction. Following the upsurge in violence from October 2015 it has been a focus of attacks against soldiers by young Palestinians. The attackers are usually shot dead. In the first two weeks of 2016 there were three separate incidents in which four young Palestinian attackers were killed, no soldiers were injured.[3][4]

History

One opinion suggests that Beit Einun is the modern site of the Biblical Beth-anoth.[5][6] Another view suggests that it is the biblical site of Enam (Joshua 15:34),"a village about 2 km. from the renowned terebinth" that grew near Hebron.[7]

The site became populated during Byzantine rule of Palestine,[8] and ceramics from that period has been found.[9] Three churches were built near the center of the town sometime between the 5th and 6th centuries.[8] The wall construction indicates rebuilding of the church in the Crusader period. Excavations have revealed a mosaic floor in the main hall of the church from the Byzantine period. It is a part of a complex building in which living quarters and storage rooms, as well as water cisterns were found.[10] Other remains from this time period include two water cisterns, two wine-presses and several tombs.[8][11]

Beit 'Einun is mentioned in the Waqf dedication given by the Islamic prophet Muhammad to Tamim al-Dari, a sahaba ("companion"). Many Muslim-built stone structures are located in the village.[10] According to Al-Muqaddasi, Beit Einun was well known in the Middle East during the Abbasid era, for producing high-quality raisins named 'Aynuni after the village's name (Bayt Aynun).[12][13]

Ottoman era

The village was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517 with all of Palestine, and in 1596 Beit Einun appeared in Ottoman tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Halil of the Liwa of Quds. It had a population of 18 Muslim households, and paid taxes on wheat, barley, vineyards, fruit trees, occasional revenues, goats and/or bee hives.[14][15]

In 1838 Edward Robinson noted it in ruins.[16][17]

In July 1863 the French explorer Victor Guérin visited the place, called Khirbet Beit-A'noun. He inspected the ruins, and dated them to the Byzantine era.[18]

In 1883 the PEF's Survey of Palestine found here "walls, foundations, and a reservoir. There is a spring to the wast, and on the south a small ruined chapel; the walls and pillar-chafts remaining; this is called el Keniseh. Remains of a tower with large drafted masonry also exist; it measures 82 feet north and south by 72 feet east and west. The stones are in some cases 6 feet long and 3 feet high."[19]

Geography

Beit Einun is situated in the 'Anun Valley, at the bottom of a hill in the Judea region, forming the beginning of a fertile plain cultivated with vines and grains. There are terraces on the higher slopes of the hill to prevent erosion. These small separate fields are planted with grape and tomato vines, plum and almond orchards.[10] Beit Einun is located just five kilometers north of Hebron. Other nearby localities include, Sa'ir and ash-Shuyukh to the northeast, Halhul to the northwest, Beit Kahil to the west and Ras Abu Risha to the southeast.[20]

Demographics

Beit Einun's population drastically decreased after the Six-Day War in 1967, from 4,967 to just a few hundred residents. Most of the inhabitants left for Jordan.[21] In the 1997 census by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), Beit Einun had a population of 1,748. The gender make-up was 906 males and 842 females.[22] Palestinian refugees constituted 15.6% of the village's inhabitants.[23] In 2004, Beit Einun had a population of 2,277 inhabitants, rising to 2,439 in 2006 according to PCBS estimates.[24] However, the PCBS 2007 census revealed that Beit Einun had 1,809 inhabitants.[2]

References
  1. Palmer, 1881, p. 397
  2. 2007 PCBS Census Archived December 10, 2010, at the Wayback Machine Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. p.118.
  3. Maan 14 January 2016 Palestinian shot dead after alleged attack attempt near Hebron
  4. Ha'aretz 23 January 2016
  5. Joshua 15:59
  6. Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 311
  7. Eusebius, Onomasticon - The Place Names of Divine Scripture, (ed.) R. Steven Notley & Ze'ev Safrai, Brill: Leiden 2005, p. 91 (§474), note 474. ISBN 0-391-04217-3
  8. Khirbet Abu Rish (Beit 'Anun) Archived 2014-04-29 at the Wayback Machine Magen - Y. Baruch
  9. Dauphin, 1998, p. 939
  10. Palestinian sites: Beit 'Einun Village - Hebron Jerusalem Media and Communications Centre. Accessed on 2008-03-30
  11. Pringle, 1997, p. 26
  12. Le Strange, 1890, p. 387
  13. Wheatley, 2001, p. 412
  14. Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 124
  15. Toledano, 1984, p.301, has Bayt 'Aynun at location 35°07′20″E 31°33′55″N.
  16. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 2, p. 186
  17. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. 115
  18. Guérin, 1869, pp. 151 -152
  19. Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 351
  20. Satellite view of Beit 'Anun
  21. Welcome to Bayt 'Anun Palestine Remembered.
  22. Palestinian Population by Locality, Sex and Age Groups in Years Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).
  23. Palestinian Population by Locality and Refugee Status Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).
  24. Projected Mid -Year Population for Hebron Governorate by Locality 2004- 2006 Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. Accessed on 2008-03-30

Bibliography
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