Khirbat al-'Umur

Khirbat al-'Umur was a Palestinian Arab village in the Jerusalem Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the 1948 Palestine war by the Har'el Brigade during Operation ha-Har. It was located 12 km west of Jerusalem on the Wadi al-Ghadir.

Khirbat al-'Umur

خربة العمور

chirbet el-'amur
Etymology: from Amorite[1]
1870s map
1940s map
modern map
1940s with modern overlay map
A series of historical maps of the area around Khirbat al-'Umur (click the buttons)
Khirbat al-'Umur
Location within Mandatory Palestine
Coordinates: 31°47′37″N 35°05′56″E
Palestine grid159/133
Geopolitical entityMandatory Palestine
SubdistrictJerusalem
Date of depopulationOctober 21, 1948[2]
Area
 • Total4,163 dunams (4.163 km2 or 1.607 sq mi)
Population
 (1945)
 • Total270[3][4]
Cause(s) of depopulationMilitary assault by Yishuv forces
Current LocalitiesGiv'at Ye'arim[5]

History

An Ottoman village list from about 1870 showed that chirbet el-'amur had a population of 69, with a total of 13 houses, though the population count included men, only. It also noted that it was located in the District of Beni Malik, south of Abu Ghosh, and east of Saris.[6][7]

In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described El Ammur as "A small hamlet on the slope above a deep valley. There is a fine perennial spring below on the south ('Ain Mahtush). There are olives beneath the village."[8]

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Kherbet al-'Amur had a population of 137 Muslims,[9] increasing in the 1931 census to 187 Muslims, in 45 houses.[10]

In the 1945 statistics, the village had a population of 270 Muslims,[3] while the total land area was 4,163 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.[4] Of this, 497 dunams were used for plantations and irrigable land, 1,279 for cereals,[11] while 10 dunams were classified as built-up areas.[12]

  • Khirbat al-'Umur 1943 1:20,000 (left)
  • Khirbat al-'Umur 1945 1:250,000

1948, aftermath

Khirbat al-'Umur became depopulated on October 21, 1948, after military assault by Yishuv forces.[2]

In 1950, Giv'at Ye'arim was founded on village land.[5]

In 1992, the village site was described: "Stone rubble and window and door frames, partly hidden by wild grass, are scattered across the village site. Many stone terraces are visible. Cactuses grow on the east and north sides of the village site, and almond, olive, fig, and cypress trees grow on the village site itself. The village cemetery, to the south, is covered with dirt and grass but many graves are visible; tombstones stand at the head and foot of each one. The spring of 'Ayn al-'Umur and the stone structure around it can still be seen."[5]

References
  1. Palmer, 1881, pp. 283, 268
  2. Morris, 2004, p. xx, village #350. Also gives cause of depopulation, with a "(?)"
  3. Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 25
  4. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 57
  5. Khalidi, 1992, p. 321
  6. Socin, 1879, p. 150
  7. Hartmann, 1883, p. 118 also noted 13 houses
  8. Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 16
  9. Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Jerusalem, p. 14
  10. Mills, 1932, p. 44
  11. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 103
  12. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 153

Bibliography
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