Kharbatha al-Misbah

Kharbatha al-Misbah
Other transcription(s)
 • Arabic خربثا المصباح
 • Also spelled Kharbatha al-Misbah (official)
Khirbet al-Misbah, Khurbetha ibn es Seba (unofficial)

Kharbatha al-Misbah, east entrance
Kharbatha al-Misbah

Location of Kharbatha al-Misbah within the Palestinian territories

Coordinates: 31°53′5″N 35°04′18″E / 31.88472°N 35.07167°E / 31.88472; 35.07167Coordinates: 31°53′5″N 35°04′18″E / 31.88472°N 35.07167°E / 31.88472; 35.07167
Palestine grid 156/143
Governorate Ramallah & al-Bireh
Government
 • Type Village council
 • Head of Municipality Sa'di Jabir Ibrahim Daraj[1]
Area
 • Jurisdiction 4,431 dunams (4.4 km2 or 1.7 sq mi)
Population (2007)
 • Jurisdiction 5,211
Name meaning "The Ruins of the son of the wild beast, or "of seven""[2]

Kharbatha al-Misbah (Arabic: خربثا المصباح‎‎, translit: "ruins of the lamp") is a Palestinian town in the central West Bank, located 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) west of Ramallah in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 5,211 in 2007.[3] Nearby towns and villages include Beit Liqya to the south and Beit Ur at-Tahta to east. It has a total land area of 4,431 dunams, of which 644 are built-up areas and the remainder agricultural lands and forests.[4]

History

In 1863 Victor Guérin found the village to have 400 inhabitants. He further noted five or six cisterns, and ancient tombs. Guérin though that this was an ancient place.[5]

In 1882, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described the village, then called Khurbetha ibn es Seba, as "a small village on a ridge, with a well to the east."[6]

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Kherbet al-Mesbah had a population of 369, all Muslim.[7] In the 1931 census it had increased to a population of 488, still all Muslim, in 121 inhabited houses.[8]

In 1945, the population of Khirbat el Misbah was 600, all Muslims,[9] who owned 4,438 dunams of land according to an official land and population survey.[10] 1,026 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 2,133 used for cereals,[11] while 25 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[12]

There are two mosques in the town: Omri Mosque and al-Kawthar Mosque. The former was built atop the ruins of an ancient church and was renovated in 1965. Within the town, still lay Ancient Roman cemeteries. It has been governed by a village council.[13]

1948-1967

In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Kharbatha al-Misbah came under Jordanian rule.

1967-present

After the Six-Day War in 1967, Kharbatha al-Misbah has been under Israeli occupation.

See also

References

  1. ↑ West Bank Local Elections ( Round two)- Successful candidates by local authority, gender and No. of votes obtained, Kharbatha Misbah p 22
  2. ↑ Palmer, 1881, p. 313
  3. ↑ 2007 PCBS Census. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. p.113.
  4. ↑ New Colonial Road to be constructed on lands of western Ramallah Villages Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem. 16 January 2006.
  5. ↑ Guérin, 1875, p. 347
  6. ↑ Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 15
  7. ↑ Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Ramallah, p. 17
  8. ↑ Mills, 1932, p. 50
  9. ↑ Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 26
  10. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 65
  11. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 112
  12. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 162
  13. ↑ History of the Village Palestine Remembered.

Bibliography

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