Anabta
Encyclopedia
Anabta is a Palestinian
town in the Tulkarm Governorate
in the northern West Bank
, located 9 kilometers east of Tulkarm
. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
, Anabta had a population of 7,300 inhabitants in 2006. Anabta is administered by a municipal council and is one of the oldest municipalities in the Tulkarm Governorate
. The town has an urban area of about 1,300 dunam
s. Most of its exterior lands are planted with olives, figs and almonds or covered by forests. Water is provided by five underground wells, with distribution supervised by the town's municipality.
used as a refuge from the Romans by the Jews of Caesarea in 66 CE.
, Anabta was a Samaritan
village. The Samaritans claim to be descended from ancient Israelite
tribes. A tradition connects the village with Dositheos, a Samaritan religious leader possibly active during the 1st-century CE. 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.Some of olive trees still existing in Anabta are said to date back to the time of Roman Empire
.
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.
, 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 taxes on wheat, barley, summercrops, olives, goats or beehives, and presses for grapes or olives. In 1648, the Ottoman traveller Evliya Çelebi
reported that the village was inhabited by 100 Druze families. A portion of the Hejaz Railway used to run through the centre of the town, parallel to the main street.
. In 1954, under Jordanian occupation, it was promoted to a municipal council. Between 1922 and 1947, the population of Anabta increased by 110%.On the night of April 15, 1936, in a prelude to the 1936-1939 Arab revolt in Palestine, vehicles traveling on the road outside Anabta were attacked, killing two Jews and wounding a third. In June, a clash between local Arabs and British troops culminated in an aerial bombardment of the village.
, Anabta underwent major development and achieved local council
status. The village was connected to the Israeli electric grid.Anabta lies on the edge of the Tulkarm district's area A, an administrative division of the 1993 Oslo Accords
, which means the city is under full security and civil jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority.
, the south by the town of Kafr al-Labad
, the east by the village of Ramin
and the northwest by the town of Bal'a
. The city is elevated 150 meters above sea level. Surrounded by hills on all sides, a small valley that runs through the center of the town. The Israeli settlement
Einav
is located southeast of the city and an Israeli checkpoint is positioned at the eastern entrance of the town.
, Anabta had a population of 1606 Muslims. In the 1931 census of Palestine
, the combined population of Anabta, Iktaba
and Nur ash Shams
was 2,457 Muslims, 34 Christians and 1 Druze living in 502 houses. In 1945, the combined population of Anabta and Iktaba was 3,120. In 1967, the population was 3,400, rising to 5,700 by 1987 and 8,300 by 2009.
Residents of Anabta belong to two large clans, 'Amr and Al-Jetawi. These families are then divided into smaller families. Anabta also contains a significant population of Palestinians from Gaza
who are not classified among the families.
Anabta & Iktaba - Palestine Remembered Entry
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
town in the Tulkarm Governorate
Tulkarm Governorate
The Tulkarm Governorate is an administrative district and one of 16 Governorates of the Palestinian National Authority located in the northwestern West Bank. The governorate's land area is 268 square kilometers. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the governorate had a...
in the northern West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
, located 9 kilometers east of Tulkarm
Tulkarm
Tulkarem or Tulkarm is a Palestinian city in the northern Samarian mountain range in the Tulkarm Governorate in the extreme northwestern West Bank adjacent to the Netanya and Haifa districts to the west, the Nablus and Jenin Districts to the east...
. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics is the statistical organization under the umbrella of the Palestinian Cabinet of the Palestinian National Authority....
, Anabta had a population of 7,300 inhabitants in 2006. Anabta is administered by a municipal council and is one of the oldest municipalities in the Tulkarm Governorate
Tulkarm Governorate
The Tulkarm Governorate is an administrative district and one of 16 Governorates of the Palestinian National Authority located in the northwestern West Bank. The governorate's land area is 268 square kilometers. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the governorate had a...
. The town has an urban area of about 1,300 dunam
Dunam
A dunam or dönüm, dunum, donum, dynym, dulum was a non-SI unit of land area used in the Ottoman Empire and representing the amount of land that can be plowed in a day; its value varied from 900–2500 m²...
s. Most of its exterior lands are planted with olives, figs and almonds or covered by forests. Water is provided by five underground wells, with distribution supervised by the town's municipality.
Etymology
Anabta is a two-part word consisting of "Anab" (Arabic for grape) and "Ta," a word referencing a Roman village. The name as evidenced by the large number of grape presses hewn in the rocks of the hills surrounding the city. The name 'Anebta may also originate from Ain Narbata, Narbata being a place mentioned by JosephusJosephus
Titus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...
used as a refuge from the Romans by the Jews of Caesarea in 66 CE.
Roman and Byzantine era
During the periods of Roman and Byzantine rule over PalestinePalestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
, Anabta was a Samaritan
Samaritan
The Samaritans are an ethnoreligious group of the Levant. Religiously, they are the adherents to Samaritanism, an Abrahamic religion closely related to Judaism...
village. The Samaritans claim to be descended from ancient Israelite
Israelite
According to the Bible the Israelites were a Hebrew-speaking people of the Ancient Near East who inhabited the Land of Canaan during the monarchic period .The word "Israelite" derives from the Biblical Hebrew ישראל...
tribes. A tradition connects the village with Dositheos, a Samaritan religious leader possibly active during the 1st-century CE. The Samaritan chronicler Abu l-Fath
Abu l-Fath
Abu l-Fath, or Ibn Abi al-Hasan al-Samiri al-Danafi, was a fourteen century Samaritan chronicler, writing in Arabic. His major work is Kitab al-Ta'rikh.The work was commissioned in 1352 by Pinḥas, Samaritan high priest, and begun in 1356...
(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.Some of olive trees still existing in Anabta are said to date back to the time of Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
.
Mamluk era
During the reign of Mamluk SultanMamluk Sultanate (Cairo)
The Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt was the final independent Egyptian state prior to the establishment of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty in 1805. It lasted from the overthrow of the Ayyubid Dynasty until the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517. The sultanate's ruling caste was composed of Mamluks, Arabised...
Baibars al-Bunduqdari
Baibars
Baibars or Baybars , nicknamed Abu l-Futuh , was a Mamluk Sultan of Egypt. He was one of the commanders of the forces which inflicted a devastating defeat on the Seventh Crusade of King Louis IX of France and he led the vanguard of the Egyptian army at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, which marked...
in the 13th century, Anabta served as a central staging point from which to supply the Muslim armies fighting Crusader
Crusaders
The Crusaders are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Christchurch that competes in the Super Rugby competition. They are the most successful team in Super Rugby history with seven titles...
and Mongol
Mongols
Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...
incursions. The location was chosen because it was considered relatively easy to protect as the area is nestled between two large hills.
Ottoman era
During the rule of Ottoman EmpireOttoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, Anabta was listed in the 1596 Ottoman tax register as being in the Nahiya of Jabal Sami of the Liwa
Liwa (arabic)
Liwa or Liwa is an Arabic term meaning district, banner, or flag, a type of administrative division. It was interchangeable with the Turkish term "Sanjak" in the time of the Ottoman Empire. After the fall of the empire, the term was used in the Arab countries formerly under Ottoman rule...
of Nablus. It had a population of 55 Muslim households who paid taxes on wheat, barley, summercrops, olives, goats or beehives, and presses for grapes or olives. In 1648, the Ottoman traveller Evliya Çelebi
Evliya Çelebi
Evliya Çelebi was an Ottoman traveler who journeyed through the territory of the Ottoman Empire and neighboring lands over a period of forty years.- Life :...
reported that the village was inhabited by 100 Druze families. A portion of the Hejaz Railway used to run through the centre of the town, parallel to the main street.
British Mandate
The first local council in Anabta was established in 1923, during the British MandateBritish Mandate
British Mandate may refer to:*British Mandate for Palestine*British Mandate of Mesopotamia...
. In 1954, under Jordanian occupation, it was promoted to a municipal council. Between 1922 and 1947, the population of Anabta increased by 110%.On the night of April 15, 1936, in a prelude to the 1936-1939 Arab revolt in Palestine, vehicles traveling on the road outside Anabta were attacked, killing two Jews and wounding a third. In June, a clash between local Arabs and British troops culminated in an aerial bombardment of the village.
Israeli and PNA control
After the Six-Day WarSix-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
, Anabta underwent major development and achieved local council
Local council (Israel)
Local councils are one of the three types of local government found in Israel, with the other two being cities and regional councils. As of 2003, there were 144 local councils in Israel, these being settlements which pass a minimum threshold enough to justify their operations as independent...
status. The village was connected to the Israeli electric grid.Anabta lies on the edge of the Tulkarm district's area A, an administrative division of the 1993 Oslo Accords
Administrative divisions of the Oslo Accords
The Oslo Accords created three temporary distinct administrative divisions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip until a final status accord would be established...
, which means the city is under full security and civil jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority.
Geography
Anabta is located 19 kilometers west of Nablus and 9 kilometers east of Tulkarm. The town is bordered to the north by the village of Kafr RummanKafr Rumman
Kafr Rumman is a Palestinian town in the Tulkarm Governorate in the eastern West Bank, located 11 kilometers East of Tulkarm. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Kafr Rumman had a population of approximately 869 inhabitants in mid-year 2006....
, the south by the town of Kafr al-Labad
Kafr al-Labad
Kafr al-Labad is a Palestinian village in the Tulkarm Governorate in the northeastern West Bank, located 11 kilometers east of Tulkarm. Its population in 2006 was 3500....
, the east by the village of Ramin
Ramin
Gonystylus, also known as ramin, is a genus of about 30 species of hardwood trees native to southeast Asia, in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines, and Papua New Guinea, with the highest species diversity on Borneo...
and the northwest by the town of Bal'a
Bal'a
Bal'a is a Palestinian town in the Tulkarm Governorate, located approximately nine kilometers northeast of Tulkarm in the northern West Bank and three kilometers away from the highway connecting Tulkarm with Nablus....
. The city is elevated 150 meters above sea level. Surrounded by hills on all sides, a small valley that runs through the center of the town. The Israeli settlement
Israeli settlement
An Israeli settlement is a Jewish civilian community built on land that was captured by Israel from Jordan, Egypt, and Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and is considered occupied territory by the international community. Such settlements currently exist in the West Bank...
Einav
Einav
Einav is a communal village and an Israeli settlement in the northern West Bank. Located on Highway 57 between Avnei Hefetz and Shavei Shomron, the religious Zionist and Orthodox Jewish community is within the municipal jurisdiction of the Shomron Regional Council. Established in 1981 with the...
is located southeast of the city and an Israeli checkpoint is positioned at the eastern entrance of the town.
Demographics
In 1875 the population was estimated at 1,800. At the time of the 1922 census of Palestine1922 census of Palestine
The 1922 census of Palestine was the first census carried out by the authorities of the British Mandate of Palestine, on 23 October 1922.The reported population was 757,182, including the military and persons of foreign nationality...
, Anabta had a population of 1606 Muslims. In the 1931 census of Palestine
1931 census of Palestine
The 1931 census of Palestine was the second census carried out by the authorities of the British Mandate of Palestine. It was carried out on 18 November 1931 under the direction of Major E. Mills. The first census had been conducted in 1922...
, the combined population of Anabta, Iktaba
Iktaba
Iktaba is a Palestinian town located four kilometers Northeast of the city of Tulkarm in the Tulkarm Governorate in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics , the town had a population of approximately 2,000 inhabitants in mid-year 2006. Refugees make-up...
and Nur ash Shams
Nur Shams, Tulkarm
Nur Shams is a Palestinian refugee camp in the Tulkarm Governorate in the North Western West Bank, located 3 kilometers East of Tulkarm. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Nur Shams had a population of approximately 7,889 inhabitants in mid-year 2006. 95.1% of the...
was 2,457 Muslims, 34 Christians and 1 Druze living in 502 houses. In 1945, the combined population of Anabta and Iktaba was 3,120. In 1967, the population was 3,400, rising to 5,700 by 1987 and 8,300 by 2009.
Residents of Anabta belong to two large clans, 'Amr and Al-Jetawi. These families are then divided into smaller families. Anabta also contains a significant population of Palestinians from Gaza
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
who are not classified among the families.
Education
The town has two high schools and four elementary schools that are maintained and funded by the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Education.Health care
The St. John of Jerusalem eye hospital group operates a clinic in Anabta envisaged as a center for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy in the northern West Bank.External links
Anabta MunicipalityAnabta & Iktaba - Palestine Remembered Entry