Al-Damun

Al-Damun
Al-Damun
Al-Damun is located in Mandatory Palestine
{{{alt}}}
Al-Damun
Arabic الدامون
Also Spelled Damun[1]
District Acre
Coordinates 32°52′37″N 35°10′59″E / 32.87694°N 35.18306°E / 32.87694; 35.18306Coordinates: 32°52′37″N 35°10′59″E / 32.87694°N 35.18306°E / 32.87694; 35.18306
Population 1,310[2] (1945)
Area 20,357 dunums

20.4 km²

Date of depopulation 15-16 July 1948[3]
Cause(s) of depopulation Military assault by Yishuv forces
Current localities Yas'ur

Al-Damun (Arabic: الدامون‎, Dâmûn) was a Palestinian Arab village located 11.5 kilometres (7.1 mi) from the city of Acre that was depopulated during 1948 Arab-Israeli war. In 1945, the village had 1,310 inhabitants, most of whom were Muslim, while the remainder were Christians. The village bordered the al-Na'amin River, which it used as a source of irrigation and drinking water from installed wells.[4]

Contents

History

Excavations at the site has shown pot sherds dating from the Late Bronze Age, up to and including Early Islamic, Crusader, Mamluk and Ottoman times. [5]

Islamic rule and Dhul-Kifl tomb

Al-Damun is mentioned in early Arab and Persian sources since the 11th century CE. Local tradition identified the village as containing the tomb of the prophet Dhul-Kifl, who is mentioned in the Qur'an twice. Despite, Islamic tradition claiming the tomb to be in Al Kifl near Najaf or Kifl Hares near Nablus, in 1047, Nasir Khusraw discovered it to be al-Damun. He writes "I reached a small cave, which is in Damun where I performed the ziyarat too, for it is said to be the tomb of Dhul-Kifl, peace be upon him."[6][7]

Al-Damun was captured by the Crusaders, who referred to it as "Damar" during their invasion of Levant in 1099,[4] and remained in their hands unlike most of Palestine which was conquered by the Ayyubids under Saladin in 1187. It is mentioned as part of the Crusaders' domain in the ceasefire between the Crusaders based in Acre and the Mamluks under Qalawun in 1283.[6]

By the 17th century, al-Damun, now in Ottoman hands, became an established village, and until the late eighteenth century ruled by the Bedouin Zaydani family, which rose to prominence in the Galilee through the campaigns of Dhaher al-Omar.[6] They traced their lineage to the al-Zaydaniyya tribe who had emigrated to Palestine from the Hejaz.[4] The village mosque was built by a resident of al-Damun, Ali bin Salih who was also al-Omar's uncle, in 1722-23. Inscriptions on the mosque entailed the genealogy of the Zaydani family and included a poem dedicated bin Salih. In 1875, al-Damun was prosperous and had roughly 800, mostly Muslim inhabitants and two mosques. In addition to the possible tomb of Dhul-Kifl, there was a shrine dedicated to Sheikh Abdallah on an adjacent hill. An elementary school for boys was founded by the Ottomans in 1886.[6][8][9]

At the beginning of the 20th century, al-Damun's houses were clustered along one road and starting in 1935, the residents started to build them with reinforced concrete. The population consisted of 1,240 Muslims and 70 Christians. The inhabitants drew their drinking water from nearby springs and irrigated some of their crops from the Na'amin River. They also engaged in allied activities, particularly plaiting mats and baskets from esparto grass. The chief crops of al-Damun were wheat, sorghum, barley, and olives, but it was also well-known for its watermelons and cantaloupes.[4]

1948 War

In April 1948, Haganah reports say that the son of the main local land-owner, Sadiq Karaman, paid the local ALA garrison P£ 5000 to leave, presumably in an attempt to keep the village from getting involved with the hostilities in the 1948 Palestine war.[10]

After the initial Israeli successes in the central Galilee during the first stage of Operation Dekel, units of the Haganah's Sheva Brigade moved westward and captured al-Damun, among other Arab localities, in the second stage of the operation on July 15-16, 1948. However, Palestinian historian, Aref al-Aref, dates its capture earlier in May 1948, following the fall of Acre. Israeli historian, Benny Morris, reports that inhabitants were demoralized by the fall of Acre and then Nazareth, and so fled during the bombardment that preceded the attack on the village. The remaining residents were expelled and al-Damun itself was completely destroyed according to both historians.[4]

According to Walid Khalidi, in 1992, the site was "overgrown with thorns, cacti, olive trees, and pines. Stone and concrete rubble is scattered around it. The structure that formerly protected the central water source and regulated its flow stands untended and is collapsing in several places. The cemetery is extant, although the markers over a few graves are collapsing."[4]

Petersen writes that the village had a number of eighteenth or nineteenth-century stone houses, some which had decorated facades.[11]

See also

  • List of Arab towns and villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War

References

  1. ^ Palmer, 1881, p. 108
  2. ^ Hadawi, 1970, p.40
  3. ^ Morris, 2004, p. xvii, village #90. Also gives cause of depopulation.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Khalidi, 1992, p.11.
  5. ^ Ronen, 1966. Cited in Stern, 2010, Ed-Damun Final Report
  6. ^ a b c d Sharon, 2004, pp.7-9,
  7. ^ Also in le Strange, 1890, p.435 & p.436
  8. ^ Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP, I, p.270
  9. ^ Guérin, 1880, pp.424-425
  10. ^ 15. April, note in the Haganah Archive, cited in Morris, 2004, p. 97, 146
  11. ^ Petersen, 2001, p. 131

Bibliography

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Jean Damun — Présentation Nationalité  Royaume de France Mouvement(s) style Louis XV Activité(s) …   Wikipédia en Français

  • damum — damun m. les dames en général, plutôt en mauvaise part …   Diccionari Personau e Evolutiu

  • Mount Carmel forest fire (2010) — Not to be confused with Mount Carmel forest fire (1989). Mount Carmel forest fire The fire in its early stages (looking west) Location Mount Carmel, Israel …   Wikipedia

  • District of Haifa — This article is about a British Mandate District in northern Palestine. For the current Israeli district, see Haifa District. The District of Haifa was an administrative district of the British Mandate of Palestine that covered the northern… …   Wikipedia

  • Ficus — Taxobox name = Ficus image width = 240px image caption = Sycamore Fig, Ficus sycomorus regnum = Plantae divisio = Magnoliophyta classis = Magnoliopsida subclassis = Rosidae unranked ordo = Eurosids I ordo = Rosales familia = Moraceae genus =… …   Wikipedia

  • List of villages depopulated during the Arab–Israeli conflict — Below is a list of villages depopulated and/or destroyed during the Arab Israeli conflict, many of them during the 1948 Arab Israeli War (also known as Nakba amongst the Palestinians). =1921 Jaffa riots= * Jewish population left Jaffa1929… …   Wikipedia

  • Danna — For the island in Scotland, see Danna, Scotland. Danna …   Wikipedia

  • Amka — Hebrew עַמְקָה Founded 1949 …   Wikipedia

  • Mi'ar — Mi ar …   Wikipedia

  • Al-Dawayima — al Dawayima …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”