al-Burj, Hebron

al-Burj (Arabic: البرج‎) is a Palestinian village located twenty kilometers southwest of Hebron. The village is in the Hebron Governorate, southern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the village had a population of 2,578 in 2007.[2] The primary health care facilities for the village are designated by the Ministry of Health as level 2.[3]

For other uses, see Burj.

al-Burj
Municipality type D (Village council)
Arabic transcription(s)
 • Arabicالبرج
al-Burj
Location of al-Burj within Palestine
Coordinates: 31°25′57″N 34°55′24″E
Palestine grid141/094
StateState of Palestine
GovernorateHebron
Government
 • TypeVillage council
Population
 (2007)
 • Total2,578
Name meaningBurj el Beiyârah, the tower of the wells[1]

History

Ceramics from the Byzantine era have been found here.[4]

Ottoman era

In 1838, Edward Robinson noted el-Burj as a place "in ruins or deserted," part of the area between the mountains and Gaza, but subject to the government of el-Khulil.[5] Robinson further noted: "The ruins here consists of the remains of a square fortress, about two hundred feet on a side, situated directly upon the surface the projecting hill [..] On the eastern and southern sides a trench has been hewn out in the rock, which sees to have extended quite around the fortress. The walls are mostly broken down [..] the general appearance of the ruin is decidedly that of a Saracenic structure; and I am disposed to regard it as one of the line of strong Saracenic or Turkish fortresses, which appears once to have been drawn along the southern frontier of Palestine. Of these we had now listed four, viz. at Kurmul, Semua, Dhoheriyeh, and this at el-Burj".[6]

In 1863 Victor Guérin called the place Khirbet el-Bordj and noted a maqam, shaped like a tower and dedicated to a Sheikh Mahmoud. He also noted "several caves, some of which are used today as refuge for the shepherds, when they come to graze their herds on this mountain."[7]

In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Palestine described the place, which they called Burj el Beiyarah: "Remains of a fort 200 feet side, with a fosse on the east and south, hewn in rock. Foundations only remain of small masonry, with the joints packed with smaller stones. Round it are caves in the rocks."[8]

British Mandate era

At the time of the 1931 census of Palestine the population of al Burj was counted under Dura.[9]

Jordanian era

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

On 25 February 1953, five Arab shepherds were killed and mutilated by Israel in the so called The Har-Zion Affair at al-Burj, including a 16-year-old.[10]

In 1961, the population of Burj was 712.[11]

1967, aftermath

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

References
  1. Palmer, 1881, p. 367
  2. 2007 PCBS Census Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. p.118.
  3. West Bank Health care Archived 2006-03-13 at the Library of Congress Web Archives
  4. Dauphin, 1998, p. 966
  5. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 117
  6. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, p. 7
  7. Guérin, 1869, pp. 358-359: "A cinq heures quarante minutes, nous parvenons à un oualy consacré au Cheikh Mahmoud. Bâti avec des matériaux antiques, dont quelques-uns sont taillés en bossage, ce sanctuaire musulman affecte la forme d'une petite tour carrée. Non loin de là est un birket, long de vingt pas et large de douze. Il est en partie creusé dans le roc et en partie entouré d'un mur d'un mètre d'épaisseur, que revêt intérieurement un excellent ciment. Un escalier placé à l'un des angles permet d'y descendre. Ce réservoir, parfaitement conservvé, reçoit, pendant l'hiver, les eaux pluviales qui coulent le long des flancs rocheux de la montagne.
    En continuant mon ascension, j'arrive à un bordj ou citadelle, qui mesure soixante-quatre pas de long sur cinquante et un de large. Fondé sur le roc, à cent mètres au moins an-dessus de la vallée qu'il commande, il est construit avec de gros blocs assez régulièrement taillés. Dans l'intérieur de l'enceinte qu'il circonscrit il y a une seconde enceinte, beaucoup plus mal bâtie et évidemment plus moderne.
    Autour de ce bordj, actuellement abandonné, règne un fossé creusé dans le roc vif, et les parois rocheuses qui constituent la contrescarpe sont percées de plusieurs cavernes, dont quelques-unes servent aujourd'hui de refuge aux bergers, quand ils viennent faire paître leurs troupeaux sur cette montagne.
    Des silos pratiqués dans le roc ct un certain nombre d'habitations renversées avoisinent également cette citadelle, dont l'origine est probablement antique, mais qui a dû subir des remaniements, soit au temps des croisades, soit à une époque plus récente encore."
  8. Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 274
  9. Mills, 1932, p. 30
  10. Morris, 1993, pp. 384-386
  11. Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 22

Bibliography
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