Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Chesdovi (talk | contribs) at 15:42, 14 June 2011 (→History). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Template:Infobox Palestinian Authority muni Anabta (Template:Lang-ar) 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. The town has an urban area of about 1,300 dunams. 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 Josephus used as a refuge for the Jews of Caesarea from the Romans in 66 CE.

History

During the Roman and Byzantine period, Anabta was Samaritan village in western Samaria. 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. During the reign of Sultan Baibars al-Bunduqdari in the 13th century, Anabta was used as a center point to supply the Muslim armies warring against the Crusaders and the Mongols. The location was chosen because it was considered relatively easy to protest as the area is nestled between two large hills.

In 1596, Anabta appeared in Ottoman tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Jabal Sami of the Liwa of Nablus. It had a population of 55 Muslim households and paid taxes on wheat, barley, summercrops, olives, goats or beehives, and press for grapes or olives.

In 1648, Ottoman traveller Evliya Çelebi found the village inhabited by 100 Druze families.

Anabta is administered by a municipal council and is one of the oldest municipalities in the Tulkarm Governorate. The first local council was established in 1923 and was promoted to a municipal council in 1954. In 1936, two Jewish drivers were shot and killed on the Nablus-Tulkarm road in an area just west of Anabta. This event is largely credited to being the first event in the largely unsuccessful 1936-1939 Arab revolt in Palestine. A now removed portion of the Hejaz Railway ran through the middle of the town parallel to the main street.

Geography

Anabta is located 19 kilomeeters west of Nablus and 9 kilometers east of Tulkarm. The town is bordered to the north by the village of Kafr Rumman, 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.

Anabta is surrounded by hills on all sides with a small valley that runs through the center of the town.

Effects of occupation

Anabta rests on the edge of area A of the Tulkarm area, which means the city is under full security and civil jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority. The Israeli settlement Einav is situated to the southeast of the city and an Israeli checkpoint is positioned on the eastern entrance of the town which effectively controls the resident's access to the rest of the northern West Bank.

Demographics

In 1875 the population numbered 1,800. The number of inhabitants in Anabta in 1922 was about 1,606 people — which rose to about 3,120 people in 1945, while the number of inhabitants in 1967 after its occupation by Israel was about 3,400. By 1987, there were 5,700 residents in Anabta. In 2009, there were 8,300 residents in Anabta.

Residents of Anabta are typically divided among two large umbrella families, 'Amr and Al-Jetawi. These families are then divided twice into smaller families. Anabta also contains a significant population of Palestinians from Gaza 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.

Notable residents

Rami Hamdallah - President of An-Najah National University

External links

Anabta Munciaplity
Anabta & Iktaba - Palestine Remembered Entry

References

1. Projected Mid -Year Population for Tulkarm Governorate by Locality 2004- 2006 Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
2. ^ The city of Tulkarem and its villages Palestine Information Centre.
3. Anabta Anabta Muncipality entry titled "عنبتا" (Arabic)
4. Gustaf Dalman; Paul Philip Levertoff (1935). Sacred sites and ways: studies in the topography of the Gospels. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. p. 224. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
5. Yoram Tsafrir; Leah Di Segni; Judith Green (1994). Tabula Imperii Romani Iudaea-Palestina: Eretz Israel in the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine Periods; Maps and Gazetteer. The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. p. 62. ISBN 9789652081070. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
6. Yoram Tsafrir, Leah Di Segni and Judith Green (1994). Tabula Imperii Romani: Judaea, Palaestina. Jerusalem: Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. p. 62.
7. Adam Zertal (2000). Culture and history of the ancient Near East. BRILL. p. 370. ISBN 9789004137561. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
8. Alan David Crown (1989). The Samaritans. Mohr Siebeck. p. 320. ISBN 9783161452376. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
9. ^ Anabta Anabta Muncipality entry titled "عنبتا" (Arabic)
10. Wolf-Dieter Hütteroth and Kamal Abdulfattah (1977). Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century. Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. p. 127.
11. Palestine. Department of Antiquities (1935). Quarterly of the Department of Antiquities in Palestine. Pub. for the government of Palestine by H. Milford. p. 154. Retrieved 14 June 2011. Farther south lies the village of 'Anebta, situated in a valley and inhabited Ia by one hundred Druze families
12. Anabta Anabta Muncipality entry titled "عنبتا" (Arabic)
13. 'Nablus Banidits Seen as Izz ed Din's followers', Palestine Post, Friday, 17 April 1936.
14. Anabta Anabta Muncipality entry titled "عنبتا" (Arabic)
15. Tulkarem: town listing in a snapshot Palestine Remembered
16. Anabta Anabta Muncipality entry titled "عنبتا" (Arabic)
17. Map of the Separation Barrier in the West Bank B'Tselem
18. M. V. Guérin (1875). Description géographique, historique et archéologique de la Palestine. Vol. Samarie II. Paris. p. 213. A cinq kilomètres au nord-oest du Kharbet Kefr Lebed, un grand village, occupant à la fois un vallon et un monticule , compte 1,800 habitants; il se nomme A'nebta, Plusieurs citernes et quelques tombeaux antiques creusés dans le roc attestent qu'il a succédé à une ancienne ville, dont la Bible ne parle pas.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
19. Anabta Family Tree
20. Anabta Anabta Muncipality entry titled "عنبتا" (Arabic)

v t e Tulkarm Governorate
Cities	Tulkarm (Includes neighborhoods: Dhinnaba • Irtah • Shweikhah)
Municipalities	Anabta (Kafr Rumman) Attil Bal'a Baqa ash-Sharqiyya (Nazlat Abu Nar • an-Nazla al-Gharbiya • an-Nazla ash-Sharqiya • an-Nazla al-Wusta) Beit Lid Deir al-Ghusun 'Illar Kafr al-Labad Qaffin Zeita
Villages	Far'un Iktaba Izbat Shufa Al Jarushiya Kafr Abbush Kafr Jammal Kafr Sur Kafr Zibad Kur Nazlat 'Isa Ramin al-Ras Saffarin Seida Shufa
Refugee camps	Nur Shams Tulkarm camp

• Tulkarm Governorate
• Towns in the West Bank