Al-Qabu

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title: "Al-Qabu" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["arab-villages-depopulated-during-the-1948-arab–israeli-war", "district-of-jerusalem"] topic_path: "geography/israel" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Qabu" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

FieldValue
nameal-Qabu
native_nameالقبو
native_name_langar
other_nameQabu, Kabu
image_skylineEinKoby01.jpg
imagesize230
image_captionThe mosque for Shaykh Ahmad al-Umari
etymology"the vault, or cellar"
pushpin_mapMandatory Palestine
pushpin_mapsize200
coordinates
grid_namePalestine grid
grid_position161/126
subdivision_typeGeopolitical entity
subdivision_nameMandatory Palestine
subdivision_type1Subdistrict
subdivision_name1Jerusalem
established_title1Date of depopulation
established_date122–23 October 1948
established_title2Repopulated dates
area_footnotes
unit_prefdunam
area_total_dunam3,806
population_as_of1945
population_total260
blank_name_sec1Cause(s) of depopulation
blank_info_sec1Military assault by Yishuv forces
blank3_name_sec1Current Localities
blank3_info_sec1Mevo Beitar
::

::callout[type=note] the depopulated Palestinian Arab village ::

| name = al-Qabu | native_name = القبو | native_name_lang = ar | other_name = Qabu, Kabu | settlement_type = | image_skyline = EinKoby01.jpg | imagesize = 230 | image_caption = The mosque for Shaykh Ahmad al-Umari | etymology = "the vault, or cellar" | pushpin_map = Mandatory Palestine | pushpin_map_caption = Location within Mandatory Palestine | image_map = | map_caption = A series of historical maps of the area around Al-Qabu (click the buttons) | pushpin_mapsize = 200 | coordinates = | grid_name = Palestine grid | grid_position = 161/126 | subdivision_type = Geopolitical entity | subdivision_name = Mandatory Palestine | subdivision_type1 = Subdistrict | subdivision_name1 = Jerusalem | established_title1 = Date of depopulation | established_date1 = 22–23 October 1948 | established_title2 = Repopulated dates | area_footnotes = | unit_pref = dunam | area_total_dunam = 3,806 | population_as_of = 1945 | population_total = 260 | blank_name_sec1 = Cause(s) of depopulation | blank_info_sec1 = Military assault by Yishuv forces | blank3_name_sec1 = Current Localities | blank3_info_sec1 = Mevo Beitar

Al-Qabu (, "the vault, or cellar") was a Palestinian Arab village in the Jerusalem Subdistrict. The name is an Arabic variation of the site's original Roman name, and the ruins of a church there are thought to date to the era of Byzantine or Crusader rule over Palestine.

Al-Qabu was depopulated on 22–23 October 1948, following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Following Israel's establishment, homes in the village were blown up by Israeli troops in May 1949 and in 1950, the moshav of Mevo Beitar was founded on the village lands.

Location

Situated on a hilltop that sloped downward steeply on three sides, to the south lay a secondary road that linked al-Qabu to the highway between Bayt Jibrin and Jerusalem which lay at a distance of about 1.5 km.

History

During the period of Roman rule over Palestine, the place was known as Qobi or Qobia. The village had a spring, and was located at the tenth milestone on the road constructed between Bayt Jibrin and Jerusalem under emperor Hadrian. The Arabic name of the Palestinian village, al-Qabu, was a modification of the ancient name.

A ruined church by the village was visited by a team from the Survey of Western Palestine in 1873, and they determined that it appeared to date to the period of the Crusades, while other researchers, such as Reverend Dom M. Gisler, OSB in 1939, have determined that it dates to the Byzantine era. A 2001 excavation conducted on behalf of the Israeli Antiquities Authority concluded that the church was constructed in two phases, the first during the Byzantine period and the second during the Crusader period, from which some wall paintings have survived.

Ottoman era

In 1838, in the Ottoman era, it was noted as a Muslim village in the district of al-Arqub; southwest of Jerusalem. Edward Robinson further noted that the village was located "among steep rocky mountains".

In 1856 the village was named el Kabu on Kiepert's map of Palestine published that year. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/JerusalemFarWest1870s.jpg" caption="The Qabu-area in the 1870s"] ::

In 1863 Victor Guérin described the village, "perched like an eagle's nest", and surrounded by gardens. An Ottoman village list from about 1870 found that al-Qabu had a population of 28, in 18 houses, though the population count included men, only.

In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described the village as being of moderate size, situated on a high hill, with houses built of stone. Other features mentioned were the presence of a ruined church on the hillside, southwest of the village, and two springs in the valley to the west.

The village was laid out in a rectangular plan, extending in a north–south direction along the secondary road. The houses in the village were built primarily of stone. A few small shops in the village were located around its main square. Al-Qabu also had a shrine dedicated to one Shaykh Amad al-'Umari that stood southeast of the village site.

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, al-Qabu had a population 139, all Muslims, increasing in the 1931 census to 192, still all Muslim; in a total of 31 houses.

Several springs around the village, including Ayn Tuz and Ayn al-Bayada, provided water for its residents.

In the 1945 statistics, al-Qabu had a population of 260, all Muslims, while 12 dunams were classified as built-up areas.

1948 and the aftermath

The village apparently changed hands several times in the 1948-1949 period, Notwithstanding these orders, the Israeli UN liaison officers were at pains to describe to the UN observers that the military clashes were the result of Arab incursions and attacks. In reality, Israeli troops were given direct orders to take al-Qabu, Khirbet Sanasin, al Jab'a, and Khirbet al-Hamam, even if it meant battling Jordanian troops.

Over the course of their operations, Israeli troops from the Fourth Brigade took several hilltops, and went on to clear the area of Arabs. The force, which was armed with machine-guns and mortars, were ordered to "hit every [adult male] Arab spotted in the area [but] not to harm women and children".

After signing the 1949 Armistice Agreements with Jordan on 3 April, a question arose about the villagers of al-Qabu and al-Walaja, whose inhabitants had gradually returned. These two villages were in Israeli territory under the Armistice Agreement, and Israel wanted them empty. On 1 May 1949, Israeli troops raided the villagers and blew up the houses. IDF reports that the villagers fled.

In 1950, the moshav of Mevo Beitar was established on land that had belonged to al-Qabu. According to Petersen, remains of the Palestinian village at the site include the church, a mosque, and a shrine for Shaykh Ahmad al-Umari. The mosque is a square structure, with a courtyard, and it appears to be built of stones removed from the old church.

References

Bibliography

  • Cited in Petersen, 2001

References

  1. Palmer, 1881, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp00conduoft#page/297/mode/1up 297]
  2. Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PR20 xx], village #348. Also gives cause of depopulation.
  3. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. [http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VSpages/VS1945_p25.jpg 25]
  4. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/Jerusalem/Page-058.jpg 58] {{Webarchive. link. (2018-11-03)
  5. Khalidi, 1992, pp. 307-308.
  6. Khalidi, 1992, p. 307
  7. It is mentioned in the [[Copper Scroll]] and the [[Talmud. Babylonian Talmud]].Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 95A; Copper Scroll 269:33
  8. Avi-Yonah, Michael. (1976). "Gazetteer of Roman Palestine". Qedem.
  9. Tsafrir, Di Segni and Green, 1994, p. 209. Cited in Petersen, 2001, p. [https://www.academia.edu/21620056/Gazetteer_5_K-R 248] {{Webarchive. link. (2016-10-10)
  10. Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp03conduoft#page/100/mode/1up 100]. Also cited in Pringle, 1998, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=2Y0tA0xLzwEC&pg=PA157 157]
  11. Pringle, 1998, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=2Y0tA0xLzwEC&pg=PA156 156]
  12. Pringle, 1998, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=2Y0tA0xLzwEC&pg=PA157 157]
  13. (2008). "עין קובי: דוח סופי". Hadashot Arkheologiyot: Excavations and Surveys in Israel / חדשות ארכיאולוגיות: חפירות וסקרים בישראל.
  14. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/124/mode/1up 124]
  15. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 2, p. [https://archive.org/details/biblicalresearc00smitgoog/page/n348/mode/1up 326]
  16. Kiepert, 1856, [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:KiepertSouthernPalestine1856.jpg Map of Southern Palestine]
  17. Guérin, 1869, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongog02gu#page/384/mode/1up 384]-385
  18. Socin, 1879, p. [https://archive.org/stream/zeitschriftdesde01deut#page/155/mode/1up 155]
  19. Hartmann, 1883, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/bub_gb_BZobAQAAIAAJ#page/n952/mode/1up 144]-145
  20. Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p.[https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp03conduoft#page/25/mode/1up 25]. Also cited in Khalidi, 1992, p. 307
  21. Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Jerusalem, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n16/mode/1up 14]
  22. Mills, 1932, p. [https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas 42]
  23. The Ain al-Sharqiya, meaning "the eastern spring", also lay close by.Palmer, 1881, [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp00conduoft#page/282/mode/1up p.282]
  24. link. (2016-03-03)
  25. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20III/Jerusalem/Page-153.jpg 153] {{Webarchive. link. (2016-03-03)
  26. Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA519 519]-520, note105
  27. Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA520 520], note 106
  28. Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA520 520], note 109
  29. Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA520 520], note 111
  30. Khalidi, 1992, p. 308
  31. link. (2016-10-10)

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arab-villages-depopulated-during-the-1948-arab–israeli-wardistrict-of-jerusalem