Bayt Thul

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title: "Bayt Thul" 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/Bayt_Thul" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

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

FieldValue
nameBayt Thul
native_nameبيت ثول
native_name_langar
etymologyThe house of Tul (meaning length)
pushpin_mapMandatory Palestine
pushpin_mapsize200
coordinates
grid_namePalestine grid
grid_position157/136
subdivision_typeGeopolitical entity
subdivision_nameMandatory Palestine
subdivision_type1Subdistrict
subdivision_name1Jerusalem
established_title1Date of depopulation
established_date1Not knownApril 1, 1948
established_title2Repopulated dates
area_footnotes
unit_prefdunam
area_total_dunam4,629
population_as_of1945
population_total260
blank_name_sec1Cause(s) of depopulation
blank3_name_sec1Current Localities
blank3_info_sec1Nataf, Neve Ilan
::

| name = Bayt Thul | native_name = بيت ثول | native_name_lang = ar | settlement_type = | etymology = The house of Tul (meaning length) | pushpin_map = Mandatory Palestine | pushpin_map_caption = Location within Mandatory Palestine | image_map = | map_caption = A series of historical maps of the area around Bayt Thul (click the buttons) | pushpin_mapsize = 200 | coordinates = | grid_name = Palestine grid | grid_position = 157/136 | subdivision_type = Geopolitical entity | subdivision_name = Mandatory Palestine | subdivision_type1 = Subdistrict | subdivision_name1 = Jerusalem | established_title1 = Date of depopulation | established_date1 = Not knownApril 1, 1948 | established_title2 = Repopulated dates | area_footnotes = | unit_pref = dunam | area_total_dunam = 4,629 | population_as_of = 1945 | population_total = 260 | blank_name_sec1 = Cause(s) of depopulation | blank3_name_sec1 = Current Localities | blank3_info_sec1 = Nataf, Neve Ilan

Bayt Thul was a Palestinian village in the Jerusalem Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on April 1, 1948, under Operation Nachshon. It was located 15.5 km west of Jerusalem.

Name

In 1874, Clermont-Ganneau noted the similarity between the name "Beit Thul" and the Bethulia mentioned in the Book of Judith. He added that according to local fellahin, the town was previously recognized by Christians as Qal'at Fertin, signifying "the fortress of Fertin". It was named after a Christian or pagan king who once ruled the area and held dominion over the entire vicinity before meeting his demise in a catastrophic "deluge" emanating from the Tannur of Abu Shusheh, submerging the entire region.

History

Ottoman era

Bayt Thul, like the rest of Palestine, was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517, and in the census of 1538–1539, Bayt Tul was noted in the Nahiya of Quds of the Liwa of Quds. In the 1596 census, the village had a population was 7 households, all Muslim. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 33,3% on various agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, olive trees, in addition to "occasional revenues"; a total of 1,860 akçe.

In 1838, it was noted as a Muslim village in the district of Beni Malik, west of Jerusalem.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Beit_Thul.png" caption="Clermont-Ganneau]] noted in Beit Thul in the 1870s"] ::

In the early 1870s Clermont-Ganneau found the village inhabited, and a "hearty welcome was accorded to us." He further noted that the "village contains two welys, one the sanctuary of Sheikh Injeim, the other that of Bedriyeh. In front of the wely of Bedriyeh, I noticed the remains of a small aqueduct of masonry and two large shafts of ancient columns." According to local tradition, Bedriyeh was the sister of Sheikh Injeim.

He found remains there which led him to conclude that an important Christian building of the Byzantine period once existed there.

In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine noted "Foundations and a Mukam."

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, there were 133 villagers, all Muslims, increasing in the 1931 census to 182 inhabitants, in 43 inhabited houses.

In the 1945 statistics, the village had a population of 260 Muslims, while 13 dunams were built-up, urban, land.

File:Yalu 1943.jpg|Bayt Thul 1943 1:20,000 (right of centre) File:Yalu 1945.jpg|Bayt Thul 1945 1:250,000

1948, aftermath

In late October, 1948, the Beit Horon Battalion started the destruction of Bayt Thul.

File:BaytThulDec162022 03.jpg|Bayt Thul remains on the Western hill File:BaytThulDec162022 01.jpg|Bayt Thul remains on the Eastern hill

When the writers of an oral Palestinian history collection returned with a villager to Bayt Thul, they recorded how she, Umm 'Ali, began to collect herbs and plants. “She continued picking the leaves until what she had clutched to her chest sprouted from her like a large bush. That was Umm 'Ali, or maybe thats what we remember: A tree of wild herbs and greens moving with amazing grace over the stones of the destroyed villages, assuring, comforting, and reminding us of our descendants who are awaiting us.“

References

Bibliography

References

  1. Palmer, 1881, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp00conduoft#page/287/mode/1up 287]
  2. Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PR20 xx], village #358. Gives both cause and date of depopulation as "Not known"
  3. [https://www.palestineremembered.com/Jerusalem/Bayt-Thul/index.html Palestine Remembered - Bayt Thul]
  4. Department of Statistics, 1945, p. [http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VSpages/VS1945_p24.jpg 24]
  5. 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-056.jpg 56]
  6. Khalidi, 1992, p. 280
  7. Close by, but on land traditionally belonging to [[Abu Ghosh]], according to Khalidi, 1992, p. 290
  8. Clermont-Ganneau, 1896, vol 2, pp. [[iarchive:archaeologicalre02cler/archaeologicalre02cler_bw.pdf. 64]]-[[iarchive:archaeologicalre02cler/archaeologicalre02cler_bw.pdf. 66]]
  9. Toledano, 1984, p. 291, has ''Bayt Tul'' at location 31°49′20″N. 35°04′10″E
  10. Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 113
  11. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/123/mode/1up 123]
  12. Clermont-Ganneau, 1896, vol. 2, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/archaeologicalre02cler#page/65/mode/1up 65]-67
  13. Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp03conduoft#page/86/mode/1up 86]
  14. Barron, 1923, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n17/mode/1up 15]
  15. Mills, 1932, p. [https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas 38]
  16. with a total of 4,629 [[dunam
  17. 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-152.jpg 152]
  18. Morris, 2004, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA234 234] [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA400 400], note #85
  19. Diab and Fahoum, 1990, p. 23; cited in Davis, 2011, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=wlKjZwMwz0wC&pg=PA173 173]

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