Saris, Jerusalem

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

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

FieldValue
nameSaris
native_nameساريس
native_name_langar
image_skylineSeritz - Zuallart Jean - 1587.jpg
image_captionLandscape near Saris, on a 1587 print by Jean Zuallart
etymologySaris, personal name
pushpin_mapMandatory Palestine
pushpin_map_captionLocation within Mandatory Palestine
image_map
map_captionA series of historical maps of the area around Saris, Jerusalem (click the buttons)
pushpin_mapsize200
coordinates
grid_namePalestine grid
grid_position157/133
subdivision_typeGeopolitical entity
subdivision_nameMandatory Palestine
subdivision_type1Subdistrict
subdivision_name1Jerusalem
established_title1Date of depopulation
established_date116–17 April 1948
established_title2Repopulated dates
area_footnotes
unit_prefdunam
area_total_dunam10,699
population_as_of1945
population_total560
blank_name_sec1Cause(s) of depopulation
blank_info_sec1Military assault by Yishuv forces
blank3_name_sec1Current Localities
blank3_info_sec1Shoresh, Sho'eva, Neve Ilan
::

| name = Saris | native_name = ساريس | native_name_lang = ar | settlement_type = | image_skyline = Seritz - Zuallart Jean - 1587.jpg | image_caption = Landscape near Saris, on a 1587 print by Jean Zuallart | etymology = Saris, personal name | pushpin_map = Mandatory Palestine | pushpin_map_caption = Location within Mandatory Palestine | image_map = | map_caption = A series of historical maps of the area around Saris, Jerusalem (click the buttons) | pushpin_mapsize = 200 | coordinates = | grid_name = Palestine grid | grid_position = 157/133 | subdivision_type = Geopolitical entity | subdivision_name = Mandatory Palestine | subdivision_type1 = Subdistrict | subdivision_name1 = Jerusalem | established_title1 = Date of depopulation | established_date1 = 16–17 April 1948 | established_title2 = Repopulated dates | area_footnotes = | unit_pref = dunam | area_total_dunam = 10,699 | population_as_of = 1945 | population_total = 560 | blank_name_sec1 = Cause(s) of depopulation | blank_info_sec1 = Military assault by Yishuv forces | blank3_name_sec1 = Current Localities | blank3_info_sec1 = Shoresh, Sho'eva, Neve Ilan

Saris () was a Palestinian Arab village that was depopulated during the major offensive launched by the Haganah on 16 April 1948. Called Operation Nachshon, and launched before the British had left Palestine, its objective was to capture villages between Jerusalem and the coastal plain, in order to break the siege of the Jews of Jerusalem.

History

Yaqut al-Hamawi noted about Saris in the 1220s that it was "a village of the district round Jerusalem. It lies half-way between Jerusalem and Ar Ramlah, and 4 hours from either place".

Ottoman era

During Ottoman rule in Palestine, in 1596, Saris was a village in the nahiya (subdistrict) of Jerusalem under the liwa' (district) of Jerusalem and it had a population of 53 Muslim households, an estimated 292 persons. The villagers paid taxes on a number of crops, including wheat, barley, olives fruit and carob, as well as on goats, beehives and vineyards; a total of 7,098 akçe. A quarter of the revenue went to a Waqf.

In 1838, Edward Robinson noted Saris as a Muslim village in the District of Beni Malik, west of Jerusalem, while in 1852 he noted that the village "belonged feudally" to the Latham family, of Bayt 'Itab.

In 1863, the French explorer Victor Guérin found Saris to have an apparently ancient water well, while the houses looked "dilapidated". An Ottoman village list of about 1870 counted 57 houses and a population of 169, though the population count included men, only.

In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described Saris as being located on top of a hill, with olive trees growing below the village.

Baldensperger reported in 1893 that the Seal of Solomon was engraved in stone over windows and doors on several houses in Saris. According to Palestinian folklore, this kept away all evil. In 1896 the population of Saris was estimated to be about 360 persons.

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Saris had a population 373, all Muslims, increasing in the 1931 census to 470, still all Muslims, in 114 houses. A 1931 survey counted 114 houses in the village.

In the 1945 statistics the population of Saris was 560, all Muslims, 366 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 3,677 for cereals, while 10 dunams were built-up (urban) land.

1948 war and destruction

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/Saris_ii.jpg" caption="Saris, Palestine. 1948"] ::

On 13 April, before the village was attacked, Israel Galili wrote to Yosef Weitz of the JNF asking for a settlement to be established at Saris 'as soon as possible.'

On 16-17 April 1948 the village was attacked by the Haganah. The Scotsman reported 'Jews destroyed a mosque, village school, and 25 houses, killing three women in an attack on the Arab village of Saris early today (16th). There were about 500 attackers.' The New York Times carried the same report and gave the number of Arab dead as seven. A Haganah statement is quoted as saying that the battalion stayed in the village for about five hours, blowing up 25 buildings and burning others. Historian Saleh Abdel Jawad writes that "indiscriminate killings" occurred.

Following the war, the area was incorporated into the State of Israel. The village of Shoresh was established 1 km south west of the remains of Saris in 1948, while Sho'eva was set up 0.5 km north east of the site in 1950, both on land that had belonged to Saris. File:Kasla 1943.jpg|Saris 1943 1:20,000 (top right quadrant) File:Yalu 1945.jpg|Saris 1945 1:250,000 (lower right quadrant) File:Latroun (10 mai).png|Saris 10 May 1948 (lower right) File:Saris demolition.jpg|Members of Harel Brigade demolishing houses in Saris, 1948 File:Saris demolition ii.jpg|Harel Brigade demolishing houses in Saris, 1948 File:Saris 1948.jpg|Members of the Harel Brigade training outside Saris, 1948 The Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi described the village land in 1992: "The site is covered with stone rubble; iron bars protrude from the collapsed roofs. There are many open wells and several caves with arched roofs. A large number of trees, including cypress, fig, and almond trees, grow on the site. An abandoned grove of almond trees is located on the eastern side. In the middle of the slope are the remains of an artificial pool. The village cemetery, surrounded by trees, is located southwest of the site. It contains several large tombs, one of which is surrounded by a small, roofless enclosure; an almond tree grows in the center." He also noted that two forests had been established in the area by the Jewish National Fund and the Center for European Jewry.

References

Bibliography

References

  1. Zuallart, 1587, p. [https://archive.org/stream/ildevotissimovia00zual#page/118/mode/1up 118]
  2. Palmer, 1881, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp00conduoft#page/326/mode/1up 326]
  3. Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PR20 xx], village #345. Also gives cause of depopulation.
  4. Department of Statistics, 1945, p. [https://cs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VSpages/VS1945_p25.jpg 25]
  5. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [https://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/Jerusalem/Page-058.jpg 58]
  6. [https://www.palestineremembered.com/Jerusalem/Saris/index.html Palestine Remembered – Saris]
  7. Le Strange, 1890, p. [https://archive.org/stream/palestineundermo00lestuoft#page/531/mode/1up 531]
  8. Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 112. Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p. 315
  9. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/123/mode/1up 123]
  10. Robinson and Smith, 1856, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/laterbiblicalre01smitgoog#page/n202/mode/1up/mode/1up 153]–156
  11. Guérin, 1868, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongog01gu#page/62/mode/1up 62], [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongog01gu#page/281/mode/1up 281]−283
  12. Socin, 1879, p. [https://archive.org/stream/zeitschriftdesde01deut#page/160/mode/1up 160] also noted it was located in the ''Beni Malik'' District
  13. Hartmann, 1883, p. [https://archive.org/stream/bub_gb_BZobAQAAIAAJ#page/n926/mode/1up 118], also noted 57 houses
  14. Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp03conduoft#page/18/mode/1up 18]. Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p. 315
  15. Baldensperger, 1893, p. [https://archive.org/details/quarterlystateme25pale/page/n236/mode/1up 217]
  16. Baldensperger, 1893, p. [https://archive.org/details/quarterlystateme25pale/page/n226/mode/1up 206]
  17. Schick, 1896, p. [https://archive.org/stream/zeitschriftdesde19deut#page/n232/mode/1up 125]
  18. Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Jerusalem, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n16/mode/1up 14]
  19. Mills, 1932, p. [https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas 43]
  20. Morris, 2004, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA234 234]–235, [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA240 240]
  21. and it had 10,699 [[dunam]]s of land according to an official land and population survey.Khalidi, 1992, p. 316
  22. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [https://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20II/Jerusalem/Page-104.jpg 104]
  23. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [https://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20III/Jerusalem/Page-154.jpg 154]
  24. Khalidi, 1992, p. 316, quoting [[Benny Morris]].
  25. Khalidi, 1992, pp. 315–316.
  26. [[Saleh Abdel Jawad]], 2007, ''Zionist Massacres: the Creation of the Palestinian Refugee Problem in the 1948 War''.

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arab-villages-depopulated-prior-to-the-1948-arab–israeli-wardistrict-of-jerusalem