Arab al-Bawati

Arab al-Bawati
عرب البواطي/خربة الحكمة
Village
Etymology: Kh. el Hakeimîyeh, the ruin of el Hakeimîyeh[1]
1870s map
1940s map
modern map
1940s with modern overlay map
A series of historical maps of the area around Arab al-Bawati (click the buttons)
Arab al-Bawati is located in Mandatory Palestine
Arab al-Bawati
Arab al-Bawati
Location within Mandatory Palestine
Coordinates: 32°31′41″N 35°32′21″E / 32.52806°N 35.53917°E / 32.52806; 35.53917
Palestine grid200/214
Geopolitical entityMandatory Palestine
SubdistrictBaysan
Date of depopulation16 or 20 May 1948[4]
Area
 • Total
10,641 dunams (10.641 km2 or 4.109 sq mi)
Population
 (1945)
 • Total
520[2][3]
Cause(s) of depopulationInfluence of nearby town's fall

Arab al-Bawati (Arabic: عرب البواطي/خربة الحكمة), was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Baysan. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

It was located 4 kilometres north east of Baysan in the Baysan valley.

History

In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described Kh. el Hakeimiyeh as having "ruined walls and a few modern deserted houses – a small deserted village".[5]

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the Mandatory Palestine authorities, Bawati had a population of 348 Muslims,[6] increasing in the 1931 census to 461 (under the name of 'Arab Hakamiya), still all Muslims, in 86 houses.[7]

In the 1945 statistics it had a population of 520 Muslims[2] with a total of 10,641 dunums of land.[3] That year Arabs used 2,225 dunams of village lands for plantations and irrigated land, 3,335 for cereals,[8] while 52 dunams were classed as uncultivable.[9]

1948 and aftermath

Many of the villagers left early in the war, apparently after a Haganah attack.[10][11] The village was destroyed on May 16, or May 20, 1948.[4] Following the war the area was incorporated into the State of Israel and the land was left undeveloped; the nearest village is Hamadia.

In 1992, it was described: "All of the village houses have been demolished. The remains of basalt stone walls and the square and circular foundations of buildings can be seen among the weeds."[12] Evidence of historic occupation includes Roman milestones and ruined buildings at the Khirbat al Bawati.[12]

References

  1. ^ Palmer, 1881, p. 162
  2. ^ a b Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 6
  3. ^ a b Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 43
  4. ^ a b Morris, 2004, p. xvii, village #135. Also gives cause of depopulation, with a "?"
  5. ^ Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 122
  6. ^ Barron, 1923, Table IX, p. 31
  7. ^ Mills, 1932, p. 79
  8. ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 84
  9. ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 134
  10. ^ Morris, 2004, p. 132, note #543
  11. ^ Morris, 2004, p. 160, note #543
  12. ^ a b Khalidi, 1992, p. 42

Bibliography