Baysamun Explained

Baysamun
Native Name:بيسمون
Native Name Lang:ar
Other Name:Beisamun, En Besamun, Basimun[1]
Pushpin Map:Mandatory Palestine
Pushpin Mapsize:200
Coordinates:33.0975°N 35.5817°W
Grid Name:Palestine grid
Grid Position:204/278
Subdivision Type:Geopolitical entity
Subdivision Name:Mandatory Palestine
Subdivision Type1:Subdistrict
Subdivision Name1:Safad
Established Title1:Date of depopulation
Established Date1:May 25, 1948[2]
Established Title2:Repopulated dates
Population As Of:1945
Population Total:20[3]
Blank Name Sec1:Cause(s) of depopulation
Blank Info Sec1:Whispering campaign

Baysamun or Beisamoun (ar|بيسمون, Beisamûn) was a small Palestinian Arab village, located 16.5km (10.3miles) in the marshy Hula Valley northeast of Safad. In 1945, it had a population of 20.[4] It was depopulated during the 1948 War on May 25, 1948, by the Palmach's First Battalion in Operation Yiftach.

Beisamoun is an important archaeological site for the Neolithic period, with two plastered human skulls, cremation signs and house floors found there. It stood in close proximity to another major Natufian ("Final Old Stone Age") site, 'Ain Mallaha.

History

Prehistoric and Bronze Age site

Beisamoun (archaeological site)
Epochs:Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (mainly), Pottery Neolithic, Bronze Age

Kathleen Kenyon notes that Beisamoun disappeared under modern drainage systems set up by Israel; in the fish ponds created, Neolithic remains were found that included houses and two plastered skulls.[5] Rectangular houses with plastered floors show striking similarities to those at Byblos.[5] [6] These "Levantine pier house[s]" were also found in Yiftahel, Ayn Ghazal, and Jericho.[7] A main period of habitation was during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B era, but also Pottery Neolithic and Bronze Age remains have been found.[8]

British Mandate village

The population of Baysamun in the 1922 census of Palestine consisted of 41 Muslims,[9] increasing to 50 Muslims in 11 houses by 1931.[10]

In the 1945 statistics the population was 20 Muslims,[3] with a total of 2,102 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.[11] Of this, 107 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 1,817 for cereals;[12] while 133 dunams was non-cultivable area.[13]

1948, aftermath

It was depopulated during the 1948 War on May 25, 1948, by the Palmach's First Battalion in Operation Yiftach in a Whispering campaign.[2] [14]

In 1992 the village site was described: "No traces of the houses remain. The site is occupied by warehouses for agricultural implements used by Kibbutz Manara, which had been established in 1943. The land around the site is cultivated and fish ponds have been constructed close to it."[15]

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Grootkerk, 2000, p. 120
  2. Morris, 2004, p. xvi, village #27. Also gives cause of depopulation.
  3. Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 9
  4. Hadawi, 1970, p. 69.
  5. Kenyon, 1985, p. 29.
  6. Wright, 1985, p. 30.
  7. Negev and Gibson, 2005, p. 232.
  8. Khalaily and Bocquentin, 2008, Beisamoun (Mallaha)
  9. Barron, 1923, Table XI, p. 42
  10. Mills, 1932, p. 105
  11. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 69.
  12. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 118
  13. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 970, p. 168
  14. Morris, 2004, p. 251
  15. Khalidi, 1992, p. 438

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