Sataf

Sataf صطاف
Village
Remains of Sataf village
Etymology: from a personal name[1]
1870s map 1940s map modern map 1940s with modern overlay map A series of historical maps of the area around Sataf (click the buttons)
31°46′9″N 35°7′38″E / 31.76917°N 35.12722°E / 31.76917; 35.12722
Palestine grid	162/130
Geopolitical entity	Mandatory Palestine
Subdistrict	Jerusalem
Date of depopulation	July 13–14, 1948[4]
Area [3]
• Total	3,775 dunams (3.775 km2 or 1.458 sq mi)
Population  (1945)
• Total	540[2][3]
Cause(s) of depopulation	Military assault by Yishuv forces

Sataf (Arabic: صطاف, Hebrew: סטף) was a Palestinian village in the Jerusalem Subdistrict depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. It was located 10 km west of Jerusalem, with Sorek Valley (Arabic: Wadi as-Sarar) bordering to the east.

Two springs, Ein Sataf and Ein Bikura flow from the site into the riverbed below.

A monastery located across the valley from Sataf, i.e. south of Wadi as-Sarar, known by local Arabs as Ein el-Habis (the "Spring of the Hermitage"), is officially called Monastery of Saint John in the Wilderness.

Today it is a tourist site showcasing ancient agricultural techniques used in the Jerusalem Mountains.

History

Chalcolithic period

Remains of a 4,000 BCE Chalcolithic village were discovered at the site. The related traces of agricultural activities number among the oldest in the region.^[5]

Byzantine period

Most ancient remains date to the Byzantine period.^[5]

Mamluk period

The first written mention of the site is from the Mamluk era.^[5]

Ottoman period

Sataf was noted in the Ottoman tax records of 1525-1526 and 1538–1539, as being located in the Sanjak of Al-Quds.^[6] According to archaeological work, the village originated in the late 16th century, with the use of several cave−dwellings. Later, houses were erected in front of the caves.^[7]

In 1838 it was described as a Muslim village, located in the Beni Hasan district, west of Jerusalem.^[8]

In 1863, Victor Guérin found a village of one hundred and eighty people. He further noted that their houses were standing on the slopes of a mountain, and that the mountainside was covered by successive terraces.^[9] An Ottoman village list from about 1870 counted 38 houses and a population of 115, whereby only men were counted.^[10][11]

In 1883, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described Setaf as "a village of moderate size, of stone houses, perched on the steep side of a valley. It has a spring lower down, on the north."^[12]

In 1896 the population of Sataf was estimated to be about 180 persons.^[13]

British Mandate period

By the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Sataf had a population of 329; 321 Muslims and 8 Christians.^[14] All the Christians were Roman Catholic.^[15] The 1931 census lists 381 inhabitants; 379 Muslim and 2 Christian, in a total of 101 houses.^[16]

In the 1945 statistics the population of Sataf was 540, all Muslims,^[2] and the total land area was 3,775 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.^[3] Of this, 928 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 465 for cereals,^[17] while 22 dunams were built-up land.^[18]

1948, aftermath

On July 13–14, 1948 the Arab village was depopulated by the Har'el Brigade, during Operation Danny.^[19] Sataf and the surrounding area became part of the newly created State of Israel.

A short time after the 1948 War, a small group of Jewish immigrants from North Africa settled for a few months in the village area, calling it Bikura.^[20] The village, which lasted only until the fall of 1950, was founded on the initiative of former Lehi commanded Natan Yellin-Mor.^[20] Subsequently, the IDF's Unit 101 and paratroopers used the site for training purposes.^[5]

In the 1980s the Jewish National Fund began the restoration of ancient agricultural terraces, and the area around the springs has been turned into a tourist site. A forest around the site was also planted by the Jewish National Fund.^[21]

In 1992, Sataf was described as follows: "Many half-destroyed walls still stand, and some still have arched doorways. The walls of a few houses with collapsed roofs are almost intact....The area around the village spring, which is located to the east next to the ruins of a rectangular stone house, has been turned into an Israeli tourist site. A Jewish family has settled on the west side of the village, and have fenced in some of the village area."^[19]

Shrine of 'Ubayd

The shrine (maqam) of 'Ubayd, southwest of the village site, contains a courtyard and three rooms.^[7] According to Tawfiq Canaan, Sheikh 'Ubayd "is said to kill any goat or sheep who enters his cave."^[22]

Gallery

• 
  The hill (jabal) across from Sataf. September 1, 1945.
• 
  Ein Sataf (Ein El-Balad), 2022
• 
  Ein Sataf, 2009
• 
  Ein Bikura (Ein E-Sharkia), 2022
• 
  Ein Bikura, 2009
• 
  Sataf reconstruction
• 
  Agriculture in Sataf, 2009
• 
  Remains of Sataf village

References

Bibliography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sataf.