![]() ![]() ![]() According to an eyewitness description by the horrified British consul, James Finn, their corpses were terribly mutilated. He raised a fighting force and fell on Bayt Nattif on 3 January 1855. This is said to have enraged 'Utham al-Lahham. In order to win support from Abu Ghosh, Mohammad Atallah changed side over to the Yamani faction. As Meron Benvenisti writes, al-Lahham waged "a bloody war against Sheik Mustafa Abu Ghosh, whose capital and fortified seat was in the village of Suba." In 1855, Mohammad Atallah in Bayt Nattif, a cousin of 'Utham al-Lahham, contested his rule over the region. In the 1850s the conflict between these two families over the control of the district of Bani Hasan dominated the area. A supporter of the Qays faction, Lahham was in conflict with the Yamani faction leaders, especially the sheikh of Abu Ghosh. He had been exiled in 1846, but had managed to escape and return. In the mid-19th century, the sheikh of Bayt 'Itab was named 'Utham al-Lahham (Sheikh 'Othman al-Lahaam). Rising to greet them, he invited them to stay for the night, but as they were in a hurry to see more of the country before the setting of the sun, and so declined his offer. ![]() Robinson recounts that he was "a good-looking man" from the Lahaam clan, and that when they arrived in the village, he was sitting conversing with other sheikhs on a carpet under a fig tree. He notes that Beit 'Atab, as he transcribes it, was the chief town of the 'Arkub (Arqub) district and the Nazir (warden) of the district lived there. Robinson estimates, the village population was six to seven hundred people. In the center of the village were the ruins of a castle or tower. Ottoman era Įdward Robinson visited the village in 1838, and described its stone houses, several of which had two storeys, as solidly built. Its affiliations with the Crusader era has led some to erroneously characterize the village as "Crusader", when in fact its habitation by Arabs predates, persisted through and extended beyond this period. The Arabic name of the village appears in Latin transliteration as Bethaatap in a list recording the sale of the land holdings belonging to Gothman in 1161. It was then acquired by and made a fief of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, possibly organised by the Order of the Holy Sepulchre. Nonetheless, his wife was forced to sell his landholdings after he was taken prisoner by Islamic forces in 1161, in order to raise the money needed for his ransom. The building had two stories, both vaulted the ground floor entrance was protected by a slit- machicolation and had stairs leading to the basement and upper floor. In the mid-12th century, Bayt ʿIṭāb hosted an impressive maison forte, or hall house, in the ancient centre of the modern village, that is thought to have served as the residence of Johannes Gothman, a Frankish crusader knight. īayt ʿIṭāb is identified with Enadab, a name that appears in Eusebius' Onomasticon, written in the fourth century CE. In 1950, an Israeli moshav, Nes Harim, was established north of the built up portion of Bayt 'Itab, on an adjacent peak. Many of the villagers had fled to refugee camps in the West Bank less than 20 kilometres (12 mi) from the village. The local farmers cultivated cereals, fruit trees and olive groves and some engaged in livestock breeding.Īfter a military assault on Bayt ʿIṭāb by Israeli forces in October 1948, the village was depopulated and demolished. In the 19th century, this clan controlled 24 villages in the vicinity. Sheikhs from the Lahham family clan, who were associated with the Qays tribo-political faction, ruled the village during Ottoman era. Both during and after its incorporation into Crusader fiefdoms in the 12th century, its population was Arab. An ancient tunnel which led to the village spring is associated with story of Samson. The village is believed to have been inhabited since biblical times. Bayt ʿIṭāb ( Arabic: بيت عطاب) was a Palestinian Arab village located in the Jerusalem Subdistrict. ![]()
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