Template:Infobox Palestinian Authority municipality As Samu' or es-Samu' (Arabic: السموع) is a town in the Hebron Governorate of the West Bank, 12 kilometers south of the city of Hebron and 60 kilometers southwest of Jerusalem. Edward Robinson identified the town with biblical Eshtemoa.[1]

Geography

The area is a hilly, rocky area cut by some wadis. The Armistice Demarcation Line (ADL, Green line) runs generally east to west approximately five kilometers south of as Samu. The village of as Samu is located on twin hills with a wadi varying from shallow to deep between them.[2] According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics the town had a population of 19,649 in 2007.[3]

History

In the 12th century CE, the Crusaders built a fortress that was part of the eastern defense line. In 1838, Edward Robinson identified the town of Semua with biblical Eshtemoa.[4] Eshtemoa, meaning obedience, was a priestly allotment mentioned in the Book of Joshua (19:50, 21:14), in Samuel I (30:25), and in the Books of Chronicles I (4:17, 6:42).

The Jerusalem Talmud mentions Eshtemoa as well as an amora active in the town during the 4th-century by the name of Hasa of Eshtemoa.[5] Eusebius of Caesarea (4th-century) describes Eshtemoa in the Onomasticon as being a Jewish town in the 'Daroma', north of Aniam, within the Eleutheropolis (Bet Guvrin) region. During Roman and Byzantine period, Eshtemoa was described as a large Jewish village.[6]


In 1934, remains of the towns ancient synagogue were discovered and the site was later excavated in 1969, by Ze'ev Yeivin.[7]

In an Israeli operation known as the Samu Incident in 1966, fifteen Jordanian soldiers and three Jordanian civilians were killed. The commander of the Israeli paratroop battalion, Colonel Yoav Shaham, was also killed and ten Israeli soldiers were wounded.

It was reported in 2005 that some of the village land would be expropriated for the construction of the separation wall.[8] Palestinian sources alleged that settler violence from the nearby Israeli settlements of Ma'on and Asa'el has prevented them from accessing their fields.[9][10]

Culture

A headdress or 'money hat' (wuqayat al-darahem) from as-Samu (c. 1840s (with later additions)) is exhibited at the British Museum. The caption notes that the headdress was worn in the 19th Century and early 20th Century during the wedding ceremony, especially for the 'going out to the well' ceremony when the bride appeared in public as a married woman for the first time.[11]

References

  1. ^ Robinson, Edward (1856). Biblical Researches in Palestine, vol.I. p. 494.
  2. ^ UN Doc
  3. ^ 2007 PCBS Census Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. p.121.
  4. ^ Robinson, Edward (1856). Biblical Researches in Palestine, vol.I. p. 494.
  5. ^ Ben-Zion Rosenfeld (2009). Torah Centers and Rabbinic Activity in Palestine 70-400 C.e: History and Geographic Distribution. BRILL. p. 81. ISBN 978-90-04-17838-0. Retrieved 12 June 2011.
  6. ^ Avraham Negev; Shimon Gibson (July 2005). Archaeological encyclopedia of the Holy Land. Continuum International Publishing Group. pp. 167–168. ISBN 978-0-8264-8571-7. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  7. ^ "על מקור תוכניותיהם של בתי-הכנסת בדרום הר-יהודה" (in Hebrew). Snunit.k12.il. Retrieved 2010-07-06. ((cite web)): Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ UN Doc Chronological Review of Events Relating to the Question of Palestine; Monthly Media Monitoring Review March 2005
  9. ^ 14 May: Farmers and shepherds from Yatta and As Samu towns were denied access to their land by settlers from Ma'on settlement.
  10. ^ Relief web. According to Palestinian sources, a 30-year-old Palestinian man from the town of As-Samu' sustained multiple bodily injuries when a group of settlers beat him and dragged him to the nearby settlement outpost of Asael. The settlers then tied him to an electricity pole where the assault continued.
  11. ^ Money hat

Further reading


Cities administered by the State of Palestine
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*From June 2007, the Gaza Strip has been under de facto Hamas governance.
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