Kafr in Syriac means "village" and Thulth means "three" or "a third".[3] This name preserves the place name, originally in Hebrew, of Baal-shalisha,[4] an ancient Biblical village believed to have been located 3.5 miles (5.6 km) to the south at a site known in modern times as Khirbat Sirisya.[5]
Geography
Map of path of the separation barrier around the Qalqilya and Hableh-Ras Atiya enclaves and the proposed path around Kafr Thulth
Kafr Thulth is bordered by Azzun to the south, Sanniriya and Biddya villages to the east and Deir Istiya to the west. In 1948, parts of Kharab and Aizab, such as, Salman, al-Moudwer, al-Sheikh Ahmad, al-Ashqar, Ras Tirah, al-Dabha, Kirash Kherba and Ras Atiya — villages or land areas that originally belonged to Kafr Thulth were separated from the town by the Green Line, which forms the border between Israel and the West Bank.
Kafr Thulth's land was extended to the border of the Auja stream and by the 19th century the town's total land area was about 50-60,000 dunams. It had bordered Habla, Jaljuliya, Azzun and Islah, but Kafr Thulth's jurisdiction decreased in 1954; Then, the distance was 924 dunams, while the distance reached up to Kherash Kherba that belong to Kafr Thulth 3,665 dunams.
History
Ottoman era
In 1517, the village was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire with the rest of Palestine, and in 1596, Kafr Tult appeared in Ottoman tax registers as being in nahiya (subdistrict) of Jabal Qubal under the liwa' (district) of Nablus. It had a population of 13 households and 1 batchelor, all Muslims. They paid a fixed tax rate of 33.3%, on wheat, barley, summer crops, occasional revenues, goats and/or beehives; a total of 1,100 akçe.[6]
In 1838, Kafr Thulth was included in a village list drawn up by Edward Robinson, part of Jurat Merda, south of Nablus, named as Kefr Telet.[7]
In 1852, Robinson described Kafr Thulth as "a ruin",[8] and the same did Victor Guérin in 1870.[9] However, later researchers have noted that both only saw Kafr Thulth from a distance, and might have had it mixed up with the ruin Kufr Qara.[10]
In 1870/1871 (1288 AH), an Ottoman census listed the village in the nahiya (sub-district) of Jamma'in al-Awwal, subordinate to Nablus.[11]
In 1882 the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described the village (called Khurbet Kefr Thilth) as "a small village on high ground, with two wells. It was in ruins in 1852, but has now a few inhabitants, the ground round is rough and uncultivated."[4]
^Grossman, D. (1986). "Oscillations in the Rural Settlement of Samaria and Judaea in the Ottoman Period". in Shomron studies. Dar, S., Safrai, S., (eds). Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad Publishing House. p. 345
