Zif, Hebron

Zif
Municipality type D (Village council)
Arabic transcription(s)
 • Arabicزيف
Zif is located in the West Bank
Zif
Zif
Location of Zif within the West Bank
Zif is located in State of Palestine
Zif
Zif
Location of Zif within Palestine
Coordinates: 31°27′57″N 35°8′17″E / 31.46583°N 35.13806°E / 31.46583; 35.13806
Palestine grid163/098
State Palestine
GovernorateHebron
Government
 • TypeVillage council
Population
 (2017)[1]
 • Total
1,061

Zif (Arabic: زيف) is a Palestinian village located 7 kilometers (4.3 mi) south of Hebron. The village is in the Hebron Governorate in the southern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Zif had a population of 1,061 in 2017.[1] The primary health care facilities in the village itself are designated by the Ministry of Health as level 1 and at nearby Yatta as level 3.[2]

History

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Iron Age

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Zif is identified with the biblical town of Ziph.[3][4] It appears several times in the Hebrew Bible as a town in the vicinity of Hebron that belongs to Tribe of Judah (Joshua 15:20–55). The nearby "Wilderness of Ziph" is mentioned as a place where David hides himself from Saul (1 Samuel 26:1–2). Later, the town of Ziph is said to be fortified by Rehoboam (1 Kings 11:5–8). Its name was found on a number of royal Judahite LMLK seals along with those of Hebron, Socoh and MMST.[5]

Iron Age remains were found in the nearby tell.[6]

Classical Era

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Zif existed as a village in the Roman era.[7] Between the Great Jewish Revolt and the Bar Kokhba revolt, it served as the administrative center for the district south of Hebron. Evidence of its Jewish population during this period is found in an inscription on an ossuary from Zif and two documents discovered in the Tze'elim Stream.[8]

In the 4th century, Eusebius described it a place "of the tribe of Judah. It is now a kṓmē in the Daromas in the territory of Eleutheropolis, near Hebron, eight miles to the south. Where David hid".[9] It had a Jewish population until at least the 4th century, but it became Christian during the Byzantine period.[8]

The remains of a Byzantine-era Christian communal church have been discovered at Zif.[10] Potsherds from the Byzantine era have also been found here.[11]

Ottoman Era

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In 1838 Edward Robinson was the first to identify the village Zif and its adjacent Tell Zif with the biblical town of Ziph.[12]

In 1863 Victor Guérin visited and described the ruins.[13]

In 1874 surveyors from the PEF Survey of Palestine visited, and noted about Tell ez Zif: "A large mound, partly natural; on the north side a quarry; on the south are tombs. One of these has a single chamber, with a broad bench running round; on the back wall are three kokim with arched roofs, the arches pointed on the left side wall; at the back is another similar koka. A second tomb was a chamber, 8 feet to the back, 9 feet wide, with three recesses, one on each side, one at the back; they are merely shelves, 8 feet by 5 feet, raised some 2 feet. This tomb has a porch in front, supported by two square rock-cut piers.[14]

Zif Today

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Zif has been under Israeli occupation since 1967.

In September 2002, a bomb filled with screws and nails, planted by Jewish settlers, exploded in the village's school, wounding five children. A second bomb was found by the school's principal and was detonated by Israeli bomb experts.[15]

References

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  1. ^ a b Preliminary Results of the Population, Housing and Establishments Census, 2017 (PDF). Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) (Report). State of Palestine. February 2018. pp. 64–82. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
  2. ^ "West Bank Health care" (PDF). Archived from the original on 2006-03-13. Retrieved 2016-05-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. ^ "Ziph | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2021-12-13.
  4. ^ Schwartz, Joshua (2000). "Dogs, Water and Wall". Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament. 14 (1): 101–116. doi:10.1080/090183200750022704. ISSN 0901-8328. S2CID 161368221.
  5. ^ Naʼaman, Nadav (2005). Ancient Israel and Its Neighbors: Interaction and Counteraction. Eisenbrauns. pp. 164–165. ISBN 9781575061085. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  6. ^ Rainey, A. F. (January 1982). "Wine from the Royal Vineyards". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. 245 (245): 57–62. doi:10.2307/1356528. ISSN 0003-097X. JSTOR 1356528. S2CID 164003915.
  7. ^ Tsafrir et al, 1994, p. 262
  8. ^ a b Magness, 2003, p. 94
  9. ^ Millar, Fergus (2001). The Roman Near East, 31 BC–AD 337 (4th ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 376. ISBN 978-0-674-77886-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  10. ^ Doron Bar, 'The Christianisation of Rural Palestine during_Late Antiquity,' Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Vol. 54, No. 3 July 2003 pp.401-421 p.413.
  11. ^ Dauphin, 1998, p. 962
  12. ^ Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 2, pp. 191, 195, 200
  13. ^ Guérin, 1869, pp. 160-162
  14. ^ Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 379
  15. ^ Schmemann, Serge (2002-09-18). "Bomb Explodes at Palestinian School, Hurting 5 Children". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-06-09.

Bibliography

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