Zikrin

Place in Hebron, Mandatory Palestine

Zikrin

ذكرين

Dhikerin[1]

Façade of ruined house in Khirbet Dhikrin

Etymology: Dhikerin el Baradan; Dhikerin the cool[2]

1870s map

1940s map

modern map

1940s with modern overlay map

A series of historical maps of the area around Zikrin (click the buttons)

Zikrin

Location within Mandatory Palestine

Coordinates: 31°39′48″N 34°51′38″E﻿ / ﻿31.66333°N 34.86056°E﻿ / 31.66333; 34.86056
Palestine grid| 136/119
Geopolitical entity| Mandatory Palestine
Subdistrict| Hebron
Date of depopulation| 22–23 October 1948[5]
Area

[3]

• Total| 17,195 dunams (17.195 km2 or 6.639 sq mi)
Population

(1945)

• Total| 960[3][4]
Cause(s) of depopulation| Military assault by Yishuv forces

Zikrin (Arabic: ذكرين), pronounced Dhikrin, was a Palestinian Arab village in the Hebron Subdistrict, depopulated in the 1948 Palestine War. The site is located about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) northwest of Beit Gubrin and sits at a mean elevation of 212 metres (696 ft) above sea-level, its access somewhat impeded by hedges of buckthorn and cactus. The entire site is dotted with grottoes and caves, and razed structures.

## History[edit]

The village was called Kefar Dikrina in Roman times.[6] Geographer, Adolf Neubauer mentions the village as formerly being called Kefar Dhikrin (Hebrew: כפר דכרין) in several Rabbinic sources, including the Babylonian Talmud.[7] Neubauer cites one of the sources, saying that the village's name is derived from the fact that the womenfolk of the village bare only male children (hence: dikhra = male). According to Lamentations Rabbah, the region of Kefar Dhikrin was one of the most densely populated areas of the country at that time.[8] These sources mostly date back to the 3rd and 4th centuries CE.

In 1479, it was mentioned by Tucher of Nurnberg, who travelled from Bethlehem to Gaza and lodged at Zikrin. He noted cisterns here.[9][10]

### Ottoman era[edit]

In 1596, Zikrin was part of the Ottoman Empire, nahiya (subdistrict) of Gaza under the Gaza Sanjak, with a population of 40 Muslim households, an estimated 220 persons. They paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on a number of products, including wheat, barley, sesame and fruits, and on vineyards; a total of 8,000 akçe.[11]

In 1838, Edward Robinson described Dhikrin as a "large" Muslim village, located in the Gaza district.[9][12]

In 1863 Victor Guérin visited, and found here a village with about 600 inhabitants. On the west side of the village there were as many as 40 cisterns. Guérin toured the village with the village Sheikh, whom he described as a "tall, young and intelligent" man, whose father was the Sheikh of Bayt Jibrin, and whose uncles were the same in Tell es-Safi and 'Ajjur.[13] Socin found from an Ottoman village list of about 1870 that Zikrin had 38 houses and a population of 101, though the population count included men, only.[14] Hartmann found that Zikrin had 60 houses.[15]

In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described Zikrin as being a stone village with gardens and "numerous" water wells.[1][6]

In 1896 the population of Dikrin was estimated to be about 609 persons.[16]

### British Mandate era[edit]

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Zekrin had a population of 693, all Muslims,[17] increasing in the 1931 census to 726, still all Muslim, in a total of 181 houses.[18]

The modern village had an elementary school, and a few shops. The villagers, who were Muslim, were farmers.[6]

In 1945 statistics, it had a population of 960, all Muslims,[4] and a total land area of 17,195 dunams.[3] In 1944/45 15,058 dunams (15.058 km2; 5.814 sq mi) of village land was planted with cereals,[6][19] while 63 dunams were built-up (urban) areas.[20]

### 1948 and aftermath[edit]

On 6 August 1948, in the middle of the official  Second truce, two squads from the 53rd Battalion of the Givati Brigade raided Zikrin, lobbing grenades and torching three or four houses. About 10 adult males, two children and one woman were killed in the village, according to IDF sources. The last three were killed accidentally, according to the report, while IDF suffered one soldier "slightly injured."[21]

Zikrin was finally depopulated on 22–23 October 1948 during the third stage of Operation Yoav under the command of Yigal Allon.[6] According to Morris, most of the villagers fled before the troops arrived, those who remained were expelled eastwards.[22] According to Morris, Yigal Allon was so successful in completely driving out the local population during Operation Yo'av, that the villagers found it almost impossible to "reinfiltrate" to their old villages, as there was no longer any local Arab population to help them resettle. During a military "sweep" of the villages in early 1949, they found most villages empty. In Zikrin it is reported that the troops found "two Arabs" who "managed to escape."[23]

Following the war, the area was incorporated into the State of Israel and the land that had belonged to the village was left undeveloped. Kibbutz Beit Nir is about 3 km south of the village site.[6]

The Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi described the village site in 1992 as being "overgrown with tall weeds, scrub, and other wild vegetation, containing a number of olive and carob trees. Truncated stone terraces, partially overgrown with cactuses, further marked the site. Some of the surrounding lands was cultivated by Israeli farmers for wheat, and the rest used as rangeland."[6]

## Gallery[edit]

* Zikrin map, 1948 1:250,000 (top left quadrant)

* Zikrin map, 1948 1:20,000

* Old wall near Khirbet Dhikrin

* Quarried rock in Kh. Dhikrin

* Quarried rock

* Entrance to cave in Kh. Dhikrin

* Cave at Kh. Dhikrin

* Old wall in Kh. Dhikrin

* Razed structure in Kh. Dhikrin

* Tomb of Sheikh Abu 'Imran, on hill west of Dhikrin

* Interior of tomb of Sheikh Abu 'Imran, on hilltop west of Dhikrin

* Tomb of Sheikh Abu 'Imran, on hill west of Dhikrin

* Tomb of Sheikh Abu 'Imran

* Tomb of Sheikh Abu 'Imran

* Ruined tower south of Dhikrin, mentioned in SWP map number 20

* Ruined tower south of Dhikrin, mentioned in SWP map number 20

* View of what remains of tower

* Cobwebs block entrance to cave in Kh. Dhikrin

* Mouth of deep well, in dale northwest of Dhikrin

* Ancient well with stone trough in dale northwest of Kh. Dhikrin

* Stone water trough and mouth of deep well, in dale NW of Dhikrin

* General view - Dhikrin

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b Conder and Kitchener, 1883, p. 258.
2. ^ Palmer, 1881, p. 367
3. ^ a b c Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 51
4. ^ a b Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 23
5. ^ Morris, 2004, p. xix, village #297. Also gives cause of depopulation
6. ^ a b c d e f g Khalidi, 1992, p. 228
7. ^ Neubauer, 1868, p. 71
8. ^ Midrash Rabba (Eikha Rabba 2:5)
9. ^ a b Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 2, pp. 362-363
10. ^ Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 1, p. 12
11. ^ Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 147. Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p. 228
12. ^ Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 119
13. ^ Guérin, 1869, pp. 107 -108
14. ^ Socin, 1879, p. 163
15. ^ Hartmann, 1883, p. 143
16. ^ Schick, 1896, p. 123
17. ^ Barron, 1923, Table V, Sub-district of Hebron, p. 10
18. ^ Mills, 1932, p. 34
19. ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 94
20. ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 144
21. ^ Morris, 2004, p. 447, note #213, p. 461
22. ^ Morris, 2004, p. 466
23. ^ Morris, 2004, pp. 518-9

## Bibliography[edit]

* Barron, J.B., ed. (1923). Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922. Government of Palestine.
* Conder, C.R.; Kitchener, H.H. (1883). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. Vol. 3\. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
* Department of Statistics (1945). Village Statistics, April, 1945. Government of Palestine.
* Guérin, V. (1869). Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine (in French). Vol. 1: Judee, pt. 2. Paris: L'Imprimerie Nationale.
* Hadawi, S. (1970). Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine. Palestine Liberation Organization Research Centre.
* Hartmann, M. (1883). "Die Ortschaftenliste des Liwa Jerusalem in dem turkeschen Staatskalender dur Syrien auf das Jahr 1288 der Flucht (1871)". Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins. 6: 102–149.
* Hütteroth, Wolf-Dieter; Abdulfattah, Kamal (1977). Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century. Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. ISBN 3-920405-41-2.
* Khalidi, W. (1992). All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948. Washington D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies. ISBN 0-88728-224-5.
* Mills, E., ed. (1932). Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas. Jerusalem: Government of Palestine.
* Morris, B. (2004). The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-00967-6.
* Neubauer, A. (1868). La géographie du Talmud : mémoire couronné par l'Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres (in French). Paris: Lévy.
* Palmer, E.H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
* Robinson, E.; Smith, E. (1841). Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838. Vol. 2\. Boston: Crocker & Brewster.
* Robinson, E.; Smith, E. (1841). Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838. Vol. 3\. Boston: Crocker & Brewster.
* Schick, C. (1896). "Zur Einwohnerzahl des Bezirks Jerusalem". Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins. 19: 120–127.
* Socin, A. (1879). "Alphabetisches Verzeichniss von Ortschaften des Paschalik Jerusalem". Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins. 2: 135–163.

## External links[edit]

* Welcome To Thikrin
* Zikrin, Zochrot
* Survey of Western Palestine, Map 20: IAA, Wikimedia commons
* Zikrin, from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center

* v
* t
* e

Palestinian Arab towns and villages depopulated during the 1948 Palestinian exodus by subdistrict

Acre|

* Amqa
* Arab al-Samniyya
* al-Bassa
* al-Birwa
* al-Damun
* Dayr al-Qassi
* al-Ghabisiyya
* Iqrit
* Iribbin
* Jiddin
* al-Kabri
* Kafr 'Inan
* Kuwaykat
* al-Manshiyya
* al-Mansura
* Mi'ar
* al-Nabi Rubin
* al-Nahr
* al-Ruways
* Suhmata
* al-Sumayriyya
* Suruh
* al-Tall
* Tarbikha
* Umm al-Faraj
* az-Zeeb

Beisan|

* Arab al-'Arida
*   * Arab al-Bawati
*   * Arab al-Safa
*   * al-Ashrafiyya
* al-Bira
* Beisan
* Danna
* Farwana
*   * al-Fatur
* al-Ghazzawiyya
*   * al-Hamidiyya
*   * al-Hamra
* Jabbul
*   * Kafra
* Kawkab al-Hawa
*   * al-Khunayzir
*   * Masil al-Jizl
* al-Murassas
* Qumya
*   * al-Sakhina
*   * al-Samiriyya
* Sirin
* Tall al-Shawk
*   * al-Taqa
* al-Tira
*   * Umm 'Ajra
*   * Umm Sabuna
* Yubla
*   * Zab'a
*   * al-Zawiya

Beersheba|

* al-Imara
* al-Jammama
* al-Khalasa
* Auja al-Hafir

Gaza|

* Arab Suqrir
* Barbara
* Barqa
*   * al-Batani al-Gharbi
* al-Batani al-Sharqi
*   * Bayt 'Affa
* Bayt Daras
* Bayt Jirja
* Bayt Tima
*   * Bil'in
* Burayr
* Dayr Sunayd
* Dimra
* al-Faluja
* Hamama
* Hatta
* Hiribya
* Huj
* Hulayqat
* Ibdis
* Iraq al-Manshiyya
* Iraq Suwaydan
* Isdud
*   * al-Jaladiyya
* al-Jiyya
* Julis
* al-Jura
*   * Jusayr
* Karatiyya
* Kawfakha
* Kawkaba
* al-Khisas
* al-Masmiyya al-Kabira
* al-Masmiyya al-Saghira
* al-Muharraqa
* Najd
*   * Ni'ilya
* Qastina
*   * al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya
* al-Sawafir al-Shamaliyya
*   * al-Sawafir al-Sharqiyya
* Simsim
* Summil
* Tall al-Turmus
* Yasur

Haifa|

* Abu Shusha
* Abu Zurayq
* Arab al-Fuqara
*   * Arab al-Nufay'at
*   * Arab Zahrat al-Dumayri
* 'Atlit
* Ayn Ghazal
* Ayn Hawd
* Balad al-Sheikh
*   * Barrat Qisarya
*   * Burayka
* al-Burj
*   * al-Butaymat
* Daliyat al-Rawha'
*   * al-Dumun
*   * al-Ghubayya al-Fawqa
*   * al-Ghubayya al-Tahta
* Hawsha
* Ijzim
* Jaba'
* al-Jalama
*   * Kabara
*   * al-Kafrayn
* Kafr Lam
*   * al-Kasayir
* Khubbayza
*   * Lid
*   * al-Manara
* al-Mansi
*   * al-Mansura
* al-Mazar
* Naghnaghiya
* Qannir
* Qira
* Qisarya
* Qumbaza
* al-Rihaniyya
* Sabbarin
* al-Sarafand
* al-Sarkas
*   * Sa'sa'
*   * al-Sawamir
*   * al-Shuna
* al-Sindiyana
* al-Tantura
* al-Tira
*   * Umm ash Shauf
*   * Umm az-Zinat
*   * Wa'arat al-Sarris
* Wadi Ara
*   * Yajur

Hebron|

* 'Ajjur
*   * Barqusya
* Bayt Jibrin
* Bayt Nattif
* al-Dawayima
* Deir al-Dubban
* Dayr Nakhkhas
* Kudna
*   * Mughallis
* al-Qubayba
* Ra'na
* Tell es-Safi
*   * Umm Burj
* az-Zakariyya
* Zayta
* Zikrin

Jaffa|

* al-'Abbasiyya
* Abu Kabir
* Abu Kishk
* Bayt Dajan
* Biyar 'Adas
* Fajja
* al-Haram
* Ijlil al-Qibliyya
* Ijlil al-Shamaliyya
*   * al-Jammasin al-Gharbi
*   * al-Jammasin al-Sharqi
* Jarisha
* Kafr 'Ana
* al-Khayriyya
*   * al-Mas'udiyya
* al-Mirr
*   * al-Muwaylih
* Rantiya
*   * al-Safiriyya
* Salama
* Saqiya
*   * al-Sawalima
* al-Shaykh Muwannis
* Yazur

Jenin|

* al-Jawfa
* al-Mazar
*   * Ayn al-Mansi
* Lajjun
* Nuris
* Zir'in

Jerusalem|

* Allar
*   * Aqqur
* Artuf
* Bayt 'Itab
* Bayt Mahsir
* Bayt Naqquba
*   * Bayt Thul
*   * Bayt Umm al-Mays
*   * al-Burayj
*   * Dayr Aban
*   * Dayr 'Amr
*   * Dayr al-Hawa
*   * Dayr Rafat
* Dayr al-Shaykh
* Deir Yassin
* Ayn Karim
* Ishwa
* Islin
*   * Ism Allah
* Jarash
*   * al-Jura
*   * Kasla
*   * al-Lawz
* Lifta
* al-Maliha
*   * Nitaf
* al-Qabu
* Qalunya
* al-Qastal
*   * Ras Abu 'Ammar
* Sar'a
* Saris
* Sataf
* Sheikh Badr
* Suba
*   * Sufla
*   * al-Tannur
*   * al-'Umur
* al-Walaja

Nazareth|

* al-Mujaydil
* Indur
* Ma'alul
* Saffuriyya

Ramle|

* Abu al-Fadl
* Abu Shusha
*   * Ajanjul
* Aqir
* Barfiliya
*   * al-Barriyya
* Bashshit
*   * Bayt Far
* Bayt Jiz
* Bayt Nabala
*   * Bayt Shanna
* Bayt Susin
*   * Bir Ma'in
*   * Bir Salim
*   * al-Burj
*   * al-Buwayra
*   * Daniyal
*   * Dayr Abu Salama
* Dayr Ayyub
*   * Dayr Muhaysin
* Dayr Tarif
*   * al-Duhayriyya
* al-Haditha
* Idnibba
*   * Innaba
* Jilya
* Jimzu
* Kharruba
*   * al-Khayma
* Khulda
*   * al-Kunayyisa
* al-Latrun
* Lydda
*   * al-Maghar
* Majdal Yaba
*   * al-Mansura
*   * al-Mukhayzin
* al-Muzayri'a
*   * al-Na'ani
* al-Nabi Rubin
* Qatra
* Qazaza
*   * al-Qubab
*   * al-Qubayba
* Qula
* Ramla
* Sajad
* Salbit
* Sarafand al-Amar
* Sarafand al-Kharab
*   * Saydun
* Shahma
*   * Shilta
*   * al-Tina
* al-Tira
*   * Umm Kalkha
*   * Wadi Hunayn
* Yibna
*   * Zakariyya
* Zarnuqa

Safad|

* Abil al-Qamh
*   * al-'Abisiyya
* 'Akbara
* Alma
* Ammuqa
* Arab al-Shamalina
* Arab al-Zubayd
* Ayn al-Zaytun
*   * Baysamun
* Biriyya
* al-Butayha
* al-Buwayziyya
* Dallata
*   * al-Dawwara
* Dayshum
*   * al-Dirbashiyya
* al-Dirdara
*   * Fara
* al-Farradiyya
* Fir'im
* Ghabbatiyya
*   * Ghuraba
*   * al-Hamra'
* Harrawi
* Hunin
* al-Husayniyya
* Jahula
* al-Ja'una
* Jubb Yusuf
* Kafr Bir'im
* al-Khalisa
*   * Khan al-Duwayr
*   * Karraza
* al-Khisas
* Khiyam al-Walid
*   * Kirad al-Baqqara
*   * Kirad al-Ghannama
* Lazzaza
* Madahil
* Al-Malkiyya
* Mallaha
*   * al-Manshiyya
* al-Mansura
*   * Mansurat al-Khayt
* Marus
* Meiron
*   * al-Muftakhira
*   * Mughr al-Khayt
*   * al-Muntar
* al-Nabi Yusha'
* al-Na'ima
*   * Qabba'a
* Qadas
* Qaddita
*   * Qaytiyya
*   * al-Qudayriyya
* al-Ras al-Ahmar
*   * Sabalan
* Safsaf
* Saliha
* al-Salihiyya
*   * al-Sammu'i
* al-Sanbariyya
* Sa'sa'
*   * al-Shawka al-Tahta
*   * al-Shuna
*   * Taytaba
* Tulayl
*   * al-'Ulmaniyya
*   * al-'Urayfiyya
* al-Wayziyya
*   * Yarda, Safad
* al-Zahiriyya al-Tahta
* al-Zanghariyya
*   * Zawiya
*   * al-Zuq al-Fawqani
*   * al-Zuq al-Tahtani

Tiberias|

* Awlam
*   * al-Dalhamiyya
*   * Ghuwayr Abu Shusha
* Hadatha
* al-Hamma
* Hittin
* Kafr Sabt
* Lubya
*   * Ma'dhar
* al-Majdal
*   * al-Manara
* al-Manshiyya
* al-Mansura
* Nasir al-Din
* Nimrin
*   * al-Nuqayb
* Samakh
*   * al-Samakiyya
*   * al-Samra
* al-Shajara
* al-Tabigha
*   * al-'Ubaydiyya
* Wadi Hamam
* al-Wa'ra al-Sawda'
* Yaquq

Tulkarm|

*   * Bayt Lid
*   * Bayyarat Hannun
* Fardisya
*   * Ghabat Kafr Sur
* al-Jalama
* Kafr Saba
*   * al-Majdal
*   * al-Manshiyya
* Miska
* Qaqun
*   * Raml Zayta
* Tabsur
* Umm Khalid
*   * Wadi al-Hawarith
*   * Wadi Qabbani
*   * al-Zabadida
* Zalafa

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template