At-Tur, East Jerusalem
Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
At-Tur (Arabic: الطور, romanized: aṭ-Ṭūr, lit. 'the Mount';[1] Hebrew: א-טור) is a neighborhood on the Mount of Olives approximately 1 km east of the Old City of Jerusalem. At-Tur is situated in East Jerusalem,[2] occupied and later effectively annexed by Israel after the Six-Day War in 1967.
History
At-Tur is believed to be the location of the site of Bethphage (Ancient Greek: Βηθφαγή; Imperial Aramaic: בֵּית פַּגִּי, lit. 'house of unripe figs'), a place mentioned in the New Testament.[3][4] Archaeological excavations uncovered rock-cut installations, a quarry, columbarium, and rock-cut caves. Also found at the site are burial caves believed to date from the Second Temple period.[5]
Ottoman Empire
In 1596, the village appeared as Tur Zayta in Ottoman tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Quds of the Liwa of Quds. It had a population of 48 households and 8 bachelors, all Muslim, and paid taxes on wheat, barley, vines or fruit trees, and goats or beehives, a total of 3,200 akçe.[6]
In 1838, in the Biblical Researches in Palestine, it was noted as a Muslim village, located in el-Wadiyeh district, east of Jerusalem.[7][8]
An Ottoman village list of about 1870 counted 38 houses and a population of 127, though the population count included only men. It was described as a village on the Mount of Olives.[9][10]
In 1883, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described At-Tur as "a small straggling village on the top of Olivet. The houses are built of stone, but low and mean. The church of the Ascension, now a mosque, stands towards the west at the brow of the hill."[11]
In 1896 the population of Et-tur was estimated to be about 474 persons.[12]
British Mandate
In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, At Tur had a population 1,037; 806 Muslims and 231 Christians,[13] increasing in the 1931 census to 2,090; 12 Jews, 253 Christians and 1,825 Muslims, in 400 houses.[14]
In the 1945 statistics the population of Et Tur was 2,770; 2,380 Muslims and 390 Christians,[15] who owned 8,808 dunams of land according to an official land and population survey.[16] 228 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 2,838 for cereals,[17] while 86 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[18]
Jordan
After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, At-Tur came under Jordanian rule.
The Jordanian census of 1961 found 4,289 inhabitants in At-Tur,[19] of whom 686 were Christian.[20]
Israel
During the 1967 Six-Day War, At-Tur came under Israeli occupation, remaining so after the war.
In 2024, At-Tur had a population of 18,150, mostly Muslims, with a small Christian minority and a few dozen families of Israeli Jews.[citation needed] Jewish Israelis have been buying properties in the neighbourhood and have been resettling the Mount of Olives at a growing rate.
On Friday, 24 April 2015, a 16-year-old resident of at-Tur was shot dead by Israeli soldiers at the Az-Zaim checkpoint. The police said he attacked with a knife, but his family denied this.[21]
Landmarks
The Chapel of the Ascension is located in At-Tur. Located on the Mount of Olives, the chapel is part of a larger complex consisting first of a Christian church and monastery, then an Islamic mosque. It is located on a site which the Christian faithful traditionally believe to be the earthly spot where Jesus ascended into Heaven forty days after his resurrection.
Landmarks in At-Tur include the Augusta Victoria Hospital, the Church and Convent of Pater Noster, where the Lord's Prayer is inscribed in 110 languages,[22][23] and the Seven Arches Hotel.[24]
The Al-Makassed Islamic Charitable Hospital, a 250-bed medical facility with in-patient and out-patient services is located in At-Tur.[25]
See also
