{{Short description|Arab village southeast of Jaffa, Mandatory Palestine}} {{About|the destroyed Palestinian village near Jaffa| | Beit Dajan (disambiguation){{!}}Beit Dajan}} {{pp-extended|small=yes}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Bayt Dajan | native_name = {{lang|ar|بيت دجن}} | native_name_lang = ar | other_name = Beit Dajan, Bait Dajan, Dajūn, Beit Dejan | settlement_type = <!-- images, nickname, motto --> | image_skyline = Bait Dajan.jpg | imagesize = 200 | image_caption = Bayt Dajan, before 1935. From the Khalil Raad-collection.<ref>Khalidi, 1992, pp. 231, 605, 606</ref> | etymology = "The house of Dagon"<ref>Palmer, 1881, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp00conduoft#page/213/mode/1up 213]</ref> <!-- maps and coordinates --> | pushpin_map = Mandatory Palestine | pushpin_map_caption = Location within Mandatory Palestine | image_map = {{Historical map series|default=2|date1=1870s|date2=1940s|date3=modern|date4=1940s with modern overlay|width=225}} | map_caption = A series of historical maps of the area around Bayt Dajan (click the buttons) | pushpin_mapsize = 200 | coordinates = {{coord|32|0|13|N|34|49|46|E|type:city_region:PS|display=inline,title}} | grid_name = Palestine grid | grid_position = 134/156 <!-- location --> | subdivision_type = Geopolitical entity | subdivision_name = Mandatory Palestine | subdivision_type1 = Subdistrict | subdivision_name1 = Jaffa <!-- established --> | established_title1 = Date of depopulation | established_date1 = 25 April 1948<ref>Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PR18 xviii], village #219. Also gives cause(s) of depopulation.</ref> | established_title2 = Repopulated dates <!-- area --> | area_footnotes = <ref name=Hadawi52/> | unit_pref = dunam | area_total_dunam = 17,327 <!-- population --> | population_as_of = 1945 | population_total = 3,840<ref name=1945p27>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. [http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VSpages/VS1945_p27.jpg 27]</ref> <!-- blank fields (section 1) --> | blank_name_sec1 = Cause(s) of depopulation | blank_info_sec1 = Influence of nearby town's fall | blank3_name_sec1 = Current Localities | blank3_info_sec1 = Beit Dagan<ref>Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PR21 xxi], Settlement #91.</ref><ref name="Khalidi3"/> Mishmar HaShiv'a<ref name="Khalidi3"/> Hemed<ref name="Khalidi3"/> Ganot<ref name="Khalidi3"/> }} '''Bayt Dajan''' ({{langx|ar|بيت دجن|Bayt Dajan}}; {{langx|he|בית דג'ן}}), also known as '''Dajūn''', was a Palestinian Arab village situated approximately {{convert|6|km|mi|sp=us}} southeast of Jaffa. It is thought to have been the site of the biblical town of Beth Dagon, mentioned in the Book of Joshua and in ancient Assyrian and Ancient Egyptian texts. In the 10th century CE, it was inhabited mostly by Samaritans.
In the mid-16th century, Bayt Dajan formed part of an Ottoman waqf established by Roxelana, the wife of Suleiman the Magnificent, and by the late 16th century, it was part of the nahiya of Ramla in the liwa of Gaza. The villagers, who were all recorded as Muslim, paid taxes to the Ottoman authorities for property and agricultural goods and animal husbandry conducted in the villages, including the cultivation of wheat, barley, fruit, and sesame, as well as on goats, beehives and vineyards. In the 19th century, the village women were locally renowned for their intricate, high quality embroidery designs, a feature of traditional Palestinian costumes.
During the British Mandate, the village housed two elementary schools, a library and an agronomic school. After an assault by the Alexandroni Brigade during Operation Hametz on 25 April 1948 in the lead up to the 1948 Arab–Israeli war, the village was entirely depopulated.<ref name=PR>{{Cite web|title=Welcome to Bayt Dajan|publisher=Palestine Remembered|access-date=2007-12-04|url=http://www.palestineremembered.com/Jaffa/Bayt-Dajan/index.html}}</ref> The Israeli town of Beit Dagan was founded at the same site in October 1948.<ref name=Gelberp394>Gelber, 2006, p. 394.</ref>
Another Bayt Dajan, not to be confused with this one, is located southeast of Nablus.<ref name=Smithp396/>
== Etymology == Bayt Dajan /Bēt Dajan/ is a Canaanite name that appears in standard Babylonian (in a Neo-Assyrian inscription from 701 BC) Bīt(É)-da-gan-na78 and [Bητ]οδεγανα on the Madaba Map.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Marom |first=Roy |last2=Zadok |first2=Ran |date=2023 |title=Early-Ottoman Palestinian Toponymy: A Linguistic Analysis of the (Micro-)Toponyms in Haseki Sultan’s Endowment Deed (1552) |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0cs6f5k5 |journal=Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins |language=en |volume=139 |issue=2}}</ref>
==History==
===Iron Age=== {{see also|Beth Dagon}} The village is mentioned in Assyrian and Ancient Egyptian texts as "Bīt Dagana" and ''bet dgn'', respectively.<ref name=Sharonp89/> Its Arabic name, Bayt Dajan, preserves this ancient name.<ref name=Sharonp89/>
===Byzantine era=== Jerome describes the village in the 4th century CE as "very large", noting its name then as "Kafar Dagon" or "Caphardagon", situating it between Diospolis (modern Lod) and Yamnia (Yavne/Yibna).<ref name=Smithp396>Smith, 1854, p. 396.</ref><ref name=Sharonp89/> Bayt Dajan also appears on the 6th century Map of Madaba under the name ''[Bet]o Dagana''.<ref name=Sharonp89>Sharon, 1999, [https://books.google.com/books?id=EPFDU8POrXIC&pg=PA89 p.89]-[https://books.google.com/books?id=EPFDU8POrXIC&pg=PA90 p90].</ref>
===Early Islamic era=== The nearby site of Khirbet Dajūn, a tel with ruins to the southwest of Bayt Dajan, preserves the ''Dagon'' rather than ''Dagan'' spelling.<ref name=Sharonp89/> In Arabic literature, there are many references to ''Dajūn'', which was also used to refer to Bayt Dajan itself.<ref name=Sharonp89/><ref name=Wheatleyp486>Wheatley, 2000, p. 486.</ref>
During his reign of 724–743 CE, the Umayyad caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik built a palace in Bayt Dajan with white marble columns.<ref>Khalidi, 1992, pp. 236–237.</ref>
The ''Continuation of the Samaritan Chronicle of Abu'l-Fath'' mentions a prominent Samaritan from Dajūn named Yosef ben Adhasi. When the governor ordered all dhimmis to display a wooden figure on their doors, he persuaded the authorities to allow the Samaritans to use a menorah symbol.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Levy-Rubin |first=Milka |title=The Samaritans |publisher=Yad Ben-Zvi Press |year=2002 |isbn=965-217-202-2 |editor-last=Stern |editor-first=Ephraim |editor-link=Ephraim Stern |pages=575 |language=he |chapter=The Samaritans during the Early Muslim Period according to the ''Continuatio'' to the Chronicle of Abu 'l-Fath |editor-last2=Eshel |editor-first2=Hanan |editor-link2=Hanan Eshel}}</ref> In the 880s, a Samaritan named Ibn Adhasi, from the same prominent family in Dajūn, was accosted by the local governor, Abdullah Ibn al-Fatah, who demanded a large sum of money as blackmail and sought to punish him. Ibn Adhasi fled to the mountains, taking refuge in caves.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Levy-Rubin |first=Milka |title=The Samaritans |publisher=Yad Ben-Zvi Press |year=2002 |isbn=965-217-202-2 |editor-last=Stern |editor-first=Ephraim |editor-link=Ephraim Stern |pages=578 |language=he |chapter=The Samaritans during the Early Muslim Period according to the ''Continuatio'' to the Chronicle of Abu 'l-Fath |editor-last2=Eshel |editor-first2=Hanan |editor-link2=Hanan Eshel}}</ref>
Arab geographer al-Muqaddasi mentions in the 10th century, a road in the Ramla area, ''darb dajūn'', as connecting to the town of Dajūn which had a Friday mosque. In a separate entry he adds that most of the town's inhabitants were Samaritans. At this time, one of the eight gates to the city of Ramla was also named "Dajūn".<ref name="Levyp492">Levy, 1995, p. 492.</ref><ref>Al-Muqaddasi, 1886, p. [https://archive.org/stream/cu31924028534265#page/n58/mode/1up 33]</ref><ref>Conder, 1876, p.[https://archive.org/stream/quarterlystateme07pale#page/196/mode/1up 196]</ref>
In the 11th century, Bayt Dajan served as a headquarters for the Fatimid army in Palestine.<ref name=Gilp727>Gil and Broido, 1997, p. 727.</ref>
===Crusader and Ayyubid eras=== During the Crusader period, Richard the Lionheart built a small castle in the village in 1191. Known as Casal Maen (or Casal Moein), it "was the utmost limit of inland occupation allowed [to the Crusaders] by Saladin," and was destroyed by Saladin following the signing of the Treaty of Jaffa on 2 September 1192.<ref name=Sharonp89/><ref name=Stubbsp364>Stubbs and Hassall, 1902, p. [https://archive.org/details/historicalintrod00stubiala/page/364/mode/1up 364]</ref><ref name=Ambroisep125>Ambroise et al., 2003, p. 125.</ref>
In 1226, during Ayyubid rule, Yaqut al-Hamawi writes that it was "one of the villages in the district of Ramla" and devotes the rest of his discussion of it to Ahmad al-Dajani, also known as Abu Bakr Muhammad, a renowned Muslim scholar who hailed from there.<ref name=Sharonp89/>
===Ottoman era=== In 1553, during the early Ottoman era, 18.33 carats of the revenues of the village of Bayt Dajan were designated for the new ''waqf'' of Hasseki Sultan Imaret in Jerusalem, established by Hasseki Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana), the wife of Suleiman the Magnificent.<ref>Singer, 2002, [https://books.google.com/books?id=zHBHBTNwBQoC&pg=PA39 p. 50]</ref> Administratively, the village belonged to the Sub-district of Ramla in the District of Gaza.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Marom |first=Roy |date=2022-11-01 |title=Jindās: A History of Lydda's Rural Hinterland in the 15th to the 20th Centuries CE |url=https://www.academia.edu/90931976 |journal=Lod, Lydda, Diospolis |volume=1 |pages=8}}</ref>
In the 1596 tax records, Bayt Dajan was a village in the ''nahiya'' ("subdistrict") of Ramla, part of the Liwa of Gaza. It had a population of 115 Muslim households; an estimated 633 persons. The villagers paid taxes to the authorities for the crops that they cultivated, which included wheat, barley, fruit, and sesame as well as on other types of agricultural products, such as goats, beehives and vineyards; a total of 14,200 akçe. All of the revenue went to a waqf.<ref name="Hut and Abd">Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 155. Quoted in {{Harvnb|Khalidi|1992|p=237}}</ref>
In 1051 AH/1641/2, the Bedouin tribe of al-Sawālima from the Jaffa vicinity attacked the villages of Subṭāra, Bayt Dajan, al-Sāfiriya, Jindās, Lydda and Yāzūr belonging to Waqf Haseki Sultan.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Marom |first=Roy |date=2022-11-01 |title=Jindās: A History of Lydda's Rural Hinterland in the 15th to the 20th Centuries CE |url=https://www.academia.edu/90931976/Jind%C4%81s_A_History_of_Lyddas_Rural_Hinterland_in_the_15th_to_the_20th_Centuries_CE |journal=Lod, Lydda, Diospolis |pages=13–14.}}</ref>
An Arabic inscription on marble dating to 1762 was found in Bayt Dajan. Held in the private collection of Moshe Dayan, Moshe Sharon identified it as a dedicatory inscription for a Sufi maqam for a Ibrahim al-Matbuli, an Egyptian saint buried in Isdud.<ref name="Sharonp89" /> The village appeared on the map of Pierre Jacotin compiled in 1799 during the French campaign in Egypt and Syria, though he calls it Al-Qubab.<ref>Karmon, 1960, p. [http://www.jchp.ucla.edu/Bibliography/Karmon,_Y_1960_Jacotin_Map_(IEJ_10).pdf 171] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222063351/http://jchp.ucla.edu/Bibliography/Karmon,_Y_1960_Jacotin_Map_(IEJ_10).pdf |date=2019-12-22 }}</ref>
In 1838 ''Beit Dejan'' was among the villages Edward Robinson says he could see from the top of the White Mosque, Ramla.<ref>Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 3, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/n47/mode/1up 30]</ref> It was described as a Muslim village in the Lydda District.<ref>Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 3, 2 appendix, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/121/mode/1up 121]</ref> A headstone, made of limestone with a poetic inscription in Arabic from Bayt Dajan, dating to 1842, was also in Dayan's private collection.<ref name=Sharonp89/>
Albert Socin cites an Ottoman village list from 1870 that shows Bayt Dajan had a population of 432, with a total of 184 houses, though the population count included men, only.<ref>Socin, 1879, p. [https://archive.org/stream/zeitschriftdesde01deut#page/145/mode/1up 145]</ref> Hartmann found that ''Bet Dedschan'' had 148 houses.<ref>Hartmann, 1883, p. [https://archive.org/stream/bub_gb_BZobAQAAIAAJ#page/n946/mode/1up 138]</ref>
In the late 19th century, Bayt Dajan was described as moderate-sized village surrounded by olive trees.<ref>Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp02conduoft#page/251/mode/1up p. 251]. Cited in Khalidi, 1992, p. 237.</ref> Philip Baldensperger noted of Bayt Dajan in 1895 that:<blockquote>The inhabitants are very industrious, occupied chiefly in making mats and baskets for carrying earth and stones. They own camels for carrying loads from Jaffa to Jerusalem, cultivate the lands, and work at building etc., in Jaffa or on the railway works. The women flock every day to Jaffa and on Wednesday to Ramla—to the market held there, with chickens, eggs and milk.<ref>Weir, p. 207, citing Philip Baldensperger (1895): "Beth-Dejan", in ''Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly'', [https://archive.org/stream/quarterlystateme27pale#page/n149/mode/1up p. 114] ff.</ref></blockquote> In 1903, a cache of gold coins were found in Khirbet Dajun by villagers from Bayt Dajan, who used the site as a quarry. The discovery prompted R. A. Macalister to visit. Based on his observations detailed in a report for the Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF), Macalister believes the area was inhabited on a continuous basis:<blockquote>"Thus we have three epochs in the history of Beth-Dagon — the first on an as yet unknown site, from the Amorite to the Roman periods; the second at Dajiin, extending over the Roman and early Arab periods; the third at the modern Beit Dejan, lasting to the present day. It is probable that the present population could, had they the necessary documents, show a continuous chain of ancestry extending from the first city to the last."<ref name=PEF>Macalister, 1903, p. [https://archive.org/stream/quarterlystateme35pale#page/357/mode/1up 357]</ref></blockquote>
===British Mandate era=== By the 20th century, the village had two elementary schools, one for boys, and one for girls. The school for boys was established during the British Mandate in Palestine in 1920. It housed a library of 600 books and acquired 15 dunams of land for teaching agronomy.<ref name="Khalidi2">Khalidi, 1992, p. 237</ref>
In the 1922 census of Palestine, ''Bait-Dajan'' had a population of 1,714 residents, all Muslims.<ref name=Census1922>Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Jaffa, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n22/mode/1up 20]</ref> The 1931 census of Palestine lists 2,664 inhabitants: 2,626 Muslims, 27 Christians and 11 Jews, in a total of 591 houses.<ref name=Census1931>Mills, 1932, p. [https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas 13].</ref>
In 1934, when Fakhri al-Nashashibi established the Arab Workers Society (AWS) in Jerusalem, an AWS branch was also opened in Bayt Dajan.<ref name=Matthewsp228>Matthews, 2006, p. 228.</ref> By 1940, 353 males and 102 females attended the schools.<ref name="Khalidi2"/>
In the 1945 statistics the population was 3,840; 130 Christians and 3,710 Muslims,<ref name=1945p27/> while the total land area was 17,327 dunams.<ref name=Hadawi52/> Of this, a total of 7,990 dunams of land was used for citrus and banana cultivation, 676 dunams for cereals and 3,195 dunams were irrigated or used for orchards,<ref name="Khalidi2"/><ref>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945''. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20II/Jaffa/Page-095.jpg 95]</ref> while 14 dunams were classified as built-up areas.<ref>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20III/Jaffa/Page-145.jpg 145]</ref>
thumb|Bayt Dajan 1929 1:20,000 thumb|Bayt Dajan 1945 1:250,000
===1948 Palestine War=== [[File:Palmach Bayt Dajan.jpg|thumb|Palmach HQ in Bayt Dajan,1947]] The village of Bayt Dajan was depopulated in the weeks leading up to the 1948 Arab–Israeli war, during the Haganah's offensive ''Mivtza Hametz'' (Operation Hametz) on 28–30 April 1948. This operation was held against a group of villages east of Jaffa, including Bayt Dajan. According to the preparatory orders, the objective was "opening the way [for Jewish forces] to Lydda". Though there was no explicit mention of the prospective treatment of the villagers, the order spoke of "cleansing the area" [''tihur hashetah''].<ref>HGS\Operations to Alexandroni, etc., "Orders for Operation "Hametz", 26 Apr. 1948. IDFA 6647\49\\15. Cited in Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA217 217], [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA286 286]</ref> The final operational order stated: "Civilian inhabitants of places conquered would be permitted to leave after they are searched for weapons."<ref>Operation Hametz HQ to Givati, etc., 27 Apr. 1948, 14:00 hours, IDFA 67\51\\677. See also Alexandroni to battalions, 27 Apr. 1948, IDFA 922\75\\949. Cited in Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA217 217], [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA286 286]</ref> On the 30 April, it was reported that the inhabitants of the Bayt Dajan had left, and that Iraqi irregulars had moved into the village.<ref>54th Battalion to Givati, "Subject: Summary for 29.4.48", 30 Apr. 1948, IDFA 1041\49\\18. Cited in Morris, 2004, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA176 176], [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA269 269]</ref>
Bayt Dajan was one of villages occupied in June-July 1948 on the advice of a committee headed by Joseph Weitz.<ref>Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA314 314]</ref><ref name=Fischbachp14>Fischbach, 2003, p. [https://archive.org/details/recordsofdisposs00fisc/page/14 14]</ref> On 16 June 1948, David Ben-Gurion, probably based on a progress report from Weitz, cited Bayt Dajan as one of the villages that had been destroyed.<ref>Entry for 16 June 1948, DBG-YH II, 523–24. Cited in Morris, 2004, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA350 350], [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA398 398]</ref> On 23 September 1948, the military government proposed resettling Bayt Dajan with new immigrants.<ref>Protocol of Meeting of Military Government Committee, 23 Sep. 1948, ISA FM 2564\11. Cited in Morris, 2004, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA394 394], [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA413 413]</ref>
===Israel=== Following the war the area was incorporated into the State of Israel. Four villages, Beit Dagan (established six months after the conquest), Mishmar HaShiv'a (1949), Hemed (1950) and Ganot (1953) were later established on land that had belonged to the Bayt Dajan.<ref name="Khalidi3">Khalidi, 1992, p. 238</ref>
The Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi described the village in 1992: "A number of houses remain; some are deserted, others are occupied by Jewish families, or used as stores, office buildings, or warehouses. They exhibit a variety of architectural features. One inhabited house is made of concrete and has a rectangular plan, a flat roof, rectangular front windows, and two arched side windows. Another has been converted into the Eli Cohen synagogue; it is made of concrete and has a flat roof and a round-arched front door and window. Stars of David have been painted on its front door and what appears to be a garage door. One of the deserted houses is made of concrete and has a gabled, tiled roof that is starting to collapse; others are sealed and stand amid shrubs and weeds. Cactuses and cypress, fig, and date palm trees grow on the site. The land in the vicinity is cultivated by Israelis."<ref name="Khalidi3"/>
==Demographics== During early Ottoman rule in 1596, there were 633 inhabitants in Bayt Dajan.<ref name="Hut and Abd"/> In the 1922 British Mandate census, the village had 1,714 residents,<ref name=Census1922/> rising to 2,664 in 1931.<ref name=Census1931/> There were 591 houses in the latter year.<ref name="Khalidi1">Khalidi, 1992, p. 236.</ref> Sami Hadawi counted a population of 3,840 Arab inhabitants in his 1945 land and population survey.<ref name=Hadawi52>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/Jaffa/Page-052.jpg 52].</ref> From the 4th century CE to the 10th century, Samaritans populated Bayt Dajan.<ref name="Khalidi1"/> In 1945, Most of the inhabitants were Muslims, but a Christian community of 130 also existed in the village.<ref name="Khalidi2"/> Palestinian refugees amounted to 27,355 people in 1998.<ref name=PR/>
==Culture== thumb|Patterns ornamenting houses, noted by Baldensperger, 1893<ref name="B1893"/> Philip J. Baldensperger noted in 1893: "At Beit Dejan I copied the following marks or drawings with which the houses are ornamented. The woman of the house generally paints them in whitewash. I was given the following signification:"<ref name="B1893">Baldensperger, 1893, p. [https://archive.org/details/quarterlystateme25pale/page/n235/mode/1up 216]</ref> "They also very often print hands on the doors, by dipping their own into whitewash, and pressing them against the door. They very often mark with henna at the feasts the door-posts of the Makam or Wely."<ref name="B1893b">Baldensperger, 1893, p. [https://archive.org/details/quarterlystateme25pale/page/n236/mode/1up 217]</ref>
thumb|Bayt Dajan wedding dress, ca 1920 Bayt Dajan was known to be among the wealthiest communities in the Jaffa area, and their embroideresses were reported to be among the most artistic.<ref name=Grutz>{{cite magazine|title=Woven Legacy, Woven Language|author=Jane Waldron Grutz|magazine=Saudi Aramco World|date=January–February 1991|access-date=2008-01-17|url=http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199101/woven.legacy.woven.language.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070219004053/http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199101/woven.legacy.woven.language.htm|archive-date=2007-02-19|url-status=dead}}</ref> A center for weaving and embroidery, it exerted influences on many other surrounding villages and towns. Costumes from Beit Dajan were noted for their varied techniques, many of which were adopted and elaborated from other local styles.<ref name=PCA2/>
White linen garments inspired by Ramallah styles were popular, using patchwork and appliqued sequins in addition to embroidery.<ref name=PCA2>{{Cite web|title=Palestine costume before 1948: by region|publisher=Palestine Costume Archive|access-date=2008-08-01|url=http://www.palestinecostumearchive.org/regional.htm |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20020913101705/http://www.palestinecostumearchive.org/regional.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=2002-09-13 }}</ref> A key motif was the ''nafnuf'' design: a floral pattern thought to be inspired by the locally grown orange trees.<ref name=PCA2/> The ''nafnuf'' design evolved after World War I into embroidery running down the dress in long panels known as "branches" (''erq''). This ''erq'' style was the forerunner of the "6 branch" style dresses worn by Palestinian women in different regions today.<ref name=PCA2/> In the 1920s, a lady from Bethlehem named Maneh Hazbun came to live in Bayt Dajan after her brother bought some orange groves there. She introduced the ''rashek'' (couching with silk) style of embroidery, a local imitation of the Bethlehem style.<ref name=Weir225>Weir, 1989, pp. 225, 227.</ref>
The ''jillayeh'' (the embroidered outer garment for wedding costume) used in Bayt Dajan was quite similar to those of Ramallah. The difference was in decoration and embroidery. Typical for Bayt Dajan would be a motif consisting of two triangles, mirror-faced, with or without an embroidered stripe between them, and with inverted cypresses at the edges.<ref name=Stillmanp66/> A ''jillayeh'' from Bayt Dajan (c. 1920s) is exhibited at the British Museum. The caption notes that the dress would be worn by the bride at the final ritual of wedding week celebrations, a procession known as 'going to the well'. Accompanied by all the village women in their finest dress, the bride would go to the well to present a tray of sweets to the guardian of the well and fill her pitcher with water to ensure good fortune for her home.<ref name=BM>{{Cite web|title=Explore - Highlights: Coat dress|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aoa/c/coat_dress.aspx|publisher=British Museum|access-date=2009-03-13}}</ref> There are also several items from Bayt Dajan and the surrounding area is in the Museum of International Folk Art (MOIFA) collection at Santa Fe, United States.<ref name=Stillmanp66>Stillman, 1979, pp. 66, 67.</ref>
===Artistic representations=== Palestinian artist Sliman Mansour made Bayt Dajan the subject of one of his paintings. The work, named for the village, was one of a series of four on destroyed Palestinian villages that he produced in 1988; the others being Yalo, Imwas and Yibna.<ref name=Ankorip82>Ankori, 2006, p. 82.</ref>
==See also== *Depopulated Palestinian locations in Israel *List of villages depopulated during the Arab–Israeli conflict *Sakher Habash
==References== {{Reflist|25em}}
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Collected and Edited by Arthur Hassall|url=https://archive.org/details/historicalintrod00stubiala/page/363/mode/1up|first1=W.|last1=Stubbs|author-link1=William Stubbs|first2=Arthur|last2=Hassall|publisher=Adamant Media Corporation|year=1902}} *{{cite book|last=Weir|first=Shelagh|year=1989|title=Palestinian Costume|publisher=British Museum Publications Ltd.|isbn=0-7141-2517-2}} Exhibition catalog; see also chapters five and six (p. 203–270) on "Changing Fashions in Beit Dajan" and "Wedding Rituals in Beit Dajan". *{{cite book|title=The places where men pray together: cities in Islamic lands, seventh through the tenth centuries|first=P.|last=Wheatley|author-link=Paul Wheatley (geographer) |edition=Illustrated|publisher=University of Chicago Press|year=2000|isbn=978-0-226-89428-7}} *{{cite journal |last=Yannai |first=Eli |date=2008-08-24 |url=http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=867&mag_id=114 |title=Bet Dagan |publisher=Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel |number=120 }} *{{cite journal|last=Yechielov|first=Stella|date=2013-05-23|url=http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=2231&mag_id=120|title=Bet Dagan|publisher=Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel|number=125}} {{Refend}}
==Further reading== *Widad Kawar/Shelagh Weir: [https://web.archive.org/web/20061009125716/http://arabheritage.org/bibliography.html ''Costumes and Wedding Customs in Bayt Dajan'']
==External links== *[http://www.palestineremembered.com/Jaffa/Bayt-Dajan/index.html Palestine Remembered – Bayt Dajan] *[http://www.zochrot.org/en/village/49057 Bayt Dajan], Zochrot *Survey of Western Palestine, Map 13: [http://www.iaa-archives.org.il/zoom/zoom.aspx?folder_id=93&type_id=6&id=8375 IAA], [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Survey_of_Western_Palestine_1880.13.jpg Wikimedia commons] *[https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aoa/c/coat_dress.aspx Coat dress], in British Museum
{{Palestinian Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Palestine War}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Arab villages depopulated prior to the 1948 Arab–Israeli War Category:District of Jaffa Category:Ancient Samaritan settlements