{{Short description|Depopulated Palestinian town in Israel}} {{pp-extended|small=yes}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Bayt Nattif | native_name = بيت نتّيف | native_name_lang = ar | settlement_type= <!-- images, nickname, motto --> | image_skyline = File:Beit Natif 1948.jpg | imagesize = 250 px | image_caption = Bayt Nattif 1948, after occupation | etymology = The house of Nettif<ref>Palmer, 1881, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp00conduoft#page/286/mode/1up 286]</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 Nattif (click the buttons) | pushpin_mapsize = 200 | coordinates = {{coord|31|41|32|N|34|59|40|E|type:city_region:PS|display=inline,title}} | grid_name = Palestine grid | grid_position = 149/122 <!-- location --> | subdivision_type = Geopolitical entity | subdivision_name = Mandatory Palestine | subdivision_type1 = Subdistrict | subdivision_name1 = Hebron <!-- established --> | established_title1= Date of depopulation | established_date1 = October 21, 1948<ref>Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PR20 xx], village #342. Also gives cause of depopulation.</ref> | established_title2= Repopulated dates <!-- population --> | population_as_of = 1945 | population_total = 2150 <!-- blank fields (section 1) --> | blank_name_sec1 = Cause(s) of depopulation | blank_info_sec1 = Military assault by Yishuv forces | blank3_name_sec1 = Current Localities | blank3_info_sec1 = Netiv HaLamed-Heh,<ref name=Khalidi212/> Aviezer,<ref name=Khalidi212/> Neve Michael<ref name=Khalidi212>Khalidi, 1992, p. 212</ref> }}
'''Bayt Nattif''' or '''Beit Nattif''' ({{langx|ar|بيت نتّيف}}, {{Langx|he|בית נטיף}} and {{Script/Hebrew|בית נתיף}} alternatively) was a Palestinian village, located some 20 kilometers (straight line distance) southwest of Jerusalem, midway on the ancient Roman road between Beit Guvrin and Jerusalem, and 21 km northwest of Hebron.<ref name=Khalidi211/> The village was on a hilltop, surrounded by olive groves and almonds, with woodlands of oak and carobs overlooking ''Wadi es-Sunt'' (the Elah Valley) to its south.<ref name=Khalidi211/> It contained several shrines, including one dedicated to el-Sheykh Ibrahim.<ref name=Khalidi211/> Roughly a dozen khirbas (deserted, ruined settlements) lay in the vicinity.<ref name=Khalidi211/>
During the British Mandate it was part of the Hebron Subdistrict. Bayt Nattif was depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War on October 21, 1948 under Operation Ha-Har.<ref name=Khalidi211>Khalidi, 1992, pp. 211-212.</ref>
==Name == In Roman period the town was known as Bethletepha<ref name= Mac>{{Cite book |last=Rogers |first=Guy MacLean |title=For the Freedom of Zion: the Great Revolt of Jews against Romans, 66-74 CE |date=2021 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-24813-5 |location=New Haven |pages= [https://books.google.com/books?id=hMhQEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA287 287], [https://books.google.com/books?id=hMhQEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA535 535] |quote=Bethleptepha: Beit Nettif; village 12.4 miles southwest of Jerusalem in Judaea; destroyed by Vespasian in the spring of 68 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=hMhQEAAAQBAJ |access-date= 8 July 2025}}</ref> or Betholetepha, and commonly known by its Greek equivalent, Bethletephon.<ref name= ESch>{{cite book |last= Schürer |first= Emil |title= The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ (175 B.C.-A.D. 135) |page= 910 |editor=Geza Vermes |editor2=Fergus Millar |editor3=Martin Goodman |editor4=Pamela Vermes |editor5=Matthew Black |publisher=T&T Clark |volume= II, part 2 |year= 2004 |orig-year= 1885 |edition= reprint of 1997 revised |isbn= 9780567093738 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=w-LtcEbdXKoC&pg=PA910 |access-date=30 December 2020}}</ref><ref name= Tsafrir>Tsafrir, Di Segni and Green (1994), p. 84.</ref><ref>Chaniotis, A., Corsten, T., Papazarkadas, N. and Tybout, R.A., "SEG 61-1422. Betholetepha/Pella (Beit Nattif). Epitaphs in a burial chamber, 3rd cent. A.D.", in: Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum, Current editors: A. T. E. N. Chaniotis Corsten Stavrianopolou Papazarkadas. Consulted online on 30 December 2020<http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1874-6772_seg_a61_1422></ref>
According to Muhammad Abu Halawa, the name was originally Bayt Lettif, which was simplified to Bayt Nattif because it was easier to pronounce.<ref> Muhammad Abu Halawa (born 1929) made this claim in an interview with Rakan Mahmoud in 2009. See [http://vimeo.com/5653392 ''Palestine Oral History'': Interview with Muhammad Halawa #1, Bayt Nattif-Hebron], Arabic (In video: 2:48 – 2:56)</ref>
==History== ===Early Roman period (63 BCE – 135 CE)=== Bayt Nattif stood on the much-travelled ancient road connecting Eleutheropolis (Beth Guvrin, later Bayt Jibrin) with Jerusalem, about midway between the two towns.<ref name=LiveScience.com-1>{{cite news |last= Geggel |first= Laura |title= Ancient Route Connected to Roman 'Emperor's Road' Unearthed in Israel |language= en |publisher= LiveScience.com (via Yahoo.com) |date=9 March 2017 |url= https://www.yahoo.com/news/ancient-route-connected-roman-emperors-163200196.html |access-date= 10 March 2017 }}</ref>
In the Roman province of Judaea (6–135 CE), the town became the capital of one of the eleven toparchies or prefectures of the province, receiving certain administrative responsibilities, and is known from some classical sources by the name Betholetepha.<ref>The 11 were the toparchies of: 1) Gophna, 2) Acrabatta, 3) Thamna, 4) Lydda, 5) Emmaus, 6) Pella, 7) Idumea, one of whose principal cities being '''Bethletephon''', 8) Engaddi, 9) Herodium, 10) Jericho, and 11) Jamnia and Joppa. These all answered to Jerusalem.[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0148%3Abook%3D3%3Awhiston+chapter%3D3%3Awhiston+section%3D5 Josephus, ''De Bello Judaico'' (The Jewish War), 3.3.5] (3.51)</ref><ref name=ZissuKlein/> This region was called Idumea on account of it being inhabited largely by the descendants of Esau (Edom) who were converted to Judaism during the time of John Hyrcanus.<ref>Josephus, ''De Bello Judaico'' (The Jewish War), 2.20.3-4</ref>
During the first Jewish uprising against Rome (66-73), in the 12th year of the reign of Nero, when the Roman army had suffered a great defeat under Cestius Gallus, with more than five thousand foot soldiers killed, the people of the surrounding countryside feared reprisals from the Roman army and made haste to appoint generals and to fortify their settlements. Generals were at that time appointed for Idumea, namely, over the entire region immediately south and south-west of Jerusalem, and which incorporated within it the towns of Bethletephon, Betaris {{sic}} (corrected to read ''Begabris''),<ref>{{cite book|last1=Robinson|first1=E.|author-link1=Edward Robinson (scholar)|last2=Smith|first2=E.|author-link2=Eli Smith|year=1856|url=https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearc02smitgoog#page/n4/mode/2up |title=Biblical Researches in Palestine, and in the Adjacent Regions. Journal of Travels in the Year 1838|location=London / Boston|publisher=Crocker & Brewster|volume=2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/biblicalresearc02smitgoog/page/66/mode/2up?view=theater 67 (note 7)] |oclc=425957927 }}, citing Reland who cites in turn Tyrannius Rufinus, based on his Latin translation of Josephus' ''The Jewish War'' (4.8.1.).</ref> Kefar Tobah, Adurim, and Maresha. Later in the revolt, in spring 68 CE, the city was destroyed by Vespasian and Titus, as recorded by Josephus.<ref>Josephus, ''De Bello Judaico'' (The Jewish War) 4.8.1.</ref><ref name= Mac/>
Based on the writings of Josephus and archaeological discoveries, the town and surrounding region were predominantly Jewish until the Bar-Kokhba revolt of 132–135 CE.<ref name=RosenBottom>{{cite journal |last= Rosenthal-Heginbottom |first= Renate |title= Review of Achim Lichtenberger, ''Terrakotten aus Beit Nattif. Eine Untersuchung zur religiösen Alltagspraxis im spätantiken Judäa.'' Contextualizing the Sacred 7. Turnhout: Brepols 2016, ISBN 978-2-503-56884-3. |journal= Les Carnets de l'ACoSt (Association for Coroplastic Studies) |issue= 17–Varia |year= 2018 |doi= 10.4000/acost.1150 |doi-access= free |url= https://journals.openedition.org/acost/pdf/1150 }}</ref><ref name=ZissuKlein>{{cite journal |last1=Zissu |first1=Boaz |author-link1=:he:בועז זיסו |last2=Klein |first2=Eitan |title=A Rock-Cut Burial Cave from the Roman Period at Beit Nattif, Judaean Foothills |pages=196–216 |journal=Israel Exploration Journal |volume=61 |issue=2 |year=2011 |url=http://lisa.biu.ac.il/files/lisa/shared/Zissu-Klein-IEJ_61-2011.pdf |access-date=2014-08-16 |archive-date=2014-08-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140816223801/http://lisa.biu.ac.il/files/lisa/shared/Zissu-Klein-IEJ_61-2011.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
===Late Roman and Byzantine periods (135 – early 7th century)=== [[Image:NMMI IMG 8842.JPG|thumb|150px|Figurine discovered at Bayt Nattif: boy with medallion, Late Roman period (late 3rd–early 4th century CE), Israeli National Maritime Museum in Haifa]]
Archaeological findings indicate that after the revolt, during the Late Roman period, the town has been resettled with pagan Roman citizens and army veterans, as part of the Romanisation process of the rural area surrounding Aelia Capitolina and reaching downhill towards Eleutheropolis.<ref name=ZissuKlein/> At this time the town was still an important site.<ref name=ZissuKlein/>
A rectangular structure with a decorated floor mosaic was interpreted in 1934 to be the remains of a fifth- or sixth-century Byzantine church.<ref name=B1935>Baramki,1935, pp.[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.56294/page/n237/mode/1up 119]–[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.56294/page/n243/mode/1up 121]</ref><ref name=ZissuKlein/>
===Ottoman period (1517–1917)=== In 1596, Bayt Nattif was listed among villages belonging to the ''nahiya'' ''Quds'', in the administrative district ''Liwā`'' of Jerusalem, in a tax ledger of the "countries of Syria" (''wilāyat aš-Šām'') and which lands were then under Ottoman rule. During that year, Bayt Nattif was inhabited by 94 households and 10 bachelors, all Muslim. The Ottoman authority levied a 33.3% taxation on agricultural products produced by the villagers (primarily on wheat, barley, olives, sesame seeds and grapes, among other fruits), besides a marriage tax and supplement tax on goats and beehives. Total revenues accruing from the village of Bayt Nattif for that year amounted to 12,000 ''akçe''.<ref>Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 114</ref><ref>Toledano, 1984, p. 290, gives the position of 34°59′20″E 31°41′45″N</ref>
In 1838 Edward Robinson visited, and remarks that their party was very well received by the villagers. He further noted that the villagers belonged to the "Keis" faction,<ref>Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 2, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearc00smitgoog#page/n363/mode/1up 341]-347</ref><ref>Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/n32/mode/1up 16]</ref> and that they were a Muslim village, located in the el-Arkub District, southwest of Jerusalem.<ref name=Robinson125>Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/125/mode/1up 125]</ref>
By the mid-19th century, a rift had divided families in the region over control of the district ''Bani Hasan'', until at length it broke out into actual fighting between the Keis (Qays) faction on the one side and the Yaman faction on the other.<ref>Schölch, 1993, p. 229</ref> Meron Benvenisti, writing of this period, says that Sheikh 'Utham al-Lahham waged "a bloody war against Sheikh Mustafa Abu Ghosh, whose capital and fortified seat was in the village of Suba."<ref>Benvenisti, 2002, in a chapter named "The Convenience of the Crusades", p. [https://archive.org/details/sacredlandscapeb00benvrich/page/n330 301]</ref><ref name=Scholchp231>Schölch, 1993, p. 231</ref> In 1855, Mohammad Atallah in ''Bayt Nattif'', a cousin of 'Utham al-Lahham, contested his rule over the region. In order to win support from Abu Ghosh, Mohammad Atallah gave his allegiance to the Yaman faction. This is said to have enraged 'Utham al-Lahham. He raised a fighting force and fell on ''Bayt Nattif'' on 3 January 1855. The village lost 21 dead. According to an eyewitness description by the horrified British consul, James Finn, their corpses were terribly mutilated.<ref name=Scholchp232>Schölch, 1993, p. 232</ref><ref>Finn, 1878, vol 2, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/stirringtimesor02finngoog#page/n206/mode/1up/search/Nateef 194]-210</ref>
In the mid-nineteenth century, Beit Naṭṭīf was among several Hebron-area villages—along with Zakariyya, Beit Jibrīn, Ṣurīf, and al-Dawāymeh—whose territories were expanded to include earlier ruin sites. Following the Ottoman land reforms of 1858–1859, these villages received legal title to formerly state-owned (mīrī) lands, marking a phase of agrarian reorganization and renewed cultivation in the Judean Foothills.<ref>Orit Peleg-Barkat, Roy Marom, Gregg E. Gardner, Michael Chernin, and Saleh Kharanbeh, "[https://www.academia.edu/144340995/Rural_adaptation_and_settlement_change_in_the_late_Islamic_Jabal_al_Khal%C4%B1l_Judean_Foothills_ Rural adaptation and settlement change in the late Islamic Jabal al-Khalīl (Judean Foothills)]," ''Journal of Historical Geography'' 90 (2025): 87–98.</ref>
In 1863 Victor Guérin visited twice. The first time he visited he estimated that the village contained about one thousand inhabitants. He further noted that the houses were crudely built, one of them, which was assigned to the reception of foreigners, the ''al-Medhafeh'', was a square tower. Above the entrance of the ''al-Medhafeh'' was a large block for lintel, featuring elegant mouldings, Guérin assumed it came from an ancient destroyed monument. Many other ancient stones were embedded here and there in private homes. Two wells, several cisterns and a number of silos and stores carved in the rock, and in continued use, were also ancient.<ref>Guérin, 1869, pt. 2, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongog02gu#page/374/mode/1up 374]-377</ref><ref>Guérin, 1869, pt. 3, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongogr06gugoog#page/n342/mode/1up 329]-330</ref>
Socin, citing an official Ottoman village list compiled around 1870, noted that Bayt Nattif had 66 houses and a population of 231, though the population count included men only.<ref>Socin, 1879, p. [https://archive.org/stream/zeitschriftdesde01deut#page/147/mode/1up 147]</ref> Hartmann found that ''Bayt Nattif'' had 120 houses.<ref>Hartmann, 1883, p. [https://archive.org/stream/bub_gb_BZobAQAAIAAJ#page/n953/mode/1up 145]</ref>
In 1883, the PEF's ''Survey of Western Palestine'' described Bayt Nattif as being "a village of fair size, standing high on a flat-topped ridge between two broad valleys. On the south, about 400 feet below, is a spring (''`Ain el Kezbeh''), and on the north a rock-cut tomb was found. There are fine olive-groves round the place, and the open valleys are very fertile in corn."<ref>Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp03conduoft#page/24/mode/1up 24]</ref>
Around 1896, the population of ''Bayt Nattif'' was estimated to be about 672 persons.<ref>Schick, 1896, p. [https://archive.org/stream/zeitschriftdesde19deut#page/n230/mode/1up 123]</ref>
===British Mandate (1920–1948)=== For all practical purposes, the British inherited from their Turkish counterparts the existing laws in regard to land tenures as defined in the Ottoman Land Code, to which laws there was later added subsidiary legislation.<ref>''A Survey of Palestine'' (Prepared in December 1945 and January 1946 for the information of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry), chapter 8, section 5, British Mandate Government of Palestine: Jerusalem 1946, p. 255</ref> At the time of the British occupation the land tax was collected at the rate of 12.5% of the gross yield of the land. Crops were assessed on the threshing floor or in the field and the tithe was collected from the cultivators.<ref>''A Survey of Palestine'' (Prepared in December 1945 and January 1946 for the information of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry), chapter 8, section 4, British Mandate Government of Palestine: Jerusalem 1946, p. 246</ref> In 1925, additional legislation provided that taxation on crops and other produce not exceed 10%. In 1928, as a measure of reform, the Mandate Government of Palestine began to apply an Ordinance for the "Commutation of Tithes," this tax in effect being a fixed aggregate amount paid annually. It was related to the average amount of tithe (tax) that had been paid by the village during the four years immediately preceding the application of the Ordinance to it.<ref>''A Survey of Palestine'' (Prepared in December 1945 and January 1946 for the information of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry), chapter 8, section 4, British Mandate Government of Palestine: Jerusalem 1946, pp. 246 – 247</ref>
In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Bayt Nattif had a population of 1,112, all Muslims,<ref name=Barron10>Barron, 1923, Table V, Sub-district of Hebron, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n12/mode/1up 10]</ref> increasing in the 1931 census to 1,649, still all Muslim, in a total of 329 houses (which figure includes houses built in the nearby ruin, ''Khirbet Umm al-Ra’us'').<ref name=Census1931>Mills, 1932, p. [https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas 28]</ref>
In 1927, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi reported local traditions indicating that families of Jewish descent resided in Bayt Nattif. Locals said they converted to Islam around five hundred years earlier.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Ben-Zvi |first=Itzhak |author-link=Yitzhak Ben-Zvi |title=שאר ישוב: מאמרים ופרקים בדברי ימי הישוב העברי בא"י ובחקר המולדת |publisher=none |year=1967 |location=תל אביב תרפ"ז |pages=409 |language=Hebrew |trans-title=She'ar Yeshuv}}</ref>
In 1926, some 259 dunums (61.77 acres) of land near Beit Nattif were designated as "Jabal es-Sira Forest Reserve no. 73," held by the State.<ref>[http://www.archives.gov.il/en/archives/#/Archive/0b0717068002237c/File/0b071706805b205a May 1939, Office of the Commissioner for Lands and Surveys, Jerusalem] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408115228/https://www.archives.gov.il/en/archives/#/Archive/0b0717068002237c/File/0b071706805b205a |date=2023-04-08 }}, Conservator of Forest, Government of Palestine (Department of Forests)</ref>
By the 1945 statistics, the population had increased to 2,150 Muslims.<ref name=1945p23>Department of Statistics, 1945, p. [http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VSpages/VS1945_p23.jpg 23]</ref><ref name=Hadawi50>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945''. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/Hebron/Page-050.jpg 50]</ref> In 1944/45, a total of 20,149 dunums were allocated to cereal grains in the adjacent lowlands; 688 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards,<ref>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20II/Hebron/Page-093.jpg 93]</ref> while 162 dunams were built-up (urban) 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/Hebron/Page-143.jpg 143]</ref>
===1948 war and depopulation=== In the proposed 1947 UN Partition Plan, it was designated as part of the Arab state.<ref name=UN>{{Cite web|title=Map of UN Partition Plan|publisher=United Nations|url=http://domino.un.org/maps/m0103_1b.gif| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090124212115/http://domino.un.org/maps/m0103_1b.gif| archive-date= 24 January 2009}}</ref>
As hostilities broke out in the wake of the publication of the plan, Yohanan Reiner and Fritz Eisenstadt, military advisors of David Ben-Gurion proposed, on December 18, 1947, that any Arab attack be met with a decisive blow, consisting of the "destruction of the place or chasing out the inhabitants and taking their place." Such proposals were mulled and shelved - one participant likening such proposals to the destruction of Lidice - but in January 1948, a Jerusalem District HQ document entitled "Lines of Planning for Area Campaigns for the Month of February 1948," foresaw taking steps to secure the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv route. In this document one measure consisted of "the destruction of villages or objects dominating our settlements or threatening our lines of transportation," and among the objectives of the plan the destruction of the southern bloc of Beit Nattif was envisaged.<ref>Benny Morris, The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee problem Recvisited, ''Cambridge University Press'' 2004 pp.73-74.</ref><ref>Gerard Michaud,[https://www.jpost.com/Magazine/Features/A-matter-of-choice 'A matter of choice:Palestinians say they wouldn't necessarily exercise the 'right of return,'] ''The Jerusalem Post'' 7 February 2008</ref>
The official Jewish account (The "History of Haganah") alleges that the village of Bayt Nattif took part in the killing of thirty-five Jewish fighters (see the Convoy of 35, the "Lamed-Heh") who were ''en route'' with supplies to the besieged block of kibbutzim of Gush Etzion, on January 16, 1948. However, reports from ''The New York Times'' correspondent indicate that the convoy took a wrong turn, and ended up in Surif. The Arab version is that the convoy had attacked Surif deliberately, and had held it for an hour before being driven out.{{dubious|This goes against any logic, the 35 were running against time, trying to make it up the slope before sunrise. 35 against a village of some 2200 inhabitants? Khalidi is not accessible online, so one cannot even check if there was such a perception or claim on the Arab side. Please give the quote or this must be taken out.|date=December 2020}} After this, the Haganah mounted a "punitive" attack on Bayt Nattif, Dayr Aban and Az-Zakariyya.<ref name=Khalidi212/> In late January 1948, the Haganah's Jerusalem HQ ordered "the destruction of the southern block of Bayt Nattif" in order to secure transportation along the Tel-Aviv-Jerusalem highway.<ref>Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA74 74]</ref>
The Israeli Air Force bombed the area of Bayt Nattif on October 19, 1948, which started panic flights from Bayt Nattif and Bayt Jibrin.<ref>Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA468 468], note #32 in Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA494 494]</ref> Bayt Nattif was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War on October 21, 1948 under ''Operation Ha-Har'', by the Fourth Battalion of the Har'el Brigade.<ref name=Khalidi211/><ref name=Morris2008p329>Morris, 2008, p. 329</ref><ref>Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA462 462]</ref> There are conflicting reports about its conquest, one Palmach report says that the villagers "fled for their lives",<ref name=Morris466>Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA466 466] note #14, in Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA493 493]. "Book of the Palmah, II" pp. 646, 652</ref> while a Haganah report says that the village was occupied "after some light resistance."<ref name=Khalidi211/>
During late 1948, the IDF continued to destroy conquered Arab villages, in order to block the villagers return.<ref name=Morris400/> Among these destroyed villages was Bayt Nattif which, based on Jewish sources, was completely destroyed as a punitive measure for the village's involvement in the detection and massacre of the Convoy of the thirty-five.<ref>''Har’el: Palmach brigade in Jerusalem'', Zvi Dror (ed. Nathan Shoḥam), Hakibbutz Hameuchad Publishers: Benei Barak 2005, p. 270 (Hebrew)</ref> There are also conflicting reports about which other villages were destroyed with it; one report says that Dayr Aban was destroyed with it,<ref name =Morris400>Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA355 355], footnote #85, on Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA400 400]: Harel Brigade HQ, "Daily report for 22 October", 23 Oct. 1948, IDFA 4775\49\3, for the destruction of Bait Nattiv and Deir Aban</ref> while another report says that Dayr al-Hawa was destroyed with it.<ref name=Morris466/>
On 5 November, the Harel Brigade raided the area south of Bayt Nattif, driving out any Palestinian refugee they could find.<ref>Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA518 518]</ref> <gallery> File:Bayt Nattif i.jpg|Harel Brigade clearing Bayt Nattif. 1948 File:Harel in Bayt Nattif.jpg|5th Battalion, Harel Brigade in Bayt Nattif, 1948 File:Bayt Nattif 1948.jpg|Houses being demolished by the Harel Brigade, Bayt Nattif, 1948 File:Bayt Nattif ii.jpg|Bayt Nattif during demolition by the Harel Brigade, 1948 File:Bayt Nattif.jpg|Members of the Yiftach Brigade in Bayt Nattif, 1948 </gallery>
===Israel (since 1948)=== Netiv HaLamed-Heh was built on village land in 1949, while Aviezer and Neve Michael were built on village land in 1958.<ref name=Khalidi212/> After the Arab-Israeli War of 1948, the ruin of Bayt Nattif remained under Israeli control under the terms of the 1949 Armistice Agreement<ref>[http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/MFADocuments/Yearbook1/Pages/Israel-Jordan%20Armistice%20Agreement.aspx The 1949 Armistice Agreement between Israel and Jordan]</ref> between Israel and Jordan, until such time that the agreement was dissolved in 1967.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://i46.tinypic.com/2uepnk8.png|title=Enlarged map showing Bayt Nattif (Beit Nattif) in relation to the "Green-Line"|access-date=2017-05-26|archive-date=2017-10-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023071109/http://i46.tinypic.com/2uepnk8.png|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>[http://www.btselem.org/download/settlements_map_heb.pdf Larger map showing "1949 Cease-fire line" (Green-line) between Israel and Jordan] (Hebrew)</ref>
Today, the land that once was the site of Bayt Nattif comprises what is now called The Forest of the Thirty-Five ({{langx|he|יַעֲר הַל"ה|Ya'ar HaLamed He}}) and is maintained by the Jewish National Fund. Erik Ader, former Dutch ambassador to Norway, whose father Bastiaan Jan Ader is memorialized in the forest as one of the Righteous Among the Nations for saving 200 Jews from the Holocaust, has asked that his father's name be removed as a protest against what Ader called "the ethnic cleansing" of Palestinians.<ref name=":0" /> In response, the Jewish National Fund expressed its respect for the actions of Ader’s parents, stating that the monument was legally constructed on state-owned lands.<ref name=":0">England, Charlotte [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-palestine-holocaust-memorial-man-who-rescued-jews-from-nazis-wants-his-name-removed-due-to-a7433346.html Man whose father saved Jews from Nazis asks Israel to take his name off 'ethnic cleansing' memorial] The Independent 23 November 2016</ref><ref>Cnaan Liphshiz, [http://forward.com/news/breaking-news/355098/righteous-gentiles-son-wants-name-pulled-from-memorial-in-seized-palestinia/?attribution=home-top-story-2-headline'Righteous Gentile’s Son Wants Name Pulled From Razed Palestinian Village,'] The Forward 22 November 2016.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Boas |first=Jacob |date=2025-10-18 |others=Adapted from a talk by Erik Ader, May 21, 2022 |title=How Israel Used My Father's Name to Cover Up Ethnic Cleansing |url=https://www.laprogressive.com/foreign-policy/cover-up-ethnic-cleansing |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=LA Progressive}}</ref>
==Archaeological exploration== Archaeological finds from Bayt Nattif can be grouped into three periods: late Second Temple period cisterns and Jewish burials, some possibly from the late first century BCE, but mainly from the first century CE; Late Roman pagan burials with Greek inscriptions and grave goods; and remains of what the 1933 excavator, D. C. Baramki, suggested might have been a fifth- or sixth-century Byzantine church.<ref name=B1935/><ref name=ZissuKlein/>
In 2013, archaeological survey-excavations of Bayt Nattif were conducted by Yitzhak Paz and Elena Kogan-Zahavi on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), and by Boaz Gross on behalf of Tel-Aviv University's Institute of Archaeology.<ref>Israel Antiquities Authority, [http://www.antiquities.org.il/m_digs_eng.aspx?shana=2013 Excavators and Excavations Permit for Year 2013], Survey Permits # A-6696 and # B-400</ref> In 2014, eight separate surveys were conducted on the site.<ref>Zubair Adawi and Yitzhak Paz conducted archaeological research in one area (Israel Antiquities Authority, [http://www.antiquities.org.il/m_digs_eng.aspx?shana=2014 Excavators and Excavations Permit for Year 2014], Survey Permit # A-7002), while another was conducted by Daniel Ein-Mor and Yitzhak Paz (Israel Antiquities Authority, Survey Permit # A-7003), another by Ron Lavi and Yitzhak Paz (Israel Antiquities Authority, Survey Permit # A-7049), another by Natalia German and Yitzhak Paz (Israel Antiquities Authority, Survey Permit # A-7097), and others conducted by Mizrahi Sivan and Yitzhak Paz (Israel Antiquities Authority, Survey Permit # A-7261), by Elena Kogan-Zahavi and Yitzhak Paz (Israel Antiquities Authority, Survey Permit # A-7263), and by Boaz Gross and Tamar Harpak on behalf of Tel-Aviv University's Institute of Archaeology (Israel Antiquities Authority, Survey Permits # B-412 and # B-416).</ref>
===Burials=== In 1903 a rock-cut tomb was found about 200 meters east of Bayt Nattif. A search of the interior revealed "a total of 36 kokhim" hewn in two storeys on three walls of the main burial chamber, a room measuring 4 x 5 meters. "On the wall opposite the entrance, an arcosolium and two columns adorned the upper storey" (Zissu - Klein 211f).<ref>Zissu (2011), p. 196</ref> A limestone sarcophagus was placed in the arcosolium which bore the remains of a Roman soldier with the rank of ''decurio'', dated not before the second quarter of the 2nd-century CE,<ref>Ameling, et al. (2018), p. [https://www.degruyter.com/view/book/9783110544213/10.1515/9783110544213-096.xml XCI]{{subscription required}}</ref> and probably from the third century, a date suggested by elements of decoration and design.<ref name=ZissuKlein/>
Another burial chamber was discovered and excavated in 1942–43, showing three phases of use: at first a cistern was hewn out of the bedrock.<ref name=ZissuKlein/> Sometime around the beginning of the first millennium, it was converted into a burial chamber and used by the Jewish inhabitants of the town, who carved twelve kokhim and three arcosolia into the walls of the former cistern.<ref name=ZissuKlein/> Later, during the third–fourth centuries, in the Late Roman period, the chamber was again used for burial, this time by the new, pagan Roman inhabitants of the town.<ref name=ZissuKlein/>
===Beit Nattif lamps=== The "Beit Nattif lamp"<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://thebaidunshop.com/index.php/baidun/bycivilization/roman/a-judean-beit-nattif-oil-lamp.html |title= Judean Beit Nattif Oil Lamp |access-date= 2014-01-21 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140203205248/http://thebaidunshop.com/index.php/baidun/bycivilization/roman/a-judean-beit-nattif-oil-lamp.html |archive-date= 2014-02-03 |url-status= dead}}</ref> is a type of ceramic oil lamp that was first discovered as a result of the excavation of two cisterns in 1934.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/new-light-on-daily-life-at-beth-shean/|title=Expedition Magazine - Penn Museum|website=www.penn.museum}}</ref><ref name=RosenBottom/> Based on the discovery of unused oil lamps and stone-made casting moulds, it is believed that during the late Roman and Byzantine periods the village manufactured pottery, possibly selling its wares in Jerusalem and Eleutheropolis.<ref name=Magness>{{cite book |last= Magness |first= Jodi |author-link= Jodi Magness |title= Jerusalem Ceramic Chronology: Circa 200-800 CE |page= 179 |publisher=Sheffield Academic Press |series=JSOT/ASOR monograph series |volume= 9 |year= 1993 |isbn= 978-1-85075-413-8 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=hnyseAHQiVYC&pg=PA179 |access-date=1 January 2021}}</ref><ref>Baramki (1936), pp. 3–10</ref>
Two first century CE cisterns first discovered in 1917 and excavated by Baramki in 1934 were found to contain a variety of ceramic objects such as oil lamps stone-made lamp moulds, along with and figurines and other artefacts, together interpreted as refuse from a nearby potter's workshop that had been dumped into the cisterns during the third century.<ref name=B1936>Baramki, 1936, pp. [https://archive.org/details/quarterly-department-of-antiquities-palestine_1935_5_1-2/page/3/mode/1up 3]–10</ref><ref name=ZissuKlein/><ref name=RosenBottom/> During a 2014 dig at Khirbet Shumeila, 1 km northwest of Beit Nattif, a workshop housed in a large Roman villa was excavated, with over 600 lamp fragments of the "Beit Nattif" type and fifteen stone-made lamp molds all found ''in situ'' and dated to the 4th century.<ref>Storchan, Benyamin. [http://www.lightingsibiu.eu/ila-speaker/benyamin-storchan/ ''A New Light on the "Beit Nattif" Lamp''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222144653/http://www.lightingsibiu.eu/ila-speaker/benyamin-storchan/ |date=2015-12-22 }}, abstract. 5th International Lychnological Congress "LVMEN!", Sibiu, 2015.</ref><ref name=RosenBottom/>
The discoveries gave rise to a discussion concerning the ethno-religious identity of the potters and, even more interesting, of the customers to which the oil lamps and figurines were sold.<ref name=RosenBottom/> The 1934 findings from the two cisterns included 341 figurines, the main types depicting either nude females or horsemen, possibly used for apotropaic or magical purposes.<ref name=RosenBottom/> These more common motives, as well as some less frequent ones such as animals, mirror-plaques and masks, seem to suggests a pagan clientele, while the use of the menorah on lamps suggests the presence of a Jewish population in the region.<ref name=RosenBottom/> Less than 1% of the 600 lamps found in 2014 were decorated with a menorah, widely weakening, along with other considerations, the case for a Jewish identity of the Beit Nattif potters.<ref name=RosenBottom/> Due to the still very meager Late Roman findings from the region, researchers can neither reject nor prove if and which figurines and lamps were produced specifically for pagans or Jews, Lichtenberger concluding that after the Bar-Kokhba revolt, the remaining Jewish population was integrated into a "milieu of cultural pluralism".<ref name=RosenBottom/> Rosenthal-Heginbottom agrees with Jodi Magness that some Beit Nattif lamps were manufactured for Jewish customers, while others were produced with pagan and Christian buyers in mind.<ref name=RosenBottom/> There is a certain similarity between the iconography of the Iron Age and the Hellenistic periods and that of the Late Roman period, occurring in time among different ethnoreligious populations, although links may be speculative.<ref name=RosenBottom/>
In December 2024, coinciding with a reveal for Hanukkah, a Beit Nattif oil lamp dated to the 3rd or 4th century was discovered near the Mount of Olives bearing iconography of a temple menorah, a lulav, and an incense shovel identified with Second Temple Judaism.<ref>{{cite news |last=Fiske |first=Gavriel |title=Rare oil lamp with Temple menorah found from time when Romans barred Jews from Jerusalem |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/rare-oil-lamp-with-temple-menorah-found-from-time-when-romans-barred-jews-from-jerusalem/ |access-date=2024-12-27 |website=The Times of Israel |language=en-US |issn=0040-7909}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-12-26 |title='Exquisite' 1,700-year-old lamp bearing Temple symbols discovered in Jerusalem |url=https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-834956 |access-date=2024-12-27 |website=The Jerusalem Post |language=en |issn=0792-822X}}</ref>
===Roman milestone=== A Roman milestone dated 162 CE was discovered 3/4 km southeast of Bayt Nattif showing the distance from Jerusalem and bearing the following Latin and Greek inscription:<ref>See pp. 80–81 (§ 288) in: {{cite journal |last= Thomsen |first= Peter |title= Die römischen Meilensteine der Provinzen Syria, Arabia und Palaestina |journal= Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins |volume= 40 |issue= 1/2 |pages= 1–103 |jstor= 27929302 |date= 1917 |url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/27929302.pdf |access-date= 30 December 2020}} Mentioned also by Clermont-Ganneau in ''Archaeological Researches in Palestine During the Years 1873–1874'', vol. 1, Palestine Exploration Fund: London 1899, p. 470 (note 3).</ref><ref>Ze'ev Safrai, ''Boundaries and Administration'' ('''גבולות ושלטון בארץ ישראל בתקופת המשנה והתלמוד'''), Ha-kibbiutz Ha-meuchad: Tel-Aviv 1980, p. 89 (Hebrew)</ref>
:Imp(erator) Caesar M(arcus) Aurelius Antoninus Aug(ustus) pont(ifex) max(imus) trib(uniciae) potest(atis) XVI co(n)s(ul) III et Imp(erator) Caesar L(ucius) Aurelius Uerus trib(uniciae) potest(atis) II co(n)s(ul) II [diui [[Antoninus Pius|Anton]ini]] fili diui [[Hadrian|Ha[driani]] nepotes] diui [[Trajan|Traia[ni Par]thici]] [pronepotes] diui [[Nerva|[Neru]ae]] abnepotes [ἀπὸ [[Aelia Capitolina|Κ]ολ(ωνίας) Αἰλ(ίας)]] μέχρι ὧδε μίλι(α) ΙΗ.
===Byzantine church=== A mosaic pavement, probably belonging to a church, has been excavated at Bayt Nattif. The type of mosaic found are usually dated to the 5th and 6th century CE.<ref>Baramki, 1935, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.56294/2015.56294.Quarterly-Of-The-Department-Of-Antiquities-In-Palestine-Vol4#page/n237/mode/1up 119]–121</ref>
===Early Muslim period (7th–11th century CE)=== The location of the cisterns excavated by Baramki in 1934 was lost to the next generations, only to be rediscovered in 2020, hidden under the remains of an ornate Early Muslim period building that collapsed in one of a series of 11th-century earthquakes, possibly in 1033.<ref name=UPI2020>{{cite news |author= Brooks Hays |title= Ancient ceramic oil-lamp workshop unearthed in Israel |publisher=United Press International (UPI) |date= 14 December 2020 |url= https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2020/12/14/Ancient-ceramic-oil-lamp-workshop-unearthed-in-Israel/7381607959516/ |access-date=1 January 2021}}</ref>
==Gallery== <gallery> File:Razed_structure_in_Bayt_Nattif,_April_2015.jpg|Razed structure at Bayt Nattif File:Mouth_of_cistern,_Bayt_Nattif,_April_2015.jpg|Mouth of cistern near Bayt Nattif File:General_view_of_the_ruin,_Bayt_Nattif,_April_2015.jpg|General view of Bayt Nattif, looking south toward the Elah Valley File:Carob_tree_in_Bayt_Nattif,_April_2015.jpg|Carob tree on the ascent to Bayt Nattif File:Cistern_at_Bayt_Nattif,_October_2015.jpg|Mouth of cistern in Bayt Nattif File:Old_cistern_in_the_village_Bayt_Nattif,_October_2015.jpg|Old cistern with secure stone cover File:Roman Road with carved steps.jpg|Carved steps along ancient Roman road, adjacent to regional hwy 375 in Israel (near Bayt Nattif) File:Old Beit Nattif - Beit Gubrin road.jpg|Old road in Bayt Nattif, lined with field stones File:Rock-carved tombs at Bayt Nattif.jpg|Tombs at Bayt Nattif File:Wine press at Bayt Nattif.jpg|Wine press carved in rock at Bayt Nattif File:Walled structures at Bayt Nattif.jpg|Walled structure at Bayt Nattif File:Looking towards Bayt Nattif.jpg|View overlooking the Elah valley towards Bayt Nattif </gallery>
== See also == {{Portal|Palestine }}
* List of villages depopulated during the Arab–Israeli conflict
==References== {{Reflist|25em}}
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==External links== {{Commons category|Bayt Nattif}} * [http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/Report_Detail_Eng.aspx?id=23804 Horbat Bet Natif] - Israel Antiquities Authority * [http://www.palestineremembered.com/Hebron/Bayt-Nattif/index.html Welcome To Bayt Nattif] * [http://www.zochrot.org/en/village/49059 Bayt Nattif], Zochrot *Survey of Western Palestine, 1880 Map, Map 17: [http://www.iaa-archives.org.il/zoom/zoom.aspx?folder_id=93&type_id=6&id=8379 IAA], Wikimedia commons Coordinates: East longitude, 34.59; North latitude, 31.41
{{Palestinian Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Palestine War}} {{Towns depopulated during the First Jewish–Roman War}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War Category:District of Hebron Category:Judaea (Roman province) Category:Mateh Yehuda Regional Council Category:District of Jerusalem Category:Ancient Jewish settlements of Judea Category:Valley of Elah Category:Archaeology of Palestine (region)