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Name meaning "The ruins of the sons of Harith" Weather 11°C, Wind S at 16 km/h, 81% Humidity | ||
Kharbatha Bani Harith (Arabic: خربثا بني حارث) is a Palestinian town in the central West Bank, located 15 kilometers west of Ramallah in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate. The name of the town is probably a corruption of Khirbat Bani Harith ("the ruins of the sons of Harith"). According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 2,846. Nearby towns and villages include Bil'in to the south, Ras Karkar to the east, and Deir Qaddis to the west. It has a total land area of 7,120 dunams.
Contents
Map of Harbata
History
Pottery sherds from Iron Age II, Persian, Byzantine, Byzantine/Umayyad and Mamluk era have been found.
Ottoman era
According to the 1596 Ottoman census of the area the village of Kharbatha had a total of 29 Muslim and 4 Christian families residing there.
In 1870, Victor Guérin found the village to have about 200 inhabitants. He also noted the remains of a church, which has been dated to the Byzantine era.
In 1882, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described the village, called Khurbetha Ibn Harith, as being of medium size, with a well on the west, "standing on high ground among the olive trees."
British Mandate era
In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Kharbata had a population of 338 inhabitants, all Muslim. In the 1931 census it had increased to a population of 469, still all Muslim, in 102 inhabited houses.
In 1945, the population of Kharbata was 650, all Muslims, who owned 7,120 dunams of land according to an official land and population survey. 2,788 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 591 used for cereals, while 9 dunams were built-up (urban) land.
1948-1967
In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Kharbatha Bani Harith came under Jordanian rule.
1967-present
After the Six-Day War in 1967, Kharbatha Bani Harith has been under Israeli occupation.