Palestine grid 156/143 | Governorate Ramallah & al-Bireh | |
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Name meaning "The Ruins of the son of the wild beast, or "of seven"" Weather 12°C, Wind S at 16 km/h, 81% Humidity | ||
Kharbatha al-Misbah (Arabic: خربثا المصباح, translit: "ruins of the lamp") is a Palestinian town in the central West Bank, located 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) west of Ramallah in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 5,211 in 2007. Nearby towns and villages include Beit Liqya to the south and Beit Ur at-Tahta to east. It has a total land area of 4,431 dunams, of which 644 are built-up areas and the remainder agricultural lands and forests.
Contents
Map of Khirbat al-Misbah
History
In 1863 Victor Guérin found the village to have 400 inhabitants. He further noted five or six cisterns, and ancient tombs. Guérin though that this was an ancient place.
An Ottoman village list from about 1870 showed the village, called Charbata, had a population of 194, with a total of 71 houses, though the population count included men, only.
In 1882, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described the village, then called Khurbetha ibn es Seba, as "a small village on a ridge, with a well to the east."
British Mandate era
In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Kherbet al-Mesbah had a population of 369, all Muslim. In the 1931 census it had increased to a population of 488, still all Muslim, in 121 inhabited houses.
In 1945, the population of Khirbat el Misbah was 600, all Muslims, who owned 4,438 dunams of land according to an official land and population survey. 1,026 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 2,133 used for cereals, while 25 dunams were built-up (urban) land.
There are two mosques in the town: Omri Mosque and al-Kawthar Mosque. The former was built atop the ruins of an ancient church and was renovated in 1965. Within the town, still lay Ancient Roman cemeteries. It has been governed by a village council.
1948-1967
In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Kharbatha al-Misbah came under Jordanian rule.
1967-present
After the Six-Day War in 1967, Kharbatha al-Misbah has been under Israeli occupation.