Yibna

Pre-Islamic periods

Based on written sources and archaeology, the history of Yavneh/Jabneh/Yibna goes back to the Iron Age and possibly to the Bronze Age. The Hebrew Bible mentions Yavneh repeatedly, as does Josephus. For more see Yavne.

The harbour of Javneh

The harbour of ancient Yavneh has been identified on the coast at Minet Rubin (Arabic) or Yavne-Yam (Hebrew), where excavations have revealed fortification going back to the Bronze Age Hyksos. It has been in use from the Middle Bronze Age until the 12th century CE, when it was abanodoned. For more see Yavne-Yam.

Early Islamic period

The Islamic historian al-Baladhuri (died 892 CE) mentioned Yibna as one of ten towns in Jund Filastin conquered by the Rashidun army led by 'Amr ibn al-'As in the early 7th century.

Also in the 9th century, Ya'qubi (died 897/8 CE) wrote that Yubna was an ancient city built on a hill that was inhabited by Samaritans.

Al-Muqaddasi, writing around 985, said that "Yubna has a beautiful mosque. From this place come the excellent figs known by the name of Damascene." Yaqut wrote that in Yubna there was a tomb said to be that of Abu Hurairah, the companion (sahaba) of the Prophet. The author of Marasid also adds that tomb seen here is also said to be that of ´Abd Allah ibn Abi Sarh, another companion (sahaba) of the Prophet.

In 2007, remains ranging from the Early Islamic period until the British Mandate period were uncovered. An additional kiln, and part of a commercial/industrial area were uncovered at the west of the tell in 2009.

Crusader, Ayyubid and Mamluk periods

The Crusaders called the city Ibelin and built a castle there in 1141.Two excavation seasons led by Professor Dan Bahat starting in 2005 revealed the main gate. Its namesake noble family, the house of Ibelin, was important in the Kingdom of Jerusalem and later in the Kingdom of Cyprus. Ibelin was captured by Saladin in 1187. Salvage excavations at the west of the tell unearthed a stash of 53 Crusader coins of the 12th and 13th centuries.

Ibelin's parish church was transformed into a mosque, to which a minaret was added during the Mamluk period in 1337. The minaret survives until today, while the mosque (the former Crusader church) was blown up by the IDF in 1950.

Maqam Abu Hurayra, described as "one of the finest domed mausoleums in Palestine", is located in Yavne. Since the 12th century, it has been known as a tomb of Abu Hurairah, a companion (sahaba) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. After 1948 the shrine has been taken over by Sephardic Jews who believe that the tomb is the burial place of Rabbi Gamaliel of Yavne.

Ottoman period

In 1596, Yibna was part of the Ottoman Empire, nahiya (subdistrict) of Gaza under the liwa' (district) of Gaza with a population of 710. It paid taxes on a number of crops, including wheat, barley, summer crops, sesame seeds and fruits, as well as goats, beehives and vineyards.

An American missionary, William Thomson, who visited Yibna in 1834, described it as a village on hill inhabited by 3,000 Muslim residents who worked in agriculture. He wrote that an inscription on the mosque indicated that it had been built in 1386, while Denys Pringle indicates 1337 as the construction year of the minaret.

An Ottoman village list from about 1870 found that Jebna had a population of 1042, in 348 houses, though the population count included men, only.

In 1882, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described Yibna as a large village partly built of stone and situated on a hill. It had olive trees and corn to the north, and gardens nearby.

British Mandate

In 1921, an elementary school for boys was founded in Yibna. By 1941-42 it had 445 students. A school for girls was founded in 1943, and by 1948 it had 44 students.

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Yebna had a population of 1,791 inhabitants; all Muslims, increasing in the 1931 census to 3,600 inhabitants; 2 Jews, 7 Christians, 1 Bahai, and 3,590 Muslims, in a total of 794 houses.

In 1941, Kibbutz Yavne was established nearby by refugees from Germany, followed by a Youth Aliyah village, Givat Washington, in 1946.

In 1944-45 the village had a population of 5,420; 5,400 Muslims and 20 Christians, while the total land area was 59,554 dunams, according to an official land and population survey. In addition there were 1,500 nomads living around the village. A total of 6,468 dunums of village land was used for citrus and bananas, 15,124 dunums were used for cereals, 11,091 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards, of which 25 dunums were planted with olive trees, while 127 dunams were classified as built-up, urban areas.

1948 and aftermath

In mid-March 1948, a contingent of Iraqi soldiers moved into the village. In a Haganah reprisal on March 30, two dozen villagers were killed. On April 21, the village commander was arrested by the British authorities for the drunken shooting of two Arabs.

During the Arab-Israeli war, residents of Zarnuqa sought refuge in Yibna, but left after the villagers accused them of being traitors.

On 27 May, following the fall of Al-Qubayba and Zarnuqa, most of the population of Yibna fled to Isdud, but armed males were refused entry. On 5 June, when Israeli troops arrived, they found the village almost deserted apart from a few old people who were ordered to leave.

After 1948, a number of Israeli villages were founded on Yibna land: Kfar HaNagid and Beit Gamliel in 1949, Ben Zakai in 1950, Kfar Aviv (originally: "Kfar HaYeor") in 1951, Tzofiyya in 1955. According to Walid Khalidi, a railroad crosses the village. The old mosque and minaret, together with a shrine can still be seen, and some of the old houses are inhabited by Jewish and Arab families.

Archaeological excavations have revealed that part of the pre-1948 Arab village at Yibna was built on top of a Byzantine-period cemetery and refuse pits.

Notable residents