Bayt Daras
| Bayt Daras | |
|---|---|
Old structure from Bayt Daras, presently in Azrikam
|
|
 Bayt Daras
|
|
| Arabic | بيت دراس |
| Name meaning | "The house of treading corn" |
| Also spelled | Beit Daras, Baydarās-Badarās, Dāris Bethduras |
| Subdistrict | Gaza |
| Coordinates | 31°43′24″N 34°40′58″E / 31.72333°N 34.68278°ECoordinates: 31°43′24″N 34°40′58″E / 31.72333°N 34.68278°E |
| Palestine grid | 120/125 |
| Population | 2,750 (1945) |
| Area | 16,357 dunams 16.3 km² |
| Date of depopulation | May 11, 1948 |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Military assault by Yishuv forces |
| Current localities | Giv'atiEmunimAzrikam |
Bayt Daras (Arabic: بيت دراس) was a Palestinian Arab town located 32 kilometers (20 mi) northeast of Gaza and approximately 50 meters (160 ft) above sea level, which was depopulated in 1948.
Bayt Daras was an archaeological site that contained stone foundations and vaulted rooms. The Crusaders built a castle on the hill that overlooked the village. During the Mamluk rule in Palestine, (1205-1517), Bayt Daras formed part of a mail route from Cairo to Damascus. In this period, in 1325, a khan, or caravanserai, was built in the village.
In 1517, Bayt Daras was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire with the rest of Palestine, and in 1596 the village appeared in the Ottoman tax registers as being in the nahiya (subdistrict) of Gaza under the Liwa of Gaza, with a population of 319. It paid taxes on a number of crops, including wheat and barley, as well as on goats, beehives and vineyards.
French explorer Victor Guérin visited the village in 1863, and found it to have 700 inhabitants. In the 1882 Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP), the village of Bayt Daras was described as being surrounded by gardens and olive groves, and it was bordered to the north by a pond.
...
Wikipedia