Ein Karem
Coordinates: 31°45′55″N 35°8′58″E / 31.76528°N 35.14944°E
Ein Karem (Hebrew: עַיִן כרֶם, lit. "Spring of the Vineyard", and Arabic: عين كارم - ‘Ein Kārem or ′Ayn Karim; also Ain Karem, Ein Kerem) is an ancient village of the Jerusalem District and now a neighbourhood in southwest Jerusalem and the site of the Hadassah Medical Center. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War on July 16, 1948.
According to Christian tradition, John the Baptist was born in Ein Karem, leading to the establishment of many churches and monasteries. In 2010 the neighborhood had a population of 2,000. It attracts three million visitors a year, one-third of them pilgrims from around the world.
A spring that provides water to the village of Ein Karem stimulated settlement there from an early time. Pottery has been found nearby dating to the Middle Bronze Age. For the Israelite age it could be identified as the location of Beth HaKerem (Jeremiah 6:1; Nehemiah 3:14), where the traditional name comes from. A reservoir here was mentioned in the copper scroll. A well-preserved mikveh, or Jewish ritual bath, indicates there was a Jewish settlement in the Second Temple period along with some other discoveries such as handful of graves, bits of a wall, an olive press and another suspected mikveh under the Church of St. John the Baptist. It was recorded during the Islamic conquest and again, under the name St. Jeehan de Bois, during the Crusades. Ottoman tax registers from 1596 showed a population of 29 Muslim families.
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