Gedera
Gedera
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| Hebrew transcription(s) | ||
| • ISO 259 | Gdera | |
| • Also spelled | Gdera, Gadera (unofficial) | |
View of Gedera from Tel Qatra
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 Gedera
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| Coordinates: 31°48′58.66″N 34°46′37.23″E / 31.8162944°N 34.7770083°ECoordinates: 31°48′58.66″N 34°46′37.23″E / 31.8162944°N 34.7770083°E | ||
| District | Central | |
| Founded | 1884 | |
| Government | ||
| • Type | Local council | |
| • Head of Municipality | Yoel Gamliel | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 11,492 dunams (14.5 km2 or 5.6 sq mi) | |
| Population (2015) | ||
| • Total | 26,217 | |
| Name meaning | Sheepfold | |
Gedera, or Gdera (Hebrew: גְּדֵרָה) is a town in the Central District of Israel founded in 1884. It is located 13 kilometres (8 miles) south of Rehovot. In 2015 it had a population of 26,217.
Gedera is in the Book of Chronicles I 4:23 and the Book of Joshua 15:36 as a town in the territory of Judah. Its identification with the site of modern Gedera was proposed by Victor Guérin in the 19th century, but was dismissed as "impossible" by William F. Albright who preferred to identify it with al-Judeira. Biblical Gedera is now identified with Khirbet Judraya, 1 km (0.6 mi) south of Bayt Nattif.
Tel Qatra, which lies at the northern edge of Gedera, is usually identified with Kedron, a place fortified by the Seleucids against the Hasmonaeans (1 Macc. 15:39-41, 16:9). It has also been identified with Gedrus, a large village in the time of Eusebius (fourth century). Eusebius identified Gedrus with biblical Gedor, which is a name also appearing on the Madaba map, but several other sites for Gedor have been proposed.
Tel Qatra was occupied from the Middle Bronze Age to at least the early Islamic period. Sometime between then and the Medieval period, settlement moved to the southern foot of the tell, where the Arab village of Qatra existed until 1948. Its peak was in the Byzantine period, when the tell had at least one large public building.
Gedera was founded in the winter of 1884 by members of the Bilu group, to the south of Qatra. Gedera was established on a tract of village land purchased for the Biluites by Yehiel Michel Pines of the Lovers of Zion from the French consul in Jaffa, Poliovierre. The first pioneers arrived at the site during the festival of Chanukah. In 1888, Benjamin and Mina Fuchs built Gedera's first stone house, later used as a Bnai Brith meeting house. In 1912, a group of Yemenite immigrants settled in Gedera. During the British Mandate, Gedera became a popular resort due to its mild climate and fresh air. In 1949-1953, thousands of immigrants from Yemen, Romania, Iraq, Poland, Egypt, Morocco, Tunis, India, Iran, Libya and other countries were housed in tent camps.
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