Huj, Gaza
| Huj | |
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Huj, after occupation, 1948
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 Huj
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| Arabic | هوج |
| Name meaning | Possibly named after the prophet Og |
| Also spelled | al-Hug |
| Subdistrict | Gaza |
| Coordinates | 31°30′35″N 34°37′21″E / 31.50972°N 34.62250°ECoordinates: 31°30′35″N 34°37′21″E / 31.50972°N 34.62250°E |
| Palestine grid | 114/102 |
| Population | 1,040 (1945) |
| Area | 21,988 dunams 22.9 km² |
| Date of depopulation | May 31, 1948 |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Expulsion by Yishuv forces |
| Current localities | Dorot |
Huj (Arabic: هوج) was a Palestinian Arab village located 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) northeast of Gaza City. Identified as the site of the ancient Philistine town of Oga, the modern village was founded by the Ottomans in the early 19th century.
Situated in a hilly area on the northern edge of the Negev Desert, it was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
Identified with the Philistine town of Oga, it is notable for being depicted on the 6th century Map of Madaba.
The modern village of Huj was established sometime between 1818 and 1820 by Mustafa Bey, the Ottoman Governor of Gaza and Jaffa. He built a police station to keep the village secure, and offered free land to encourage migration to the site from Gaza from amongst the surrounding Bedouin tribes. Huj and its greater vicinity were dominated by the tribes of Jebarat and Wahaideh, the latter of which participated in the 1834 rebellion against Egyptian rule. The rebellion was suppressed and most the Wahaideh were killed, imprisoned, or forced to work the lands, while the rest fled the area. In 1838, Edward Robinson noted that its houses were built of adobe and that the population ranged from 200 to 300, most of whom made a living through grain cultivation and bread making.
In 1863 the French explorer Victor Guérin visited the village. He described as a village of at most three hundred people. The houses were roughly built with mud bricks. Near the well, which was very deep, were a few fragments of ancient columns of gray-white marble lying on the ground.
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Wikipedia