Jaba', Jerusalem
| Jaba’ | |
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| Other transcription(s) | |
| • Arabic | جبع |
Jaba', Jerusalem from the north
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 Jaba’
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| Coordinates: 31°51′27″N 35°15′40″E / 31.85750°N 35.26111°ECoordinates: 31°51′27″N 35°15′40″E / 31.85750°N 35.26111°E | |
| Palestine grid | 174/140 |
| Governorate | Jerusalem |
| Government | |
| • Type | Village council |
| Population (2006) | |
| • Jurisdiction | 3,239 |
| Name meaning | The hill |
Jaba’ (Arabic: جبع) is a Palestinian town in the Jerusalem Governorate, located 10 kilometers northeast of Jerusalem in the central West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 3,239 in 2006.
Guérin identified Jaba' with ancient Geba.
Ceramics from the Byzantine era have been found here.
In 1838, Edward Robinson noted it as a small village, and half in ruins. There were occasional large hewn stones, indicating antiquity. He also noted a small building, having the appearance of an ancient church, and a square tower.
In 1863 Guérin noted: "Thirty of the houses only are standing. On the highest point of the plateau on which they are placed is a little fort or Burj, the lower courses of which, if they are not ancient, are at least built of ancient stones. Here and there cisterns and caves cut in the rock show the antiquity of the place. There is also an old wall of great square stones, only a few vestiges of which remain." An Ottoman village list from about 1870 found that the village had a population of 100, in a total of 35 houses, though the population count included men, only.
In 1883, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it as "A village of moderate size standing on a rocky knoll. On the north is a deep valley (Wady Suweinit); on the south the ground falls less abruptly, but is very rocky ; on the west the ridge is flat; and on the east is a plain extending for about 1 1/2 miles, and about 1/2 mile wide north and south. This plain is open arable land, extending to the brink of the precipitous cliffs on the north. The village has caves beneath, at the foot of the knoll [...] and there are olives on the west, north, and south. There is a central high house like a tower in the village.
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