Qaqun

Qaqun
In the Crusader period, a castle called Caco or Cacho stood here, of which an 8.5m tower survives.
Qaqun
Arabic	قاقون
Name meaning	from personal name
Also spelled	Quaquo, Caco, Chaco, Kâkôn, Kakoun
Subdistrict	Tulkarm
Coordinates	32°21′36.01″N 34°59′42.98″E / 32.3600028°N 34.9952722°E / 32.3600028; 34.9952722Coordinates: 32°21′36.01″N 34°59′42.98″E / 32.3600028°N 34.9952722°E / 32.3600028; 34.9952722
Palestine grid	149/196
Population	1,970 (1945)
Area	41,767 dunams
Date of depopulation	5 June 1948
Cause(s) of depopulation	Military assault by Yishuv forces
Current localities	HaMa'apil, Gan Yoshiya, Ometz, ´Olesh, Haniel, Yikon

Battle of Qaqun
Part of 1948 Arab-Israeli War
War Memorial of Alexandroni Brigade in Qaqun
Date June 4–5, 1948 Location Israel Result Israeli victory
Belligerents
IDF (Alexandroni Brigade)	Iraq, Arab irregulars
Commanders and leaders
Col. Dan Even (Alexandroni Brigade) Ben Zion Ziv (33rd Battalion)
Strength
Reinforced battalion	Iraqi regulars, 200 irregulars
Casualties and losses
16

Qaqun (Arabic: قاقون‎‎) was a Palestinian Arab village located 6 kilometers (3.7 mi) northwest of the city of Tulkarm at the only entrance to Mount Nablus from the coastal Sharon plain.

Evidence of organized settlement in Qaqun dates back to the period of Assyrian rule in the region. Ruins of a Crusader and Mamluk castle still stand at the site. Qaqun was continuously inhabited by Arabs since at least as early as the Mamluk period and was depopulated during a military assault by Israeli forces during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

Assyrian artifacts have been discovered in Qaqun. Among these are fragments of stelae recording the victory of Sargon II over the Philistine city-states in the 8th century BC, providing evidence of the establishment of Assyrian rule in Palestine.

In the 1st century AD, Antipas, like others close to the Herodians who ruled over parts of the region at the time, was granted dominion over large areas of land. One of the gifts (doreai) he received was a parcel of land located in the Plain of Sharon which included Qaqun, among other villages.

In the Crusader period, a castle called Caco or Cacho stood here, of which an 8.5m tower survives. It was mentioned in 1123 when it apparently still was held by the lord of Caesarea, John Aleman, in 1253. In 1160, Benjamin of Tudela visited Qaqun which he identified as being ancient Keilah.

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Wikipedia