Taitaba
| Taytaba | |
|---|---|
 Taytaba
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| Arabic | طيطبا |
| Name meaning | "Watchtower" |
| Also spelled | Teitaba |
| Subdistrict | Safad |
| Coordinates | 33°00′48″N 35°28′43″E / 33.01333°N 35.47861°ECoordinates: 33°00′48″N 35°28′43″E / 33.01333°N 35.47861°E |
| Palestine grid | 194/268 |
| Population | 530 (1945) |
| Area | 8,453 dunams 8.5 km² |
| Date of depopulation | May 1948 |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Fear of being caught up in the fighting |
| Current localities | None |
Taytaba (Arabic: طيطبا, also spelled Teitaba) was a Palestinian-Arab village in the Safad Subdistrict, located 5 kilometers north of Safad. It was depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine in May 1948 under Operation Hiram. In 1945 it had a population of 530 and a total area of 8,453 dunams, 99.8% of which was Arab-owned.
It was situated in a rocky area located along the crest of a basaltic hill that overlooks Wadi Taytaba, a tributary of Wadi Waqqas, to the southeast. It was connected to a highway leading to Safad via a secondary road and connected to many of the surrounding villages through secondary roads as well.
Taytaba has been suggested as the Biblical site where Elijah received his patronymic of "Tishbite."
During the early Ottoman era in 1596, Taytaba was part of the nahiyah ("subdistrict") of Jira, part of the liwa ("district") of Safad and paid taxes on goats and beehives. It had a population of 434.
Its population decreased to roughly 200, all Muslims, by the late Ottoman era when French explorer Victor Guérin visited in 1870. The houses were made of basalt and there was a plantation of figs. An Islamic shrine stood on a nearby hill, with blocks of basalt apparently carved by hand. At that time, Taytaba's inhabitants cultivated gardens to the west of the village site.
A population list from about 1887 showed Teitaba to have about 455 inhabitants; all Muslims.
During the British Mandatory period in the early 20th-century, the houses of the village were built from stone and adobe brick. The inhabitants main source of income and sustenance was from agriculture. A mosque and a boys' elementary school (the latter was built during the British period) was located in the southern section of Taytaba.
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