Bashshayt
بشيت Beshshayt, Beit Shayt | |
---|---|
Etymology: "House of Seth"[1] | |
Location within Mandatory Palestine | |
Coordinates: 31°49′27″N 34°44′56″E / 31.82417°N 34.74889°E | |
Palestine grid | 126/136 |
Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
Subdistrict | Ramle |
Date of depopulation | May 13, 1948[4] |
Area | |
• Total | 18,553 dunams (18.6 km2 or 7.2 sq mi) |
Population (1945) | |
• Total | 1,620[2][3] |
Cause(s) of depopulation | Military assault by Yishuv forces |
Current Localities | Neve Mivtah[5] Meshar,[5] Kfar Mordechai,[5] Misgav Dov,[5] Kannot,[5] Shedema,[5] and Aseret.[5] |
Bashshayt (Arabic: بشيت), also Beshshayt, was an Arab village in the Ramle Subdistrict, located 16.5 kilometers (10.3 mi) southwest of Ramla about half a mile from wadi Bashshit. Archaeological artifacts from the village attest to habitation in the Early Islamic period and 12th and 13th centuries. Mentioned by Arab geographers from the 13th century onward, there was a tomb for the Neby Shayt ("prophet Seth") in the village.
Like much the rest of Palestine, Bashshayt was ruled by the Crusaders, Mamluks, Ottomans and the British. It was depopulated at the beginning of the 1948 Palestine war during Operation Barak. Along with the villages of Barqa, Bayt Daras, al-Batani al-Sharqi, and al-Maghar, among others, Bashshayt was attacked by Haganah's Givati Brigade.[6] Following its depopulation, Bashshayt was mostly destroyed. There are seven Israeli localities now situated on what were the village lands.