Bi’r Māʽīn is an Arabictoponym meaning “The well of Maʽīn”. The personal name Ma'in is recorded in the toponymy of southern Judea and southern Philistia, and considered the name of one of Jacob’s sons. The crusaders recorded the name as. Bermenayn.[6]
Foundation legend
In 1873, Clermont-Ganneau noted down the foundation legend of Bir Ma'in. He was told that the village mosque was consecrated to its founder, Neby Ma'in, son of Jacob (which may be identical to Benjamin). He was buried in a cave nearby. When he died, his five sisters hurried to Bir Ma'in from Jiser Benat Ya'kub ('Jacob Daughters' Bridge'). However, they all died at different places in the neighbourhood, and were buried where they died. Their tombs were still an object of veneration, Sitt Mena being one of them.[7]
History
Crusader period
Bir Ma'in was a fief of the Holy Sepulchre Church in the twelfth century.[8] In 1170, Bernhard, Bishop of Lydda, granted the leaders of the Holy Sepulchre Church the right to build churches in five villages, including Bir Ma'in. It is unclear if a church was ever built.[9]
In 1596 Bir Ma'in appeared in the tax registers being in the nahiya ("subdistrict") of Ramla, which was under the administration of the Gaza Sanjak. It had a population of 30 household; an estimated 165 persons,[12] who were all Muslims.[13] They paid a fixed tax-rate of 25 % on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, sesame, goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues and a press for olive oil or grape syrup; a total of 3,500 akçe. All of the revenues went to a Waqf.[13][12]
In 1838, Bir Am'in was noted as a Muslim village in the Lydda District.[14]
In 1863 Victor Guérin described it as a village of a hundred or more inhabitants, located on a hill. He noted that ancient stones, lying on the ground, proved that this hamlet once had a certain importance.[10]
An Ottoman village list of about 1870 showed that Bir Main had 12 houses and a population of 90, though the population count included men, only.[15][16]
In 1873, Clermont-Ganneau noted down the legend connecting the village to the son and daughters of Yakub, the Muslim version of biblical Jacob (see #Foundation legend section).
In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described Bir Main as "A small hamlet on high ground, with a well about half a mile south-east."[8]
During this period, former Bedouins from 'Arab al-Jaramina tribe settled in the village and in neighbouring al-Burj.[17]
In 1934, an elementary school was founded in the village.[5]
In 1944/45 statistics the village had a population of 510 Muslims,[2] while the total land area was 9,319 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.[3] Of this, 176 dunums of village land were irrigated or used for plantations, 2,880 dunums were for cereals,[20] while 9 dunams were classified as built-up areas.[21]
The village also had its own mosque. Three khirbats are located in the village.[5]
The Israeli military settlement of Makkabim was established on village land in 1986.[5]
In 1992 the remains were described: "Two deserted buildings with crumbling walls can be seen on the site ... Part of the surrounding land is used for target practice and other Israeli military purposes, and part of it is cultivated by Israeli farmers."[5]
In 2002, a book about the village was published in Jordan.[22]
^ a bGovernment of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 29
^ a bGovernment of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 66
^Morris, 2004, p. xix, village #237. Also gives cause of depopulation.
^ a b c d e fKhalidi, 1992, p. 370
^Marom, Roy; Zadok, Ran (2023). "Early-Ottoman Palestinian Toponymy: A Linguistic Analysis of the (Micro-)Toponyms in Haseki Sultan's Endowment Deed (1552)". Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins. 139 (2).
^Clermont-Ganneau, 1896, vol 2, pp. 77 ff.
^ a bConder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 15
^de Roziére, 1849, pp. 322-323; cited in Röhricht, 1893, RRH, p. 129, No 490; cited in Pringle, 1993, p. 160
^ a bGuérin, 1868, p. 337
^Marom, Roy (2022-11-01). "Jindās: A History of Lydda's Rural Hinterland in the 15th to the 20th Centuries CE". Lod, Lydda, Diospolis. 1: 8.
^ a bKhalidi, 1992, p. 369
^ a bHütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 155
^Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 121
^Socin, 1879, p. 148 Also noted it in the Lydda district
^Hartmann, 1883, p. 138 also noted 12 houses
^Marom, Roy (2022). "Lydda Sub-District: Lydda and its countryside during the Ottoman period". Diospolis - City of God: Journal of the History, Archaeology and Heritage of Lod. 8: 124.
^Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Ramleh, p. 21
^Mills, 1932, p. 19.
^Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 114
^Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 164
^Davis, 2011, p. 283
Bibliography
Barron, J.B., ed. (1923). Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922. Government of Palestine.
Clermont-Ganneau, C.S. (1896). [ARP] Archaeological Researches in Palestine 1873-1874, translated from the French by J. McFarlane. Vol. 2. London: Palestine Exploration Fund.
Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics (1945). Village Statistics, April, 1945.
Guérin, V. (1868). Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine (in French). Vol. 1: Judee, pt. 1. Paris: L'Imprimerie Nationale.
Hadawi, S. (1970). Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine. Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center.
Hütteroth, Wolf-Dieter; Abdulfattah, Kamal (1977). Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century. Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. ISBN 3-920405-41-2.
Khadar, Shafiq 'Eid. 2002. Qaryat Bir Ma'in: Al-Hilm wal-haqiqa [Bir Ma'in village: The dream and the reality]. Jordan:
Mills, E., ed. (1932). Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas. Jerusalem: Government of Palestine.
Morris, B. (2004). The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-00967-6.
Palmer, E.H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
Robinson, E.; Smith, E. (1841). Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838. Vol. 3. Boston: Crocker & Brewster.
Röhricht, R. (1893). (RRH) Regesta regni Hierosolymitani (MXCVII-MCCXCI) (in Latin). Berlin: Libraria Academica Wageriana.
de Roziére, ed. (1849). Cartulaire de l'église du Saint Sépulchre de Jérusalem: publié d'après les manuscrits du Vatican (in Latin and French). Paris: Imprimerie nationale.
Socin, A. (1879). "Alphabetisches Verzeichniss von Ortschaften des Paschalik Jerusalem". Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins. 2: 135–163.