Deir Sammit () is a Palestinian town located eight kilometers west of Hebron. The town is in the Hebron Governorate Southern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 8,114 in 2017.
Geography From the east is Dura, Hebron, from the west is As Simiya, from the south is Beit Awwa, and from the north is Al-Muwarraq.
History An amulet composed of a very thin copper sheet with a Christian Palestinian Aramaic inscription was discovered at Deir Sammit.
Ottoman period In the early tax registers from the 1500s in the Ottoman Empire, Deir Sammit was noted as being cultivatedToledano, 1984, p. 302. Toledano gives its location as 31°31′20″N 34°58′05″E by the villagers of Suba.Toledano, 1984, p. 282
In 1838, it was noted as a place "in ruins or deserted," part of the area between Hebron and Gaza, but under the jurisdiction of Hebron.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 117Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, p. 10
In 1863, Victor Guérin called the place Khirbet Deir Samit.Guérin, 1869, pp. 344-345: "...au milieu des débris d'une petite ville détruite, qui me sont indiqués sous le nom de Khirbet Deir Samit, [], ou peut-être Samith. La place que cette ville occupait sur les pentes et sur le sommet d'une colline est maintenant couverte de nombreux amas de grosses pierres, soit taillées avec soin, soit presque brutes. Les citernes et les silos y abondent. Plusieurs excavations, qui paraissent être d'anciennes carrières, servent aujourd'hui de refuge aux bergers et à leurs troupeaux, pendant la mauvaise saison."
In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Palestine noted "traces of ruins, caves, and cisterns" here.Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 353
British Mandate era At the time of the 1931 census of Palestine the population of Deir Samit was counted under Dura.Mills, 1932, p. 29
Modern era In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Deir Sammit came under Jordanian rule. The Jordanian census of 1961 found 808 inhabitants in Deir Sammit.Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 22
After the Six-Day War in 1967, Deir Sammit has been under Israeli occupation. Since 1995, it has been governed by the Palestinian National Authority as part of Area B of the West Bank.
Demography The residents of Deir Samit belong to four main families: Al-Haroub, Al-Sharowna, Al-Sharha', and the Al'Awawdh family.Deir Samit village profile, ARIJ, 2009 The local Haribat (Haroub) clan has its origins in Bedouins who migrated from Tubas.
Footnotes
Bibliography
External links
Welcome to Dayr Samit Deir Samet, Welcome to Palestine Survey of Western Palestine, Map 21: IAA, Wikimedia commons Deir Samit Village (fact sheet), Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem (ARIJ) Deir Samit village profile, ARIJ Deir Samit aerial photo, ARIJ The priorities and needs for development in Deir Samit village based on the community and local authorities' assessment, ARIJ Constructing the Segregation Wall are in Deir Samit village – Hebron, September 23, 2004, POICA