Zif, Hebron

Zif (Arabic: زيف‎) is a Palestinian village located 7 kilometers (4.3 mi) south of Hebron. The village is in the Hebron Governorate in the southern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Zif had a population of 848 in 2007.[1] The primary health care facilities in the village itself are designated by the Ministry of Health as level 1 and at nearby Yatta as level 3.[2]

Zif
Municipality type D (Village council)
Arabic transcription(s)
 • Arabicزيف
Zif
Location of Zif within the West Bank
Zif
Location of Zif within Palestine
Coordinates: 31°28′47″N 35°07′19″E
Palestine grid163/098
State Palestine
GovernorateHebron
Government
 • TypeVillage council
Population
 (2007)
 • Total848

History

Zif existed as a village in the Roman era.[3] It had a Jewish population until at least the 4th century, but it became Christian during the Byzantine period.[4]

The remains of a Byzantine-era Christian communal church have been discovered at Zif.[5] Ceramics from the Byzantine era have also been found here.[6]

Ottoman era

In 1838 Edward Robinson identified the modern town of Zif and its adjacent Tell Zif with the biblical Ziph.[7]

In 1863 Victor Guérin visited and described the ruins.[8]

In 1874 surveyors from the PEF Survey of Palestine visited, and noted about Tell ez Zif: "A large mound, partly natural; on the north side a quarry; on the south are tombs. One of these has a single chamber, with a broad bench running round; on the back wall are three kokim with arched roofs, the arches pointed on the left side wall; at the back is another similar koka. A second tomb was a chamber, 8 feet to the back, 9 feet wide, with three recesses, one on each side, one at the back; they are merely shelves, 8 feet by 5 feet, raised some 2 feet. This tomb has a porch in front, supported by two square rock-cut piers.[9]

Modern era

Zif has been under Israeli occupation since 1967.

In September 2002, a bomb filled with screws and nails, planted by Jewish settlers, exploded in the village's school, wounding five children. A second bomb was found by the school's principal and was detonated by Israeli bomb experts.[10]

References
  1. 2007 PCBS Census Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. p.119.
  2. West Bank Health care at the Library of Congress Web Archives (archived 2006-03-13)
  3. Tsafrir et al, 1994, p. 262
  4. Magness, 2003, p. 94
  5. Doron Bar, 'The Christianisation of Rural Palestine during_Late Antiquity,' Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Vol. 54, No. 3 July 2003 pp.401-421 p.413.
  6. Dauphin, 1998, p. 962
  7. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 2, pp. 191, 195, 200
  8. Guérin, 1869, pp. 160-162
  9. Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 379
  10. Schmemann, Serge (2002-09-18). "Bomb Explodes at Palestinian School, Hurting 5 Children". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-06-09.

Bibliography
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