Khirbet Ghuwein al-Fauqa

This article is about the hamlet in as-Samuʿ. For Khirbet Ghuwein al-Tahta, see Horvat ‘Anim.
Khirbet Ghuwein al-Fauqa
خربة غويين الفوقا
Upper Ghuwein
Interactive map of Khirbet Ghuwein al-Fauqa
Khirbet Ghuwein al-Fauqa
Location of Khirbet Ghuwein al-Fauqa within Palestine
Coordinates: 31°24′40″N 35°00′10″E / 31.41111°N 35.00278°E / 31.41111; 35.00278
CountryState of Palestine
GovernorateHebron Governorate
Population
 (2017)
 • Total
c. 120
 (part of Sikka/Tawas Village Council cluster)
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)

Khirbet Ghuwein al-Fauqa (Arabic: خربة غويين الفوقا, "Upper Ghuwein") is a Palestinian hamlet in the South Hebron Hills, within the Hebron Governorate of the southern West Bank. It lies south of Dura and northwest of as-Samu, and administratively belongs to the as-Samuʿ municipality.[1]

Geography

Khirbet Ghuwein al-Fauqa lies in the southern Hebron hills, within the municipal jurisdiction of as-Samu. The surrounding landscape is semi-arid, characterized by dry-farming plots, cisterns, and traditional cave dwellings. Its economy is based primarily on subsistence agriculture and livestock herding. [2]

History

The site has been identified with Upper Horvat Anim, the Christian counterpart to the Jewish settlement at Lower Horvat Anim (Khirbet Ghuwein al-Tahta). Classical sources, including Eusebius’ Onomasticon, describe Anim (Greek: Ἀναιά) as two villages south of Hebron, one Jewish and the other Christian.[3][4][5] Archaeological evidence suggests that a Byzantine church was constructed east of the village, connected by a pathway, reflecting the Christianisation of the rural landscape in Late Antiquity.[6][7]

The village preserves the remains of earlier settlement phases, with caves, cisterns, and ruins documented by 19th-century explorers. In 1838, Edward Robinson and noted al-Ghuwein as a ruin located southwest of el-Khulil.[8]

In 1863, Victor Guérin described Khirbet Ghuwein as a ruin with traces of ancient walls, caves, and water installations, noting that it had once been a village.[9] In the 1870s, the Survey of Western Palestine described Khurbet el Ghuwein el Fôka as having “traces of ruins, with caves and cisterns.”[10]

During the British Mandate for Palestine, Khirbet Ghuwein was classified as a hamlet within the Dura–as-Samu area. After the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and the 1949 Armistice Agreements, it came under Jordanian administration. Since the Six-Day War in 1967, it has been under Israeli occupation.[11]

Demographics

According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), Khirbet Ghuwein al-Fauqa is counted within the Sikka–Tawas cluster, which together had a population of 204 in the 2017 census.[12]

Recent developments

Khirbet Ghuwein al-Fauqa has been subjected to demolition and land confiscation measures. In September 2023, Israeli forces demolished an agricultural facility in the hamlet, including a water well and irrigation network used by local farmers.[13]

Later that year, international media reported that residents of Khirbet Ghuwein and neighboring villages were subjected to settler attacks and military operations during the escalation of violence in the West Bank following October 2023 events.[14] According to Palestinian news reports, homes and agricultural structures in the hamlet have been repeatedly threatened with demolition orders, leaving residents in a state of uncertainty.[15]

In recent years, Khirbet Ghuwein al-Fauqa has faced increasing pressure from Israeli authorities, including over thirty demolition or "stop work" orders against community structures, creating a coercive environment that has driven some families to leave. The village lacks electricity and relies on an irregular water supply, conditions that also affect education. Its primary school (grades 1–6) has been under demolition threat since October 2016, while secondary students must travel about six kilometres to as-Samuʿ, a journey that is unreliable due to the Israeli hafrada system and extensive road closures. Local residents report that children sometimes drop out of school because of the dangers and costs of travel, and that many parents prefer to have all grades taught within the community. These difficulties, combined with infrastructure deficiencies, have severely hampered children's access to education in the hamlet.[16]

See also

  • Masafer Yatta – nearby cluster of hamlets in the South Hebron Hills also affected by demolitions and displacement

References

  1. ^ "Sikka/Tawas Village Profile" (PDF). Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem (ARIJ). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-06-13.
  2. ^ "Inflating Israeli Settlements Enterprise In Pose of the Peace Process" (PDF). Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem (ARIJ). 15 June 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
  3. ^ Urman, Dan; Flesher, Paul Virgil McCracken (1998). Ancient Synagogues: Historical Analysis and Archaeological Discovery. Leiden: Brill. pp. 135–136. ISBN 978-90-04-11254-4.
  4. ^ Ben-Yosef, Sefi, ed. (n.d.). Israel Guide – Judaea (A useful encyclopedia for the knowledge of the country) (in Hebrew). Vol. 9. Jerusalem: Keter Publishing House, in affiliation with the Israel Ministry of Defence. p. 220. OCLC 745203905.
  5. ^ Chapmann III, R.L.; Taylor, J.E., eds. (2003). Palestine in the Fourth Century A.D.: The Onomasticon by Eusebius of Caesarea. Translated by G.S.P. Freeman-Grenville. Jerusalem: Carta. pp. 23, 110. ISBN 965-220-500-1. OCLC 937002750.
  6. ^ Tsafrir, Y.; Leah Di Segni; Judith Green (1994). (TIR): Tabula Imperii Romani. Iudaea, Palestina. Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. p. 62. ISBN 965-208-107-8.
  7. ^ Bar, Doron (2003). "The Christianisation of Rural Palestine during Late Antiquity". Journal of Ecclesiastical History. Vol. 54, No. 3 (July 2003), pp. 401–421, esp. p. 413. doi:10.1017/S0022046902007152.
  8. ^ Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 116
  9. ^ Guérin, Victor (1869). Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine, vol. 2, p. 343–345.
  10. ^ C. R. Conder and H. H. Kitchener, The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology, Volume III: Judaea (London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund, 1883), p. 408.
  11. ^ "Inflating Israeli Settlements Enterprise In Pose of the Peace Process" (PDF). Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem (ARIJ). 15 June 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
  12. ^ "Palestinian Population, Housing and Establishment Census 2017". Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS). Retrieved 8 September 2025.
  13. ^ "The Israeli Occupation Demolished an Agricultural Facility in Khirbet Ghuwein – Hebron". Land Research Center – Jerusalem. 14 September 2023. Retrieved 8 September 2025.
  14. ^ Holmes, Oliver (31 October 2023). "'They came with the army': West Bank villages besieged by settlers". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 September 2025.
  15. ^ "Israeli forces demolish structures in Khirbet Ghuwein, Hebron". Palestine News Network (PNN). 18 September 2023. Retrieved 8 September 2025.
  16. ^ Raided and Razed: Attacks on West Bank Education (Report). Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). November 2020. pp. 19–37. Retrieved 9 September 2025.

Bibliography

  • Conder, C. R.; Kitchener, H. H. (1883). Survey of Western Palestine, Memoirs of the Topography, Orthography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. Vol. 3. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
  • Guérin, Victor (1869). Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine. Vol. 2. Paris: L'Imprimerie Nationale.
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