As-Samu
As-Samu' is located on a tell identified with the ancient Jewish town of Eshtemoa, from which it derives its name. The town is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the Onomasticon, and the Jerusalem Talmud. Archaeological discoveries include a silver hoard with Hebrew inscriptions, a Jewish burial cave, and the 4th-century Eshtemoa synagogue, later converted into a mosque.
Initially a small village in the early Ottoman era, as-Samu' gradually grew into a larger settlement over the years. In 1966, it was the site of the Samu incident. Since the 1990s, as-Samu' has been governed by the Palestinian Authority as part of Area A of the West Bank. It is known for its handwoven kilims.
Geography
The area is a hilly, rocky area cut by some wadis. The Armistice Demarcation Line (ADL, Green line) runs generally east to west approximately five kilometers south of as-Samu'. The village of as-Samu' is located on twin hills with a wadi varying from shallow to deep between them. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics the town had a population of 19,649 in 2007.
History
Ancient period
As-Samu' is built upon a tell identified with Eshtemoa, an ancient Jewish settlement mentioned in various historical sources.
In 1971, five pottery jars dated to the 9th-8th centuries BCE were found in as-Samu', bearing inscriptions written in the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet. These jars contained one of the largest silver hoards ever found in Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
Classical period
In the 4th-century CE, Eshtemoa was described by Eusebius in his Onomasticon as a large Jewish village. The Jerusalem Talmud mentions Eshtemoa as the place of residence of an amora (scholar) who dwelt in the town during the 4th century by the name of Hasa of Eshtemoa.
In the late 19th century, a number of explorers visited the village and documented carved architectural elements scattered within it. These elements were incorporated into the walls of the village houses, with some reportedly adorned with a menorah and Jewish inscriptions.
A distinctive Jewish burial cave from the second and third centuries CE was discovered at as-Samu'. It features an elliptical layout along with collection pits and storage chambers integrated into its walls. Inside, twelve intact ossuaries were found alongside fragments of others. Some ossuaries, crafted from soft chalkstone, are typical of the Late Second Temple Period. The other ossuaries belong to the Late style, used by Jews during the Late Roman period.
In 1934, the remains of an ancient Jewish synagogue, now known as the Eshtemoa synagogue, were unearthed at as-Samu'. The synagogue is dated to around the 4th–5th century CE. Four seven-branched menorahs were discovered carved onto door lintels and one of them is displayed in Jerusalem's Rockefeller Museum. Starting in the 7th century, the synagogue was repurposed as a mosque, with the addition of a mihrab. Robert Schick proposes that this conversion might have occurred in the 10th century rather than during the Umayyad period.
Middle Ages
What was earlier identified to be part of a 12th-century Crusaders tower, turned out to be a 4th-century synagogue, which was turned into a mosque at the time of Saladin, according to tradition.
Ottoman era
As-Samu' was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517. In the 16th century, it was a minor village, predominantly a cave settlement that remained stable over various periods. Its inhabitants routinely made seasonal journeys into the Samirah region.
In the census of 1596 the village appeared as being in the Nahiya of Halil of the Liwa of Quds. It had a population of 16 households, all Muslim. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 33,3% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, vineyards and fruit trees, in addition to occasional revenues, goats and bee-hives; a total of 3000 akçe.
In 1838, Edward Robinson identified the town of Semua with biblical Eshtemoa. He described As-Samu as a "considerable" village..."full of flocks and herds all in fine order". He also found remains of walls built from very large stones, some of which were more than 10 feet long. In 1863 the French explorer Victor Guérin visited the place.
An Ottoman village list from about 1870 found that as-Samu had a population of 298, in 77 houses, though the population count included men, only.
In 1883, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described it as "A village of moderate size, standing high. On the north is an open valley, and the modern buildings extend along a spur which runs out west from the watershed. The ground is rocky on the hills, but the valleys are arable land. There are remains of an ancient castle in the village, and other fragments. A church is said once to have existed here, and the ruins to the west show that the town was once much larger. To the south there are olives in the valley. To the north there are rock-cut tombs on the hill-side ; the water-supply is from cisterns. The inhabitants number some 400 to 500 souls.
British Mandate era
In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, As-Samu (called: Al Samu) had an entirely Muslim population of 1,600 inhabitants. In the 1931 census, As-Samu, together with Khirbat al-Simia and Kh. Rafat had a total of 1,882 Muslims, in 372 houses. In 1934, remains of the towns ancient synagogue were discovered and the site was later excavated in 1969, by Ze'ev Yeivin.
In the 1945 statistics the population of as-Samu' was 2,520, all Muslims, who owned 138,872 dunams of land according to an official land and population survey. 30 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 40,398 for cereals, while 165 dunams were built-up (urban) land.
Jordanian era
In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and the 1949 Armistice Agreements, As-Samu was annexed by Jordan along with the rest of the renamed ‘West Bank’. In 1961, the population of Samu was 3,103.
Samu Incident
In 1966 Israel launched a full-scale military operation against the town, which resulted in the deaths of fifteen Jordanian soldiers and three Jordanian civilians; fifty-four other soldiers were wounded. The villagers suffered 3 civilians killed and 96 wounded. According to David Dean Shulman, the villagers were unconnected to the incident that had triggered the reprisal. Much of the village was destroyed. The commander of the Israeli paratroop battalion, Colonel Yoav Shaham, was killed and ten other Israeli soldiers were wounded.
Israeli occupation
As a result of the Six-Day War in 1967, 'as-Samu came under Israeli occupation. The population in the 1967 census conducted by the Israeli authorities was 3,784. Under the Oslo Accords, the town was assigned to Area A.
It was reported in 2005 that 10,000 dunums of land in the towns of 'as-Samu, Yatta and ad-Dhahiriya near Hebron were to be seized by the Israel Defense Forces for the construction of the separation wall. Palestinian sources have alleged that settler violence from the nearby Israeli settlements of Ma'on and Asa'el has prevented them from accessing their fields.
Demography
Among the residents of as-Samu are the Abu Awwad, al-Badareen, ad-Daghameen, al-Hawadah , al-Mahareeq, ar-Rawashdah, al-Salameen and az-Za'areer families.
Culture
A headdress or 'money hat' (wuqayat al-darahem) from as-Samu (c. 1840s, with later additions) is exhibited at the British Museum. The caption notes that the headdress was worn in the 19th century and early 20th century during the wedding ceremony, especially for the 'going out to the well' ceremony when the bride appeared in public as a married woman for the first time. Generally, the headdress was considered to be one of the most important parts of the Palestinian costume.
As-Samu' is also known for its handwoven kilims.