Kiryat Ata () also spelled Qiryat Ata, is a city in the Haifa District of Israel. In it had a population of , 92% of whom were Jewish citizens.
History The Early Bronze Age site at Kiryat Ata has been extensively excavated since 1990, revealing stratified remains from the Neolithic, EB (=early Bronze Age), IB and EB II periods.Golani, 2006, Qiryat AtaTabar, 2010, Qiryat AtaHamid, 2010, Qiryat AtaGolani, 2012, Qiryat Ata At Tell el ‘Idham remains from a continuous habitation from the early Bronze Age, through the Persian age down to the Roman era have been identified.Volynsky, 2012, Qiryat Ata
Archaeologists Mordechai Aviam and Dan Barag (1935–2009) thought it to be the Capharatha () mentioned by JosephusJosephus, Vita 185 (§ 37) in the Lower Galilee, one of several views tentatively identified for the site.Aviam, 2004, p. 92
Rock-hewn winepresses dating to the Byzantine era have been found here. Some have had crosses and Greek letters incised, supporting the theory that there was a Byzantine monastery located in the area.Talmi, 2013, Qiryat Ata, Giv‘at Allonim (B)Talmi, 2013, Qiryat Ata, Giv‘at Allonim (A) Ceramics from the Byzantine era have also been found here,Dauphin, 1998, p. 669Bouchenino, 2005, Qiryat Ata and a building from the Byzantine or early Islamic period has been excavated.
In 1283 it was mentioned as part of the domain of the Crusaders, according to the hudna between the Crusaders and the Mamluk sultan Qalawun. At the time it was called Kafrata.al-Qalqashandi version of the hudna, referred in Barag, 1979, p. 207, no. 59 Ceramics from the Mamluk era have also been found here.Shadman, 2006, Qiryat Ata An excavation at Independence Street, Kiryat Ata, showed nearly continuous settlement dating from the Persian and Hellenistic eras up to the Mamluk era (late eleventh–early fifteenth century CE).The Mamluk (and any later) era had been severely disturbed by modern development. See Torgë and Sa‘id, 2015, Qiryat Ata
Ottoman era Incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517, Kufrata appeared in the census of 1596, located in the Nahiya of Acca, part of Safad Sanjak. The population was 15 households, all Muslim. They paid a fixed tax rate of 20% on wheat, barley, fruit trees, cotton, goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues; a total of 1,508 akçe.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 193Note that Rhode, 1979, p. 6 writes that the Safad register that Hütteroth and Abdulfattah studied was not from 1595/6, but from 1548/9
The village appeared under the name of Koufour Tai on the map that Pierre Jacotin compiled during Napoleon's invasion of 1799,Karmon, 1960, p. 162 while in 1856 it was named Kefr Ette on Kiepert's map of Palestine published that year.Kiepert, 1856, Map of Southern Palestine
In 1859 the population was estimated to be 100, and the cultivation was 16 feddans.Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 285 In 1875 Victor Guérin visited, and found the village to have 50 houses.Guérin, 1880, p. 409
In 1881 the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described Kefr Ettameaning "Village of Etta", where Etta is a personal name, according to Palmer, 1881, p. 110 as "a small adobe village, on the plain, with a well on the north and olives on the east."
A population list from about 1887 showed that Kh. Kefr Etta had about 285 inhabitants; all Muslims.Schumacher, 1888, p. 178
British Mandate era
In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Kufritta showed a population of 400; 7 Christians and 393 Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-District of Haifa, p. 33 where all the Christians were of the Orthodox faith.Barron, 1923, Table XVI, p. 49
The area was acquired by the Jewish community as part of the Sursock Purchase. In 1925 a Zionist organisation purchased 10,000 dunums from Alexander Sursock, of the Sursock family of Beirut. At the time, there were 75 families living there.List of villages sold by Sursocks and their partners to the Zionists since British occupation of Palestine, evidence to the Shaw Commission, 1930
In the 1931 census Kufritta had a population of 4 Muslims and 29 Jews, in a total of 13 occupied houses.Mills, 1932, p. 94
In 1934, one of the country's largest textile plants, ATA, was established there.
In the 1945 statistics the population of Kfar Atta (Kufritta) consisted of 1,690 Jews and the land area was 6,131 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 14Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 48 Of this, 6 dunams were designated for citrus and bananas, 39 dunams for plantations and irrigable land, 1,527 for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 90 while 3,591 dunams were built-up (urban) areas.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 140
Kiryat Ata
In the early twentieth century, the lands of the Arab village of Kefr Etta were purchased by a Warsaw religious foundation named "Avodat Israel" through intermediaries in the American Zion Commonwealth. Avodat Israel founded Ata in 1925. During the 1929 Arab riots the town was attacked and abandoned. A year later the residents returned and rebuilt the community. The town was renamed Kfar Ata in 1940, which was also the name of the local textile factory. In 1965, when the village was merged with adjacent Kiryat Binyamin, the name became Kiryat Ata.Zaharoni (1978), p. 275
Climate Kiryat Ata has a Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers and cool and rainy winters. The hottest month is July and the coldest is February. Snowfall is rare, but snow was recorded three times in the 20th century: in 1950, 1992 and 1999. Annual precipitation is approximately .
Demographics
According to CBS, in 2001 the ethnic makeup of the city was 99.8% Jewish and other non-Arab, without a significant Arab population. See Population groups in Israel. According to CBS, in 2001 there were 23,700 males and 24,900 females. The population of the city was spread out, with 31.4% 19 years of age or younger, 15.7% between 20 and 29, 18.5% between 30 and 44, 18.3% from 45 to 59, 4.1% from 60 to 64, and 11.9% 65 years of age or older. The population growth rate in 2001 was 0.8%.
Education In 2000, there were 20 schools and 8,762 students in the city: 14 elementary schools with 4,899 students, and 11 high schools with 3,863 students. 52.0% of 12th graders were entitled to a matriculation certificate in 2001. In 2024 there are 22 schools.
Landmarks
The Fisher House, home of Yehoshua Fisher, one of the pioneers and leaders of the Kfar Ata Jewish community, was refurbished. The 19th-century building houses the Municipal Museum of the History of Kiryat Ata.
Sports The city's main football club, Maccabi Ironi Kiryat Ata, plays in Liga Alef, the third tier of Israeli football. The local basketball club, Elitzur Kiryat Ata, are in Ligat HaAl, the top division.
Archaeology Archaeological surveys at Khirbet Sharta in the northeast part of the city revealed traces of habitation dating to the Bronze, Iron, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, and Mamluk eras. In 2010, an archaeological survey was conducted at the ancient site of Kiryat Ata by Hagit Turge on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA),Israel Antiquities Authority, Excavators and Excavations Permit for Year 2010, Survey Permit # A-5948 and in 2014 and 2016 by Orit Segal.Israel Antiquities Authority, Excavators and Excavations Permit for Year 2014, Survey Permit # A-7186; Excavators and Excavations Permit for Year 2016, Survey Permit # A-7672
Voting Patterns In the 2022 election, 67 percent of voters in Kiryat Ata voted for the parties of the right-wing coalition led by Benjamin Netanyahu, while 30 percent voted for the parties of the center-left coalition led by Yair Lapid and 0.07 percent voted for the Arab parties.
Sister cities Reinickendorf, Germany (since 1976) Šabac, Serbia
Notable people
Shai Abuhatsira (born 1980), deputy mayor of Haifa Alon Abutbul (1965–2025) , actor Avraham Abutbul (1961–2012), actor and singer Erez Lev Ari, singer-songwriter Ami Omer Dadaon (born 2000), Paralympic champion swimmer Tal Friedman (born 1963), comedian, actor and musician Yuval Noah Harari, author and historian, was born in Kiryat Ata Shani Hazan (born 1992), beauty pageant titleholder (Miss Israel 2012) Ishtar (born 1968), French-Israeli singer Yaniv Katan (born 1981), association football player Oded Liphshitz, playwright Hovi Star, singer Meir Tapiro (born 1975), basketball player, and current CEO of Ironi Nes Ziona Tomer White Glasses (born 1983), celebrity during the 2026 Iran war Haim Yavin (born 1932), television anchor and documentary filmmaker Yossi Yona (born 1953), academic and politician Ozzy Zoltak (born 1983), singer-songwriter, born in Kiryat Ata
References
Bibliography
External links CBS population estimates for 2005/2006 Municipality website Beit Fischer City Museum Survey of Western Palestine, Map 5: IAA , Wikimedia commons