Zawata () is a town in the Nablus Governorate in the northern West Bank, Palestine, located 6 kilometers northwest of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the town had a population of 2,537 inhabitants in 2017.

Location Zawata is located 4.4 km north of Nablus. It has Ijnisinya and ‘Asira ash Shamaliya to the east, Ijnisinya and An Naqura to the north, An Naqura and Beit Iba to the west, and Beit Iba and Nablus to the south.Zawata Village Profile, ARIJ p. 4

History

Clermont-Ganneau found here tessera, probably from the Ptolemaic period.Clermont-Ganneau, 1896, pp. 330-331

Pottery sherds from the late Roman, Byzantine, early Muslim and the Medieval eras have been found here.Zertal, 2004, pp. 405- 406

Ottoman era Zawata, like all of Palestine was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517. In the 1596 tax registers, it was part of the nahiya ("subdistrict") of Jabal Sami, part of the larger Sanjak of Nablus. It had a population of 11 households, all Muslims. The inhabitants paid a fixed tax rate of 33,3% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues and a press for olive oil or grape syrup, and a fixed tax for people of Nablus area; a total of 6,944 akçe.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 125

According to Jaussen, Zawata was resettled in the 19th century. Some of its residents have origins in Ni'ilin.Grossman, D. (1986). "Oscillations in the Rural Settlement of Samaria and Judaea in the Ottoman Period". in Shomron studies. Dar, S., Safrai, S., (eds). Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad Publishing House. p. 351

In 1838, Edward Robinson noted Zawata ‘’on the hill-side,’’Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, p. 137 part of the Jurat 'Amra district, south of Nablus.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 127

In 1870, Victor Guérin noted Zaouata as "a village on a high hill with white limestone slopes, some used for quarrying. The number of the inhabitants is 300. Below the hill a rich spring, 'Ain Zawata, supplies water to the village and irrigates a small valley. During our visit large herds of sheep were crowding around the spring."Guérin, 1875, p. 185

In 1870/1871 (1288 AH), an Ottoman census listed the village in the nahiya (sub-district) of Wadi al-Sha'ir.

In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Zawata as: "a village of moderate size, on a hill, with springs in the valley to the north."Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP II, p. 162

British mandate era In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Zawata had a population of 214 Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table IX, p. 24 increasing in the 1931 census, to 247 Muslims, in 73 houses.Mills, 1932, p. 66

In the 1945 statistics the population was 330 Muslims,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 19 while the total land area was 3,558 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 61 Of this, 13 dunams were for citrus and bananas, 334 for plantations and irrigable land, 1,842 for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 108 while 31 dunams were classified as built-up areas.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 158

Jordanian era In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Zawata came under Jordanian rule.

In 1961, the population of Zawata was 466.Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 26

Post 1967 Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Zawata has been under Israeli occupation, and according to the Israeli census of that year, the population of Zawata stood at 591, of whom 28 were registered as having come from Israel.

After the 1995 accords, 31% of Zawata land is defined as Area A land, 32% is Area B land, while the remaining 37% is defined as Area C. Part of the village land has been confiscated for the construction of an Israeli military road. This road also cuts off Zawata from its northernmost land.Zawata Village Profile, ARIJ, pp. 15-16

References

Bibliography

External links Welcome to Zawata Survey of Western Palestine, Map 11: IAA , Wikimedia commons Zawata Village Profile, Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem (ARIJ) Zawata, aerial photo, ARIJ Development Priorities and Needs in Zawata, ARIJ