Talfit ()Palmer, 1881 p. 245, also pronounced Tilfit, is a Palestinian village in the Nablus Governorate in the northern West Bank, located southeast of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) census, it had a population of 3,591 in 2017.
Location Talfit is located south Nablus. It is bordered by Jalud and Qusra to the east, Jurish and Qabalan to the north, Eli, Mateh Binyamin to the west, and Qaryut to the south. Talfit Village Profile, ARIJ, p. 4
History Potsherds from the Iron Age II, Persian and Byzantine/Ayyubid eras have been found.Finkelstein et al, 1997, p. 655
Röhricht suggested identifying Talfit with Tarphin, mentioned in a Crusader text from 1154,Röhricht, 1887, p. 213 but a later author (Abel) located it at Kh. Tarfein to the north of Bir Zeit.Abel, 1928:52, cited in Finkelstein et al, 1997, p. 655 According to Finkelstein, Kh. Tarfein better fits the archaeological finds.
Potsherds from the Mamluk era has also been found.
Ottoman era In 1596, Talfit appeared in Ottoman tax registers as a village in the Nahiya of Jabal Qubal in the Liwa of Nablus. It had a population of 12 Muslim households. The villagers paid a fixed tax-rate of 33,3% on wheat, barley, summer crops, olives, and goats or beehives; a total of 1,500 akçe.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 133 Potsherds from the early Ottoman era has also been found here.
In 1838 Edward Robinson noted Telfit located in El-Beitawy district, east of Nablus.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 128
The PEF's Survey of Western Palestine noted in 1882 that the place resembled Kabalan, the latter being described as a village of moderate size, on high ground, surrounded by olive trees. Talfit was supplied with water from a well called 'Ain Telfit.Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 288
British Mandate era In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Talfit had a population of 352, all Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table IX, Sub-district of Nablus, p. 25 increasing in the 1931 census to 464, still all Muslim, in 116 occupied houses.Mills, 1932, p. 65
In the 1945 statistics, Telfit had a population of 610 Muslims,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 19 with 6,258 dunams of land, 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, 3,309 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 1,228 used for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 108 while 49 dunams were built-up land.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, Talfit came under Jordanian rule.
The Jordanian census of 1961 found 904 inhabitants.Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 25
1967-present After the Six-Day War in 1967, Talfit has been under Israeli occupation.
After the 1995 accords, 97% of the village land is classified as Area B land, while the remaining 3% is Area C.
Demography
Local origins Locals trace their origins to the area of Damascus, in Syria.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. 356
References
Bibliography
External links Welcome To Talfit Survey of Western Palestine, Map 14: IAA, Wikimedia commons Talfit Village Profile, Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem (ARIJ) Talfit, aerial photo, ARIJ