Taffuh () (lit. fragrance) is a Palestinian town located eight kilometers west of Hebron. The town is in the Hebron Governorate in the southern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 15,800 in 2017.

History Biblical connection The city of Beth-tappuah, literally House of Apple [tree], cited in the Book of Joshua (), is often located in the hill country of the Tribe of Judah, 5 km west northwest of Hebron.Woudstra, 1981, p. 251 Some experts, but not all, identify it with the archaeological site standing not far from the modern Palestinian village.Wilkinson, Hill and Ryan, 1988, p. 58, note 13

Archaeology Archaeological finds in the vicinity of the hill site include remains of an ancient road, a well to the west, cisterns, and rock-cuttings.Bugatti, 2002, p. 59 The PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) noted: "Evidently an ancient site; there are caves here, with trenches leading down to them, as at Khurbet 'Aziz, and the rock is quarried. An ancient road leads past the village."Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 379

Ottoman period In the Ottoman census of the 1500s, Taffuh was located in the nahiya of Halil.Toledano, 1984, p. 305, has Taffuh at location 31°32′30″N, 35°02′30″E While Taffuh was included in lists from the early part of the 16th century, there is no evidence of settlement in the second half of the 16th century. However, it was resettled at a later period.Grossman, D. "The expansion of the settlement frontier of Hebron's western and southern fringes". Geography Research Forum, 5, 1982, p. 62.

In 1838, Edward Robinson noted Teffuh as a Muslim village, located north of el-Khulil, and west of the road from Jerusalem.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 116 Robinson further described it as "an old village [..] it contains a good number of inhabitants, and lies in the midst of olive groves and vineyards, with marks of industry and thrift on every side. Indeed many of the former terraces along the hill sides are still in use [..] Several portions of walls, apparently those of an old fortress, are visible among the houses..."Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 2, p. 428

In 1863, Victor Guérin visited and found the village to have 400 inhabitants. He also noted that several houses seemed ancient.Guérin, 1869, p. 374 An Ottoman village list of about 1870 counted 54 houses and a population of 161, though the population count included men.Socin, 1879, p. 161 It was also noted to be in the Hebron districtHartmann, 1883, p. 142 noted 53 houses

In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Taffuh as "A village of ancient appearance, standing high at the edge of a ridge; on the north are the steep slopes of Wady Kedir, in which are olives belonging to the place. An ancient main-road passes through the village, and runs along flat ground to the west for a little way, then descends the ridge. There is a well to the west, with cisterns, caves, and rock-cuttings. The village has vineyards round it, and good springs in the valley to the west."Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 310

British Mandate In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Taffuh had a population of 461 inhabitants, all Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table V, Sub-district of Hebron, p. 10 increasing in the 1931 census to 580, all Muslim, in 124 inhabited houses.Mills, 1932, p. 34.

In the 1945 statistics the population of Taffuh was 780, all Muslims,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 23 who owned 12,103 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. 50 1,073 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 3,543 for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 94 while 31 dunams were built-up (urban) land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 143

1948-1967 In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Taffuh came under Jordanian rule.

The Jordanian census of 1961 found 1,282 inhabitants in Taffuh.Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 22

1967-present Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Taffuh has been under Israeli occupation.

Demography

According to the geographer David Grossman, Taffuh was possibly settled by refugees from Bayt Jibrin (or nearby Jamrura) as a result of local conflicts. It had lands near Jamrura-Sanbira, but those were later sold.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. 367 Ben-Zvi noted that the inhabitants were said to have Christian origins.

Footnotes

Bibliography

(pp. 29- 30)

External links

Welcome To Taffuh Survey of Western Palestine, Map 21: IAA, Wikimedia commons Taffuh Town (Fact Sheet), Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem (ARIJ) Taffuh Town Profile, ARIJ Taffuh aerial photo, ARIJ The priorities and needs for development in Taffuh town based on the community and local authorities’ assessment, ARIJ