Talfit (), also pronounced Tilfit (PRHP), is a Palestinian village in the Jenin Governorate of Palestine, in the northern West Bank, located southeast of Jenin. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) census, the village had a population of 238 in 2007 and 439 by 2017.2007 PCBS Census. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. p. 105.
Situated on an isolated tell in the Zababdeh Valley, Talfit has an elevation of 390 meters above sea level.Zertal, 2007, p. 122 Nearby localities include Kufeir to the south, Zababdeh to the southwest, Qabatiya to the west, Umm at-Tut to the north, Jalqamus and al-Mughayyir to the northeast and Raba to the southeast. The principal water source is Ein Ginai, 6 kilometers to the west and there are 35 cisterns in the village. In 1980 Talfit's built-up area consisted of 15 dunams.
History The northern and westerns parts of Talfit contain ruins dating to the ByzantineDauphin, 1998, p. 789 and Early Islamic periods between the 5th-8th centuries. Ancient building material is used in some of the houses.
The Reḥov mosaic inscription from the Byzantine period lists Shaffirin (שפירין), identified with Khirbet Saffirin in Tilfit, among the Jewish settlements of the Sebaste district, whose inhabitants were exempt from agricultural laws governing produce because of the territory’s ambiguous status.
Ottoman era Talfit is absent from 16th century records. It was initially settled by people from Qabatiya. It is likely that the village was not inhabited before the 18th century.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. 350
In 1838, during the Ottoman era, ‘’Talfit’’ was noted as a Muslim village in the Haritheh area, north of Nablus.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 130
The PEF's Survey of Western Palestine noted in 1882 that the place (then called "Khurbet Talfit") had modern masonry.Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 240
British Mandate era In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Talfit had a population of 43; 24 Muslims and 19 Christians,Barron, 1923, Table IX, Sub-district of Jenin, p. 29 where the Christians were all Orthodox.Barron, 1923, Table XV, p. 47 The population increased in the 1931 census to 120; all Muslim, in a total of 26 houses.Mills, 1932, p. 71
In the 1945 statistics the population was 170; all Muslims,Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 17 with 6,627 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. 55 194 dunams were used for plantations and irrigable land, 2,726 dunams for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 100 while a total of 3,707 dunams were non-cultivable land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 150
1948-1967 In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Talfit came under Jordanian rule.
post-1967 Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Talfit has been under Israeli occupation.
Demography
Diaspora Most of the village's residents are descendants of refugees from Arabia and Turkmen from Central Asia, who work as land tenants.
References
Bibliography
External links Welcome To Tilfit Tilfit, Welsome to Palestine Survey of Western Palestine, Map 12: IAA, Wikimedia commons