as-Samu

This article is about the Palestinian village in the West Bank. For the French hospital-based emergency medical service, see SAMU. For the American professional wrestler, see Samula Anoa'i.

As Samu'
Other transcription(s)
- Arabic	السموع
- Also spelled	es Samu' (official) Samua (unofficial)
As Samu' Location of As Samu' within the Palestinian territories
Coordinates: 31°24′02.85″N 35°04′01.47″E / 31.4007917°N 35.067075°E / 31.4007917; 35.067075Coordinates: 31°24′02.85″N 35°04′01.47″E / 31.4007917°N 35.067075°E / 31.4007917; 35.067075
Governorate	Hebron
Government
- Type	Municipality
- Head of Municipality	abed ennabe elhawamde
Area
- Jurisdiction	13,800 dunams (13.8 km2 / 5.3 sq mi)
Population (2007)
- Jurisdiction	19,649

As Samu' or es-Samu' (Arabic: السموع‎) is a town in the Hebron Governorate of the West Bank, 12 kilometers south of the city of Hebron. as-Samu is 60 kilometers south-west of Jerusalem. The area is a hilly, rocky area cut by some wadis. The Armistice Demarcation Line (ADL, Green line) runs generally east to west approximately five kilometers south of as Samu. The village of as Samu is located on twin hills with a wadi varying from shallow to deep between them.^[1] According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics the town had a population of 19,649 in 2007.^[2] It has been claimed that this was the Biblical town of Eshtemoa, but this is not universally accepted.^{[citation needed]}

Eshtemoa

In 1838, Edward Robinson identified the town of Semua with biblical Eshtemoa.^[3] Eshtemoa, meaning obedience, was a priestly allotment mentioned in the Book of Joshua (19:50, 21:14), in Samuel I (30:25), and in the Books of Chronicles I (4:17, 6:42).

The Jerusalem Talmud mentions Eshtemoa as well as an amora active in the town during the 4th-century by the name of Hasa of Eshtemoa.^[4] Eusebius of Caesarea (4th-century) describes Eshtemoa in the Onomasticon as being a Jewish town in the 'Daroma', north of Aniam, within the Eleutheropolis (Bet Guvrin) region.

In the 12th century CE, the Crusaders built a fortress that was part of the eastern defense line.

In 1934, remains of the towns ancient synagogue were discovered and the site was later excavated in 1969, by Ze'ev Yeivin.^[5]

Operation Shredder

Main article: Operation Shredder

In 1966, Israel launched a full-scale military operation against the town, which resulted in the deaths of fifteen Jordanian soldiers and three Jordanian civilians; fifty-four other soldiers and ninety-six civilians were wounded. The commander of the Israeli paratroop battalion, Colonel Yoav Shaham, was killed and ten other Israeli soldiers were wounded.

Separation Barrier

It was reported in 2005 that 10,000 dunums of land in the towns of As Samu, Yatta and ad-Dhahiriya near Hebron were to be seized by the Israel Defense Force for the construction of the separation wall.^[6] Palestinian sources have alleged that settler violence from the nearby Israeli settlements of Ma'on and Asa'el has prevented them from accessing their fields.^[7][8]

Culture

A headdress or 'money hat' (wuqayat al-darahem) from as-Samu (c. 1840s (with later additions)) is exhibited at the British Museum. The caption notes that the headdress was worn in the 19th Century and early 20th Century during the wedding ceremony, especially for the 'going out to the well' ceremony when the bride appeared in public as a married woman for the first time.^[9] Generally, the headdress was considered to be one of the most important parts of the Palestinian costume.

Notes

1. ^ UN Doc
2. ^ 2007 PCBS Census Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. p.121.
3. ^ Robinson, Edward (1856). Biblical Researches in Palestine, vol.I. p. 494. http://books.google.com/books?id=MIUKXuBj5pkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Biblical+Researches+in+Palestine&hl=en&ei=1KQyTLqxKOHfsAboionOBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=book-preview-link&resnum=4&ved=0CEAQuwUwAw#v=onepage&q=semua&f=false. 
4. ^ Ben-Zion Rosenfeld (2009). Torah Centers and Rabbinic Activity in Palestine 70-400 C.e: History and Geographic Distribution. BRILL. p. 81. ISBN 9789004178380. http://books.google.com/books?id=dD_dGmWh73QC&pg=PA81. Retrieved 12 June 2011. 
5. ^ "על מקור תוכניותיהם של בתי-הכנסת בדרום הר-יהודה [Sources for the Plans of the Synagogues in Southern Mount Hebron]" (in Hebrew). Snunit.k12.il. http://www.snunit.k12.il/heb_journals/katedra/68006.html. Retrieved 2010-07-06. 
6. ^ UN Doc Chronological Review of Events Relating to the Question of Palestine; Monthly Media Monitoring Review March 2005
7. ^ 14 May: Farmers and shepherds from Yatta and As Samu towns were denied access to their land by settlers from Ma'on settlement.
8. ^ Relief web. According to Palestinian sources, a 30-year-old Palestinian man from the town of As-Samu' sustained multiple bodily injuries when a group of settlers beat him and dragged him to the nearby settlement outpost of Asael. The settlers then tied him to an electricity pole where the assault continued.
9. ^ Money hat

References

• Ben-Yehûdā, Ḥemdā and Sandler, Shmuel (2002). The Arab-Israeli Conflict Transformed: Fifty Years of Interstate and Ethnic Crises. SUNY Press. ISBN 079145245X
• Bowen, Jeremy (2003). Six Days: How the 1967 War Shaped the Middle East. London: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-3095-7
• Hussein of Jordan (1969). My "War" with Israel. London: Peter Owen. ISBN 0-7206-0310-2
• Mayhew, Chrsitopher and Adams, Michael (2006). Publish It Not: The Middle East Cover Up. Signal Books. ISBN 1-904955-19-3
• Oren, Michael (2002). Six Days of War. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-515174-7
• Prittie, Terence (1969). Eshkol of Israel: The Man and the Nation. London, Museum Press. ISBN 027340475X

Further reading

• The Design of the Ancient Synagogues in Judaea: Eshtemoa and Horvat Susiya

External links

• As Samu' Town (Fact Sheet)
• As Samu' Town Profile
• As Samu' Areal Photo
• The priorities and needs for development in As Samu' town based on the community and local authorities’ assessment