Al-Qubayba

Infobox Former Arab villages in Palestine
name=al-Qubayba


imgsize=
caption=
arname=القبية
meaning=
altSp=Qubeiba
district=hb
population=1,060
popyear=1945
area=11,801
areakm=12.0
date=28 October 1948
cause=M
curlocl=Lachish:"al-Qubayba was also a Palestinian village in the Ramla District, depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War."al-Qubayba (also: Qubeiba, _ar. القبية) was a Palestinian village, located 24 kilometers northwest of Hebron.

Known in Crusader times as Deirelcobebe, the ruins of the ancient Canaanite city of Lachish lay adjacent to the village,Stillman, p.57.] which was subject to extensive archaeological excavations by the British Mandatory authorities in Palestine, and by Israeli authorities subsequent to its capture during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.cite web|title=Welcome to Al-Qubayba|publisher=Palestine Remembered|accessdate=2007-12-06|url=http://www.palestineremembered.com/Hebron/al-Qubayba/index.html]

Though defended by Egyptian forces, al-Qubayba was overtaken by Israeli forces during Operation Yoav on 28 October 1948.

Of the village mosque, an elementary school, and more than 141 houses that made up al-Qubayba, Walid Khalidi notes that all that remains to mark the site in contemporary times are cactuses and a handful of olive trees.

The Israeli locality of Lakhish is located on the village's former lands.

Culture

A woman's "thob" (loose fitting robe with sleeves), from Qubeiba dated to about 1910 forms part of the Museum of International Folk Art (MOIFA) collection at Santa Fe. The dress is a collage of different fabrics, textures and colors. The front and the upper half of the back are of black cotton. The chest panel, the side panels and the lower back of the skirt are handwoven indigo linen. Colorful silk cross-stitch embroidery, in red, violet, orange, yellow, green and black, create an effect described as "particularly gay, twinkling" The "qabbeh" (square chest panel) is embroidered with the "qurunful" ("clove") motif, and it has vertical rows of eight-pointed stars, called "qamr" ("moons"), and a row of the "mushut" ("combs") pattern. There are eight embroidered columns on each side panel of the dress. The patterns which are used are "fanajin qahweh" ("coffee cups"), "khem-el-basha" ("the pashas tent"), "irq el-ward" ("rose branch"), and "miftah Khalil" ("key of Hebron"). There is also a pattern (with flowers, moons, trees, tents and tiles) not seen anywhere else in the MOMA collection. Finally, there is also some embroidery at the wrists.

See also

* List of villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war
* Palestinian costumes

References

Bibliography

*Stillman, Yedida Kalfon (1979). "Palestinian Costume and Jewelry". Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. ISBN 0-8263-0490-7. (A catalog of the Museum of International Folk Art (MOIFA) at Santa Fe's [http://www.moifa.org/collections/coll-textile.html] collection of Palestinian clothing and jewelry.)