Abu Ghosh (; ) is an Arab-Israeli local council in Israel, located west of Jerusalem on the Tel Aviv–Jerusalem highway. It is situated above sea level. It takes its current name from the dominant clan inhabiting the town, while the older Arabic name used to be Qaryat al-'Inab (). Archaeological excavations have revealed three Neolithic settlement phases, the middle phase is dated to the 7th millennium BCE.

Identification with biblical Kiriath-jearim

The old Arabic name of Abu Ghosh, Qaryat al-'Inab (), has led to its identification with the biblical site of Kiryat Ye'arim (Hebrew meaning: "Village of Woods"),

Edward Robinson was the first modern scholar to suggest that Qaryat al-'Inab was the biblical Kiriath-jearim. The team excavating the hilltop site of Deir al-'Azar, around the Monastery of Our Lady of the Covenant, lists a wide range of arguments in favour of identifying the site with Kiriath-jearim.

In the 19th century, C. R. Conder of the Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF) thought that the old site of Kiriath-jearim should be identified with Kh. 'Erma, a ruin south of Kasla, from Beit Shemesh. Elsewhere, Conder and Kitchener, citing a "late tradition," noted that Abu Ghosh was, by some, thought to be Anathoth, the birthplace of the prophet Jeremiah, a tradition which has since been debunked.

Roman Empire

From the Hellenistic period through the later phases of the First Jewish–Roman War (66–70/73 CE), a Jewish village existed just south of modern-day Abu Ghosh, at the archaeological site of Horbat Mazruq. The area's inhabitants seem to have abandoned their homes due to the advancing Roman forces, who were marching from Emmaus toward Jerusalem during the revolt.

Crusaders

The Crusaders, who called the village Fontenoid, believed it was the site of Emmaus mentioned in the Gospel of Luke and built a church there. They later abandoned the identification in favour of Emmaus Nicopolis (see Emmaus#Historical identification).

Ottoman Empire

thumb|1840s view of Abu Ghosh from [[The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, and Nubia (mistakenly labelled as Lydda)]]

In the early Ottoman census of 16th century, it was noted as Inab, a village located in the nahiya of Quds.

There are several versions on the origins of the Abu Ghosh clan: According to one version, Abu Ghosh is the name of an Arab family who settled at the location in the early 16th century. In the 18th century, they lived in a village near Bayt Nuba, from which they ruled the surrounding region.

The Abu Ghosh family controlled the pilgrimage route from Jaffa to Jerusalem, and imposed tolls on all pilgrims passing through. They were given this privilege during the sultanate of Suleiman the Magnificent (1494–1566), after the area was conquered in the Ottoman–Mamluk War. The churches in Jerusalem also paid a tax to the Abu Ghosh clan. In 1834, during Egyptian rule in Palestine, the Egyptian governor Ibrahim Pasha abolished the Abu Ghosh's right to exact tolls from the pilgrimage route and imprisoned the clan's chief, Ibrahim Abu Ghosh, leading to the clan's temporary participation in the countrywide Peasants' Revolt. As a result, their village was attacked by Egyptian military forces.

In 1838, it was noted as a Muslim village, named Kuryet el'-Enab, located in the Beni Malik district.

It was attacked again in 1853 during a civil war between feudal families under Ahmad Abu Ghosh who ordered his nephew Mustafa to go to battle. A third attack on Abu Ghosh, carried out by the Ottoman military forces, helped and executed by British forces, took place during the military expedition against the feudal families in the 1860s. The Abu Ghoshes were among the well-known feudal families in Palestine. They governed 22 villages. The sheikh of Abu Ghosh lived in an impressive house described by pilgrims and tourists as a "true palace ... a castle ... a protective fortress ..."

An Ottoman village list of about 1870 showed that Abu Ghosh had 148 houses and a population of 579, though the population count included men only.

In the 19th century, the village was also referred to as Kuryet el' Enab.

In 1896 the population of Abu Ghosh was estimated to be about 1,200 persons.

At the beginning of the 20th century Qariat el-'Inab functioned as a 'throne village', or local seat of power.

Kiryat Anavim, the first kibbutz in the Judean Hills, was founded near Abu Ghosh in 1914, on land purchased from the Abu Ghosh family.

British Mandate

thumb|Abu Ghosh in 1933

thumb|Photograph from Palmach Archive. Caption: "Abu Ghosh – a Jewish-Arab friendship" 1948

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Enab had a population 475, including 450 Muslims and 25 Christians, increasing in the 1931 census to 601; 576 Muslims and 25 Christians, in 138 houses.

When Chaim Weizmann, later the first president of the State of Israel, visited Palestine in the spring of 1920, he was hosted by the residents of Abu Ghosh. and local Jews.

In the 1945 Village Statistics the population of Qaryat el 'Inab (Abu Ghosh) was 860; 820 Muslims and 40 Christians, with a total of 7,590 dunams of land according to an official land and population survey. Of this, a total of 1,517 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 3,274 for cereals, while 21 dunams were built-up (urban) land.

During the 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine and into the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the road to Jerusalem was blocked for Jews, as passage through the hills surrounding Jerusalem was crucial for getting supplies to the Jewish parts of the besieged city. Of the 36 Arab Muslim villages in these hills, Abu Ghosh was the only one that remained neutral, and in many cases helped to keep the road open for Jewish convoys. "From here it is possible to open and close the gates to Jerusalem," said former President Yitzhak Navon. Many in Abu Ghosh helped Israel with supplies.

During Operation Nachshon the Haganah reconsidered an attack on Abu Ghosh due to opposition of the Lehi, whose local commanders were on good terms with the mukhtar (village chief).

Israel

20th century

thumb|Harel Brigade training with Arabs of Abu Ghosh. 1948

During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the Har'el Brigade headquarters were located in Abu-Ghosh. Many of the villagers left Abu Ghosh during the heavy fighting in 1948, but most returned home in the following months.

thumb|Abu Ghosh village in 1948-1951

During the early years of the State of Israel the village was subjected to repeated searches by the army and anyone who had not registered as resident in November 1948 could be expelled. One case attracted a lot of public criticism. In June 1950, the IDF and police deported 105 men and women believed to be "infiltrators" to Jordan. In an open letter to the Knesset, the inhabitants of Abu Ghosh claimed that the army had "surrounded our village, and taken our women, children and old folk, and thrown them over the border and into the Negev Desert, and many of them died in consequence, when they were shot [trying to make their way back across] the borders." The letter further stated that they woke up to "shouts blaring over the loudspeaker announcing that the village was surrounded and anyone trying to get out would be shot. ... The police and military forces then began to enter the houses and conduct meticulous searches, but no contraband was found. In the end, using force and blows, they gathered up our women, and old folk and children, the sick and the blind and pregnant women. These shouted for help but there was no saviour. And we looked on and were powerless to do anything save beg for mercy. Alas, our pleas were of no avail... They then took the prisoners, who were weeping and screaming, to an unknown place, and we still do not know what befell them." The village remained under martial law until 1966.

The Israeli government, subsequently on peaceful terms with the village, invested in improving the infrastructure of the village.

21st century

Abu Ghosh mayor Salim Jaber attributed in 2007 the good relations with Israel to the great importance attached to being hospitable: "We welcome anybody, regardless of religion or race."

Archaeology

In 2017 an archaeological dig began at Deir el-'Azar, the site of the convent, led by Israel Finkelstein of Tel Aviv University and Christophe Nicolle and Thomas Römer of the College de France. The first season brought to light a huge stone platform or podium measuring at the top of the hill, with retaining walls , high and perfectly aligned north–south and east–west, which were dated to the first half of the eighth century BCE during the Iron IIB period (900–700 BCE). He speculated that the platform might have housed an administration compound that included a temple of the Ark, with the aim of enforcing the domination of Israel over Judah. church in 1140 and it was partially destroyed in 1187. It was acquired by the French government in 1899 and placed under guardianship of the French Benedictine Fathers. Since 1956, it has been run by the Lazarist Fathers. Today a double community of nuns and brothers continue the worship in the church and offer hospitality, reflecting the ancient story of the couple on the Jerusalem–Emmaus road.

<gallery widths="250" heights="250">

File:Entrée Abbaye Abu Gosh.jpg|Abu Ghosh, the Benedictine monastery

File:AbuGoshBenedictineMonasteryOct01202022 01.jpg|the Benedictine monastery and its surroundings

</gallery>

Church of Notre Dame

The Church of Notre Dame de l'Arche d'Alliance (Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant Church), built in 1924, is said to occupy the site of the house of Abinadab, where the Ark of the Covenant rested for twenty years until King David took it to Jerusalem. It is built on the site of a fifth-century Byzantine church, from which a 5th-century mosaic floor was preserved. The church is recognizable by the roof-top statue of Mary carrying the infant Jesus in her arms.

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File:NotreDamedelArchedAllianceJune042022 06.jpg|The statue of Madonna and Child above the Church of Notre Dame

File:NotreDamedelArchedAllianceJune042022 02.jpg|Church of Notre Dame and its surroundings

</gallery>

Abu Ghosh mosques

Abu Ghosh's historic mosque is in the town center, near the Crusader church, and is dedicated to Uzair-biblical Ezra (Quran 9:30). The new Akhmad Kadyrov Mosque, completed in 2014, is the largest mosque in Israel and was built with money donated by the Chechen government.

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File:AbuGoshBenedictineMonasteryOct01202022 04.jpg|The historical mosque of Abu Ghosh

File:AbuGoshNewMosqueSept202022 02.jpg|The new Akhmad Kadyrov Mosque

</gallery>

Music and culture

thumb|Pouring [[Turkish coffee|"Turkish" coffee in Abu Ghosh]]

The Abu Gosh Music Festival is held twice a year, in the fall and late spring, with musical ensembles and choirs from Israel and abroad performing in and around the churches in Abu Ghosh. The monks believe that holding concerts on the grounds of their churches is a "fine symbol of friendship and welcome. Jews coming to a Muslim community to hear music in a Christian church...is a small, white pebble in the path that we want."

Local cuisine

Abu Ghosh is popular among Palestinians and Israelis for its Middle Eastern restaurants and hummus.

In 2007, Abu Ghosh was described as the "hummus capital of Israel." In January 2010, Abu Ghosh secured the Guinness World Record for preparing the largest dish of hummus in the world. Jawdat Ibrahim, owner of Abu Ghosh hummus restaurant, organized the event, which brought together 50 Jewish and Israeli-Arab chefs. The winning dish weighed 4,087.5 kilograms (8992.5 pounds), about twice as much as the previous record set by Lebanon in October 2009. In May 2010, Lebanon regained the Guinness World Record, more than doubling Abu Ghosh's January 2010 total.

Chametz ceremony

Since 1997, Jaaber Hussein, a Muslim Arab-Israeli hotel food manager from Abu Ghosh, has signed an agreement with Israel's Chief Rabbis to purchase all of the state's chametz, the leavened products not kosher for the Jewish holiday of Passover. This contractually binding deal allows the state to respect religious edicts without wastefully destroying massive quantities of food. In 2009, Hussein put down a cash deposit of $4,800 (about 20,000 shekels) for $150 million worth of chametz, acquired from state companies, the prison service and the national stock of emergency supplies. At the end of Passover each year, the deposit is returned to Hussein and the State of Israel buys back all the food products.

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File:Abu Ghosh 1948.jpg|Abu Ghosh 1948

File:Abu Ghosh police station.jpg|Abu Ghosh 1948. Police station in foreground.

File:Abu Ghosh Police Station.jpg|Abu Ghosh Police Station used as headquarters by Harel Brigade, 1948

File:Abu Ghosh view.jpg|View of Abu Ghosh 1948

</gallery>

See also

  • Arab localities in Israel
  • List of modern names for biblical place names

References

Bibliography

  • (pp. 18, 43, 132–133)
  • (p. 321)
  • p. 335
  • Welcome To Qaryet al-'Inab/Abu Goush
  • Survey of Western Palestine, Map 17: IAA, Wikimedia commons