Talk:Khirbet al-Deir

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Correct position?, Guerin?[edit]

Are the coords in this article correct? There is a Kh. al Deir slightly north, on SWP map 17, (NW of Nahalin), mentioned in Guerin p. 320 and SWP. Huldra (talk) 20:54, 3 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

User:Al Ameer son, User:Zero0000, do any of you have any idea if this is in the right position? Huldra (talk) 23:42, 10 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

It is an interesting question. There are two "Kh. ad Deir"s on the 1940s maps, one at the place indicated by this article and one just NW of Nahalin. I think the coordinates are correct, since this is supposedly an existing village. Google shows "al-Dayr" at the place indicated by this article, while there are only some Israeli settlements shown at the spot near Nahalin. Zerotalk 00:32, 11 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]


Ok, after "walking" in Guerins footsteps, (with the help of SWP maps), I have taken the Guerin ref out. The Khirbet al-Deir Guerin talked about is not here, and not the village which is part of Tuqu'. Instead it is a third place, you can clearly see it marked Kh ed Deir, just north of Ain Faris, halfway between Wadi Fuqin and Nahalin on SWP map 17. Huldra (talk) 23:08, 15 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]
It looks as if today it is the Hadas part of Beitar Illit? Huldra (talk) 23:16, 15 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]
That's interesting. I never knew there was a "third" place by the same name. I work with an Arab co-worker from Nahalin. I'll ask him if he knows anything about this place. Perhaps this "third" place was a ruin in Guerin's day. The name of the pool (Birket 'Ain Fares) which lies to its south is our clue. I'll try and inquire about that too.Davidbena (talk) 02:12, 16 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]
The SWP map indeed places this ruin where you said it is! Happy to know that Guerin referred to this place between Wadi Fukin and Nahalin.Davidbena (talk) 02:41, 16 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Even the most detailed 1940s maps don't show it. Zerotalk 06:11, 16 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Zero: Huh? …..actually….try grid.no. 159/121–122. Also, Kh ed Deir, SWP III, p. 111 …foundations. And Palmer, 1881, p. 303, Huldra (talk) 23:22, 16 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Quite so, it is just off the edge of the map I was looking at. Both the 1:100K maps and the 1:20K maps show it, and the latter also shows Ain Faris Pool. Zerotalk 06:09, 17 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

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Does WP:SKYBLUE apply to the sentence?[edit]

User:Huldra, Hi! I noticed where you requested that a reference be cited for the following claim: "Another village by the same name, but larger, is in the Bethlehem Governorate, and almost entirely of Christian affiliation." Actually, the day that I made this edit I spoke to a Palestinian man who came to work in my own Moshav, doing yard work in the patio belonging to my neighbors (an older man and his wife). I approached the Arab worker and cordially greeted him and asked him where he came from. He answered, "Khirbet al-Deir." When I asked him about his village, and if there was another village by the same name as his, he replied in the affirmative, saying that his village (not far from where I live) was the smaller of the two villages (discussed here in this article), and that all its inhabitants were Muslims. When I asked him about the other village by the same name, he said to me that the other village is much larger and near Bethlehem, and that it is called by them "Khirbet al-Deir Al-Mesiḥi," meaning, "the Christian Khirbet al-Deir." My question is that since such information is plainly known by many people, like saying in Moscow they speak Russian, or in Mecca there are Muslims, would such information not require a specific citation and fall under the category of WP:SKYBLUE? I'm asking you, because I do not know the answer. Perhaps we can ask an administrator, or else extract the same information from the village profile of each village. Any advice?Davidbena (talk) 22:17, 14 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

User:Davidbena Whaw, if there ever was a WP:OR, here it is..... Anyway, I looked at the ARIJ pages under the Bethlehem governate, and I could not find anything vaguely similar to this name. If you could give me the coordinates (or grid numbers) of this other Khirbet al-Deir; then I'm listening. Until then: I actually think we should remove this (Also, I think have a fair knowledge of the Christian Palestinian communities, and I have never come across a Christian Khirbet al-Deir before), Huldra (talk) 22:26, 14 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Sometimes the village is called "Bayt ad-Deir". Anyway, if I infringed WP:OR, it's borderline. Here, nothing can be disputed. Two villages there are by the same name, and one is near Bethlehem. This was well-known information before my edit. My only innovation was to write that one was Christian and the other Muslim; one was large, the other small. I will try and find more information.Davidbena (talk) 22:33, 14 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Well, if this is undisputed (actually, I dispute this!) ....then could you at least not tell me where this village is? Huldra (talk) 22:48, 14 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Fine, but we should still check if "WP:Skyblue" applies here. As for the larger village, it is near Tekoa; you can see it here [1] in the photo in the distance. It is much larger than the village seen on the hill near my Moshav.Davidbena (talk) 22:58, 14 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]
If you have access to a map, you can see the larger village.Davidbena (talk) 23:01, 14 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Based on WP:SKYBLUE, we read: "A common misconception when improving an article, particularly towards Good Article status, is that everything must be cited to an inline source, which leads to comments such as "the end of paragraph 3 is uncited", without specifying why that is an issue. In fact, the Good Article criteria merely state that inline citations are required for "direct quotations, statistics, published opinion, counter-intuitive or controversial statements that are challenged or likely to be challenged, and contentious material relating to living persons". While that covers much, most, or possibly even (in the case of biographies of living people) all content in an article, it does not imply that you must cite everything everywhere for every single article, period."Davidbena (talk) 23:05, 14 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Behind Tuqu' is Jubbet ad-Dib....which is not a Christian village, AFAIK, Huldra (talk) 23:08, 14 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]
That is only because there are several villages. Look again.Davidbena (talk) 23:12, 14 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Here's a Google map showing the larger Khirbet Al-Deir, near Tekoa.: Al-Dayr. Note that here it is simply called "Al-Dayr."Davidbena (talk) 23:11, 14 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]
That is Khirbet Ad Deir, part of Tuqu', see Tuqu’ Town Profile, p. 5 Huldra (talk) 23:18, 14 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Exactly! Khirbet al-Dayr is actually located between the Jewish Tekoa and the Arab Tuqu', a little westward of them, but still in the middle.Davidbena (talk) 23:23, 14 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]
And you have now changed the coordinates and grid numbers to be equal to those of Surif?? Huldra (talk) 23:33, 14 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]
User:Huldra, Yes, that's because it is very, very close to Surif. The coordinates still need adjusting for precision. The former coordinates belonged to the other Khirbet ad-Deir. You see, the two sites with similar names caused confusion. BTW: This source Taqou' village mentions the "Christian inhabitants of Tuqu'." Would it be sufficient to use this same source for referencing in this article here, where we mention the larger "Khirbet ad-Deir" as being mostly inhabited by Christians?Davidbena (talk) 23:36, 14 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Full quote: "The Christian inhabitants of Taqou' migrated to Bethlehem in the eighteenth century. Today it is a Muslim village." That Tuqu' used to be a famous Christian place is well known (that famous Byzantine baptismal font, for a start), but, AFAIK, there are no more Christians in Tuqu', Huldra (talk) 23:42, 14 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Okay. So I'll correct the edit.,Davidbena (talk) 23:50, 14 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]
The smaller Khirbet ad-Deir (our article) is a little south-west of Surif.Davidbena (talk) 23:41, 14 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Anything between Byzantine monastery and 18th-c. village?[edit]

"The modern village was built upon the ruins of the old village and still bears its old namesake. The modern village was established in the early 18th-century, by residents who broke away from Surif.(reference: "Khirbet Ad Deir Village Profile", ARIJ, p. 5.)"

Highly dubious. What old village? A monastery is not a village, ARIJ is not a reliable source, and no other source is offered for the existence of any village between the Byzantine period and the 18th century. Khirbet ed-Deir means "the ruin of the monastery", the name by itself doesn't imply in any way a village, just an abandoned monastery (which is well documented). Do any of the "usual suspects" (mainly Ottoman tax registers, for European researchers it's too early) mention any settlement in that time gap? If not, the sentence must be modified to correspond to a sequence of settlement monastery (deserted when?) – habitation gap – 18th c. village. Arminden (talk) 12:05, 7 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]

​Zero, hi. Can you please check if the monastery excavated by Hirschfeld is indeed identical with the name-giving one here? I'm 99% sure, but a comparison of maps or coordinates would close the matter. Thanks. Arminden (talk) 23:08, 7 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]
​​ It is good that you ask. The monastery excavated by Hirschfeld is at 1739/1038, which is 25km from the coordinates 152/117 we give for this article. Hirschfeld also identifies his monastery with the ed-Deir of Conder and Kitchener (but doesn't give a SWP page number for checking, I'll look at another of Hirschfeld's publications within 2 days). It seems to me that we need to revisit the issue of identifications in this article. Recall that we had some difficulties earlier (higher up on this page). Zerotalk 02:23, 8 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Incidentally, the archaeological report series Qedem (of which Hirschfeld's 180-page report is vol 38) and its junior sibling Qedem Reports are on JStor up to a few years ago and can probably be accessed via the Wikipedia Library. Ask me for things you can't get. Zerotalk 02:31, 8 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]
To editor Huldra: Now I have checked that the Ed Deir in SWP III, p327, is at the same location as Hirschfeld's monastery (PEF map XXI, Mw, has it at that exact location). It is not at the location we give for this article. So either we have been writing an article about a place which was somewhere other than where we thought, or we have been using sources that refer to a different location. To editor Arminden: I had solid reasons for my edit, why did you revert it? Zerotalk 11:41, 8 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]
​Thanks for the 25km comment, that's what I was afraid of after looking at Google Maps using the article's coordinates (lots of empty space there, no details, moderately useful) – and btw also for noticing what I overlooked, that I had forgotten about the "distinguish between" section when I added the hatnote. The problem is on the village side of the identification, not the monastery's (we know all there is to know about the monastery). We need a RS saying "the name is derived from ruin X". ARIJ is useless in such matters and I don't see any of the current sources helping us in this regard. ARIJ has "The history of Khirbet Ad Deir dates back 300 years... Ad Deir village got its name from a Roman Catholic monastery that existed in the village when it was first inhabited." Means: Catholic monastery in the 1700s, which looks like bullshit to me (neither Catholic, nor that late), unless you can prove me wrong.
Zero, did you calculate the 25km distance yourself, or is it from a quotable source? In short, can you add this info? I can't quote you from the talk-page :)
I have parked the Byzantine monastery here for now, in its own section. It is twice useful, as this is probably more or less the closest inhabited place and many will come looking for it here, and also as to help them NOT fall into the same confusion. Anyway, if the text is removed, the 2 refs (Brenk and Conder & K.) must go as well.
It is not impossible that the remote ruin gave name to the 1700s new village, which might have been started by people who wandered a bit through the area (shepherds from, or connected to, Surif?). But it's much more likely that there was another Byzantine monastery right there, and it should be possible to figure that out. Arminden (talk) 12:21, 8 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]
No, this is unacceptable. The village is at 152/117 and Hirschfeld's monastery is at 174/104. That's very far apart (25km to be precise) and that means there is no case for having both the village and the monastery in the same article. The ARIJ source doesn't say that the village is named after Hirschfeld's monastery; it says that a monastery was "in the village" when it was settled 300 years ago. Ergo, two different monasteries 25km and 1200 years apart. The only connection between them is our mistake in thinking there was a relationship when there isn't. When we make mistakes we should fix them. Incidentally there were monasteries in Palestine during the Ottoman period, nothing suspicious about that. Zerotalk 13:27, 8 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]
As you like. I'll see if I can find the time to start a stub for the monastery. Don't forget: the monastery text goes out along with Brenk and Conder, and Palmer becomes a less appropriate source, too (if not relating to the same concrete site, the transliteration can hide different Arabic spellings/words, like husn for either fortress or stallion; not the case here, but generally speaking). However, as to Catholic monasteries in 1700 Palestine, or even Greek Orthodox ones other than Mar Saba and the main towns, I'd appreciate if you could give me a list. Arminden (talk) 16:01, 8 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]
To editor Huldra: first and foremost, it has nothing at all to do with you. I fixed what I thought (and still do think) wasn't fully OK, w/o knowing who had done the edits, and I certainly didn't check that, because it shouldn't matter.
Please mind, I didn't say "monasteries in Ottoman time", but "Catholic (or even Greek Orthodox) monasteries in 1700 Palestine, other than Mar Saba and the main towns" (this village was established in the early 18th-century). I also didn't say there were none, because I don't know that; but I know as a fact there were hardly any corresponding to this parameters. Please check again your 3 examples: Al-Khader – if you blink, you might miss the times it's a monastery: ruined, working, mosque, working. Theodosius – 1400-1898 in ruins (used as a stable for a while). En Karem – Crusaders to 1693 in ruins, sometimes used as a stable. So precisely proving my point. I asked for a list because there might be an exception here or there. 1700 is too early for the Europeans to break the Muslim, Ottoman-enforced prohibition against building and even repairing monasteries, and the local Christian population was minimal, with a real need for priests and churches, but not for monasteries. There might be a few exceptions farther up north, during the rule of autonomous and Europe-oriented rulers like Fakhr al-Din II and Zahir al-Umar, but not in this region close to Jerusalem, which is a different administrative unit for a reason. Arminden (talk) 23:00, 8 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]
In addition to Huldra's list there were monasteries in Mt Carmel, Nazareth and (of course) Jerusalem. There seems little information about the 1700-ish time period, but would be lovely to have a source. If I understand correctly, Arabic "Deir" can mean "convent" as well as "monastery". Reading SWP, they mention quite a few active monasteries and convents. Of course that is a later time period but why should earlier times be different? Robinson, half a century earlier, also mentions some. Also, the local tradition at Khirbet ed Deir might not be of an operating monastery, ARIJ doesn't actually say that. The villagers might have moved there because there were vacant buildings to live in. Zerotalk 06:29, 9 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]
To editor Zero0000: Again, that's not what I said. Why earlier times were different? Again, please read my last reply: "1700 is too early for the Europeans to break the Muslim, Ottoman-enforced prohibition against building and even repairing monasteries" (churches mainly). That only changes once Turkey weakens even more, so in the 19th century, and starts attempting to modernise with European help. Tit for tat = they need to open up, and the European Powers move in, with the Church leading the charge. So different epochs altogether.
There were no actual working monasteries in the desert, with the only exception of Mar Saba - and even there there were times of abandonment. I'm pretty sure about that. Brave (or fanatic?) monks coming from Greece, alone or in small groups, managed to live for a while in this or that ruin, but once they died of old age or otherwise, nobody followed; if you call that a revived, or working monastery... That's why I asked if anyone knows about any exceptions, "Catholic monasteries in 1700 Palestine, or even Greek Orthodox ones other than Mar Saba and the main towns." Those in Jerusalem and Bethlehem were always maintained, that's why they're part of the firmans (Status Quo (Jerusalem and Bethlehem)), but nothing else was. Even so, in Bethlehem the nave of the Basilica of the Nativity was used as a market. Muslims were NOT very Christian-friendly in the Dar es-Salaam, in spite of being much more tolerant than the Christians. The Galilee was connected to a different, coastal sanjak or eyalet, which repeatedly broke off and led its own policy with Europe, offering Christian Powers more freedom in their realm in exchange for trade and support against the Porte (again, see Fakhr al-Din II and Zahir al-Umar); that has absolutely no bearing on the Jerusalem region. Even in the north, the Carmelites on Mt Carmel kept on coming back between destruction, massacres and dispossession acts, but didn't have a constant presence until the 19th c. Nothing on Mount Tabor either or anywhere else inland. The Grotto of the Annunciation in Nazareth was in Christian hands only with intermissions and no actual church building could be erected until Dahir al-Umar's time.
The distinction between "convent" and "monastery" is pretty much irrelevant: there were no nunneries in the harsh times before the C19 changes, the majority of the institutions were Orthodox, where the distinction is not made, and the Franciscans and whatever other Catholic monks managed to hang on weren't of the mendicant type - that would imply travelling between Christian communities and living off charity, which wasn't feasible.
After many centuries of ruin, the rule is that there were no "vacant buildings to live in", but at best a few half-collapsed walls. Abu Ghosh is the only exception I can think of, where the church survived more or less in one piece. The cut stone could be a major bonus, but the main attraction was, as I always point out in the discussion about tells, the LOCATION: in a semi-arid region, any water source (ready-dug cisterns included), +some nearby road and a bit of arable land and/or pasture are the reasons for repeated resettlement at the exactly same spots over millennia. Calling the new settlers "villagers" can also be inaccurate; some might be indeed sedentary families or hamulas moving out from their previous village for various reasons, but sometimes it's semi-nomadic ones setting up camp and becoming sedentary over time, until the next catastrophe pushes them out. It's not some kind of anti-Arab propaganda, it's reality, known by everybody. It was the case with Israelites in their time and in every period of the pre-industrial Middle East. "Political correctness" and being "progressive" is a curse more often than not, when it confuses ideals for the future with historical reality. Arminden (talk) 14:59, 9 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]
The existence of a monastery/convent at a certain time is a different question from when it was built or repaired. The Mt Carmel, Nazareth and Jerusalem examples existed in 1700. Anyway, you just provided a reason a monastery/convent could be abandoned around 1700. So far there is no reason to doubt the source. Zerotalk 02:13, 10 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Here is one in the right time period. Evliya Chelebi's diary of his travels in 1648–1650 describes a monastery near Nablus. "The site of the Prison of 'Isa is still a large monastery with seventy to eighty monks. Pilgrims from the countries of the infidels flock thither in (large) numbers." The notes propose identification with Deir el-Bunduq (SWP II, p179). Zerotalk 09:12, 10 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Maundrell's 1697 itinerary mentioned a Convent of St. John at the Jordan River with a new church. Zerotalk 11:30, 10 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Well, I in no way intended to make a full list; I just mentioned a few monastery-articles that I happend to have worked on. One problem is that many monasteries still do not have any article, say Convent of Hortus Conclusus, by Artas, Bethlehem (AFAIK, it was started by Italian nuns in 1901). Huldra (talk) 21:04, 10 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Spelling[edit]

Khirbet ed-Deir is the classical educated English spelling, completely consistent and "clean". Once one starts replacing e with a, you get all the wrong (because inconsistent) permutations, like the current Khirbet al-Deir (-et, -ei-, but al-). The consistent 'a' variant would be Khirbat ad-Dayr, but it's artificial and no-one uses it. One can maybe argue for Khirbet el-Deir.

This becomes even a bit more stringent because the various places known by this very common name, "ruin of the monastery". We have 2 in the immediate vicinity, but for that see the separate discussion here-below. Arminden (talk) 12:37, 7 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]

DAB page?[edit]

There is one Khirbet ed-Deir in Hebron Governorate (this one), and one in the Bethlehem Governorate, which is part of Tuqu'. I'm not sure if the ruin described here is identical with the latter. Given the nondescript name ("ruin of the monastery", in a Levant full of ruined Byzantine monasteries), I am sure that there must be several more going by the same name, big and small. Due to the spelling variations (khirbet/at, al/el/ad/ed, Deir/Dair/Dayr), it's a lot of googling to be done. I'm also afraid of pedants, who might not like the "improvised" character of my hatnote and who might start cutting it to size to make it fit the template, which it can't, because the 2nd Khirbet is part of a municipality which is part of a governorate. A DAB page would solve the problem, but 2 items are not enough. Arminden (talk) 22:05, 7 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]

The 1948 "Gazetteer of Palestine" lists 13 "Kh. ad Deir"s, most of them not populated. There is only a point in having a separate dab page if enough of them have articles. Zerotalk 00:54, 8 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]
To editor Zero0000: Thank you. A 3rd one is coming (the ruin in de:Nachal Arugot/Wadi el-Ghar). Arminden (talk) 22:24, 8 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]

SWP: wrong Khirbet ed-Deir[edit]

"In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine noted "foundations only" at Khurbet ed Deir.(ref: Conder and Kitchener, 1883, p. 352)"

Our Khirbet ed-Deir is on Sheet 21 at square Mw, this one is at square Jx. Easy to find on the map (in the text, I don't know): this one is in a strongly profiled wadi, that one on a ridge next to "cisterns", almost at the bottom of the sheet, both only marked as "ed Deir". Arminden (talk) 23:22, 8 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]

To editor Arminden: To editor Huldra: No, that's wrong. There are three sites on map 21. I have taken the latitude and longitude of each and compared to other sources.

  • Khŭrbet ed Deir at Kv, 31°39′20″N 35°01′30″E, 152/118. This is our village and the one listed in Palmer p 398. Is it anywhere else in the SWP series?
  • ed Deir at Mw, 31°39′20″N 35°01′30″E, 173/104. This is the monastery ruin excavated by Hirschfeld. It is in SWP III, p327 + Palmer, p 392
  • (Khurbet) ed Deir at Jx, 31°25′50″N 34°58′50″E, 148/093. This is another one. SWP III, p.352 calls it Khŭrbet ed Deir (unless there is a second one in that sector).

Any corrections? Zerotalk 04:58, 9 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]

(hope it is ok to build on your data?) And yeah, stupid of me that I didn't think there could be two Khŭrbet ed Deir on the same map. But strange though; that the Jx place is mentioned in the SWP but not in Palmer? Palmer lists a lot more places than SWP; this is the first time I have seen a place mentioned in SWP and not in Palmer; Also; strange that SWP III, p.352 calls it Khŭrbet ed Deir, while the SWP calls it ed Deir; the two are normally well synchronised wrt names, Huldra (talk) 21:24, 9 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Yes of course it is ok. Zerotalk 00:23, 10 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]
That's what I meant to say. I'm concentrating on the wadi ruin, less so on the village, but here's about the village, sorry. Please think of it this way: the PEF people went around asking people how they call this or that. Not geography teachers: locals. One would say "Grandpa's pasture", the next "Ibrahim's meadow". If there's a monastery ruin in a time where 99% of the monasteries were in ruins, "ed-Deir" was perfectly enough, both for the locals and for Conder; Palmer back home in his office tried to be more "systematic" and added "Kh." (he does mention in the intro doing additional research). Plus they had no computers, all was done by hand, and for that, the degree of precision and consistency is still amazing. Arminden (talk) 09:53, 10 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]
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