Zeita is an ancient village.[5] Pottery remains have been found here from the
Byzantine, early
Muslim and the Middle Ages.[6] Marble
Corinthiancapitals have been reused in a local
Maqam.[5]
According to Levy-Rubin, Zeita was inhabited by
Samaritans from the 4th to the 9th centuries.[7] The place was mentioned as a Samaritan settlement in
Baba Rabba's revolt during the 4th century CE. A Samaritan elder and leader named haCohen Levi lived there.[8]
In 1265, Zeita was among the villages and estates sultan
Baibars allocated to his
amirs after he had expelled the
Crusaders. Half of Zaita was given to
emirJamal al-Din Aidughdi al-'Azizi, a quarter to emir Shams al-Din Ildikuz al-Karaki, and a quarter to emir Saif al-Din Qilij al-Baghdadi.[9]
Ottoman era
The village was incorporated into the
Ottoman Empire with the rest of
Palestine in 1517. In the 1596 Ottoman
tax records, it appeared under the name of Zaita, located in the
NahiyaQaqun, in the
Nablus Sanjak. It had a population of 91
Muslim and 7
Christian households.[10] They paid a fixed tax-rate of 33.3% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues and a press for olive oil or grape syrup and a
jizya tax on people in the Nablus area; a total of 3,440
akçe.[11] Pottery remains from the Ottoman era have also been found here.[6]
During the 1834
Peasants' revolt in Palestine,
Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt pursued rebels to Zeita. Ninety rebels were slain here, while the rest fled to nearby
Deir al-Ghusun.[14] At Deir al-Ghusun, many of the inhabitants and rebels heeded a call by
Husayn Abd al-Hadi to flee once the Egyptian troops arrived. In response, rebel commander
Qasim had several of the defectors among his ranks killed.[15] Ibrahim Pasha's troops stormed the hill and the rebels (mostly members of the Qasim,
Jarrar,
Jayyusi and Barqawi families) were routed, suffering 300 fatalities.[14] In 1838 it was noted as a village, Zeita, in the western Esh-Sha'rawiyeh administrative region, north of
Nablus.[16]
In 1870
Victor Guérin found here a village with 600 inhabitants.[17] He further noted: "Here I found, just as at
Jett, an ancient
capital hollowed out to make a
mortar, and used for the same purpose. A very good
well, constructed of cut stone, seems ancient."[18]
In 1870/1871 (1288
AH), an Ottoman census listed the village in the nahiya (sub-district) of al-Sha'rawiyya al-Gharbiyya.[19]
In 1882, the
PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it as: "a good-sized village on high ground at the edge of the plain. It is surrounded with fig-gardens, and has olives to the south. It would appear to be an ancient place, having tombs to the east. The supply is principally from wells, but there is a small spring ('Ain esh Shabutbut) on the south-west. [..] Two sacred places exist to the south side of the village."[20]
In the
1945 statistics the population of Zeita was 1,780 Muslims,[23] with 6,410
dunams of land according to an official land and population survey.[24] 782 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 5,120 used for cereals,[25] while 33 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[26]
^Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p.
22
^Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p.
77
^Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p.
128
^Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p.
178
^Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p.
27
^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. 345