Ancient period Beit Ur al-Fauqa has been identified as the site of the ancient town of
Upper Bethoron. The modern Arabic name
preserves part of the
biblical name for the village, believed to be the namesake of the
Canaanite deity Horon.
Finkelstein and Lederman estimated that the ancient site of the village covers about 1.5 hectares. A large
birkeh (pond) north-east in the village is cut in rock. Archaeological findings indicate that Lower Bethoron (
Beit Ur al-Tahta) was established before Upper Bethoron;
potsherds found in Beit Ur al-Fauqa date from the
Iron Age onward, while potsherds from the lower town date from the
Late Bronze Age. Six years later,
Nicanor, retreating from
Jerusalem, was defeated and slain at the site.'''' In the third attempt,
Bacchides succeeded in subduing the
Hasmoneans and fortified this strategic pass. In autumn 66 CE, at the start of the
First Jewish–Roman War,
Cestius Gallus passed through this site on his way to and from
Jerusalem. It was in the ravines near Bethoron where the
12th Roman Legion under his command was subsequently
ambushed and destroyed by the rebels. After the subjugation of the revolt in 70 CE, the Romans built a fortress in the town to guard the road to Jerusalem.
Medieval period The village has been identified with the
Bethoron Superior or
Vetus Betor in the
Crusader era.
Melisende, Queen of Jerusalem gave it as a
fief to
Mar Saba. In 1165/64 CE, it was sold to the
canons of the
Holy Sepulchre. The remains of a
tower,
Al-Burj, in the village is dated to this era. An
Arabic inscription with a verse from the
Qur'an was found on a ruined stone structure in Beit Ur al-Fauqa and is attributed by
Moshe Sharon to the
Ayyubid period of rule in
Palestine. In 1838, it was noted as a Muslim village, located in the
Beni Malik area, west of Jerusalem. The French explorer
Victor Guérin visited the village in 1863, and he described it as having about 150 inhabitants, and surrounded by gardens of olive trees. He also noted the remains of a small castle. An official Ottoman village list from about 1870 showed that Bet Ur el-Foqa had 53 houses and a population of 159, though it only counted the men. In 1883, the
PEF's
Survey of Western Palestine described Beit Ur Al Foka as "A small village built of stone at the end of a spur on a knoll. The ground falls very steeply to the west. The water supply is artificial, and on the north and south are deep valleys. The west view is very extensive, including the sea, the plains of
Lydda and
Ramleh, and part of the valley of
Ajalon."
British Mandate period In the
1922 census of Palestine conducted by the
British Mandate authorities, Beit 'Ur al-Fuqa had a population of 147, all Muslim. By the time of the
1931 census, Beit 'Ur al-Fauqa had 47 occupied houses and a population of 173, still all Muslim. In the
1945 village statistics, the population was 210, all Muslims, while the total land area was , according to an official land and population survey. Of this, were allocated for plantations and irrigable land, for cereals, while were classified as built-up (urban) areas.
Jordanian period In the wake of the
1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the
1949 Armistice Agreements, Beit Ur al-Fauqa came under
Jordanian rule. The Jordanian census of 1961 found 362 inhabitants here.
Post 1967 Since the
Six-Day War in 1967, Beit Ur al-Fauqa had been under
Israeli occupation. The population of
Beit Ur Fouqa in the 1967 census conducted by the Israeli authorities was 298, of whom 37 originated from the Israeli territory. After the
1995 Oslo II Accord, 12.1% of village land was classified as
Area B, while the remaining 87.9% was classified as
Area C. Israel has confiscated of land from the village in order to construct the
Israeli settlement of
Beit Horon. After a settlement road denied them land access to their school, the children of the village now commute to the local al-Tira Beit Ur al-Fuqa high school, which is surrounded by the Israeli separation wall on three sides, through sewage channels. Many village families use to dwell in nearby caves, but to improve their lives they built homes, many of which are now subject to a demolition order after Israel decided to define their area as an archaeological site. ==Demography==