Roman period During the
Roman period, Kafr Sabt was known as Kafar Shabtay or Kefar Shobtai, meaning "village of
Sabbath". It is mentioned in
Genesis Rabbah, a midrash written between 300 and 500
CE: "
Beth Ma'on, they ascend to it from Tiberias, but they go down to it from Kefar Shobtai."
Early Muslim period Arab geographer
al-Muqaddasi mentions the village in 985, while under
Abbasid rule as being "between Tiberias and
Ramla, situated near 'Akabah (the Pass above) Tiberias. He says that it belonged to
Caesarea and was large, populated, and had a
mosque on its main street.
Crusader/Ayubid period Crusader "Cafarsset" The
Crusaders called it "Cafarsset" when they conquered the
Levant in the twelfth century. He encamped in Kafr Sabt before he led his army to their decisive victory at the
Battle of Hattin.
Ayyubid rule Arab geographer
Yaqut al-Hamawi passed through the village in the thirteenth century while Kafr Sabt was in Ayyubid hands. A map from
Napoleon's invasion of 1799 by
Pierre Jacotin showed the place, named as
K. el Sett. Victor Guérin visited in 1875, and noted: "Near a spring, inclosed in a small circular basin, the soil is covered with the confused debris of many overthrown houses; some still standing are inhabited. Here and there are scattered
cisterns cut in the rock. On the highest point of the hill, formerly occupied by the ancient town, are observed the remains of a strong edifice built of cut stones, which seems to have been put up for military purposes; it formed a quadrilateral forty paces long. Beside a
mosque may be remarked two broken
capitals in debased
Corinthian, as well as several columns belonging probably to an ancient church, now completely destroyed." In the late 19th century, Kafr Sabt was one of several villages settled by Algerian migrants under the auspices of the
Ottoman Empire. The settlers in Kafr Sabt originated in the area of
Oued El Berdi and
Bouïra. In 1881, the
PEF's
Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it as a stone-built village with 300 inhabitants. A population list from about 1887 showed
Kefr Sabt to have about 410 inhabitants; all Muslims.
British Mandate period Under the
British Mandate of Palestine from 1922 to 1948, Kafr Sabt housed members of the
Bedouin tribe of 'Arab al-Mashariqa who lived in tents. In the
1922 census of Palestine, the population of
Kufr Sabt was 247; all Muslims, increasing in the
1931 census to 340; still all Muslims, in a total of 71 houses. Agriculture was the main economic sector with the primary crops being grain and fruit orchards. and the total land area owned by Arabs was 4,295
dunams. while 30 dunams were built-up land.
1948 and aftermath During the
1948 Arab-Israeli War, Kafr Sabt's inhabitants fled on April 22, as a direct result of the capture of Tiberias, four days before, to the
Haganah — the army of
Israel. In 1949, two
Jewish settlements,
Ilaniya and
Sharona feuded over possession of Kafr Sabt's lands, with the former arguing that they deserved compensation for early Arab attacks on their town, while the latter also had designs for it, and took it by force. The
Agriculture Minister of Israel intervened ordering Sharona's farmers to retreat. According to Palestinian historian
Walid Khalidi, as of 1992: Piles of stone and stone terraces provide the main indications that the village once occupied the site. Cactuses and a few scattered trees grow among the rubble on the village site. The lands around the site are planted in grain, fruit trees, and almond trees. ==References==