An old tradition holds that the village contains the
tomb of the prophet
Samuel, whose Arabic name is
Nabi Samwil, 13th-century Syrian geographer
Yaqut al-Hamawi, describes
"Mar Samwil" or "
Maran Samwil" as "a small town in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem. Mar in
Syriac signifies
al-Kass, 'the priest', and Samwil is the name of the Doctors of Law." During Islamic times, Nabi Samwil became a centre for
pottery production, supplying nearby Jerusalem, as well as
Ramla and
Caesarea.
Crusader/Ayyubid period In 1099, the
Crusaders conquered
Palestine from the
Arab Fatimids and received their first view of Jerusalem from the mountain upon which Nabi Samwil is built, thus naming it
Mont Joie ("Mountain of Joy"). They soon constructed a fortress there to fend off Muslim raiding of Jerusalem's northern approaches as well as to shelter pilgrim convoys. This may refer to the abbey church of St. Samuel built by
Premonstratensian canons and inhabited from 1141 to 1244. After the
Ayyubids under
Saladin conquered much of interior
Palestine in 1187, the church and monastery were turned into a
mosque and since then remained in Muslim hands. in 1192,
Richard the Lionheart reached Nabi Samwil, but did not take it. Jewish pilgrimage, which favoured visits in April and May each year, resumed after the Ayyubids conquered the area, and it became an important center for Muslim-Jewish interaction.
Mamluk period During the
Mamluk period, Christian pilgrims continued to visit the site, including the traveller known as
John Mandeville, and
Margery Kempe. In the 15th-century, Jews built a synagogue adjacent to the mosque and resumed pilgrimages to the site after losing that privilege during the Crusader period. Though they occasionally encountered difficulties with local notables, the Jews' right to visit the shrine was reaffirmed twice by the Ottomans, and the sultan asked the
qadi of Jerusalem to punish anyone who might obstruct their right and the long tradition of Jewish pilgrimage.
Mujir ad-Din referring to Jerusalem's size writes "From the north it reaches the village wherein is the tomb of the prophet Shamwil, may
Allah bless him and give him peace."
Ottoman period In 1517, Palestine incorporated into the
Ottoman Empire after it was captured from the
Mamluks, and by 1596, Nabi Samwil appeared in the Ottoman
tax registers as being in the
nahiya of Quds in the
liwa of
Al-Quds. It had a population of 5 households, all
Muslim. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on various agricultural products, including wheat, barley, olive trees, vineyards, fruit trees, occasional revenues, goats and/or beehives; a total of 2,200
akçe. The Crusader church was incorporated into the village mosque, He further noted that the "
mosk is here the principal object; and is regarded by Jews, Christians, and Muhammedans, as covering the tomb of the prophet Samuel." An Ottoman village list of about 1870 showed that Nabi Samwil had 6 houses and a population of 20, though the population count included only men. In 1883, the
Palestine Exploration Fund's
Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it as small
hamlet of
adobe huts, perched on top of the ridge, amid the remains of the Crusader ruins. There was a spring to the north. In 1896 the population of Nebi Samwil was estimated to be about 81 persons.
World War and British Mandate period Nabi Samwil was heavily damaged by
Turkish shells in 1917 while
fighting British forces, but the village was rebuilt and resettled in 1921. The Ottoman mosque, destroyed in war, was restored by the
Supreme Muslim Council during the
British Mandate period. In the
1922 census of Palestine conducted by the
British Mandate authorities,
Nabi Shemweil had a population 121, all Muslims. increasing slightly in the
1931 census to 138, one Christian and the rest Muslim, occupying a total of 117 houses. In the
1945 statistics Nabi Samwil had a population of 200, all Muslims, with 2,150
dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 293 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 986 used for cereals, while 3 dunams were built-up land.
1948 war and Jordanian period On April 23, 1948, during the
1948 Arab-Israeli War, a
Palmach division attacked Nabi Samwil with the intention of capturing the village for Israel. The
operation failed, since its local defenders had been notified that nearby
Beit Iksa was attacked and thus prepared for a Jewish assault. Over 40 Palmach troops were killed in the battle with minimal Arab casualties. From 1948 to 1967, Nabi Samwil was used by the
Arab Legion of
Jordan as a military post guarding access to Jerusalem.
1967, aftermath Since the 1967
Six-Day War, Nabi Samwil has been under
Israeli occupation. had fled, the shrine became predominantly Jewish, and settlers attempted to wrest control of the area. The only exit from the village is to nearby
Bir Nabala via an Israeli checkpoint. The village, which is not recognized as such by Israel, was designated as a
national park in the 1990s and the remains of former homes adjacent to the mosque form part of an archaeological site in the park. The mosque has been cordoned off and the section containing Samuel's tomb has been converted into a
synagogue. Partly due to Israeli military restrictions, Palestinian construction in the village is banned. Economic activity is also significantly restricted and residents live in poverty, with many young residents leaving for jobs in nearby
Ramallah. Israel states its policies are intended to preserve the site of Nabi Samwil. ==Demographics==