Archaeological work in
Yama brought to light settlement remains ranging from the
Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) to the
Ottoman period. At
Ibtan,
potsherds dating from the
Hellenistic, Roman and
Byzantine period have been found.
Metal Ages Middle
Bronze Age II findings from Yama have been tentatively identified to belong to the ancient site of Yaham. The 15th century BCE annals describing the campaign of Thutmose III against a coalition of
Canaanite city-states recount how the pharaoh camped at Yaham before marching on through the pass of Aruna (today's
Wadi Ara), at whose exit he
attacked and captured the city of
Megiddo. while Yamma was divided equally between the emirs ''Saif al-Din Itamish al-Sa'di
and Shams al-Din Aqsunqur''. Yama and Ibtan appeared in
Ottoman tax registers compiled in 1596, in the
Nahiyas of Qaqun and Jabal Sami, respectively, of the
Nablus Liwa. Yama had a population of 18 Muslim households and 5 bachelors, while Ibtan was indicated as empty even though it paid taxes. In 1882, in the
PEF's
Survey of Western Palestine, only
Khurbet Ibthan was noted, with "traces of ruins and a well."
British Mandate and Israel In the
1922 census of Palestine conducted by the
British Mandate authorities, Bir al-Sikka had a population of 36, Ibthan 56 and Yamma 48, all
Muslims. Until 1948, all four villages were administratively related to the modern-day
Palestinian town of
Deir al-Ghusun. Zemer's population at the end of 2009 was 5,700, and its jurisdiction is 8,203 dunams. The population increased to 6,375 in 2014. The mayor of Zemer is Yassin Harzalla. ==References==