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Zekharia (Hebrew: זְכַרְיָה) is a moshav in central Israel. Located near Beit Shemesh, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In 2019 it had a population of 1,124.

Zekharia זכריה زخاريا
Zekharia
Coordinates: 31°42′35″N 34°56′42″E
Country	Israel
District	Jerusalem
Council	Mateh Yehuda
Affiliation	Moshavim Movement
Founded	1950
Founded by	Kurdish Jews
Population  (2019)[1]	1,124

Geography

Zekharia is located off the road between Beit Guvrin and the Jerusalem-Jaffa highway. It is 268 meters above sea level. It is bordered on the southeast by the Elah Valley, about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) southwest of Beit Shemesh. The mountain of Azekah can be seen directly to the south of the village.

History

Antiquity

Beth Zacharia (on a nearby hill) is said to have existed in Roman times.[2]^{[citation needed]} According to legend, the body of the prophet Zechariah was found here in 415 CE and a church and monastery were established in the lower village by the same name.[3] The Madaba Map displays the lower town as the burial site of the prophet Zechariah.[4]

Mamluk period

Under the Mamluks, the village was a dependency of Hebron, and formed part of the waqf supporting the Ibrahimi Mosque.[5] The villagers obtained their drinking water from two communal wells:- al-Saflani well which was drilled next to Wadi 'Ajjur, and al-Sarara well located north of the village.[6]

Ottoman period

In 1596, during the early Ottoman period, the village of Zakariyya al-Battikh had a population of 47 households and was part of the nahiya of Quds (Jerusalem).[3] It was a Palestinian village in the Jerusalem corridor under the administrative jurisdiction of Bayt Jibrin.^{[citation needed]}

State of Israel

In the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Az-Zakariyya was the longest lasting Arab community in the southern Jerusalem Corridor.[7] The villagers were evicted by the Israelis in three different phases, last eviction was carried out on June 9, 1950, on the orders of David Ben-Gurion, Moshe Sharett and Yosef Weitz, and most ended up on the-then Jordanian-occupied West Bank.[8]

In 1950 Moshav Zekharia was established by Kurdish Jewish immigrants on the village site.[9] During the 1960s, most of the older buildings in the village were decrepit and unsafe and had to be demolished to make room for new, safer housing.[10]

In 1992, Walid Khalidi described the remaining structures of the Arab village: "The mosque and a number of houses, some occupied by Jewish residents and others deserted, remain on the site. Large sections of the site itself are covered with wild vegetation. The mosque is in a state of neglect and an Israeli flag is planted on top of the minaret. [..] One of the occupied houses is a two-storey stone structure with a flat roof. Its second story windows have round arches and grillwork. Parts of the surrounding lands are cultivated by Israeli farmers."[9]

Landmarks

The tomb of Zecharia, which has been attributed to both the Hebrew prophet Zecharia and Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, is located on the moshav,[11] within the mosque.[12] The site is mentioned in sources as early as the fourth century, in the writings of Sozomenos, and it appears on the Madaba map.[11]

In the 1970s, there was a resurgence of Jewish interest in the site, which became a pilgrimage destination for Jews from Iraq, Iran, Cochin and elsewhere in India, and elsewhere, who prayed there and lit candles.[11]

Gallery

• 
  Homes in Moshav Zekharia
• 
  Remains of a minaret and mosque
• 
  Az-Zakariyya, pre-1926[13]
• 
  Main synagogue
• 
  View from southeast and the Elah Valley
• 
  Residential neighborhood on adjacent hilltop
• 
  House in Zekharia
• 
  Public park

References

Bibliography

External links

Media related to Zecharia (Moshav) at Wikimedia Commons

На других языках

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[de] Secharja (Moschaw)

Secharja (hebräisch זְכָרְיָּה .mw-parser-output .Latn{font-family:"Akzidenz Grotesk","Arial","Avant Garde Gothic","Calibri","Futura","Geneva","Gill Sans","Helvetica","Lucida Grande","Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande","Stone Sans","Tahoma","Trebuchet","Univers","Verdana"}Səcharjah, englisch Zekharia) ist ein israelischer Moschaw nahe Bet Schemesch. Er wurde 1950 gegründet und zählte 2018 insgesamt 1108 Einwohner.[2] Es wird vermutet, dass auf der naheliegenden Luftwaffenbasis Sdot Micha israelische Atomraketen stationiert sind.[3]

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- [en] Zekharia

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