Baysamun


Baysamun was a small Palestinian Arab village, located northeast of Safad. In 1945, it had a population of 20. It was depopulated during the 1948 War on May 25, 1948 by the Palmach's First Battalion in Operation Yiftach.

History

notes that Beisamun disappeared under modern drainage systems set up by Israel; in the fish ponds created, Neolithic remains were found that included houses and two plastered skulls. Rectangular houses with plastered floors show striking similarities to those at Byblos. These "Levantine pier house" were also found in Yiftahel, Ayn Ghazal, and Jericho.
A main period of habitation was during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B era, but also Pottery Neolithic and Bronze Age remains have been found.

British mandate era

The population of Baysamun in the 1922 census of Palestine consisted of 41 Muslims, increasing to 50 Muslims in 11 houses by 1931.
In the 1945 statistics the population was 20 Muslims, with a total of 2,102 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 107 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 1,817 for cereals; while 133 dunams was non-cultivable area.

1948, aftermath

It was depopulated during the 1948 War on May 25, 1948 by the Palmach's First Battalion in Operation Yiftach in a Whispering campaign.
In 1992 the village site was described: "No traces of the houses remain. The site is occupied by warehouses for agricultural implements used by Kibbutz Manara, which had been established in 1943. The land around the site is cultivated and fish ponds have been constructed close to it."