Arabbuna

Archeologists have found flint tools south of 'Arabbuna. These tools dated to the Upper Paleolithic and Middle Paleolithic periods (300,000 to 10,000 years BP). The tools from the former belong to the Mousterian culture.[5] The village itself is situated on an ancient site. Old stones have been reused in buildings, fences and walls of terraces. Rock cuttings are scattered between houses and orchards. Some of these are identified as ancient tombs. Today the residents of 'Arabbuna use these rock cuttings for storage. A small amount of potsherds and glassware were found in the village and are dated to the Byzantine era. Therefore the village may be the location of a settlement known as "Araba" which existed in the time of Eusebius from the 4th century CE.[6][7]

'Arabbuna, like the rest of Palestine, was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517. During the 16th and 17th centuries, it belonged to the Turabay Emirate (1517-1683), which encompassed also the Jezreel Valley, Haifa, Jenin, Beit She'an Valley, northern Jabal Nablus, Bilad al-Ruha/Ramot Menashe, and the northern part of the Sharon plain.[8][9] In the census of 1596, 'Arrabuna appeared as 'Arabbuni, located in the nahiya of Sara in the liwa of Lajjun. It had a population of 14 households, all Muslim. They paid a fixed tax rate of 25 % on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues; a total of 4,500 akçe.[10]

In 1838 it was noted as a place N 60° E of Jenin.[11]

In 1870 Victor Guérin found Arabbuna to be a small village,[12] and further "south of this village, the foundation of an ancient building, which he does not appear to have examined."[13]In 1870/1871 (1288 AH), an Ottoman census listed the village in the nahiya (sub-district) of Shafa al-Qibly.[14]

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, the village had a population of 136 Muslims,[15] increasing slightly in the 1931 census to 138 Muslims, in 24 households.[16]

In the 1944/5 statistics, the population was 210, all Muslim,[17] with a total of 6,772 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.[18] Of this, 256 dunams were used for plantations and irrigable land, 3,607 dunams for cereals,[19] while 22 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[20]

After the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Arabbuna came under Jordanian rule.

In 1961, the population was 298.[21]

Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Arabbuna has been under Israeli occupation. The population of 'Arrabuna in the 1967 census conducted by Israel was 270, of whom 42 originated from the Israeli territory.[22]