Yibna

Salvage excavations carried out in 2001 by the Israel Antiquities Authority uncovered several burials at the northern foot of the original tell. Most of the burials are dated to the later Iron Age. One burial points to a late Bronze Age occupation.

A large Philistine favissa (deposit of cultic artifacts) was discovered on Temple Hill.[8] Two excavation seasons in the 2000s led by Professor Dan Bahat revealed some Iron Age remains. Pottery sherds of the Iron Age and Persian period were discovered at the surface of the tell.[9]

In Roman times, the city was known as Iamnia, also spelled Jamnia. It was bequeathed by King Herod upon his death to his sister Salome. Upon her death it passed to Emperor Augustus, who managed it as a private imperial estate, a status it was to maintain for at least a century.[10] After Salome's death, Iamnia came into the property of Livia, the future Roman empress, and then to her son Tiberius.[11]

During the First Jewish–Roman War, when the Roman army had quelled the insurrection in Galilee, the army then marched upon Iamnia and Azotus, taking both towns and stationing garrisons within them.[12] According to rabbinic tradition, Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai and his disciples were permitted to settle in Iamnia during the outbreak of the war, after Zakkai, realizing that Jerusalem was about to fall, sneaked out of the city and asked Vespasian, the commander of the besieging Roman forces, for the right to settle in Yavne and teach his disciples.[13][14] Upon the fall of Jerusalem, his school functioned as a re-establishment of the Sanhedrin.[15]

The Madaba Map, showing Greek: ΊΑΒΝΗΛΗΚΑΙΊΑΜΝΙΑ) (Lit. "Jabneel, which is also Jamnia")

Byzantine period finds from excavations include an aqueduct east of the tell, and a kiln.[16][17] The world's largest wine factory from the Byzantine period has been uncovered by Israeli archaeologists, after a two-year excavation process; the importance of its wine was exemplified by its use by emperor Justin II in 566 at his table during his coronation feast.[18]

The Islamic historian al-Baladhuri (died 892 CE) mentioned Yibna as one of ten towns in Jund Filastin conquered by the Rashidun army led by 'Amr ibn al-'As in the early 7th century.[19]

Also in the 9th century, Ya'qubi (died 897/8 CE) wrote that Yubna was an ancient city built on a hill that was inhabited by Samaritans.[19]

Al-Muqaddasi, writing around 985, said that "Yubna has a beautiful mosque. From this place come the excellent figs known by the name of Damascene."[19] Yaqut wrote that in Yubna there was a tomb said to be that of Abu Hurairah, the companion (sahaba) of the Prophet. The author of Marasid also adds that tomb seen here is also said to be that of ´Abd Allah ibn Abi Sarh, another companion (sahaba) of the Prophet.[19]

In 2007, remains ranging from the Early Islamic period until the British Mandate period were uncovered.[20] An additional kiln, and part of a commercial/industrial area were uncovered at the west of the tell in 2009.[21]

Yibna Bridge, one in a series of bridges built by Sultan Baybars in medieval Egypt and Palestine

The Mausoleum of Abu Huraira, 2010

The Crusaders called the city Ibelin and built a castle there in 1141. Two excavation seasons led by Professor Dan Bahat starting in 2005 revealed the main gate. Its namesake noble family, the house of Ibelin, was important in the Kingdom of Jerusalem and later in the Kingdom of Cyprus. Ibelin was captured by Saladin in 1187. Salvage excavations at the west of the tell unearthed a stash of 53 Crusader coins of the 12th and 13th centuries.[21]

Ibelin was first sacked by Saladin before his army was comprehensively routed at the Battle of Montgisard in late 1177. In August 1187, Yavne was retaken and burnt to the ground, and ceased for some time to form part of the Crusaders' kingdom.[22]

Benjamin of Tudela (1130–1173) identified Jamnia (Jabneh) of classical writers with the Ibelin of the Crusades. He places the ancient city of Jamnia at three parasangs from Jaffa and two from Ashdod (Azotus).[23]

During the Mamluk period (13-16th centuries), Yibnā was a key site along the Cairo—Damascus road, which served as a center for rural religious and economic life.[24] Ibelin's parish church was transformed into a mosque, to which a minaret was added during the Mamluk period in 1337. The minaret survives until today, while the mosque (the former Crusader church) was blown up by the IDF in 1950.[7][25]

Maqām Abu Hurayra, described as "one of the finest domed mausoleums in Palestine", is located in Yavne. Since the 12th century, it has been known as a tomb of Abu Hurairah, a companion (sahaba) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. After 1948 the shrine has been taken over by Sephardic Jews who believe that the tomb is the burial place of Rabbi Gamaliel of Yavne.[26]

In 1596, Yibna was part of the Ottoman Empire, nahiya (subdistrict) of Gaza under the liwa' (district) of Gaza with a population of 129 households, an estimated 710 persons, all Muslims. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on a number of crops, including wheat, barley, summer crops, sesame seeds and fruits, as well as goats, beehives and vineyards; a total of 34,000 Akçe. 16/24 of the revenue went to a waqf.[27]

In 1799, it was noted on the map that Pierre Jacotin compiled that year, named Ebneh.[28]

An American missionary, William Thomson, who visited Yibna in 1834, described it as a village on hill inhabited by 3,000 Muslim residents who worked in agriculture. He wrote that an inscription on the mosque indicated that it had been built in 1386, while Denys Pringle indicates 1337 as the construction year of the minaret.[7][29][30] In 1838, Yebna was noted as a Muslim village in the Gaza district.[31]

An Ottoman village list from about 1870 found that Jebna had a population of 1042, in 348 houses, though the population count included men, only.[32][33]

In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described Yibna as a large village partly built of stone and situated on a hill. It had olive trees and corn to the north, and gardens nearby.[34]

1946 Survey of Palestine map

1946 built-on area detail

In 1921, an elementary school for boys was founded in Yibna. By 1941-42 it had 445 students. A school for girls was founded in 1943, and by 1948 it had 44 students.[5]

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Yebna had a population of 1,791 inhabitants; all Muslims,[35] increasing in the 1931 census to 3,600 inhabitants; 2 Jews, 7 Christians, 1 Bahai, and 3,590 Muslims, in a total of 794 houses.[36]

In 1941, Kibbutz Yavne was established nearby by refugees from Germany, followed by a Youth Aliyah village, Givat Washington, in 1946.[5]

In 1944-45 the village had a population of 5,420; 5,400 Muslims and 20 Christians,[3] while the total land area was 59,554 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.[37] In addition there were 1,500 nomads living around the village.[5] A total of 6,468 dunums of village land was used for citrus and bananas, 15,124 dunums were used for cereals, 11,091 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards, of which 25 dunums were planted with olive trees,[5][38] while 127 dunams were classified as built-up, urban areas.[39]

• 
  Yibna 1929 1:20,000
• 
  Yibna 1941 1:20,000
• 
  Yibna 1945 1:250,000