| Deir Sammit | |
| Translit Lang1: | Arabic |
| Translit Lang1 Type: | Arabic |
| Translit Lang1 Info: | دير سامت |
| Type: | Municipality type C |
| Pushpin Map: | Palestine |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of Deir Sammit within Palestine |
| Coordinates: | 31.5228°N 34.9742°W |
| Grid Name: | Palestine grid |
| Grid Position: | 148/103 |
| Subdivision Type: | State |
| Subdivision Name: | State of Palestine |
| Subdivision Type1: | Governorate |
| Subdivision Name1: | Hebron |
| Established Title: | Founded |
| Unit Pref: | dunam |
| Population Footnotes: | [1] |
| Population Total: | 8114 |
| Population As Of: | 2017 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Blank Name Sec1: | Name meaning |
| Blank Info Sec1: | Kh. Deir Sâmat, the ruin of the monastery of the silent man[2] |
Deir Sammit (Arabic: دير سامت) is a Palestinian town located eight kilometers west of Hebron. The town is in the Hebron Governorate Southern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 8,114 in 2017.
An amulet composed of a very thin copper sheet with a Christian Palestinian Aramaic inscription was discovered at Deir Sammit.[3]
In the early tax registers from the 1500s in the Ottoman Empire, Deir Sammit was noted as being cultivated[4] by the villagers of Suba.[5]
In 1838, it was noted as a place "in ruins or deserted," part of the area between Hebron and Gaza, but under the jurisdiction of Hebron.[6] [7]
In 1863, Victor Guérin called the place Khirbet Deir Samit.[8]
In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Palestine noted "traces of ruins, caves, and cisterns" here.[9]
At the time of the 1931 census of Palestine the population of Deir Samit was counted under Dura.[10]
In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Deir Sammit came under Jordanian rule. The Jordanian census of 1961 found 808 inhabitants in Deir Sammit.[11]
After the Six-Day War in 1967, Deir Sammit has been under Israeli occupation. Since 1995, it has been governed by the Palestinian National Authority as part of Area B of the West Bank.
The residents of Deir Samit belong to four main families: Al-Haroub, Al-Sharowna, Al-Sharha', and the Al'Awawdh family.[12] The local Haribat (Haroub) clan has its origins in Bedouins who migrated from Tubas.[13]
. Victor Guérin. Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine. 1: Judee, pt. 2. 1869. L'Imprimerie Nationale. Paris. French.
. Edward Henry Palmer. 1881. The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
