Danna, Baysan

Danna دنه
Etymology: the Amphora[1]
1870s map 1940s map modern map A series of historical maps of the area around Danna, Baysan (click the buttons)
Danna Location within Mandatory Palestine
Coordinates: 32°36′47″N 35°28′28″E / 32.61306°N 35.47444°E / 32.61306; 35.47444
Palestine grid	194/224
Geopolitical entity	Mandatory Palestine
Subdistrict	Baysan
Date of depopulation	28 May 1948[4]
Area [3]
• Total	6,614 dunams (6.614 km2 or 2.554 sq mi)
Population  (1945)
• Total	190[2][3]
Cause(s) of depopulation	Expulsion by Yishuv forces

Danna (Arabic: دنه), was a Palestinian village 13 kilometres north of Baysan that was captured by the Israel Defense Forces during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, and the villagers were expelled.^[4]

A basalt lintel decorated with a menorah bas-relief, dated to the 5th-6th century^[5] and discovered at Kafr Danna, is possibly the only remaining element of a Byzantine synagogue once standing there.^[6][7]

In 1517 Danna was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire with the rest of Palestine. 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 1596, Danna was part of the nahiya (subdistrict) of Shafa under the liwa' (district) of Lajjun with a population of 5 Muslim families, (estimated 28 people). It paid a fixed tax rate of 25% to the Ottoman government on a number of crops, including wheat and barley, and other types of produce, such as goats and beehives; a total of 3,500 akçe.^[10]

Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, a Swiss traveler to Palestine who passed through the area around 1817, mentioned the village without providing a description.^[11][12]

In 1838, Denna was noted as part of the Jenin District.^[13][14]

Victor Guérin described in 1875 the village as being "humble", and situated on a hill. He noted that it had once been much larger, as north of the village centre were ruins of houses.^[15] In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described Danna as being situated on a slope, and surrounded by farmland. There was a spring with a watering trough to the west. The village houses were built of stone and adobe.^[16]

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the Mandatory Palestine authorities, Danna had a population of 176 Muslims,^[17] decreasing in the 1931 census to 149, still all Muslims, in 28 houses.^[18]

The village was shaped like a rectangle whose longer sides were aligned in a north–south direction. During this era the village expanded and new houses, constructed of stone and adobe brick, were built along the road to the nearby village of Kafra. It was classified as a hamlet in the Palestine Index Gazetteer. There were a few shops and a mosque which contained the maqam (shrine) of a Shaykh Daniyal. The village spring provided water for all the residents. The villagers worked primarily in rainfed agriculture.^[19]

In the 1945 statistics Danna had a population of 190 Muslims,^[2] with a total of 6,614 dunams of land.^[3] Of this, a total of 5,097 dunams was used for cereals; 14 dunams were irrigated or used for orchards,^[20] while 15 were built-up (urban) land.^[21] Grass and leafy vegetation grew on the slopes and peaks of the neighboring mountains and were used for grazing.^[19]

On the 28 May 1948 the village was occupied by Israeli forces, and the villagers were expelled.^[4]

According to the Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi, 1992, the remaining structures on the village land were:

"Bushes, cactus plants, thorns, and grass now grow around piles of rubble on the village site. Thick weeds grow in the wadi and near the springs. The lands in the area are cultivated by Israeli farmers."^[19]

• Depopulated Palestinian locations in Israel

• Welcome To Danna
• Danna, Zochrot
• Survey of Western Palestine, map 9: IAA, Wikimedia commons
• Danna, from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center