View source for Yibna

{{pp|small=yes}}
{{for|the Israeli town |Yavne}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name                    = Yibna
| native_name             = {{lang|ar|يبنا}}
| native_name_lang        = ar
| other_name              = Tel Yavne
| settlement_type         = 
<!-- images, nickname, motto -->
| image_skyline           = TelJavne030.jpg
| imagesize               = 150
| image_caption           = Mamluk minaret in Yibna 
| etymology               = Built<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Conder|first1=C. R. |url=http://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp00conduoft|title=The survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English name lists collected during the survey|last2=Palestine Exploration Fund|last3=Kitchener|first3=Horatio Herbert Kitchener|last4=Palmer|first4=Edward Henry|date=1881|location=London |publisher=Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund}}</ref>
<!-- maps and coordinates -->
| pushpin_map             = Mandatory Palestine | pushpin_map_caption     = Location within [[Mandatory Palestine]] | image_map               = {{Historical map series|default=2|date1=1870s|date2=1940s|date3=modern|date4=1940s with modern overlay|width=225}} | map_caption             = A series of historical maps of the area around Yibna (click the buttons)
| pushpin_mapsize         = 200
| coordinates             = {{coord|31|51|58|N|34|44|47|E|type:city_region:PS|display=inline,title}}
| grid_name               = [[Palestine grid|Palestine&nbsp;grid]]
| grid_position           = 126/141
<!-- location -->
| subdivision_type        = [[Geopolitical entity]]
| subdivision_name        = [[Mandatory Palestine]]
| subdivision_type1       = [[Districts of Mandatory Palestine|Subdistrict]]
| subdivision_name1       = [[Ramle Subdistrict, Mandatory Palestine|Ramle]]
<!-- established -->
| established_title1      = Date of depopulation
| established_date1       = 4 June 1948<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Morris|first1=Research Fellow Truman Institute Benny|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PR19|title=The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited|last2=Morris|first2=Benny|last3=Benny|first3=Morris|date=2004|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-00967-6|language=en}}</ref>
| established_title2      = Repopulated dates
<!-- area -->
| unit_pref               = dunam
| area_total_dunam        = 59,554
<!-- population -->
| population_as_of        = 1945
| population_total        = 5,420<ref name=1945p30>Department of Statistics, 1945, p. [http://cs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VSpages/VS1945_p30.jpg  30]</ref>
<!-- blank fields (section 1) -->
| blank_name_sec1         = Cause(s) of depopulation
| blank_info_sec1         = Military assault by [[Yishuv]] forces
| blank1_name_sec1        = Secondary cause
| blank1_info_sec1        = Expulsion by [[Yishuv]] forces
| blank3_name_sec1        = Current Localities
| blank3_info_sec1        = [[Yavne]],<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Morris|first1=Research Fellow Truman Institute Benny|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PR21|title=The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited|last2=Morris|first2=Benny|last3=Benny|first3=Morris|date=2004|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-00967-6|language=en}}</ref> [[Beit Raban]], [[Kfar HaNagid]], [[Beit Gamliel]]
}}

'''Yibna''' ({{langx|ar|يبنا}}; ''Jabneh'' or ''Jabneel'' in [[Biblical]] times; ''Jamnia'' in [[Roman empire|Roman]] times; ''[[Lordship of Ibelin|Ibelin]]'' to the [[Crusades|Crusaders]]), or '''Tel Yavne''', is an archaeological site and [[List of villages depopulated during the Arab–Israeli conflict|depopulated Palestinian town]]. The ruins are located southeast of the modern Israeli city of [[Yavne]].

The town had a population of 5,420 in 1948, located 15 kilometers southwest of [[Ramla]].<ref name="Khalidi421">Khalidi, 1992, p.421</ref> Most of the population fled after the fall of [[al-Qubayba, Hebron|al-Qubeiba]] and [[Zarnuqa]] in late May, but armed males were forced back. Israeli army took the town on June 5 and expelled the remaining population.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Morris|first1=Research Fellow Truman Institute Benny|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA255|title=The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited|last2=Morris|first2=Benny|last3=Benny|first3=Morris|date=2004|page=259|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-00967-6|language=en}}</ref>

It is a significant site for post-biblical Jewish history, as it was the location of the [[Council of Jamnia]], considered the birthplace of modern [[Rabbinic Judaism]]. It is also significant in the history of the [[Crusades]], as the location of the [[House of Ibelin]].

==Name==
In many English translations of the Bible, it is known as Yavne or Jabneh {{IPAc-en|ˈ|dʒ|æ|b|n|ə}}. In [[classical antiquity]], it was known as Jamnia ({{langx|grc-x-koine|Ἰαμνία|Iamníā}}; {{langx|la|Iamnia}}); to the [[Crusades|Crusaders]] as [[Ibelin (castle)|Ibelin]]; and before 1948, as Yibna. ({{langx|ar|يبنا}})

==History==
[[File:Old Yavne.jpg|thumb|left|The tell with the ruins of the Mamluk minaret built in 1337<ref name="PringleChurches"/>]]
Based on written sources and archaeology, the history of Yavneh/Jabneh/Yibna goes back to the [[Iron Age]] and possibly to the [[Bronze Age]]. The [[Hebrew Bible]] mentions Yavneh repeatedly, as does [[Josephus]]. For more see [[Yavne]].

===Bronze and Iron Age===
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.<ref name="YavnehI">{{Cite book|last1=Kletter|first1=Raz|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IPZ-RCIF4EEC|title=Yavneh|last2=Ziffer|first2=Irit|last3=Zwickel|first3=Wolfgang|date=2010|publisher=Saint-Paul|isbn=978-3-7278-1667-3|language=en}}</ref> Two excavation seasons in the 2000s led by Professor [[Dan Bahat]] revealed some Iron Age remains.{{citation needed|date=January 2016}} Pottery sherds of the Iron Age and Persian period were discovered at the surface of the tell.<ref name="NegevGibson"/>

Originally a Phillistine settlement, the [[2 Maccabees|Second Book of the Maccabees]] gives an account of [[Judas Maccabeus]] destroying the original Gentile-inhabited city. After [[Alexander Jannaeus]], rule of the city switched to Judea and the city developed a large Jewish population.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Raphael Patai |title=The Children of Noah: Jewish Seafaring in Ancient Times |date=9 February 2021 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-22529-6 |page=145}}</ref>

====Roman period with Herodians====
In Roman times, the city was known as '''Iamnia''', also spelled '''Jamnia'''. It was bequeathed by [[Herod the Great]] upon his death to his sister [[Salome I]]. Upon her death, it passed to the Roman emperor [[Augustus]], who managed it as a private [[Imperial estate (Roman)|imperial estate]], a status it was to maintain for at least a century.<ref name="Kletter2004">{{Cite journal |first=Raz |last=Kletter |year=2004 |title=Tel Yavne |journal=Excavations and Surveys in Israel |volume=116 |url=http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/Report_Detail_Eng.aspx?id=30&mag_id=108 |access-date=2017-12-31}}</ref> After Salome's death, Iamnia came into the property of [[Livia]], the future Roman empress, and then to her son [[Tiberius]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jabneh|title=Jabneh|publisher=Jewish Virtual Library}}</ref>

During the [[First Jewish–Roman War]], when the Roman army had quelled the insurrection in [[Galilee]], the army then marched upon Iamnia and [[Ashdod (ancient city)|Azotus]], taking both towns and stationing garrisons within them.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Flavius Josephus, The Wars of the Jews, Book IV, Whiston chapter 3, Whiston section 2|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0148:book=4:whiston+chapter=3:whiston+section=2|access-date=2022-12-31|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> According to rabbinic tradition, the [[tannaim|tanna]] [[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.<ref>{{cite book|last=Nathan ha-Bavli|author-link=Nathan the Babylonian|editor=Shemuel Yerushalmi|title=Avot de-Rabbi Natan |year=1976|location=Jerusalem |publisher=Mekhon Masoret|page=29 (chapter 4, section 5) |oclc=232936057 |language=he |title-link=Avot de-Rabbi Natan}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author-last=Ben-Israel|author-first=Uriah|editor=Alon, David|contribution=Yavne |title=Israel Guide - Sharon, Southern Coastal Plain and Northern Negev (A useful encyclopedia for the knowledge of the country)|volume=6 |publisher=[[Keter Publishing House]] |location=Jerusalem|year=1979|page=132 |language=he|oclc=745203905 }}</ref> Upon the fall of Jerusalem, his school functioned as a re-establishment of the [[Sanhedrin]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Babylonian Talmud: Gittin 56|url=http://www.come-and-hear.com/gittin/gittin_56.html#PARTb|access-date=2022-12-31|website=www.come-and-hear.com}}</ref>

===Byzantine period===
[[File:The Madaba Map, part of a floor mosaic in the early Byzantine church of Saint George depicting the Holy Land in the 6th century AD, Madaba, Jordan (34477841931).jpg|thumb|left|The [[Madaba Map]], showing {{langx|el|ΊΑΒΝΗΛΗΚΑΙΊΑΜΝΙΑ}}) (Lit. "Jabneel, which is also Jamnia")]]
Byzantine period finds from excavations include an aqueduct east of the tell, and a kiln.<ref name=Velednizki2004>{{Cite journal |last=Velednizki |first=Noy |year=2004 |title=Yavne Final Report |journal=Excavations and Surveys in Israel |volume=116 |url=http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=31&mag_id=108 |access-date=2010-08-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719082703/http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=31&mag_id=108 |archive-date=2011-07-19 }}</ref><ref name="Sion2005">{{Cite journal |first=Ofer |last=Sion |year=2005 |title=Yavne Final Report |journal=Excavations and Surveys in Israel |volume=117 |url=http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=222&mag_id=110 |access-date = 2017-12-31 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web|author=Jeevan Ravindran|title=World's largest Byzantine wine factory uncovered in Israel|url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/israel-byzantine-wine-factory-scn-scli-intl/index.html|access-date=2022-12-31|website=CNN|date=12 October 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

===Early Islamic period===
The historian [[al-Baladhuri]] (d. 892 CE) mentioned Yibna as one of ten towns in [[Jund Filastin]] conquered by the [[Rashidun army]] led by [[Amr ibn al-As]] during the [[Muslim conquest of the Levant]].<ref name="p.553">{{Cite book|last=Le Strange|first=G. (Guy)|url=http://archive.org/details/palestineundermo00lestuoft|title=Palestine under the Moslems; a description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500. Translated from the works of the mediaeval Arab geographers|date=1890|publisher=London A.P. Watt|others=Robarts - University of Toronto}}</ref> The 9th-century historian [[Ya'qubi]] wrote that it was an ancient city built on a hill and inhabited by [[Samaritans]].<ref name="p.553"/>

The geographer [[al-Maqdisi]], writing around 985, said that "Yubna has a beautiful [[mosque]]. From this place come the excellent [[Damson|figs known by the name of Damascene]]."<ref name="p.553"/> The geographer [[Yaqut al-Hamawi]] wrote that in Yubna there was a tomb said to be that of [[Abu Hurayra]], a [[Companions of the Prophet|Companion of the Prophet]]. The author of the ''Marasid'' also adds that tomb seen here is also said to be that of [[Abd Allah ibn Sa'd]], another Companion of the Prophet.<ref name="p.553"/>

In 2007, remains ranging from the early Islamic period until the British Mandate period were uncovered.<ref name="Volynsky2009">{{Cite web|title=Volume 121 Year 2009 Tel Yavne|url=http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=1110&mag_id=115|access-date=2022-12-31|website=www.hadashot-esi.org.il}}</ref> An additional kiln, and part of a commercial/industrial area were uncovered at the west of the tell in 2009.<ref name=mynet/>

===Crusader, Ayyubid and Mamluk periods===
[[File:Mamluk bridge, Yavne008.jpg|thumb|[[Yibna Bridge]], one in a series of bridges built by Sultan [[Baybars]] in medieval Egypt and Palestine]]
[[File:PikiWiki Israel 10149 rabbi gamliel tomb in yavneh.jpg|thumb|The [[Mausoleum of Abu Huraira]], 2010]]
The [[Crusade]]rs called the city '''Ibelin''' and built a [[Ibelin (castle)|castle]] there in 1141. Two excavation seasons led by Professor [[Dan Bahat]] starting in 2005 revealed the main gate.{{citation needed|date=January 2016}}  Its namesake noble family, the [[house of Ibelin]], was important in the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]] and later in the [[Kingdom of Cyprus]]. Salvage excavations at the west of the tell unearthed a stash of 53 Crusader coins of the 12th and 13th centuries.<ref name="mynet">{{cite web |url=http://www.mynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3697876,00.html |script-title=he:מטמון נדיר נמצא בחפירות ארכיאולוגיות בתל יבנה |trans-title=Rare Treasure Found in Excavations at Tel Yavne |language=he |publisher=Ynet.co.il (local) |first=Ilanit |last=Shimron |date=2009-04-06 |access-date=2010-08-08}}</ref>

Ibelin was first sacked by [[Saladin]] before his army was comprehensively routed at the [[Battle of Montgisard]] in late 1177. In August 1187, it was retaken by Saladin and burned down, and ceased for some time to form part of the Crusaders' kingdom.<ref>Fischer, Moshe and Taxel, Itamar. [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Itamar_Taxel/publication/307577653_Fischer_M_and_Taxel_I_2007_Ancient_Yavneh_Its_History_and_Archaeology_Tel_Aviv_34_204-284/links/57c9b13708ae59825180f324/Fischer-M-and-Taxel-I-2007-Ancient-Yavneh-Its-History-and-Archaeology-Tel-Aviv-34-204-284.pdf "Ancient Yavneh: Its History and Archaeology"], in ''Tel Aviv'' Journal of the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University, December 2007,  vol. 34: No 2, pp.204–284, 247</ref> The Jewish traveler [[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'').<ref>{{Cite web|title=JABNEH - JewishEncyclopedia.com|url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/8375-jabneh|access-date=2022-12-31|website=www.jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref>

During the [[Mamluk Sultanate|Mamluk]] period (13th–16th centuries), Yibna was a key site along the Cairo–Damascus road, which served as a center for rural religious and economic life.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Marom |first1=Roy |last2=Taxel |first2=Itamar |date=2023-10-01 |title=Ḥamāma: The historical geography of settlement continuity and change in Majdal 'Asqalan's hinterland, 1270–1750 CE |journal=Journal of Historical Geography |volume=82 |pages=49–65 |doi=10.1016/j.jhg.2023.08.003 |issn=0305-7488|doi-access=free }}</ref> Ibelin's parish church was converted 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 Israeli army in 1950.<ref name="PringleChurches">{{Cite book|last=Pringle|first=Denys|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Y0tA0xLzwEC&pg=PA378|title=The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: A Corpus: Volume 2, L-Z (excluding Tyre)|date=1993|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-39037-8|language=en}}</ref><ref>[Raz Kletter, Irit Ziffer, Wolfgang Zwickel. "Yavneh I: The Excavation of the 'Temple Hill' Repository Pit and the Cult Stands." Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis, Series Archaeologica (OBOSA), Book 30. Academic Press Fribourg, Switzerland ({{ISBN|978-3-7278-1667-3}}) and Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen ({{ISBN|978-3-525-54361-0}}). 2010. Pages 2-13 ]</ref>

The [[Mausoleum of Abu Huraira]], a ''[[Maqam (shrine)|maqam]]'' (religious shrine), in Yibna was described as "one of the finest domed mausoleums in Palestine". The site has been considered by Muslims as the tomb of Abu Huraira since the 12th century. After Israel's capture of Yibna in 1948, the shrine was taken over by [[Sephardic Jews]] who consider the tomb as the burial place of Rabbi [[Gamaliel II|Gamaliel of Yavne]].<ref name="Petersen2002">{{Cite encyclopedia |last=Petersen |first=Andrew |title=Gazetteer 6. S-Z |encyclopedia=Gazetteer 6 |volume=S-Z |url=https://www.academia.edu/21620272 |via=Academia}}</ref>

===Ottoman period===
The village became part of the [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1517. In the 1596 Ottoman tax registers, it fell under the ''[[nahiya]]'' (subdistrict) of [[Gaza City|Gaza]], part of the ''[[Liwa (Arabic)|liwa']]'' (district) of [[Gaza Sanjak|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 seed]]s and fruits, as well as goats, beehives and vineyards; a total of 34,000 [[akçe]]. Three quarters of the revenues went to a [[waqf]] (religious endowment).<ref>Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 143. Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p. 421</ref>

In the [[French campaign in Egypt and Syria]] in 1799, it was shown on the map that [[Pierre Jacotin]] compiled that year as 'Ebneh'.<ref>Karmon, 1960, p. [http://www.jchp.ucla.edu/Bibliography/Karmon,_Y_1960_Jacotin_Map_(IEJ_10).pdf 171] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201182028/http://jchp.ucla.edu/Bibliography/Karmon,_Y_1960_Jacotin_Map_(IEJ_10).pdf |date=2017-12-01 }}</ref>

An American missionary, [[William McClure Thomson|William Thomson]], who visited Yibna in 1834, described it as a village on hill inhabited by 3,000 Muslims 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.<ref name="PringleChurches"/><ref>Thompson (1880), I:145-49. Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p.421</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Thomson|first=William M.|url=http://archive.org/details/bub_gb_2DUHAAAAQAAJ|title=The land and the book; or, biblical illustrations drawn from the manners and customs, the scenes and scenery of the Holy Land|date=1861|publisher=London : T. Nelson|others=Oxford University}}</ref> In 1838, Yibna was noted as a Muslim village in the Gaza district.<ref name="auto">{{Cite book|last1=Robinson|first1=Edward|url=http://archive.org/details/biblicalresearch03robiuoft|title=Biblical researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: a journal of travels in the year 1838|last2=Smith|first2=Eli|date=1841|location=Boston |publisher=Crocker}}</ref>

An Ottoman village list from 1870 found that Yibna had a population of 1,042 living in 348 houses, although this number only counted adult males.<ref name=Socin155>{{Cite book|last=Deutscher Verein zur Erforschung Palästinas|url=http://archive.org/details/zeitschriftdesde01deut|title=Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins|date=1878|publisher=Leipzig, O. Harrassowitz &#91;etc.]|others=Getty Research Institute}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Deutscher Verein zur Erforschung Palästinas|url=http://archive.org/details/bub_gb_BZobAQAAIAAJ|title=Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins|last2=Deutsches Evangelisches Institut für Altertumswissenschaft des Heiligen Landes|date=1878|publisher=Leipzig : K. Baedeker|others=University of California}}</ref> In 1882, the [[Palestine Exploration Fund]]'s ''[[PEF Survey of Palestine|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.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Conder|first1=C. R. |url=http://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp02conduoft|title=The survey of western Palestine: memoirs of the topography, orography, hydrography, and archaeology|last2=Kitchener|first2=Horatio Herbert Kitchener|last3=Palmer|first3=Edward Henry|last4=Besant|first4=Walter|date=1881–1883|location=London |publisher=Committee of the Palestine exploration fund}}</ref>

[[Oral history|Oral histories]] of Yibna mention Late Ottoman [[infant]] [[Jar burial|jar-burials]], commonly associated with [[nomad]]s or [[Itinerant groups in Europe|itinerant workers]] of [[Egyptians|Egyptian]] origins.<ref name=":02">Taxel, Y., [[Roy Marom|Marom, R]]., & Nagar, Y. (2025). [https://www.academia.edu/129069336/An_Infant_Jar_Burial_from_Zarn%C5%ABqa_Muslim_Funerary_Practices_and_An_Infant_Jar_Burial_from_Zarn_qa_Muslim_Funerary_Practices_and_Migrant_Communities_in_Late_Ottoman_Palestine_Migrant_Communities_in_Late_Ottoman_Palestine An Infant Jar Burial from Zarnūqa: Muslim Funerary Practices and Migrant Communities in Late Ottoman Palestine]. ''<nowiki/>'Atiqot'', 117, 269–293.</ref>

===British Mandate===
{{multiple image
|image1=Yibna 1946.jpg
|image2=Yibna 1946 BOA.jpg
|caption1=1946 [[Survey of Palestine]] map
|caption2=1946 built-on area detail
|align=left
|width1=120
|width2=150
}}
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.<ref name="Khalidi421"/>

In the  [[1922 census of Palestine]] conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Yibna had a population of 1,791; all Muslims,<ref name=Census1922>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/PalestineCensus1922|title=Palestine Census ( 1922)|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> increasing in the [[1931 census of Palestine|1931 census]] to 3,600, of whom all were Muslims except for seven Christians, two Jews and one [[Baháʼí Faith|Baháʼí]], living in a total of 794 houses.<ref name=Census1931>{{Cite book|last=E. Mills|url=http://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas|title=Census of Palestine 1931. Population of villages, towns and administrative areas|date=1932}}</ref>

The inhabitants of Yibna cultivated not only the fertile alluvial plains but also the sandy hinterland known as [[Rimal Yibna|Rimāl Yibnā]]. Despite being classified as uncultivable under Ottoman land law, villagers, in cooperation with [[Nomad|nomadic groups]], developed fig orchards, vineyards, and seasonal fields among the dunes. British cadastral and tax reforms in the 1920s and 1930s accelerated these efforts, and by the 1940s local farmers had managed to cultivate up to 10 percent of the dunefield, transforming marginal lands into productive plots.<ref name="Marom2025">{{cite journal |last1=Marom |first1=Roy |author-link=Roy Marom |last2=Roskin |first2=Joel |last3=Taxel |first3=Itamar |date=August 2025 |title=A Line in the Sand: The Development of Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Sand/Dune Agriculture at Rimāl Yibnā on the Southeastern Mediterranean Coast |url=https://read.dukeupress.edu/agricultural-history/article-abstract/99/3/341/402696/A-Line-in-the-SandThe-Development-of-Nineteenth?redirectedFrom=fulltext |journal=Agricultural History |volume=99 |issue=3 |pages=341–375 |doi=10.1215/00021482-11778240|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In 1941, [[Kibbutz]]  [[Yavne]] was established nearby by refugees from Germany, followed by a [[Youth Aliyah]] village, [[Givat Washington]], in 1946.<ref name="Khalidi421"/>

In [[Village Statistics, 1945|1944-45]], Yibna had a population of 5,400 Muslims and 20 Christians,<ref name=1945p30/> while the total land area was 59,554 [[dunam]]s, according to an official land and population survey.<ref name=Hadawi68>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/al-Ramla/Page-068.jpg 68]</ref>
In addition there were 1,500 nomads living around the village.<ref name="Khalidi421"/> A total of 6,468 dunams of village land was used for citrus and bananas, 15,124 were used for cereals, 11,091 were irrigated or used for orchards, of which 25 were planted with olive trees,<ref name="Khalidi421"/><ref name=Hadawi117>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945''. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20II/al-Ramla/Page-117.jpg 117]</ref> while 127 dunams were classified as built-up areas.<ref>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20III/al-Ramla/Page-167.jpg 167]</ref>

<gallery>
File:Yibna 1929.jpg|Yibna 1929 1:20,000
File:Yibna 1941.jpg|Yibna 1941 1:20,000
File:Yibna 1945.jpg|Yibna 1945 1:250,000
</gallery>

==1948 and aftermath==
{{further|Yavne}}
[[File:Yibna.jpg|thumb|Members of the [[Yiftach Brigade]] standing on the roof of a building in Yibna at the start of [[Operation Dani]]]]
Yibna was in the territory allotted to the Jewish state under the 1947 [[United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine|UN Partition Plan]].<ref name="UN">{{Cite web|title=Map of UN Partition Plan |publisher=[[United Nations]] |access-date=2009-02-09 |url=http://domino.un.org/maps/m0103_1b.gif |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090124212115/http://domino.un.org/maps/m0103_1b.gif |archive-date=January 24, 2009}}</ref> In mid-March 1948, a contingent of Iraqi volunteers moved into the village. In a [[Haganah]] reprisal on March 30, two dozen villagers were killed.<ref name=MorrisBook /> On April 21, the Iraqi village commander was arrested by the British authorities for the drunken shooting of two Arabs.<ref name=MorrisBook>{{Cite book|last1=Morris|first1=Benny|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA259 |title=The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited|date=2004|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-00967-6|language=en}}</ref>

During the [[1948 Arab–Israeli war]], residents of [[Zarnuqa]] sought refuge in Yibna, but left after Yibna's inhabitants accused them of being traitors.<ref name="Morris258-259">{{Cite book|last1=Morris|first1=Benny|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA258|title=The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited|date=2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-00967-6|language=en}}</ref> On 27 May, following the fall of nearby [[Al-Qubayba, Ramle|al-Qubayba]] and [[Zarnuqa]], most of the population of Yibna fled to [[Isdud]], but Yibna's armed males were forced back to Yibna by [[Isdud]]'s militiamen. According to the official history, the Israeli [[Givati Brigade]] was interested in evacuating the village.<ref name="Morris258-259" /> On June 5, after a brief firefight, they occupied the village and expelled the few old people who remained.<ref name="Morris258-259" /> Refugees fleeing the village were fired at 'to increase [their] panic.'<ref name="Morris258-259" />

After 1948, a number of Israeli villages were founded on Yibna's land: [[Kfar HaNagid]] and [[Beit Gamliel]] in 1949, [[Ben Zakai]] in 1950, [[Kfar Aviv]] (originally: "Kfar HaYeor") in 1951, and [[Tzofiyya]] in 1955.<ref>Khalidi, 1992, p. 423</ref>

Archaeological excavations have revealed that part of the pre-1948 Arab village at Yibna was built on top of a Byzantine-period cemetery and refuse pits.<ref name=IAA>Buchennino, 2007, [http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.asp?search=&id=293&mag_id=111 Yavne] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719081650/http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.asp?search=&id=293&mag_id=111 |date=2011-07-19}}</ref>

==Cultural references==
Palestinian artist [[Sliman Mansour]] made Yibna the subject of one of his paintings. The work, named for the village, was one of a series of four on destroyed Palestinian villages that he produced in 1988 in order to resist the cancellation of Palestinian history; the others being [[Yalo]], [[Imwas]] and [[Bayt Dajan]].<ref name=Ankorip82>Ankori, 2006, p. [https://archive.org/details/palestinianart0000anko/page/82 82]: 'Another series of four works from 1988 relates explicitly to the lost homeland through the titles given to each work by the artist. Mansour named each composition (Yalo, Beit Dajan, Emmwas, Yibna) after a Palestinian village that had been destroyed by Israel since its establishment in 1948. Thus, art became a way of resisting the eradication of Palestinian history and geography,'.</ref>

==The harbour of Javneh==
{{main|Yavne-Yam}}
The harbour of ancient Yavneh has been identified on the coast at '''Minet Rubin''' (Arabic) or '''[[Yavne-Yam]]''' (Hebrew), where excavations have revealed fortification going back to the [[Bronze Age]] [[Hyksos]].<ref name="NegevGibson">Negev,  and  Gibson, 2001, p. 253</ref> It has been in use from the Middle Bronze Age until the 12th century CE, when it was abandoned.<ref name="JM">{{Cite web|title=Archeology in Israel - Yavne Yam|url=http://www.jewishmag.com/98mag/yavnehyam/yavnehyam.htm|access-date=2022-12-31|website=www.jewishmag.com}}</ref>

==Notable residents/descendants==
*[[Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi]]
*[[Muhammad Youssef al-Najjar]]
*[[Mousa Abu Marzook]]

==See also==
*[[Depopulated Palestinian locations in Israel]]

==References==
{{reflist|25em}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin|30em}}
*{{cite book| title = Palestinian Art
 | last = Ankori | first = Gannit | year = 2006
 | publisher = Reaktion Books
 | url = https://archive.org/details/palestinianart0000anko | url-access = registration | via = [[Internet Archive]]
 | isbn = 1-86189-259-4
}}
*{{cite book| title = Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922
 | editor-last = Barron | editor-first = J.B.
 | year = 1923
 | publisher = Government of Palestine
 | url = https://archive.org/details/PalestineCensus1922 | via = [[Internet Archive]]
}}
*{{cite journal | title = Yavne
 | last = Buchennino | first = Aviva
 | journal = Hadashot Arkheologiyot
 | publisher = [[Israeli Antiquities Authority]]
 | url = http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.asp?search=&id=293&mag_id=111 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110719081650/http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.asp?search=&id=293&mag_id=111
 | date = 2006-01-08 | doi = 10.69704/jhaesi.116.2004.293 | archive-date = 2011-07-19
 | issn = 1565-5334
}}
*{{cite book| title = The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology
 | last1 = Conder | first1 = C.R.
 | last2 = Kitchener | first2 = H. H.
 | author1-link = Claude Reignier Conder
 | author2-link = Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener
 | year = 1882
 | publisher = [[Palestine Exploration Fund|Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund]] | location = London
 | volume = 2
 | url = https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp02conduoft | via = [[Internet Archive]]
}}
*{{cite book| title = Village Statistics, April, 1945
 | author = Department of Statistics | year = 1945
 | publisher = Government of Palestine
 | url = http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nli/Hebrew/library/Pages/BookReader.aspx?pid=856390
}}
*{{cite journal | title = Ancient Yavneh, Its history and archaeology
 | last1 = Fischer | first1 = Moshe
 | last2 = Taxel | first2 = Itamar
 | journal = Tel Aviv
 | year = 2007 | volume = 34 | issue = 2 | pages = 204–284
 | doi = 10.1179/tav.2007.2007.2.204 | s2cid = 161092698
}}
*{{cite journal | title = Rural Settlement in the Vicinity of Yavneh in the Byzantine Period: A Religio-Archaeological Perspective
 | last1 = Fischer | first1 = Moshe
 | last2 = Taxel | first2 = Itamar
 | last3 = Amit | first3 = David
 | journal = Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research
 | year = 2008 | volume = 350 | issue = 350 | pages = 7–35
 | doi = 10.1086/BASOR25609264 | jstor = 25609264 | s2cid = 163487105
}}
*{{cite book| title = Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine
 | last = Guérin | first = V. | year = 1869
 | author-link = Victor Guérin
 | publisher = L'Imprimerie Nationale | location = Paris
 | volume = 1: Judee, pt. 2
 | language = fr
 | url = https://archive.org/details/descriptiongog02gu | via = [[Internet Archive]]
}} (p. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongog02gu#page/55/mode/1up 55] ff )
*{{cite report| title = Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine
 | last = Hadawi | first = S. | year = 1970
 | author-link = Sami Hadawi
 | website = Palestine Remembered
 | publisher = Palestine Liberation Organization Research Centre
 | url = http://www.palestineremembered.com/Articles/General-2/Story3150.html
}}
*{{cite journal | title = Die Ortschaftenliste des Liwa Jerusalem in dem türkischen Staatskalender für Syrien auf das Jahr 1288 der Flucht (1871)
 | last = Hartmann | first = M.
 | author-link = Martin Hartmann
 | journal = Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins | via = [[Internet Archive]]
 | year = 1883 | volume = 6 | pages = 102–149
 | url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_BZobAQAAIAAJ
}}
*{{cite book| title = Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century
 | last1 = Hütteroth 
 | first1=W.-D.
 | author-link1=Wolf-Dieter Hütteroth
 | last2=Abdulfattah 
 | first2=K. 
 | author-link2=Kamal Abdulfattah
 | year = 1977
 | publisher = Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=wqULAAAAIAAJ
 | isbn = 3-920405-41-2
}}
*{{cite journal | title = An Analysis of Jacotin's Map of Palestine
 | last = Karmon | first = Y.
 | journal = [[Israel Exploration Journal]]
 | year = 1960 | volume = 10 | issue = 3,4 | pages = 155–173; 244–253
 | url = http://www.jchp.ucla.edu/Bibliography/Karmon,_Y_1960_Jacotin_Map_(IEJ_10).pdf | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171201182028/http://jchp.ucla.edu/Bibliography/Karmon,_Y_1960_Jacotin_Map_(IEJ_10).pdf
 | archive-date = 2017-12-01
}}
*{{cite book| title = All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948
 | last = Khalidi | first = W. | year = 1992
 | author-link = Walid Khalidi
 | publisher = [[Institute for Palestine Studies]] | location = Washington D.C.
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=_By7AAAAIAAJ
 | isbn = 0-88728-224-5
}}
*{{cite journal | title = el Yavne Final Report
 | last = Kletter | first = Raz
 | journal = Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel
 | date = 2004-05-31 | number = 116
 | url = http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=30&mag_id=108
 | issn = 1565-5334
}}     <!--…….indicate that part of the Arab village at Yibna also extended on top of the cemetery and refuse pits from the Byzantine period to the foot of the tell.-->
*{{cite book| title = Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500
 | last = Le Strange | first = G. | year = 1890
 | author-link = Guy Le Strange
 | publisher = Committee of the [[Palestine Exploration Fund]]
 | url = https://archive.org/details/palestineundermo00lestuoft | via = [[Internet Archive]]
}}
*{{cite book| title = Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas
 | editor-last = Mills | editor-first = E.
 | year = 1932
 | publisher = Government of Palestine | location = Jerusalem
 | url = https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas
 | via = [[Internet Archive]]
}}
*{{cite book| title = The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited
 | last = Morris | first = B. | year = 2004
 | author-link = Benny Morris
 | publisher = Cambridge University Press
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C
 | isbn = 978-0-521-00967-6
}}
*{{cite encyclopedia| title = Jabneh; Jabneel; Jamnia (a)
 | last1 = Negev | first1 = Avraham
 | last2 = Gibson | first2 = S.
 | author2-link = Shimon Gibson
 | year = 2001
 | encyclopedia = Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land
 | publisher = Continuum | location = New York and London
 | isbn = 0-8264-1316-1
}}
*{{cite book| title = 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
 | last = Palmer | first = E. H. | year = 1881
 | author-link = Edward Henry Palmer
 | publisher = [[Palestine Exploration Fund|Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund]]
 | url = https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp00conduoft | via = [[Internet Archive]]
}}
*{{cite book| title = A Gazetteer of Buildings in Muslim Palestine (British Academy Monographs in Archaeology)
 | last = Petersen | first = Andrew | year = 2001
 | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]]
 | volume = I
 | url = https://www.academia.edu/21620272
 | isbn = 978-0-19-727011-0
}}
*{{cite book| title = Secular buildings in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: an archaeological Gazetteer
 | last = Pringle | first = D. | year = 1997
 | author-link = Denys Pringle
 | publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]]
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=-_NbE5obqRMC
 | isbn = 0-521-46010-7
}}   p.  [https://books.google.com/books?id=-_NbE5obqRMC&pg=PA108 108]
*{{cite book| title = The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: L-Z (excluding Tyre)
 | last = Pringle | first = D. | year = 1998
 | author-link = Denys Pringle
 | publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]]
 | volume = II
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=2Y0tA0xLzwEC
 | isbn = 0-521-39037-0
}}
*{{cite book| title = Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838
 | last1 = Robinson | first1 = E.
 | last2 = Smith | first2 = E.
 | author1-link = Edward Robinson (scholar)
 | author2-link = Eli Smith
 | year = 1841
 | publisher = [[Crocker & Brewster]] | location = Boston
 | volume = 3
 | url = https://archive.org/details/biblicalresearch03robiuoft | via = [[Internet Archive]]
}}
*{{cite journal | title = el Yavne Final Report
 | last = Sion | first = Ofer
 | journal = Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel
 | date = 2005-08-07 | number = 117
 | url = http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=222&mag_id=110
 | issn = 1565-5334
}}        <!--....Floor beds containing Gaza ware, a glass bracelet and fragments of Marseilles roof tiles may have been the remains from the Arab village that was located in Yavne from the end of the Ottoman period.-->
*{{cite journal | title = Alphabetisches Verzeichniss von Ortschaften des Paschalik Jerusalem
 | last = Socin | first = A.
 | author-link = Albert Socin
 | journal = Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins | via = [[Internet Archive]]
 | year = 1879 | volume = 2 | pages = 135–163
 | url = https://archive.org/details/zeitschriftdesde01deut
}}
*{{cite book| title = The Land and the Book: Or, Biblical Illustrations Drawn from the Manners and Customs, the Scenes and Scenery, of the Holy Land | edition = 1st
 | last = Thomson | first = W.M. | year = 1859
 | author-link = William McClure Thomson
 | publisher = Harper & brothers | location = New York
 | volume = 2
 | url = https://archive.org/details/landandbookorbi08thomgoog | via = [[Internet Archive]]
}}   pp. [https://archive.org/stream/landandbookorbi08thomgoog#page/n323/mode/1up 313]-314
*{{cite journal | title = el Yavne Final Report
 | last = Velednizki | first = Noy
 | journal = Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel
 | date = 2004-05-31 | number = 116
 | url = http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=31&mag_id=108
 | issn = 1565-5334
}}
*{{cite journal | title = Tel Yavne Final Report
 | last = Volynsky | first = Felix
 | journal = Excavations and Surveys in Israel
 | date = 2009-06-04 | volume = 121
 | url = http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=1110&mag_id=115
 | issn = 1565-5334
}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [http://www.palestineremembered.com/al-Ramla/Yibna/index.html Welcome to Yibna]
* [http://www.zochrot.org/en/village/49202 Yibna],  [[Zochrot]]
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 16:   [http://www.iaa-archives.org.il/zoom/zoom.aspx?folder_id=93&type_id=6&id=8378 IAA], [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Survey_of_Western_Palestine_1880.16.jpg Wikimedia commons]  
* [http://www.alnakba.org/villages/ramla/yibna.htm Yibna] at [[Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center]]
* [http://www.wrmea.com/archives/May-June_2008/0805030b.html Yousef Al Hums: 60 Years and Counting],  [[Washington Report on Middle East Affairs|WREMEA]], May–June 2008

{{Palestinian Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Palestine War}}

[[Category:District of Ramla]]
[[Category:Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War]]
[[Category:Livia]]
[[Category:Bronze Age sites in Israel]]
[[Category:Salome I]]
[[Category:Roman sites in Israel]]
[[Category:Yavne]]