Tall al-Shawk

Tall al-Shawk (Arabic: تل الشوك), was a Palestinian village in the District of Baysan. It was depopulated by the Israel Defense Forces during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on May 12, 1948, as part of Operation Gideon. It was located five km west of Baysan between the al-Januna'in River to the north and Wadi al-Jawsaq to the south. The village was built above an ancient archeological site and granite columns remain.

Tall al-Shawk تل الشوك Tall al Shauk[1]
Village
Etymology: the mound of thorns[2]
1870s map 1940s map modern map 1940s with modern overlay map A series of historical maps of the area around Tall al-Shawk (click the buttons)
Tall al-Shawk Location within Mandatory Palestine
Coordinates: 32°29′49″N 35°27′43″E
Palestine grid	193/211
Geopolitical entity	Mandatory Palestine
Subdistrict	Baysan
Date of depopulation	May 12, 1948[1]
Population  (1945)
• Total	120[3]
Cause(s) of depopulation	Influence of nearby town's fall

History

In 1882 the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described the southern Tell ash Shok as "an artificial earthen mound, with water on either side".^[4]

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the Mandatory Palestine authorities, Tall al-Shawk had a population of 58 Muslims,^[5] decreasing in the 1931 census to a population of 41 Muslims in 11 houses.^[6]

In the 1945 statistics, the village had a population of 120 Muslims,^[3] while the total land area was 3,685 dunams.^[7] Of this, Arabs used 14 dunums for plantations and irrigable land, 33 for cereals,^[8] while 18 dunums were classified as non-cultivable land.^[9]

1948 and aftermath

Following the war the area was incorporated into the State of Israel and the village's land was left undeveloped. In 1992, no traces of the village site remained, and the site was covered with weeds and thorns.^[10]