History
The history of the village of Balata is tied to that Jacob's Well and Joseph's Tomb. Benjamin of Tudela, the Navarrese traveller, who visited the site in 12th century, places it "A sabbath-way distance from Sichem," and says it contains Joseph's sepulcher. The church built around Jacob's Well and the lands of the village of Balata belonged to the Benedictine nuns of Bethany in the 12th century. Written documentation from this time of the Crusades indicates that, Balata, also known as Balathas, was a Frankish settlement.
During the rule of the Ottoman Empire over Palestine, an 1894 report by Conrad Schick for the Palestine Exploration Fund describes Balata as a hamlet made up of a few huts surrounded by gardens that lay to the west of Jacob's Well and its accompanying church complex, at that time in ruins.
Read more about this topic: Balata Al-Balad
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