Bayt Jiz - History

History

Nearby Khirbet Bayt Jiz has been claimed as the site of the Biblical Gizo and has been linked to the Crusader settlement of Gith, although the latter association was dubbed as doubtful by some historians. Gith was one of five villages within the Lydda diocese, in which the canons of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre were permitted by the village bishop to have or build a church and control half the village's tithes.

Bayt Jiz is not recorded in early Arabic sources. The Survey of Western Palestine, taken in 1881, mentions that Khirbet Bayt Jiz had "Traces of ruins and a sacred maqam... There are foundations and cisterns among the ruins." According to local legend, the maqam ("sacred Muslim tomb") was built in 1334 to house the sarcophagus of Shaykh Zayd, a local sage. A stone with Arabic inscriptions was found near the maqam, attributing the building of the structure to a Mamluk commander named Sayf ad-Din Aqul. It is the only evidence of early Islamic activity in the village thus far.

The modern village of Bayt Jiz was founded in the early 20th century. It had a rectangular plan, narrow streets, and houses constructed of mud and stone (there were 67 houses in 1931). The village center included a mosque, some shops, and a school built in 1947, shared with nearby Bayt Susin. Bayt Jiz's economy was based on agriculture, with the main crops being grains, figs, vegetables, almonds, and olives. A part of the surrounding land was grassland, enabling the villagers to raise sheep and goats.