From the Pages of the Defter (ص 260)

غرض

عنوان

From the Pages of the Defter (ص 260)

المحتوى

was half a git’a of land planted with grape vines and fig trees. The land was located in Sagqaq
al-Haysh, Hebron. The property had been sold by ‘Uthman b. ‘Awdh Abt ‘Awdh Ishaq Kashkul
of Hebron to Nasir al-Din b. Anmad Nasir al-Natsheh of Hebron. This area today forms part
of the built-up area of the city of Hebron.
The document on the right was issued by the tapu offices in Hebron in July 1899 (27
Safar 1317). It is a deed of ownership, a tapu kushan, a tapu senedi. It recognizes the
ownership of a member of the Natsheh family of a vineyard in Abu Majnutn. The basis of
ownership was haqq-! karar. This right was granted to those who could prove a minimum of
ten years’ uncontested ownership on the land. This area today forms part of the built-up
area of the city of Hebron. Abi Majnun, as it is known, is still owned primarily by Natshehs.
What do both these documents have in common? Both prove ownership. Both could
be acquired on the basis of testimony, as we have seen in the chapters of this study. Both
cost a bit of money to acquire. Both were issued (at least) ten years after the fact of
possession had taken place. This does not mean that Natshehs did not own these lands
during the ten years in which they did not have these documents. They did. (If they had not,
it would have been difficult to acquire the documents showing they did.) What both these
documents tell us is that in 1839 and 1899, respectively, after years of farming and reaping
in Abi Majnun and Sagqag al-Haysh, two Natshehs had a need, or perhaps a desire, but most
likely a need, for a document in order to prove their ownership. These documents did not
change the fact of ownership; they merely validated it.
243

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From the Pages of the Defter

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المنشئ

Susynne McElrone

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