Ashdot Ya'akov (Hebrew: אַשְׁדוֹת יַעֲקֹב, lit.'Ya'akov Rapids') is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Originally founded in 1924 by a kvutza of Hashomer members from Latvia on the land which is today Gesher, it moved to its current location between 1933 and 1935. It was named after the rapids of the nearby Yarmouk River and James "Ya'akov" Armand de Rothschild.

Ashdot Ya'akov
אַשְׁדוֹת יַעֲקֹב
Kibbutz
Hebrew transcription(s)
 • standardAshdot Ya'akov
Ashdot Ya'akov in 1945
Ashdot Ya'akov in 1945
Etymology: Ya'akov Rapids
Ashdot Ya'akov is located in Jezreel Valley region of Israel
Ashdot Ya'akov
Ashdot Ya'akov
Coordinates: 32°39′29″N 35°34′55″E / 32.65806°N 35.58194°E / 32.65806; 35.58194
CountryIsrael
DistrictNorthern
Founded1924
Founded byHashomer members from Latvia

History

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1858 map of the area – the location marked as Al-Dalhamiyya is the current location of Ashdot Ya'akov
 
Ashdot Ya'akov in 1947
 
Members of the Yiftach Brigade receiving construction training at Ashdot Ya'akov in 1948

Between 1933 and 1935 the kibbutz moved northeast of its original location, onto land which had been bought by the Palestine Jewish Colonization Association.

The children of Ashod Yaacov were evacuated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, when the kibbutz suffered intensive shelling from Syrian, Iraqi and Transjordanian forces.[1]

In 1953, as a result of the split in the HaKibbutz HaMeuhad movement, the kibbutz was split in two:

South of Ashdot Ya'akov, at the confluence of the Jordan and Yarmouk rivers near the island of Naharayim, there is a memorial for the 7 twelve-year-old Israeli girls murdered by a Jordanian border guard in March 1997.[2]

Archaeology

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In 1959, a basalt tombstone inscribed in Greek was found near Ashdot Ya'akov. The tombstone features a rectangular structure with a gabled roof on a trapezoid base, and bears the name Hagarea (Άγαρέα), with its design aligning with classical, Hellenistic and Roman period norms. While the female name's exact origins remains uncertain, it is likely Jewish, potentially linked to the biblical name Hagar, Abraham's concubine.[3]

References

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  1. ^ Jewish National Fund (1949). Jewish Villages in Israel. Jerusalem: Hamadpis Liphshitz Press, pg 6.
  2. ^ Find further information about this memorial: Zeev's Israel Travel Guide
  3. ^ "CXXXIX. Ashdot Yaʿakov no. 7508", Volume 5/Part 2 Galilaea and Northern Regions: 6925-7818, De Gruyter, pp. 1621–1621, 2023-03-20, doi:10.1515/9783110715743-025, ISBN 978-3-11-071574-3, retrieved 2024-02-07