Khirbet Sir


Sir is a Palestinian town in the Qalqilya Governorate in the eastern West Bank, located 8 kilometers east of Qalqilya.

History

Ceramics from the Byzantine era have been found here.

Ottoman era

Sir was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517 with all of Palestine, and in 1596 it appeared in the tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Bani Sa'b, part of Nablus Sanjak. It had a population of 10 households, all Muslim. The villagers paid a fixed tax-rate of 33.3% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, occasional revenues, goats and/or beehives, and a customary tax on subjects in Nablus region; a total of 7,000 akçe. Half of the revenue went to a Waqf.
In 1882 the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine noted at Khurbet Sir: "two rock cut tombs, a large mound with terraces cut in the sides, a good well below; has every appearance of an ancient site."

Modern era

In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Sir came under Jordanian rule.
The Jordanian census of 1961 found 235 inhabitants in Kh. Sir.
After the Six-Day War in 1967, Sir has been under Israeli occupation.