Biddya 4.29

Biddya is a Palestinian town in the Salfit Governorate, located 32 kilometers southwest of Nablus and half that distance from Salfit in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Biddya had a population of 8,064 in 2007. The town is governed by a municipal council of eleven members who each represent the prominent families of Biddya and select a mayor.Biddya is situated on the western ridge of the central mountain range that runs north-south in the West Bank. It has an elevation of 320 meters above sea level. The historical Nablus-Jerusalem road is nearby. A maqam for a local holy man, Sheikh Hamdan is located in the town.ArcheologyPotsherds from the Iron Age II, Byzantine/Umayyad and Crusader/Ayyubid periods have been found here.The area was examined in 1873 by the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP), who gave the following description: Rock-cut tombs exist here, principally rude caves. The rock is quarried in many places. South of the village is a birkeh (pool) about 30 feet by 20 feet, with a flight of 12 steps, leading down about 10 feet. It is made of rudely squared stones, about 1 foot to 1 1/2 feet in length, which are covered again with a well-made rubble almost resembling a tesselated pavement, and this again is covered with a soft white cement, containing large pieces of pottery and small stones. There is on each side of the pool (north and south) a semicircular stone buttress, 2 feet diameter, on a base about 4 feet; this perhaps indicates that the birkeh was roofed in. South-west of Bidieh is an ancient ruined watch-tower.