Beit Mirsim is a Palestinian village in the city of Dura in the Hebron Governorate, located southwest of Hebron, south of the West Bank.
History Ceramics from the Byzantine era have been found here.Dauphin, 1998, p. 965
In 1838 Beit Mirsim was noted as being "in ruins or deserted."Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 117 In 1863 Victor Guérin described it: "This place is the ruin of a little city, not a village, which stood on the plateau of a high rocky hill. Hundreds of circular heaps of stone, cut or roughly squared, remains of over-thrown houses, lie round caves or cellars cut in the rock. Some of these subterranean retreats are natural grottoes; the others are cut by the hand of man. ... To the west is a Tell, the Tell Mirsim. It is of very regular form, and the plateau on its summit has a circumference of 600 paces. It is now cultivated, but it appears to have been formerly surrounded by an enclosing wall rudely constructed. Materials from this wall or from other buildings now destroyed lie about here and there.'Guérin, 1869, p. 349 as translated by Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 279 In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described Khurbet Beit Mirsim: "A large ruin, looks like a ruined fortress to protect the road. A small ruined chapel with columns exists to the north."Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 279
In the 1931 census the population of Beit Mirsim was counted under Dura.Mills, 1932, p. 30
In 1961, under Jordanian rule, the population of Beit Mirsim was 226 people,Jordan, 1961 census, p. 22
Population In 2007, according to the census, the population was 278.
Geography It is above sea level. It is bordered to the east and north by the villages of Beit ar-Rush al-Fauqa and Abu Suhweila, and to the west and south by the village of al-Burj and West Bank barrier.
See also Dura, Hebron Tell Beit Mirsim Beit Mirsim
References
Bibliography
External links Welcome To Beit Mirsim Beit Mirsim Village (Fact Sheet) Beit Mirsim Village Profile Areal photo The priorities and needs for development in Beit Mirsim village based on the community and local authorities’ assessment) Survey of Western Palestine, Map 20: IAA, Wikimedia commons