Editing Isdud (section)

===Ottoman period===
In the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] period, the location of the village of Isdud on the ancient "[[Via Maris]]" route preserved the village's importance. In the first Ottoman [[Defter|tax register]] of 1526/7, the village had a population of 40 [[Muslim]] households and four [[bachelor]]s, and it belonged to the ''[[nahiya]]'' of Gaza ([[Gaza Sanjak]]).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Marom |first1=Roy |last2=Taxel |first2=Itamar |date=2023-10-01 |title=Ḥamāma: The historical geography of settlement continuity and change in Majdal 'Asqalan's hinterland, 1270–1750 CE |journal=Journal of Historical Geography |volume=82 |pages=49–65 |doi=10.1016/j.jhg.2023.08.003 |issn=0305-7488|doi-access=free }}</ref> Sixteenth-century Ottoman fiscal registers from Isdūd document a diversified subsistence economy that included the cultivation of staple field crops such as [[wheat]], [[barley]], and [[sesame]], alongside fruit tree planting, small [[Livestock|livestock herding]] (sheep and goats), and [[Beekeeping|apiculture]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Marom |first=Roy |author-link=Roy Marom |date=2025-01-01 |title=Vines Among the dunes: sand/dune agriculture in Rimāl Isdūd/Ashdod-Yam during the Late Ottoman and British Mandate periods |url=https://www.academia.edu/128219356/Vines_Among_the_dunes_sand_dune_agriculture_in_Rim%C4%81l_Isd%C5%ABd_Ashdod_Yam_during_the_Late_Ottoman_and_British_Mandate_periods |journal=Contemporary Levant}}</ref> By 1596 CE, the population of Ashdod (named ''Sdud'') reached 75 households, about 413 persons, all [[Muslim]]s. The villagers paid a  fixed tax rate of 33,3% on wheat, barley, sesame and fruit crops, as well as goats and beehives; a total of 14,000 [[Akçe]].<ref>Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 143. Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p. 110</ref><ref name=Petersen>{{cite book|author=A. Petersen|title=The Towns of Palestine under Muslim Rule AD 600–1600 |publisher=BAR International Series 1381|year=2005|page=[https://archive.org/stream/TheTownsOfPalestineUnderUnderMuslimRule/AndrewPetersenTheTownsOfPalestineUnderMuslimRule-600-1600#page/n141/mode/1up 133]}}</ref>

[[Roy Marom|Marom]] and [[Itamar Taxel|Taxel]] have shown that during the seventeenth to eighteenth centuries, nomadic economic and security pressures led to settlement abandonment around Majdal 'Asqalān, and the southern coastal plain in general. The population of abandoned villages moved to surviving settlements, while the lands of abandoned settlements continued to be cultivated by neighboring villages. Thus, Isdud absorbed the lands of Kharijat Isdud, an unidentified subsidiary settlement near Isdud mentioned in the Ottoman tax registers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Marom |first1=Roy |author-link=Roy Marom |last2=Taxel |first2=Itamar |date=2023-10-01 |title=Ḥamāma: The historical geography of settlement continuity and change in Majdal 'Asqalan's hinterland, 1270–1750 CE |journal=Journal of Historical Geography |volume=82 |pages=49–65 |doi=10.1016/j.jhg.2023.08.003 |issn=0305-7488 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

In 1838, ''Esdud'' was noted as a Muslim village in the Gaza district.<ref name=Robinson>Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/118/mode/1up 118] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150408141531/https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/118/mode/1up |date=2015-04-08 }}</ref><ref>Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 2, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearc00smitgoog#page/n390/mode/1up 368] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020112341/https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearc00smitgoog#page/n390/mode/1up |date=2017-10-20 }}</ref>
[[File:Isdud 08, ruins 1900.jpg|thumb|Ruins of medieval Isdud, in 1900]]

During the latter half of the nineteenth century CE, Isdud was organized into four distinct quarters, each led by a [[Mukhtar|headperson]] from one of the village's major [[Clan|clans]]: the Da‘ālisa, Zaqqūt/Zaqāqita, Manā‘ima, and Jūda, which were further divided into smaller family groups. This division into quarters was a common feature of larger settlements in the region, also observed in neighboring [[Hamama|Hamāma]] and [[Ashkelon|al-Majdal]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Marom |first=Roy |author-link=Roy Marom |date=2025-01-01 |title=Vines Among the dunes: sand/dune agriculture in Rimāl Isdūd/Ashdod-Yam during the Late Ottoman and British Mandate periods |url=https://www.academia.edu/128219356/Vines_Among_the_dunes_sand_dune_agriculture_in_Rim%C4%81l_Isd%C5%ABd_Ashdod_Yam_during_the_Late_Ottoman_and_British_Mandate_periods |journal=Contemporary Levant |pages=7}}</ref>

In the late nineteenth century, Isdud was described as a village spread across the eastern slope of a low hill, covered with gardens. A ruined [[caravanserai|khan]] stood southwest of the village. Its houses were one-storey high with walls and enclosures built of [[adobe]] brick. There were two main sources of water: a pond and a masonry well. Both were surrounded by groves of date-palm and fig-trees.<ref>Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp02conduoft#page/409/mode/1up 409] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161028114307/https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp02conduoft#page/409/mode/1up |date=2016-10-28 }}. Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, pp. 110-111</ref>

[[Rimal Isdud]], the coastal [[Dune|sand dunes]] of Isdud were cultivated using traditional Palestinian agricultural techniques adapted to sandy and shifting soils. Local farmers developed systems such as mawāsī (plot-and-berm cultivation), kurūm ([[Vineyard|vineyards]]), and basātīn ([[Agroforestry|orchard gardens]]), which enabled sustainable [[Agriculture|farming]] in ecologically marginal [[Landscape|landscapes]]. These methods combined indigenous knowledge with environmental adaptation strategies, including the stabilization of dunes and the strategic planting of [[Xerophyte|drought-resistant crops]]. Contrary to [[Colonialism|colonial-era]] perceptions of the dunes as barren wastelands, recent studies have highlighted the productivity and ecological sophistication of these traditional [[Land use|land-use practices]], contributing to a broader reevaluation of Palestinian agrarian history in the [[southern Levant]].<ref name=":1" />