Barfiliya

Barfiliya برفيلية Barfilia, Barfilya, Berfilya, Berfilia[1]
Ruins of the village, 2008
Etymology: a personal name[2]
1870s map 1940s map modern map 1940s with modern overlay map A series of historical maps of the area around Barfiliya (click the buttons)
Barfiliya Location within Mandatory Palestine
Coordinates: 31°54′39″N 34°59′18″E / 31.91083°N 34.98833°E / 31.91083; 34.98833
Palestine grid	149/146
Geopolitical entity	Mandatory Palestine
Subdistrict	Ramle
Date of depopulation	July 14, 1948[5]
Area [4]
• Total	7,134 dunams (7.134 km2 or 2.754 sq mi)
Population  (1945)
• Total	730[3][4]
Cause(s) of depopulation	Military assault by Yishuv forces
Current Localities	Military firing range

Barfiliya (Arabic: برفيلية) was a Palestinian village located 10.5 kilometres (6.5 mi) east of Ramla that was depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.^[6] Located on a tell, excavations conducted there by Israeli archaeologists beginning in 1995 found artifacts dating back to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) period (circa 9,500-8,000 BCE).

Barfiliya lay on a road between Jerusalem and Lydda that was built in Roman times. In the early Ottoman era, it was a small village of 44 inhabitants. By 1945, before the end of the Mandatory Palestine and the outbreak of 1948 Arab–Israeli War, its population had grown to 730. Depopulated on July 14, 1948, Barifiliya was subsequently destroyed.