Kurnub

Kurnub is a depopulated Palestinian village located approximately 40 kilometers southeast of the city of Beer Sabe’.

The village stood on the site of the ancient Nabatean/Byzantine city of Mamshit (Mamphis), where archaeological remains of monasteries, churches, forts, watchtowers, architectural fragments, and dams still exist. In Wadi Umm al-Haytan, Roman-era fig and olive trees can be found. It is believed the village may have been built on the ruins of the ancient town of al-Mudara, which the historian al-Maqrizi identified as one of the cities of the biblical region of Midian in Palestine. The village of Kurnub was once surrounded by a defensive wall three meters high, built to repel attackers.

Kurnub lay within the lands of the al-Zalam and al-Qudayrat Bedouin tribes. It was connected to both Beersheba and the Gulf of Aqaba by a paved road, and historically served as a crossroads for routes heading to Jerusalem, Aqaba, and Gaza. The village sat on the Hathira mountain range, between Mount Qanasiya and Mount Zulayfa, where the eastern edge of the al-Sir Plain meets the western part of the Turbayba Plain. It was located on the banks of Wadi Umm al-Haytan, a tributary of Wadi al-Yarqa, which flows into the Dead Sea.

The village had a trapezoidal layout. It featured a police station, small shops, and numerous dams to prevent soil erosion, as the area was known for rainfed agriculture.

In 1954, the village population was estimated at around 155 people.

Kurnub was destroyed in 1948 during Operation Uvda, a campaign carried out by Zionist militias, leading to the expulsion of its inhabitants.

Today, the Israeli settlement of Dimona stands on the northwestern lands of the former villag