Bayt Tima

The village was built on flat terrain on the southern coastal plain in a region rich with archaeological artifacts, including some from the Crusades. A secondary road linked it to the coastal highway a short distance to the west, affording it access to Gaza and the city of al-Majdal. In 1596, Bayt Tima was a village in the nahiya of Gaza (liwa' of Gaza), with a population of 693. It paid taxes on a number of crops, including wheat, barley, fruit, almonds, and sesame, as well as on other types of produce, such as goats and beehives.

In the late nineteenth century, Bayt Tima was a village of moderate size with two pools and shrines, and two small patches of garden nearby. During the Mandate, the village had its own shops and a mosque, and shared an elementary school, built in 1946, with the neighboring villages of Kawkaba and Hulayqat. Its mud houses were grouped together in blocks, separated by streets or open space; the largest block was at the center of the village. Most of the residents of Bayt Tima were Muslims. They worked mainly in rainfed agriculture, cultivating grain, vegetables, and fruits, especially figs, apricots, and almonds. In 1944/45 a total of 10,444 dunums was allotted to cereals; 197 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards. In the cemetery south of the village a badly worn tessellated (mosaic) pavement was found that suggests a Roman or Byzantine presence. One could also see evidence in the village mosque that architectural elements from earlier times had been reused.