Tall al-Sumayriyya contains carved stones, a mosaic floor, tombs, columns, and stone capitals. Khirbat Abu 'Ataba has an Islamic shrine and ceramic fragments.[8]
In the
Crusader era, it was mentioned in 1277 under the name of Somelaria.[9] At the time, the village belonged to the
Templars.[10] In the
hudna of 1283 between
Al Mansur Qalawun and the Crusaders, Al-Sumayriyya was still under Crusader rule[11][12] while in 1291 it had come under
Mamluk control.[13]
A building with a court-yard, measuring 60,5 by 57 meters, dating from the Crusader era, has been noted in the village, and a 13th-century glass-factory has been excavated.[10]
Ottoman era
It was mentioned in the
Ottomandefter for the year 1555-6, named Summayriyah, located in the Nahiya of
Akka of the Liwa of
Safad, and with its land designated as Sahi land, that is, land belonging to the
Sultan.[14]
In 1738
Richard Pococke passed by the place, which he called Semmars. He thought the name came from "St. Mary's", and noted the remains of a wall of hewn stone, which he thought had belonged to a convent.[15]
In 1875
Victor Guérin found the village had 400 Muslim inhabitants.[17]
In 1881, the
PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described the place as a village of "
mud and stone houses, containing about 200 [..] Moslems, situated on the plain, surrounded by a few clumps of
olives and
figs and arable land; two or three
cisterns are in the village, the
aqueduct near brings good water."[18]
A population list from about 1887 showed the village to have about 270 inhabitants; all Muslims.[19]
Al-Sumayriyya had an elementary school for boys, which was founded in 1943. In 1945, it had an enrollment of 60 students.
One mosque which remains.[8]
In
1944/1945 the village had a population of 760 Muslims,[2] with a total of 8,542
dunams of land.[3] Of this, 6,854
dunams were allocated to grain crops; 354 dunams were irrigated or planted with orchards,[23] while 28 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[24]
1948, and aftermath
At the beginning of 1945, al-Sumayriyya's 760 inhabitants were all
ArabMuslims. The inhabitants fled as a result of the 14 May 1948 assault on the village by the
Carmeli Brigade during
Operation Ben-Ami, one day before the official outbreak of the
1948 Arab-Israeli War.[7] The village - along with neighbouring
al-Bassa and
al-Zib which were also captured in the offensive - was subsequently destroyed, except its mosque.[25]
Barag, Dan (1979). "A new source concerning the ultimate borders of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem". Israel Exploration Journal. 29 (3/4): 197–217.
JSTOR27925726.