Awarta (Arabic: عورتا) is a Palestinian town located 8 kilometers (5.0 mi) southeast of Nablus, in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 5,623 inhabitants in 2007. Awarta's built-up area consists of 540 dunams and is governed by a village council.
According to Palestinian historian Mustafa Dabbagh, the name "'Awarta" derives from the Syriac word 'awra, meaning "windowless" or "hidden". According to E. H. Palmer, "Awarta" is a personal name. In Samaritan text, the town was called "Caphar Abearthah". An earliter Arabic name for the village was "'Awert".
Awarta has been inhabited since Biblical times and throughout Palestine's rule by the Byzantine Empire, the Islamic Caliphate and during Ottoman rule. Between the 4th and 12th centuries, the town was an important Samaritan center, being the location of one of their main synagogues.
The Hill of Phinehas related in the Bible is associated with the location of the town of Awarta. Three large monuments in the town are attributed to the priestly family of Aaron. According to tradition, they are the burial sites of his sons Ithamar and Eleazar. His grandson Phinehas is believed to be buried at the site alongside his son Abishua — the latter is especially revered by the Samaritans, who believe that he wrote the Torah. The seventy Elders are believed to be buried in a cave near Phinehas' tomb. On the western side of Awarta lies the tomb Muslims attribute to Nabi Uzeir, Ezra the scribe.
Hold still
Don’t move I say
Wilt thou hear
My elegy
Head high
Preserve my pride
I shall defy the gallows
I and you and me
Well we just don’t know
What love can do
I pledge to you
That I won’t deceive
The heart that’s mine
As here I sit
I vow
Your history does not
Perish my love
The shame
Will be mine for a
Scarlet woman thou art
I and you and me
Well we just don’t know
What love can do
I pledge to you
That I won’t deceive
The heart that’s mine
Dead from the grave
We’re all slaves
To what we’ve got
Love
Is been through
The door