Sajur

Sajur (Hebrew: סָג'וּר; Arabic: ساجور‎) is an Druze town (local council) in the Galilee region of northern Israel, with an area of 3,000 dunams (3 km²). It achieved recognition as an independent local council in 1992. In 2006, the population was 3,600, with an annual growth rate of 2%. Its inhabitants are predominantly members of the Druze community.

History

A salvage dig in January 2002 on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority excavated a tomb with 13 loculi that dated to the Roman–Byzantine periods, a tomb with eight or nine loculi dating to the end of the second century CE and a small tomb with a single room dating to the first–second centuries CE. The presence of many finds at the bottom of the stratigraphic sequence is evidence of Iron Age occupation at Sajur.

In the Crusader era Sajur was known as Seisor or Saor. In 1249 John Aleman transferred land, including the Casales of Beit Jann, Sajur, Majd al-Krum and Nahf to the Teutonic Knights.

Ottoman era

In 1881, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it as: "A village, built of stone, containing about 100 Druzes; in the plain, with olives and arable land; water from cisterns and spring near".