Just west of al-Jura there were two Khirbats from the Byzantine era: Khirbat Sa'ida and Ayn al-Jadida. Crusader presence were at Khirbat al-Qusur, (grid.no 163/128).[5]
Ottoman era
Khirbat al-Qusur was mentioned in the Ottoman 1596 tax registers, as a place in the Al Quds region. It had 27 Muslim households, who paid a total of 4,500 akçe in taxes.[5][6]
In 1838 el-Jurah was noted as a Muslim village, part of Beni Hasan area, located west of Jerusalem.[7]
In 1863 Victor Guérin noted about Al-Jura: "A small village of a hundred inhabitants, fed by a rather abundant source, the water of which flows into a basin. I observed several caves cut in the rock. The valley which extends to the bottom of the village is covered with figs, olive trees and vines."[8]
An Ottoman village list from about 1870 found that the village had a population of 84, in a total of 20 houses, though the population count included men, only.[9][10]
In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described El Jurah as "a small hamlet on the slope of the ridge, with olives below it, and a spring in the valley, about 3/4 mile to the north."[11]
In 1896 the population of Ed-dschora was estimated to be about 150 persons.[12]
In the 1945 statistics the village had a population of 420 Muslims,[2] while the total land area was 4,158 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.[3] Of this, 2,125 were used for plantations and irrigable land, 846 for cereals,[15] while 27 dunams were classified as built-up areas.[16]
1948 and aftermath
Following the war, the area was incorporated into the State of Israel. The moshav of Ora was established land that had belonged to al-Jura in 1950.[5]
In 1992, the village site was described: "The only structures that still stand are two limestone houses on the valley floor at the southern edge of the village. The larger house is a rectangular, two-storey building; its second storey has two arched doors, each of which is flanked by two arched windows. Almond groves cover a terrace built on the valley floor. Fig, carob, and cypress trees and cactuses grow on the site. One can see the ruins of houses, staircases, and wells on the adjacent land. The site is surrounded by cypress forests."[5]
Gallery
the southmost house of the village, the only one that is not totally ruined. Houses of Ora village can be seen above
additianal remains of the village
the village was mainly on the right spur of the valley
The village spring can be seen in the high vegetation. It is named nowadays "Ein Sarig"
^ abGovernment of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 57Archived 2011-06-04 at the Wayback Machine
^Morris, 2004, p. xx, village #355. Gives both cause and date of depopulation as "Not known".
^Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 103Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine
^Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 153Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine