Ceramics from the Byzantine era have been found here.[6]
Ottoman era
Shufa, like all of Palestine was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517. In the 1596 tax registers, it was named Sufa, part of the nahiya ("subdistrict") of Jabal Sami, part of the larger Sanjak of Nablus. It had a population of 8 households, all Muslims. The inhabitants paid a fixed tax rate of 33,3% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues and a press for olive oil or grape syrup, and a fixed tax for people of Nablus area; a total of 3,202 akçe.[7]
In 1838, it was noted as a village, Shaufeh in the Wady esh-Sha'ir district, west of Nablus.[8]
In the 1860s, the Ottoman authorities granted the village an agricultural plot of land called Ghabat Shufa in the former confines of the Forest of Arsur (Ar. Al-Ghaba) in the coastal plain, west of the village.[9][10]
In 1870 Victor Guérin noted the village on a hilltop, and taking it as equal importance as Saffarin.[11]
In 1870/1871 (1288 AH), an Ottoman census listed the village in the nahiya (sub-district) of Wadi al-Sha'ir.[12]
In 1882 the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Shufeh as: "A small stone village, in a strong position on a ridge, with steep slopes north and south. It is supplied by a well in the village, and has a few olives below it. A good view is obtained from it over the plain, and the country north and south, as well as to the range north of Sebustieh."[13]
Around the turn of the 20th century, Shufa was one of the villages in which the Hannun Family of Tulkarm/Saffarin owned extensive estates. The Hannuns fostered close ties with the clans inhabiting the village.[14]
In the 1945 statistics the population of Shufa was 370 Muslims,[17] with 11,690 dunams of land according to an official land and population survey.[18] Of this, 4,315 dunams were used for cereals,[19] while 6 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[20]
^Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. 129
^Marom, Roy, "The Contribution of Conder's Tent Work in Palestine for the Understanding of Shifting Geographical, Social and Legal Realities in the Sharon during the Late Ottoman Period", in Gurevich D. and Kidron, A. (eds.), Exploring the Holy Land: 150 Years of the Palestine Exploration Fund, Sheffield, UK, Equinox (2019), pp. 212-231
