Beit Dagan (Hebrew: בֵּית דָּגָן, lit. 'House of Grain') is a local council (town) in the Central District of Israel. As of 2021, Beit Dagan had a population of 7,823.[1]
History
During the Ottoman period, the area of Beit Dagan was part of to the Nahiyeh (sub-district) of Lod, which encompassed the area of present-day Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut in the south to the present-day city of El'ad in the north, and from the foothills in the east, through the Lod Valley to the outskirts of Jaffa in the west. This area was home to thousands of inhabitants in about 20 villages, who had at their disposal tens of thousands of hectares of prime agricultural land.[2]
Modern day Beit Dagan was founded in 1948 at the site of the Palestinian village Bayt Dajan by Mizrahi Jewish immigrants from Yemen and North Africa. It is probably situated in the area of Biblical Beit Dagon,[3] a village in the tribe of Judah (Joshua 15:41). Dagan, or Dagon, was also the name of an early semitic deity, and one of Dagans most important functions was guaranteeing abundant harvests of grain. Beit Dagan was awarded local council status in 1958.
National government institutions
The Israel Meteorological Service and the Israel Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security are located near Beit Dagan. Both of these organizations officially list their addresses as being located in Beit Dagan (and are generally known to the public as such), although they are actually physically located within the municipal borders of nearby Rishon LeZion.
Climate
Beit Dagan has a Mediterranean climate with hot and rainless summers, and with cold and rainy winters. Springs and autumns are cool to warm. Humidity is high during winter and low during summer, which makes summers rainless and hot, between average high of 30.8 °C (87.4 °F) and average low of 20.4 °C (68.7 °F). Winters are rainy and mild, between average high of 18.5 °C (65.3 °F) and average low of 7.6 °C (45.7 °F). Beit Dagan receives 550.5 mm (21.7 in) of precipitation per year and there are only 7 months of heavy rain.
| Climate data for Beit Dagan (1991-2020) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 28.6 (83.5) |
32.6 (90.7) |
37.8 (100.0) |
40.9 (105.6) |
43.5 (110.3) |
43.0 (109.4) |
41.5 (106.7) |
38.4 (101.1) |
41.9 (107.4) |
41.5 (106.7) |
36.2 (97.2) |
30.2 (86.4) |
43.5 (110.3) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 17.8 (64.0) |
18.8 (65.8) |
21.3 (70.3) |
24.6 (76.3) |
27.6 (81.7) |
29.7 (85.5) |
31.4 (88.5) |
32.0 (89.6) |
31.0 (87.8) |
28.9 (84.0) |
24.6 (76.3) |
19.9 (67.8) |
25.6 (78.1) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 12.9 (55.2) |
13.6 (56.5) |
15.9 (60.6) |
18.9 (66.0) |
22.0 (71.6) |
24.8 (76.6) |
26.9 (80.4) |
27.5 (81.5) |
26.1 (79.0) |
23.4 (74.1) |
18.9 (66.0) |
14.8 (58.6) |
20.5 (68.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 8.0 (46.4) |
8.4 (47.1) |
10.4 (50.7) |
13.1 (55.6) |
16.4 (61.5) |
19.8 (67.6) |
22.3 (72.1) |
23.0 (73.4) |
21.2 (70.2) |
17.8 (64.0) |
13.2 (55.8) |
9.6 (49.3) |
15.3 (59.5) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −1.4 (29.5) |
−0.8 (30.6) |
2.2 (36.0) |
3.1 (37.6) |
9.4 (48.9) |
12.5 (54.5) |
16.4 (61.5) |
17.6 (63.7) |
10.8 (51.4) |
9.9 (49.8) |
1.5 (34.7) |
0.9 (33.6) |
−1.4 (29.5) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 140.5 (5.53) |
96.9 (3.81) |
66.1 (2.60) |
17.5 (0.69) |
2.2 (0.09) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0.4 (0.02) |
20.4 (0.80) |
76.2 (3.00) |
130.3 (5.13) |
550.5 (21.67) |
| Source 1: NOAA[4] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Israel Meteorological Service (precipitation)[5] | |||||||||||||
Transportation
Beit Dagan's main transportation hub is the Beit Dagan Junction, between highway 44 and route 412, serving as a bus terminal for lines to Rishon LeZion, Tzrifin, Ashkelon, Tel Aviv, Petah Tikva, Rehovot, etc.
The large Shapirim Interchange (intersection of Highway 1 and Route 412) is located on the northern side of town.
Notable residents
- Yam Madar (born 2000), Israeli professional basketball player, playing for Fenerbahçe S.K. (basketball) in the Turkish Basketbol Süper Ligi
References
- ^ a b "Regional Statistics". Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
- ^ Marom, Roy (2022). "Lydda Sub-District: Lydda and its countryside during the Ottoman period". Diospolis - City of God: Journal of the History, Archaeology and Heritage of Lod. 8: 103–136.
- ^ "Carta's Official Guide to Israel and Complete Gazetteer to all Sites in the Holy Land. (3rd edition 1993) Jerusalem, Carta, p.108, ISBN 965-220-186-3 (English), Place Names in Israel. A Compendium of Place Names in Israel compiled from various sources. Translated from Hebrew, Jerusalem 1962 (Israel Prime Minister's Office. The Israeli Program for Scientific Translations) p.22 - Location of the book: Ben Zvi Institute Library, 12 Abarbanel St., Jerusalem; in the online-catalogue - Yizhaqi, Arie (ed.): Madrich Israel (Israel Guide: An Encyclopedia for the Study of the Land), Vol 11: Appendices, Jerusalem 1980, Keter Press, p.75 (Hebrew)". Ybz.org.il. Archived from the original on 2013-07-25. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
- ^ "World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991–2020". World Meteorological Organization. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
- ^ "Climate data for several places in Israel" (in Hebrew). Israel Meteorological Service.
External links
- Official website (in Hebrew)
