Editing Adullam (section)

===Ottoman period===
Adullam was an inhabited village in the late 16th century. An Ottoman [[Daftar|tax ledger]] of 1596 lists {{lang|ar|ʻAyn al-Mayyā}} {{sic}} ({{langx|ar|عين الميا}}) in the ''[[nahiya]]'' ''[[Hebron|Ḫalīl]]'' (Hebron subdistrict), and where it is noted that it had thirty-six Muslim heads of households.<ref name="Hütteroth 1977 122">{{Harvnb|Hütteroth|Abdulfattah|1977|p=122}}</ref> The copyist of the same tax ledger had erroneously mistaken the Arabic ''dal'' in the document for a ''nun'', and which name has since been corrected by historical geographers Yoel Elitzur and [[Ehud R. Toledano|Toledano]] to read {{lang|ar|ʻA'ïd el-Miah}} ({{langx|ar|عيد الميا}}), based on the entry's number of fiscal unit in the ''daftar'' and its corresponding place on Hütteroth's map.<ref>{{Harvnb|Elitzur|2004|p=137}}; (The number of fiscal unit in the ''daftar'', corresponding to the map, is "P-17").</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Toledano|1984|pp=279–ff.}}</ref> Local inhabitants grew wheat and barley, as well as cultivated olives. Total revenues accruing from the village for that year amounted to 5160 ''[[akçe]]''.<ref name="Hütteroth 1977 122"/>
[[File:Adullam ruin in foreground.jpg|thumb|Biblical ruin of Adullam, the Lower site known as ʻAid al-Mieh (in foreground)]]
According to [[C. R. Conder|Conder]], an ancient road, leading from [[Beth-zur|Beit Sur]] to [[Isdud]] once passed through ''ʿAīd el Mâ'' (Adullam) and was still partially visible.<ref>{{Harvnb|Conder|Kitchener|1883|p=[https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp03conduoft#page/318/mode/1up 318]}}</ref>

French [[Oriental studies|orientalist]] and archaeologist, Charles Clermont-Ganneau, visited the site in 1874 and wrote: "The place is absolutely uninhabited, except during the rainy season, when the herdsmen take shelter there for the night."<ref>{{Harvnb|Clermont-Ganneau|1896|p=[https://archive.org/stream/archaeologicalre02cler#page/458/mode/2up 459]}}</ref>

The Arabs of [[Bayt Nattif]] in the 19th century, when asked about the meaning of the name of the nearby ruin, {{lang|ar|ʻA'ïd el-Miah}}, related their own legend about the origin of the name. According to their version, the name {{lang|ar|ʻA'ïd el-Miah}} = lit. "Holiday of the Hundred," revolves around an event that occurred there, years ago. According to their story, a large fight broke out on a holiday, in which a hundred people were killed and the settlement destroyed. In memory of the event, the ruins of the settlement were named {{lang|ar|ʻA'ïd el-Miah}}, which means "Holiday of the Hundred."<ref name="AmitDavid"/> Scholars explain this as a case of 'popular etymology', where, in Palestinian toponyms, the original denotation of a town's name is often "re-interpreted" by its local population.<ref>{{Harvnb|Zadok|1995–1997|p=98}}</ref>