Description : Biddu (Arabic: بدّو) is a Palestinian town in the Jerusalem Governorate, located 6 kilometers northwest of Jerusalem in the West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 6,368 in 2006. Biddu is at an altitude of 806m to 834m. Giv'on HaHadashah lies 2 km east of Biddu. Bagatti suggested that several buildings in the town are from the 12th century. South-west of the centre is the ruined wali of Sheikh Abu Talal, which might have been a Crusader church. Ottoman era In the Ottoman tax records of the 1500s, Biddu was located in the nahiya of Jerusalem. In 1738 Richard Pococke noted the village, as he passed between Biddu and Beit Surik. In 1838 Edward Robinson noted the village during his travels in the area. It was described as a Muslim village, located in the Beni Malik area, west of Jerusalem. In May 1863 Victor Guérin visited the village, called Biddou. He described it as being situated on a very high plateau, with some 150 inhabitants. Some houses seemed very old. Socin, citing an official Ottoman village list compiled around 1870, noted that Biddu had 70 houses and a population of 247, though the population count included only men. It was further noted that “the village was once more important, also it has a cistern carved in the rock. The Crusader road from Ramle to Nabi Samwil ran through here.“ Hartmann found that Biddu had 71 houses. In 1883 the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described it as "a village on a rocky hill, with a well to the north east. It is of moderate size." In 1896 the population of Biddu was estimated to be about 546 persons.
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