Mortality and Life-Course Patterns in Late Ottoman Palestine: Insights from the Hebron Region
Sarah Buessow and Johann Buessow
Mortality and life-course patterns are key to understanding how past populations lived, reproduced, and organized their societies. Mortality levels profoundly shape population size, growth, and structure. By studying population dynamics through death rates, infant mortality, and life expectancy, historians can reconstruct demographic regimes and transitions over time. From a life-course perspective, mortality interacts with fertility, marriage, migration, and family formation. Knowing when and how people typically died helps scholars understand household structures, inheritance systems, and intergenerational relations. In short, mortality and life-course research helps historical demographers reconstruct the lived experience of past populations, explain long-term social and economic change, and place present-day demographic patterns in historical perspective. Patterns of mortality also provide information on risk factors such as health and disease (e.g., the impact of epidemics, famine, and public health interventions), physical labor (e.g., death from work accidents or from injuries in agriculture, mining, or construction), and violence (e.g., war or homicide). In doing so, they allow researchers to trace the vulnerabilities of different demographic classifications, such as age, gender, class, or region.
One source that has provided deeper insights (not only) into both mortality and life-course patterns in a specific region of late Ottoman Palestine has been the death register of the city and subdistrict (kaza) of Hebron from 1905 to 1917 (ISA Nüfus, Book 198). The entries, covering a total of 3,154 deceased persons in the Hebron region, shed light on numerous aspects of their lives (Krause and Buessow 2024). Obviously, the fact that it records deaths means that the primary focus is on diseases and risk factors in the lives of these individuals. This in turn gives us insights into the lifecycles, mortality, and the corresponding factors of these; the register not only provides personal information on the deceased, but usually the cause of death as well. The data are distorted to some extent by an under-reporting of the female population, especially in rural areas – and data for rural areas are generally more incomplete than those for urban areas. However, comparisons with other demographic data on Palestine (McCarty 1990; Schmelz 1990) gives us confidence that these data at least reveal general trends and can serve as the basis for further research. They give us initial insights not only into the life expectancy of women and men in an urban as well as a rural part of Palestine during the late Ottoman period, but also into how different stages of life were associated with different risks. In addition, the data provide some clues about the prevalence of certain risk factors. In this blog post, we focus on the descriptive statistics of entries from the Hebron death register and compare them with published data from the Ottoman population registers (esas and müsevede defterleri) from the Palestine region (Schmelz 1990; Heßling 2025).
Life Expectancy in Hebron City and the Surrounding Rural Areas
According to the Ottoman death register, the average life expectancy in Hebron city during the 1900s and 1910s was 34.7 years for women, and 36.4 years for men. This is somewhat surprising, as it is normally assumed that women had a lower age-specific mortality rate (Schmelz 1990, 40). If we look for explanations, childbirth was probably the most important gender-related risk factor for women. 1.5% of the female deaths in the city were linked to childbirth – this was relatively high, at least compared to Western Europe at around the same time (e.g., 300-500 of 100,000 births in Germany around 1900). For men, on the other hand, violence and work accidents were major risks. Diseases represented a huge risk for both genders. According to the Hebron death register, disease was the most common cause of death in the city. About one-half of all reported deaths were attributed to disease, with malaria accounting for 77% of the fatal diseases mentioned. We will discuss risk factors and gender-specific life courses in more detail below.
For the inhabitants of villages in the Hebron subdistrict, the records show an even greater gender disparity, with an average life expectancy of 37.2 years for men (similar to the city), but only of 30.2 years for women. We thus have reason to believe that women’s health in the countryside was much more at risk than men’s. 1 Besides birth – 2.6% of the women died in connection with childbirth – malnutrition may have been a further gender-specific risk factor for women. 2
An analysis of the whole Hebron register points to two age groups that were at a particularly high risk of mortality (except for natural death due to age): children from 0-7 years old, and teenagers and adults from ages of roughly 15 to 35. As seen, half of the population died before their mid-thirties. Very few people lived beyond the age of 70.

Mortality among Children, Teenagers and Young Adults
As was the case worldwide, infant (0-1 years) and child mortality was also very high in Palestine around 1905. In the city of Hebron, at least 30% of all children and teenagers died before reaching the age of 20.
Figure 2 shows mortality rates among children, teenagers, and young adults in four neighborhoods of Hebron city (Qazzazin, Shaykh, Qitun, and the Jewish neighborhood). 3 An interesting aspect is the progressive decline in mortality in the Jewish neighborhood as the child gets older. This contrasts sharply with the other neighborhoods, although the reasons for this are unclear. At least 37% of the population in the Jewish quarter died before reaching adulthood. Apparently, medical care for members of the Jewish community was no more effective than that provided to their Muslim neighbors.


Village Samples
The results for the villages show a lower average figure of about 14%, and thus suggest a lower death rate for children and young adults than in the city. However, it should be remembered that the number of deaths in the villages was probably underestimated and the actual number was most likely higher.

The first two decades of life were a particularly vulnerable period, especially the first five years. Possible causes include the phenomenon later known as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS); childhood diseases, such as measles; poor hygiene; and malnutrition. With regard to malaria, the environmental conditions in Hebron also played a role as risk factors. This is evident, for example, in the neighborhood of Qazzazin, where nearly one-third (32%) of deaths among young children (ages 2 to 5) were attributed to malaria. It seems likely that the large aboveground water reservoir in this area (Birkat al-Qazzazin, the glassblowers’ pond) was a breeding ground for malaria-carrying mosquitoes. 4
The proportion of deaths in the first year of life with no apparent cause in the death register is surprisingly low. It seems likely to us that many infants who did not survive the first two years of life were not reported. 5
Teenager Years and Young Adulthood
The second most vulnerable time span was the teenage years. In addition to disease, there were two other risk factors: for young women, it was pregnancy with a higher risk of eclampsia and systemic infections, and childbirth with a higher risk of puerperal endometritis. 6 For men, it was violence and military service, which was compulsory upon reaching the age of majority at 21. In our sample,74men died in or as a result of combat operations (2.5%).
52 people out of 3,156 entries in the register were reported as killed. Of these, 51 were boys or men, and one victim was female. In total, this adds up to 1.7% of all reported deaths, which is twice the number of people reported to have been killed in an accident. Death by violence took place at all ages: the youngest victims were children (three, seven, and ten years old) and the oldest was 72. However, the 20-40 age cohort had the highest homicide rates. The following diagram shows the specific risk for this age group. The 20-40 age group was associated with the highest risk for men, not only in the military (military service was limited to these years), but also in non-military contexts such as robberies and family feuds. As is generally the case, these figures should be regarded as indicators of general trends. The possibility of underreporting (perhaps also of occupational accidents) and the currently still small sample sizes must always be taken into account.

Registered causes of death
Overall, most causes of death were due to illness or natural death. 77.55% of the deceased mentioned in the Hebron registers died from illness or a natural death. Roughly 3% were victims of accidents, died in battle, violence or in childbirth. 14.30% of the deceased were registered without a cause of death. 6% could not be read or assigned.
The link between vaccination and death in the register is surprising: three people are listed as having died from a vaccination (aşı) they obviously received shortly before their death; two children aged 3 and 4, as well as a young woman of 22. These occurred in two neighborhoods of Hebron (Qalʿa and Bani Dar) between 1906 and 1910.
The most individualized descriptions were entered when accidents occurred. Though tragic, these accidents give us a glimpse into the everyday lives of the people and their environment. Most of these accidents took place in the course of everyday work or at the workplace, e.g., “an ox fell on him,” or “crushed in the flour mill.” Figure 6 shows a breakdown of the causes of death reported in the register.

Life-Course Patterns in the Village of Isdud: A Higher Life Expectancy for Women
A recent study of the Ottoman population records of Isdud (Heßling 2025, based on the Ottoman basic census books, Esas Defterleri) can put some of our findings into perspective. In general, it can make us more aware of expected trends once we have collected more and larger samples.
According to the entries in the population registers, life expectancy in Isdud varied considerably between genders. While it was only 32 years for men, women could expect to live to an average age of 42. 7 This result differs significantly from the results in Hebron city and its district. Whether these differences are due to different registration standards or whether they reflect different living conditions remains to be investigated.
The other trends observed in material from Isdud largely correspond with our findings from Hebron. As in Hebron, there was a high infant mortality rate. Many boys and girls often died in the first months of life, but also before reaching school age. For example, 18% of the male sample died between the ages of one and five.
As in Hebron, young adulthood emerged as the second most vulnerable phase in life, for both men and women. At around the age of forty, these risk factors appear to have declined; mortality rates fell before diseases struck again in the 50s and 60s. As in Hebron, those who reached this age could expect to live to a relatively old age, in some cases up to around 80.


Conclusion
From the analysis of the Hebron death register, we have gained insights into the life expectancy of women and men in one city and its rural surroundings of late Ottoman Palestine, but also into the stages of life that were associated with particular risks.
At least one-third of Hebron’s population died within their first 20 years of life. The first risky years cover the time period between birth and the age of six. Diseases, malnutrition and environmental conditions were the main factors. The next risky years began only a few years later in adolescence and lasted for three more decades. In addition to diseases, birth and violence (in military and non-military contexts) played a role. If these first four decades of life were navigated safely, the chances were high to simply die from old age. However, the average life expectancy at birth was around 30-35.
There are notable differences between life expectancies for men and women in the city and the countryside.
Most of these findings are in line with what we know about the general patterns of demographics and life courses in pre-industrial societies (e.g., Livi-Bacci 2023). They are also confirmed by Heßling’s analysis of a population register from the village of Isdud in the neighboring Gaza region, again with the notable exception of life expectancies for men and women. However, there are also specific features that have emerged and that are excellent candidates for further comparative studies. One interesting feature comprises gender-specific life expectancies, which at present vary widely between our different samples. Another one is the role of specific diseases in correlation with social and geographical factors (as exemplified by malaria in Hebron’s Qazzazin neighborhood). Data on violent deaths promise to tell us more about local conflicts, as well as on the impact of military conscription and war in a specific region of the Ottoman Empire. Finally, data on work accidents, as sparse and probably underreported as it is (Krause and Buessow 2024) is precious, as it can tell us more about working conditions and the actual physical labor this population experienced.
Taking a more general perspective on social and cultural history, several hypotheses about the ramifications for social structure can be formulated from. If individuals had to reckon with the risk of dying young, child marriages were a rational strategy to secure the children’s future and the household’s social network during that person’s lifetime. Hence early marriage of the children comes across in our material as an important social strategy to foster a social safety net and the advancement of one’s household.
At the same time, the recurrent age-specific challenges of the first four decades of life must have formed a steady background for bodily and psychological development and as suggested, they probably informed the ways people thought about establishing a family, raising children, and making a living. Sometimes familiar patterns were disrupted by crises such as local conflicts, war, famine, or government intervention. It would be interesting to determine how life stages were perceived by contemporaries and how risks and dangers were processed and coped with, what was perceived as familiar and what was disruptive.
References
Archival sources
ISA, Israel State Archives, Nüfus
Nüfus book 198 (Vefeyāt-ı mahsus vukuat defteri), Hebron, the City and District, 1321-1330/1905-1914.
Other Primary Sources
Action contre la faim. 2021. Gender and hunger and the impact of malnutrition on women https://www.actioncontrelafaim.org/en/headline/gender-and-hunger-the-impact-of-malnutrition-on-women/; updated 15 April 2025.
Sicill-i Nüfus Nizamnamesi 1902 = Sicill-i Nüfus Nizamnamesi (Census Regulation). Istanbul: İkdam Matbaası, 1318 (1902).
World Health Organization (2016). Global health estimates 2015: deaths by cause, age, sex, by country and by region, 2000–2015. WHO, Geneva.
Studies
Heßling, Franzis 2025. “Life courses of women and men in the village of Isdud (1905-1916)”. https://ercloop.hypotheses.org/2710.
Krause, Katharina and Sarah Büssow (2024), “The Death Register of Ottoman Hebron (1905-1915): Formal Aspects, Surprising Finds, and Research Questions”. https://ercloop.hypotheses.org/1663.
Livi-Bacci, Massimo. 2023. A Concise History of World Population. 7th ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell.
McCarthy, Justin. 1990. The Population of Palestine: Population History and Statistics of the Late Ottoman Period and the Mandate. New York: Columbia University Press.
Schmelz, Uziel O. 1990. “Population Characteristics of the Jerusalem and Hebron Regions According to the Ottoman Census of 1905,” in Ottoman Palestine 1800–1914: Studies in Economic and Social History, edited by Gad Gilbar. Leiden and New York: Brill, 15–67.
Seren, Canan (2024), “Child health in the first 100 years of the Republic of Türkiye: A story of Hope, Labour, and Success.” The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics 66: 387-400.
https://doi.org/10.24953/turkjpediatr.2024.4523 (accessed 28 August 2025).
Sufian, Sandra (2007), Healing the Land and the Nation: Malaria and the Zionist project in Palestine, 1920–1947, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- The figures for women are as said underrepresented; however, the tendency is clear.[↩]
- Malnutrition tends to hit children and women first. According to the United Nations, today 60% of malnourished people worldwide are women. One reason for this is gender inequality. For more, see “Gender and hunger: why are women more affected by malnutrition?” Action contre la faim: https://www.actioncontrelafaim.org/en/headline/gender-and-hunger-the-impact-of-malnutrition-on-women/; published 08 March 2021, updated 15 April 2025.[↩]
- When evaluating these figures, one should keep in mind that the death of newborns was probably not registered regularly. Especially in Qitun, the cases of infant mortality were probably much higher than the figure suggests.[↩]
- On the fight against malaria in early 20th-century Palestine, see Sufian (2007).[↩]
- This seemed to be the case for Anatolia (Seren 2024: 389), although in the Ottoman census regulation of 1902 there was an explicit stipulation to report births and deaths of children immediately (Sicill-i Nüfus Nizamnamesi 1902).[↩]
- This seemed to be the case for Anatolia (Seren 2024: 389), although in the Ottoman census regulation of 1902 there was an explicit stipulation to report births and deaths of children immediately (Sicill-i Nüfus Nizamnamesi 1902).[↩]
- The numbers for the female population have to be treated with some caution due to the small sample size. The statistics are also somewhat unbalanced, since the sample size for men was much larger than for women.[↩]
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OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Sarah Büssow, Johann Büssow (September 19, 2025). Mortality and Life-Course Patterns in Late Ottoman Palestine: Insights from the Hebron Region. LOOP – Late Ottoman Palestinians. Retrieved June 5, 2026 from https://doi.org/10.58079/14ptr

