Land Confiscation Introduction 29 cultivation requirement still exists and should a cessation of cultivation for three or more years occur, the individual rights are negated and the rights are bestowed upon the State.104 Article 78 of the Ottoman Land Code provides: Every one who has possessed and cultivated State or waqf land for ten years without dispute acquires a right by prescription… and he shall be given a new title-deed gratuitously. However, Article 8 of the Regulations as to Title Deeds 1860 amended the allowance under Article 78, in addition to 10 years of cultivation, a legal source of possession such as inheritance was also required. Matrouk Matrouk owned by the State but preserved for public communal use, such as roads and pastures.105 Article 5 of the Ottoman Land Code states: Land left for the use of public is of two kinds: (I) That which is left for the general public use, like a public high-way for example; (II) That which is assigned for the inhabitants generally of a village or town, or of several villages or towns grouped together, as for example pastures. Mewat As a category mewat refers to barren, uncultivated areas lying outside the boundaries of existing villages. Mewat land is owned by the State in every respect (raqaba and tassaruf) but possession rights to this land can be acquired through cultivation. Article 6 of the Ottoman Land Code states: Dead land [mewat] is land which is occupied by no one, and has not been left for the use of the public.106 As noted, individuals could acquire rights to mewat land if they agriculturally revived 104 Eyal Zamir, State Lands in Judea and Samaria: A Legal Review (Jerusalem, 1985), 20. 105 Tute, The Ottoman Land Code, 14. 106 The Ottoman Land Code of 7th Ramadan 1274 (1858) Article 6.