Jish
Encyclopedia
Jish is an Arab
town located on the northeastern slopes of Mt. Meron, 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) north of Safed
, in Israel
's North District
. The population is predominantly Maronite Christian and Greek Catholic with a Muslim minority.
Archaeological finds including two synagogues, a unique mausoleum and burial caves. According to Roman historian Josephus
, Jish was the last city in the Galilee
to fall to the Romans. Sources from the 10th-15th centuries describe Gush Halav (Jish) as a large Jewish village. A small Druze community lived there in the 17th century. It was re-established in the 18th century by farmers from Mt. Lebanon.
In 1945, Jish had a population of 1,090 with an area of 12,602 dunams. It was largely depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war
, but was resettled by Maronites
from Kafr Bir'im
. In 2010, the population was 3,000.
. Gischala is a Greek transcription of the Hebrew name Gush Halav, lit. "abundance of milk", which may be a reference to the production of milk and cheese, for which the village had been famous since the early Middle Ages, or to the fertile surroundings. Other scholars believe the name Gush Halav refers to the light color of the local limestone, which contrasted with the dark reddish rock of the neighboring village, Ras al-Ahmar.
as Gush Halav, a city "surrounded by walls since the time of Joshua
Ben Nun". Caananite and Israelite
remains from the Early Bronze and Iron Ages have been found there.
, the inhabitants also engaged in the production of silk. Eleazar b. Simeon
, described in the Talmud as a very large man with tremendous physical strength, was a resident of the town. He was initially buried in Gush Halav but later reinterred in Meron
, next to his father, Shimon bar Yochai.
After the fall of Gamla
, Gush Halav was the last Jewish stronghold in the Galilee
and Golan
region during the First Jewish Revolt against Rome (66-73 CE). Gischala was the home of Yohanan of Gush Halav, known in English as John of Gischala, a wealthy olive oil merchant who became the chief commander of in the Jewish revolt in the Galilee and later Jerusalem. Initially known as a moderate, John changed his stance when Titus
arrived at the gates of Gischala accompanied by 1,000 horsemen and demanded the town's surrender.
In addition to Jewish burial sites and structures dated to 3rd - 6th centuries, Jewish-Christian amulets were discovered nearby. Christian artifacts from the Byzantine period have been found at the site.
. Jewish life in the 10th and 11th centuries is attested to by documents in the Cairo Geniza
. In 1172, the Jewish traveler Benjamin of Tudela
found about 20 Jews living there. In 1211, another traveller, Rabbi Shmuel bar Shimon, wrote that he had visited the graves of Shmaya and Avtalyon and read the Purim
megilla in Gush Halav. Ishtori Haparchi also attended a megilla reading when he visited in 1322. In his book Kaftor Vaferah, Ishtori Haparchi says that the megilla was read on two days in Gush Halav (14th and 15th of Adar) because it was a walled city.
of Safad. It had a population of 71 Muslim households and 20 Muslim bachelors. It paid taxes on goats and beehives.
In the 17th century, the village was inhabited by Druze
. A Turkish traveler, who visited in 1672 reported that it had about 100 houses. Soon after, a local feud erupted in which the village appears to have been destroyed and abandoned. In the early 18th century, Maronites, Greek Catholics and Muslims began settling in the town. The Galilee earthquake of 1837
caused widespread damage and over 200 deaths. At the end of the 19th century, Jish was described as a "well-built village of good masonry" with about 600 Christian and 200 Muslim inhabitants.
, Jish had a population of 380 Christians and 341 Muslims. The Christians were classified as 71% Maronite and 29% Greek Catholic (Melchite). By the 1931 census
, Jish had 182 inhabited houses and a population of 358 Christians and 397 Muslims.
In 1945, Jish had a population of 1,090 and the village spanned 12,602 dunam
s, mostly Arab-owned. Between 1922 and 1947, the population increased by 70%.
, after "a hard-fought battle." Benny Morris reports allegations that ten prisoners of war, identified as Moroccans fighting with the Syrian Army, and a number of villagers, including a woman and her baby, were murdered. The Israeli prime minister, David Ben-Gurion
, ordered an investigation of the deaths but no IDF soldiers were brought to trial.
Elias Chacour
, now Archbishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church
), whose family resettled in Jish, wrote that when he was eight years old he discovered a mass grave containing two dozen bodies.
Many of the residents of Jish forced to leave the village in 1948 fled to Lebanon and became Palestinian refugee
s. In 1949, Christians from the nearby town of Kafr Bir'im were allowed to resettle in Jish. Today they are citizens of Israel, but continue to press for their right of return
to their former villages. In October 1950, Israeli forces raided Jish and detained seven suspected smugglers who were stripped, bound and beaten. They were released without charge.
In December 2010, a hiking and bicycle path known as the Coexistence Trail was inaugurated, linking Jish with Dalton
, a neighboring Jewish community. The 2,500 meter-long trail, accessible to people with disabilities, sits 850 meters above sea level and has several lookout points, including a view of Dalton Lake, where rainwater is collected and stored for agricultural use.
Today Jish is known for its efforts to revive Aramaic as a living language. In 2011, the Israeli Ministry of Education
approved a program to teach the language in Jish elementary schools. Maronites
in Jish say that Aramaic is essential to their existence as a people, in the same way that Hebrew and Arabic are for Jews and Arabs.
s consisting of soft bedrock and soil has made it more vulnerable to landslides. According to Andrew Thomson
, no houses in Jish were left standing. The church fell, killing 130 people and the old town walls collapsed. A total of 235 people died and the ground was left fissured.
The tombs of Shmaya and Abtalion, Jewish sages who taught in Jerusalem in the early 1st century, are located in Jish. According to tradition, the prophet Joel
was also buried there.
in use from the 3rd to 6th centuries CE. Jewish-Christian amulets were discovered nearby.
Evidence was found of earthquakes in 306 CE and of the Galilee earthquake of 363
CE. A strong earthquake in 551 CE may have led to the site's abandonment.
A carved Aramaic inscription on one of the columns of the synagogue, believed to date from the middle of the 3rd century or early 4th century CE, reads: "Yosei son of Nahum built this. A blessing be upon him."
Coins indicate that Jish had strong commercial ties with the nearby city of Tyre. On Jish's western slope, a mausoleum was excavated, with stone sarcophagi similar to those seen at the large Jewish catacomb at Beit She'arim
. The inner part of the mausoleum contained ten hewn loculi, burial niches known in Hebrew as kokhim. In the mausoleum, archaeologists found several skeletons, oil lamps and a glass bottle dating to the fourth century CE.
A network of secret caves and passageways in Jish, some of them located under private homes, is strikingly similar to hideaways in the Judean lowlands used during the Bar Kokhba revolt.
Arab citizens of Israel
Arab citizens of Israel refers to citizens of Israel who are not Jewish, and whose cultural and linguistic heritage or ethnic identity is Arab....
town located on the northeastern slopes of Mt. Meron, 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) north of Safed
Safed
Safed , is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and of Israel. Due to its high elevation, Safed experiences warm summers and cold, often snowy, winters...
, in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
's North District
North District (Israel)
The Northern District is one of Israel's six administrative districts. The Northern District has a land area of 4,478 km², which increases to 4,638 km² when both land and water are included...
. The population is predominantly Maronite Christian and Greek Catholic with a Muslim minority.
Archaeological finds including two synagogues, a unique mausoleum and burial caves. According to Roman historian Josephus
Josephus
Titus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...
, Jish was the last city in the Galilee
Galilee
Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...
to fall to the Romans. Sources from the 10th-15th centuries describe Gush Halav (Jish) as a large Jewish village. A small Druze community lived there in the 17th century. It was re-established in the 18th century by farmers from Mt. Lebanon.
In 1945, Jish had a population of 1,090 with an area of 12,602 dunams. It was largely depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war
1948 Arab-Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...
, but was resettled by Maronites
Maronites
Maronites , is an ethnoreligious group in the Middle East that have been historically tied with Lebanon. They derive their name from the Syriac saint Mar Maron whose followers moved to Mount Lebanon from northern Syria establishing the Maronite Church....
from Kafr Bir'im
Kafr Bir'im
Kafr Bir'im, also Kefr Berem , was an Arab Christian village in Palestine located south of the Lebanese border and northwest of Safed. The village was situated above sea level, with a church overlooking it at an elevation of . The church was built on the ruins of an older church destroyed in an...
. In 2010, the population was 3,000.
Etymology
The Arabic name el-Jish preserves the site's ancient name Gischala which was used in classical Greek sources, including the Wars of the Jews by JosephusJosephus
Titus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...
. Gischala is a Greek transcription of the Hebrew name Gush Halav, lit. "abundance of milk", which may be a reference to the production of milk and cheese, for which the village had been famous since the early Middle Ages, or to the fertile surroundings. Other scholars believe the name Gush Halav refers to the light color of the local limestone, which contrasted with the dark reddish rock of the neighboring village, Ras al-Ahmar.
Antiquity
Settlement in Jish dates back 3,000 years. The village is mentioned in the MishnahMishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
as Gush Halav, a city "surrounded by walls since the time of Joshua
Joshua
Joshua , is a minor figure in the Torah, being one of the spies for Israel and in few passages as Moses's assistant. He turns to be the central character in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Joshua...
Ben Nun". Caananite and Israelite
Israelite
According to the Bible the Israelites were a Hebrew-speaking people of the Ancient Near East who inhabited the Land of Canaan during the monarchic period .The word "Israelite" derives from the Biblical Hebrew ישראל...
remains from the Early Bronze and Iron Ages have been found there.
Roman and Byzantine period
Both Josephus and later Jewish sources from the Roman-Byzantine period mention the fine olive oil for which the village was known. According to the TalmudTalmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
, the inhabitants also engaged in the production of silk. Eleazar b. Simeon
Eleazar b. Simeon
Eleazar b. Simeon was a Jewish Tanna sage of the fifth generation, contemporary of R. Judah haNasi. He is also the son of R. Shimon bar Yochai...
, described in the Talmud as a very large man with tremendous physical strength, was a resident of the town. He was initially buried in Gush Halav but later reinterred in Meron
Meron
A meron or half-instanton is a Euclidean space-time solution of the Yang-Mills field equations. It is a singular non-self-dual solution of topological charge 1/2. The instanton is believed to be composed of two merons....
, next to his father, Shimon bar Yochai.
After the fall of Gamla
Gamla
Gamla was an ancient Jewish city in the Golan Heights. Inhabited since the Early Bronze Age, it is believed to have been founded as a Seleucid fort during the Syrian Wars. The site of a Roman siege during the Great Revolt of the 1st century CE, Gamla is a symbol of heroism for the modern state of...
, Gush Halav was the last Jewish stronghold in the Galilee
Galilee
Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...
and Golan
Golan
Golan was a biblical city in Land of Israel. It was in the territory of Manasseh in the Bashan.Golan was the most northerly of the three cities of refuge east of the Jordan River . Manasseh gave this city to the Gershonite Levites .According to the Bible, the Israelites conquered Golan from the...
region during the First Jewish Revolt against Rome (66-73 CE). Gischala was the home of Yohanan of Gush Halav, known in English as John of Gischala, a wealthy olive oil merchant who became the chief commander of in the Jewish revolt in the Galilee and later Jerusalem. Initially known as a moderate, John changed his stance when Titus
Titus
Titus , was Roman Emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death, thus becoming the first Roman Emperor to come to the throne after his own father....
arrived at the gates of Gischala accompanied by 1,000 horsemen and demanded the town's surrender.
In addition to Jewish burial sites and structures dated to 3rd - 6th centuries, Jewish-Christian amulets were discovered nearby. Christian artifacts from the Byzantine period have been found at the site.
Arab, Crusader and Mamluk rule
Historical sources from the 10th-15th centuries describe Gush Halav (Jish) as a large Jewish village. It is mentioned in the 10th century by Arab geographer Al-MuqaddasiAl-Muqaddasi
Muhammad ibn Ahmad Shams al-Din Al-Muqaddasi , also transliterated as Al-Maqdisi and el-Mukaddasi, was a medieval Arab geographer, author of Ahsan at-Taqasim fi Ma`rifat il-Aqalim .-Biography:Al-Muqaddasi, "the Hierosolomite" was born in Jerusalem in 946 AD...
. Jewish life in the 10th and 11th centuries is attested to by documents in the Cairo Geniza
Cairo Geniza
The Cairo Geniza is a collection of almost 280,000 Jewish manuscript fragments found in the Genizah or storeroom of the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fustat, presently Old Cairo, Egypt. Some additional fragments were found in the Basatin cemetery east of Old Cairo, and the collection includes a number of...
. In 1172, the Jewish traveler Benjamin of Tudela
Benjamin of Tudela
Benjamin of Tudela was a medieval Jewish traveler who visited Europe, Asia, and Africa in the 12th century. His vivid descriptions of western Asia preceded those of Marco Polo by a hundred years...
found about 20 Jews living there. In 1211, another traveller, Rabbi Shmuel bar Shimon, wrote that he had visited the graves of Shmaya and Avtalyon and read the Purim
Purim
Purim is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire from destruction in the wake of a plot by Haman, a story recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther .Purim is celebrated annually according to the Hebrew calendar on the 14th...
megilla in Gush Halav. Ishtori Haparchi also attended a megilla reading when he visited in 1322. In his book Kaftor Vaferah, Ishtori Haparchi says that the megilla was read on two days in Gush Halav (14th and 15th of Adar) because it was a walled city.
Ottoman rule
In 1596, Jish appeared in Ottoman tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Jira of the LiwaLiwa (arabic)
Liwa or Liwa is an Arabic term meaning district, banner, or flag, a type of administrative division. It was interchangeable with the Turkish term "Sanjak" in the time of the Ottoman Empire. After the fall of the empire, the term was used in the Arab countries formerly under Ottoman rule...
of Safad. It had a population of 71 Muslim households and 20 Muslim bachelors. It paid taxes on goats and beehives.
In the 17th century, the village was inhabited by Druze
Druze
The Druze are an esoteric, monotheistic religious community, found primarily in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, which emerged during the 11th century from Ismailism. The Druze have an eclectic set of beliefs that incorporate several elements from Abrahamic religions, Gnosticism, Neoplatonism...
. A Turkish traveler, who visited in 1672 reported that it had about 100 houses. Soon after, a local feud erupted in which the village appears to have been destroyed and abandoned. In the early 18th century, Maronites, Greek Catholics and Muslims began settling in the town. The Galilee earthquake of 1837
Galilee earthquake of 1837
The Galilee earthquake of 1837, often called the Safed earthquake, was a devastating earthquake that shook the Galilee on January 1, 1837.-Impact:...
caused widespread damage and over 200 deaths. At the end of the 19th century, Jish was described as a "well-built village of good masonry" with about 600 Christian and 200 Muslim inhabitants.
British Mandate
At the time of the 1922 census of Palestine1922 census of Palestine
The 1922 census of Palestine was the first census carried out by the authorities of the British Mandate of Palestine, on 23 October 1922.The reported population was 757,182, including the military and persons of foreign nationality...
, Jish had a population of 380 Christians and 341 Muslims. The Christians were classified as 71% Maronite and 29% Greek Catholic (Melchite). By the 1931 census
1931 census of Palestine
The 1931 census of Palestine was the second census carried out by the authorities of the British Mandate of Palestine. It was carried out on 18 November 1931 under the direction of Major E. Mills. The first census had been conducted in 1922...
, Jish had 182 inhabited houses and a population of 358 Christians and 397 Muslims.
In 1945, Jish had a population of 1,090 and the village spanned 12,602 dunam
Dunam
A dunam or dönüm, dunum, donum, dynym, dulum was a non-SI unit of land area used in the Ottoman Empire and representing the amount of land that can be plowed in a day; its value varied from 900–2500 m²...
s, mostly Arab-owned. Between 1922 and 1947, the population increased by 70%.
State of Israel
Israeli forces captured Jish on October 29, 1948, in Operation HiramOperation Hiram
Operation Hiram was a military operation conducted by the Israel Defense Forces during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It was led by General Moshe Carmel, and aimed at capturing the upper Galilee region from the Arab Liberation Army forces led by Fawzi al-Qawuqji and a Syrian battalion...
, after "a hard-fought battle." Benny Morris reports allegations that ten prisoners of war, identified as Moroccans fighting with the Syrian Army, and a number of villagers, including a woman and her baby, were murdered. The Israeli prime minister, David Ben-Gurion
David Ben-Gurion
' was the first Prime Minister of Israel.Ben-Gurion's passion for Zionism, which began early in life, led him to become a major Zionist leader and Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization in 1946...
, ordered an investigation of the deaths but no IDF soldiers were brought to trial.
Elias Chacour
Elias Chacour
Elias Chacour is the Archbishop of Akko, Haifa, Nazareth and All Galilee of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. Noted for his efforts to promote reconciliation between Arabs and Israelis, he is the author of two books about the experience of Palestinian people living in present-day Israel...
, now Archbishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church
Melkite Greek Catholic Church
The Melkite Greek Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See as part of the worldwide Catholic Church. The Melkites, Byzantine Rite Catholics of mixed Eastern Mediterranean and Greek origin, trace their history to the early Christians of Antioch, Syria, of...
), whose family resettled in Jish, wrote that when he was eight years old he discovered a mass grave containing two dozen bodies.
Many of the residents of Jish forced to leave the village in 1948 fled to Lebanon and became Palestinian refugee
Palestinian refugee
Palestinian refugees or Palestine refugees are the people and their descendants, predominantly Palestinian Arabic-speakers, who fled or were expelled from their homes during and after the 1948 Palestine War, within that part of the British Mandate of Palestine, that after that war became the...
s. In 1949, Christians from the nearby town of Kafr Bir'im were allowed to resettle in Jish. Today they are citizens of Israel, but continue to press for their right of return
Right of return
The term right of return refers to a principle of international law, codified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, giving any person the right to return to, and re-enter, his or her country of origin...
to their former villages. In October 1950, Israeli forces raided Jish and detained seven suspected smugglers who were stripped, bound and beaten. They were released without charge.
In December 2010, a hiking and bicycle path known as the Coexistence Trail was inaugurated, linking Jish with Dalton
Dalton, Israel
Dalton is a moshav near Safed in northern Israel under the jurisdiction of Merom HaGalil Regional Council. It was founded by immigrants from Tripoli in Libya in 1950 under the leadership of Hapoel Hamizrachi. On the grounds of the moshav is a tomb ascribed to Rabbi Yosi Haglili and his son Yishmael...
, a neighboring Jewish community. The 2,500 meter-long trail, accessible to people with disabilities, sits 850 meters above sea level and has several lookout points, including a view of Dalton Lake, where rainwater is collected and stored for agricultural use.
Today Jish is known for its efforts to revive Aramaic as a living language. In 2011, the Israeli Ministry of Education
Ministry of Education (Israel)
The Israeli Ministry of Education is the branch of government charged with overseeing public education institutions in Israel. The political head of the department is the Minster of Education, currently Gideon Sa'ar....
approved a program to teach the language in Jish elementary schools. Maronites
Maronites in Israel
The Maronites are an ethnoreligious group in the Middle East that have been historically tied with Lebanon. They derive their name from the Syriac saint Mar Maron whose followers moved to Mount Lebanon from northern Syria establishing the Maronite Church, most of whose members currently live in...
in Jish say that Aramaic is essential to their existence as a people, in the same way that Hebrew and Arabic are for Jews and Arabs.
Demographics
Today, over half of the inhabitants of Jish are Maronite Christians, thirty-five percent are Greek Orthodox and ten percent are Muslims. The total population of the village is 3,000 people (2010).Geography
The earthquake in 1837 caused severe damage in Jish. Three weeks afterward, contemporaries reported "a large rent in the ground...about a foot wide and fifty feet long." All the Galilee villages that were badly damaged at the time, including Jish, were situated on the slopes of steep hills. The presence of old landslides has been observed on aerial photographs. The fact that the village was built on dip slopeDip slope
A dip slope is a geological formation often created by erosion of tilted strata. Dip slopes are found on homoclinal ridges with one side that is steep and irregular and another side, the dip slope, that is generally planar with a dip parallel to the bedding...
s consisting of soft bedrock and soil has made it more vulnerable to landslides. According to Andrew Thomson
Andrew Thomson (Broughton)
Dr. Andrew Thomson is well-known for his books on the lives of pre-eminent ministers, and for his book on his travels in the Holy Land. He has also written a preface for Pollok's "Tales of the Covenanters" but is easy to get confused with the "other" Andrew Thomson, also of Edinburgh, who was...
, no houses in Jish were left standing. The church fell, killing 130 people and the old town walls collapsed. A total of 235 people died and the ground was left fissured.
Religious sites and shrines
According to Christian tradition, the parents of Saint Paul were from Jish. Other churches in Jish are a small Maronite Church that was rebuilt after the 1837 earthquake and the Elias Church, the largest in the village, which operates a convent.The tombs of Shmaya and Abtalion, Jewish sages who taught in Jerusalem in the early 1st century, are located in Jish. According to tradition, the prophet Joel
Joel
Joel or Yoel may refer to:* Joel , origin of the name including a list of people with the first name* Joel , a prophet of an ancient Israel** Book of Joel, a book in the Jewish Tanakh, and the Christian Bible...
was also buried there.
Archaeology
Eighteen archaeological sites have been excavated to date in Jish and vicinity.Archaeologists have excavated a synagogueSynagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
in use from the 3rd to 6th centuries CE. Jewish-Christian amulets were discovered nearby.
Evidence was found of earthquakes in 306 CE and of the Galilee earthquake of 363
Galilee earthquake of 363
The Galilee earthquake of 363 was a severe earthquake that shook the Galilee and nearby regions in 363 CE.-Impact:* Tzippori was severely damaged.* Nabratein and the Nabratein synagogue were destroyed....
CE. A strong earthquake in 551 CE may have led to the site's abandonment.
A carved Aramaic inscription on one of the columns of the synagogue, believed to date from the middle of the 3rd century or early 4th century CE, reads: "Yosei son of Nahum built this. A blessing be upon him."
Coins indicate that Jish had strong commercial ties with the nearby city of Tyre. On Jish's western slope, a mausoleum was excavated, with stone sarcophagi similar to those seen at the large Jewish catacomb at Beit She'arim
Beit She'arim
Beit She'arim is a moshav in northern Israel. Located in the Galilee near Ramat Yishai, it falls under the jurisdiction of Jezreel Valley Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 528....
. The inner part of the mausoleum contained ten hewn loculi, burial niches known in Hebrew as kokhim. In the mausoleum, archaeologists found several skeletons, oil lamps and a glass bottle dating to the fourth century CE.
A network of secret caves and passageways in Jish, some of them located under private homes, is strikingly similar to hideaways in the Judean lowlands used during the Bar Kokhba revolt.
See also
- Hanna JubranHanna JubranHanna Jubran is a Palestinian sculptor, born in Jish, the upper Galilee. His work addresses the concepts of time, movement, balance and space. Each sculpture occupies and creates its own reality influenced by its immediate surroundings...
- List of Arab localities in Israel
- List of Arab villages in Israel populated with Internally Displaced Palestinians
- Elinor JosephElinor JosephElinor Joseph is an Israeli soldier who has served with the Caracal Battalion of the Israel Defense Forces since 2010. She is the first Arab woman ever to serve in a combat role in the Israeli army.-Background:...