Majdal Yaba
Encyclopedia
Majdal Yaba was a Palestinian
Arab
village located 18.5 kilometres (11.5 mi) northeast of Ramla
and 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) east of Jaffa
. A walled city stood at the same site as early as 3000 BCE, and Majdal Yaba is first mentioned by the name Aphek in Egyptian Execration texts
dating to the 19th century BCE. In the Bible
's Old Testament
, Aphek is described as a city conquered from the Canaanites by the Israelites, who then lost it to the Philistines
. It is also mentioned in extrabiblical Babylonian and Assyria
n texts as a Philistine stronghold. Under Roman
rule, the city was known as Antipatris and the Crusaders
, who built a fort there, renamed it Mirabel. During the Islamic period it became known as Majdal Yaba. For a short time under Ottoman rule
, its name was changed from Majdal Yaba to Majdal Sadiq and then back again.
Incorporated into British Mandate Palestine in 1922, Majdal Yaba was captured by Israeli forces during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war
on July 12, 1948. The town was depopulated as a result of the military assault. The number of refugees from Majdal Yaba was estimated at 1,763 in 1948, and they and their descendants were estimated to number over 10,000 in 1998. The Israel
i locality of Rosh HaAyin
was established on the village lands in 1950, followed by the moshav
of Giv'at HaShlosha in 1953.
of the 19th century BCE, as well as the 15th century topographical list of Thutmose III
. According to biblical tradition, the Israelite
s under Joshua
conquered the city from the Canaan
ites who had established a monumental palace there. With the Philistines advancing toward the city, the Israelites fled towards the hills of Samaria
, and Aphek became the northernmost locality in Philistia. The Philistine army assembled in Aphek for two major battles against the Israelites, including the slaughter of Saul
and Jonathan on Mount Gilboa and the capture of the Ark of the Covenant
(1066 BCE) . From then on, the city is not mentioned in the Bible
, but the Assyria
ns and the Babylonians mention it as a stronghold in the 7th century BCE.
King Herod
, who ruled the region on behalf of the Roman Empire
between 37-4 BCE, renamed the city Antipatris to commemorate his father Antipater
, choosing the site because it was in the "loveliest of plains... with an abundance of rivers and trees." Antipatris became a major crossroads between the principal port city of Jaffa
and Jerusalem. Saint Paul spent a night there when he was brought from Jerusalem to Caesarea . The city was devastated during the southern battles of the First Jewish-Roman War
from 66-70 CE and did not recover until the 2nd century CE, but in 363 an earthquake leveled the city.
offered to surrender the city of Jerusalem and pay a jizya
, Caliph Umar
traveled to Jerusalem in person to receive the submission of the city. Following the Caliph's instructions, Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan proceeded to Caesarea, and once again laid siege to the port city, He must have passed via Majdal Yaba in his way.
On April 27, 750 CE, the Abbasid
Abdullah Ibn Ali, Abu Al-Abbas As-Saffah
's uncle, marched to Antipatris (Abu Futrus), on June 25, 750 CE Abdullah Ibn Ali invited 80 Umayyad
's to (Abu-Futrus) with fair promises . Then, apparently aroused suddenly to revenge and killed them all.
On 5 April 885 AD, at the banks of Auja River, Abul Abbas Ibn Al-Muwaffaq
, later known as Abbasid Caliph Al-Mu'tadid
, fought at the battle of Tawahin (The Mills) with Khumarawaih ibn Ahmad ibn Tulun
, Ibn Al-Muwaffaq first won this battle, Khumaruwaih fled to Egypt. Ibn Al-Muwaffaq army later lost then he fled as well to Damascus.
On 975 AD, The Fatimid
Caliph of Egypt Al-'Aziz
concquered and took prisoner Aftakin
the Turkish General in Hamdanid service with his army on the eastern bank of Auja River opposite the ruined castle of Majdal Yaba.
The Crusaders conquered the Levant
from the Arab Muslims in 1099, and built a fortress on the site of Majdal Yaba in 1152, naming it Mirabel. The fort was held against Baldwin of Ibelin
by Manasses of Hierges
, but eventually fell to Baldwin who ruled it as an independent lordship of the Kingdom of Jerusalem
from 1162 to 1171. In 1166, lands belonging to the fortress and the harvest of its fields were given to the Church of St. John the Baptist in Nablus
.
The tyranny of a crusader lord in Majdal Yaba near Nablus was reported in 1156 CE; he imposed excessive taxs on Muslims, and required Muslims to pay four times as much tax as Christians nearby. The inhabitants of eight villages left their homes in 1156 AC and migrated to Damascus, where they founded "Al-Salahiah" suburb.
In 1177, the Muslim Ayyubids under Saladin
marched their army from south of Palestine northwards past Ascalon
to the Castle of Mirabel which was being used to defend the road from Jaffa to Jerusalem. In July 1187, Saladin's younger brother, al-Adil I
, conquered Mirabel, but did not destroy the castle fortress. According to E.G. Rey there existed among the ruins, 'the remains of a fine church of the 12th century', a claim repeated by T. A. Archer. Chronicler Baha ad-Din ibn Shaddad
recorded that in 1191-92, Saladin used the castle fortress as a base for carrying out raids against the Crusaders, although he camped outside of it. However, Saladin gave orders to dismantle the walls of Mirabel after his defeat at the battle of Arsuf.
While under Ayyubid rule in 1226, Arab
geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi
mentions it as Majdal Yafa or "Tower of Jaffa", probably due to its proximity to the city of Jaffa
. He says it was a village with a "formidable fort".
June 1240 CE marked the arrival of the English crusade led by Richard of Cornwall
, brother of the King Henry III of England and brother-in-law of Emperor Frederick II
. As-Salih Ayyub
, King of Egypt, offered Richard of Cornwall a new treaty to be complementary to the earlier treaty held with Theobald IV, Count of Champagne, France. His offer this time included his readiness to recognize the legitimacy of the concessions made by his uncle and opponent As-Salih Ismail
, King of Damascus, to the Crusaders, so that the Galilee, and Jaffa and Ashkelon, and all of the city of Jerusalem, including Bethlehem and Majdal Yaba, in addition to Tiberias, Safed, and Belvoir Castle and Al-Tur Castle, were all included in the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
In 1266, after the fall of Jaffa to the Mamluk
s, Sultan Baibars
sent chiefs from Deir Ghassaneh to protect Majdal Yaba's tower. In the late 13th century, the castle fortress at Majdal Yafa was abandoned.
in the early 16th century, and by 1596, it was a small village in the nahiya ("subdistrict") of Jabal Qubal, part of Sanjak Nablus. It paid taxes on wheat, barley, beehives and goats. The population consisted of 8 Muslim families. The castle fortress in Majdal Yaba that was abandoned in the 13th century, was rebuilt in 18th to 19th centuries.
On March 3, 1799, General Kleber
, Commander in Chief of the invading French forces, received the order to push detachments after having taken up position to the south of the river Nahar-al-Ougeh, to watch enemy movements, and to prepare for the army to march to Acre. He instructed General Damas (Lannes
), on March 6, to undertake a reconnaissance in the mountains inhabited by the Naplousains, who seemed to be hostile. Turks were firing from behind rocks and down precipices. The small column was obliged to retreat with heavy losses where sixty Franks were killed and more than double the number wonded, and Damas's arm was broken.
In the 19th century, the village was named Majdal al-Sadiq after Sheikh Muhammad al-Sadiq al-Jamma'ini, the chief of the village who hailed from the prominent Rayyan clan. The Rayyan were a branch of the Bedouin
Bani Ghazi tribe that emigrated to Palestine from Jordan
in the 17th century. According to Eli Smith, in 1843, the fortress (known as the "Rayyan Fortress") in the village was in ruins.
In Thursday, November 7, 1850 James Finn
future British Consul to Jerusalem and Palestine, visited the village and found it and the castle in a very dilapidated condition, he met Sheikh Al Sadiq family, and slept in the castle for a night, he surveyed the church attached to the castle and saw the Greek inscription upon the lintel signifying "Martyr Memorial Church of the Holy Herald,
When Edward Robinson
visited in 1852, he reported that the fortress had been rebuilt and also served as a palace for the ruling sheikh
. Sheikh al-Sadiq, however, had been banished by the Ottomans. In the 1850s, the Rayyan controlled 22-25 villages in the nahiya of Jamma'in West
in Sanjak Nablus, with Majdal Yaba being their main village, where they maintained a fortress and manor. During this time, however, they were embroiled in war with their rival clan, the Qasim — who controlled the Jamma'in East area and also belonged to the Bani Ghazi tribe.
In 1859, Sulayman Rayyan was in control of Majdal Yaba, and by 1860 the Rayyan clan had lost all of their influence in the sanjak
after they were defeated by the Qasims. The Rayyan continued to live in and rule Majdal Yaba, but the village ceased to be a center of power. According to the Survey of Western Palestine, the Rayyan were "ruined by the Turkish Government." Members of the survey who visited in 1873 reported a large building of "massive masonry", probably a former church, with a side door inscribed in Greek "Memorial of Saint Cerycus".
In 1888, a school was founded in Majdal Yaba.
for public meetings and receiving guests. The Rayyan family had still not recovered by the beginning of the Mandate Period; it was known to be impovrished, as was the Qasim family. "Dar az-zalimin kharab [the home of the oppressors is ruined]," said peasants when they passed by their kursis. In 1935, a mosque
was built in Majdal Yaba and the Ottoman-built school had reopened in 1920, enrolling 147 students in the mid-1940s. There was also a clinic in the village. Agriculture was the basis of the economy, with farmers planting wheat, corn, barley, vegetables, and sesame. They also tended fruit orchards, particularly citrus. Artesian wells irrigated the fields.
Majdal Yaba was in the territory allotted to the Arab state under the 1947 UN Partition Plan. However, it was occupied by the Second Battalion of the Alexandroni Brigade
on July 12, 1948 in Operation Danny
, after wresting it from the Iraqi Army
who were defending the village during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
. The nearby village of Ras al-Ein
, deserted in the 1920s, was also captured. The New York Times reported that the situation of the surrounded Iraq
i troops was "hopeless". The capture of Majdal Yaba also led to the control of the hills lying to the north of the operation zone and the springs of the al-Auja river. On August 28, 1948 The Iraqi forces attempted to recapture the village, but were asked to abandon the operation
The Israeli town of Rosh HaAyin
— which today is a city — was built on village lands in 1950, and in 1953, the Jewish moshav
of Giv'at HaShlosha was established on village lands. According to Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi
, the Rayyan Fortress still "crowns the site" in addition to the tomb of Sheikh Muhammad Al-Sadiq, and a part of the village cemetery still remains. The fortress is "slowly crumbling" and the dome of the tomb is severely cracked.
According to Ottomans records, Majdal Yaba had a population of 44 in 1596. In a 1922 survey by the British Mandate there 796 people living in the village, rising to 966 in a 1931 census. Sami Hadawi
recorded a population of 1,520 inhabitants in his 1945 land and population survey. In 1948, it had a projected population of 1,763. Palestinian refugee
s and their descendants numbered 10,828 in 1998.
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
village located 18.5 kilometres (11.5 mi) northeast of Ramla
Ramla
Ramla , is a city in central Israel. The city is predominantly Jewish with a significant Arab minority. Ramla was founded circa 705–715 AD by the Umayyad Caliph Suleiman ibn Abed al-Malik after the Arab conquest of the region...
and 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) east of Jaffa
Jaffa
Jaffa is an ancient port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world. Jaffa was incorporated with Tel Aviv creating the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical story of the prophet Jonah.-Etymology:...
. A walled city stood at the same site as early as 3000 BCE, and Majdal Yaba is first mentioned by the name Aphek in Egyptian Execration texts
Execration Texts
Execration texts, also referred to as Proscription Lists, are ancient Egyptian hieratic texts, listing enemies of the Pharaoh, most often enemies of the Egyptian state or troublesome foreign neighbors. The texts were most often written upon statuettes of bound foreigners, bowls, or blocks of clay...
dating to the 19th century BCE. In the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
's Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
, Aphek is described as a city conquered from the Canaanites by the Israelites, who then lost it to the Philistines
Philistines
Philistines , Pleshet or Peleset, were a people who occupied the southern coast of Canaan at the beginning of the Iron Age . According to the Bible, they ruled the five city-states of Gaza, Askelon, Ashdod, Ekron and Gath, from the Wadi Gaza in the south to the Yarqon River in the north, but with...
. It is also mentioned in extrabiblical Babylonian and Assyria
Assyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
n texts as a Philistine stronghold. Under Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
rule, the city was known as Antipatris and the Crusaders
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
, who built a fort there, renamed it Mirabel. During the Islamic period it became known as Majdal Yaba. For a short time under Ottoman rule
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, its name was changed from Majdal Yaba to Majdal Sadiq and then back again.
Incorporated into British Mandate Palestine in 1922, Majdal Yaba was captured by Israeli forces 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...
on July 12, 1948. The town was depopulated as a result of the military assault. The number of refugees from Majdal Yaba was estimated at 1,763 in 1948, and they and their descendants were estimated to number over 10,000 in 1998. The Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i locality of Rosh HaAyin
Rosh HaAyin
Rosh HaAyin is a city in the Center District of Israel. To the west of Rosh HaAyin is the fortress of Antipatris and the source of the Yarkon River. To the southeast is the fortress of Migdal Afek...
was established on the village lands in 1950, followed by the moshav
Moshav
Moshav is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists during the second aliyah...
of Giv'at HaShlosha in 1953.
Antiquity
Majdal Yaba stood on the site of a walled city in 3000 BCE, and is first mentioned as Aphek in the Ancient Egyptian Execration textsExecration Texts
Execration texts, also referred to as Proscription Lists, are ancient Egyptian hieratic texts, listing enemies of the Pharaoh, most often enemies of the Egyptian state or troublesome foreign neighbors. The texts were most often written upon statuettes of bound foreigners, bowls, or blocks of clay...
of the 19th century BCE, as well as the 15th century topographical list of Thutmose III
Thutmose III
Thutmose III was the sixth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. During the first twenty-two years of Thutmose's reign he was co-regent with his stepmother, Hatshepsut, who was named the pharaoh...
. According to biblical tradition, the 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...
s under 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...
conquered the city from the Canaan
Canaan
Canaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
ites who had established a monumental palace there. With the Philistines advancing toward the city, the Israelites fled towards the hills of Samaria
Samaria
Samaria, or the Shomron is a term used for a mountainous region roughly corresponding to the northern part of the West Bank.- Etymology :...
, and Aphek became the northernmost locality in Philistia. The Philistine army assembled in Aphek for two major battles against the Israelites, including the slaughter of Saul
Saul
-People:Saul is a given/first name in English, the Anglicized form of the Hebrew name Shaul from the Hebrew Bible:* Saul , including people with this given namein the Bible:* Saul , a king of Edom...
and Jonathan on Mount Gilboa and the capture of the Ark of the Covenant
Ark of the Covenant
The Ark of the Covenant , also known as the Ark of the Testimony, is a chest described in Book of Exodus as solely containing the Tablets of Stone on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed...
(1066 BCE) . From then on, the city is not mentioned in the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
, but the Assyria
Assyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
ns and the Babylonians mention it as a stronghold in the 7th century BCE.
King Herod
Herod the Great
Herod , also known as Herod the Great , was a Roman client king of Judea. His epithet of "the Great" is widely disputed as he is described as "a madman who murdered his own family and a great many rabbis." He is also known for his colossal building projects in Jerusalem and elsewhere, including his...
, who ruled the region on behalf of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
between 37-4 BCE, renamed the city Antipatris to commemorate his father Antipater
Antipater the Idumaean
Antipater I the Idumaean was the founder of the Herodian Dynasty and father of Herod the Great. According to Josephus, he was the son of Antipas...
, choosing the site because it was in the "loveliest of plains... with an abundance of rivers and trees." Antipatris became a major crossroads between the principal port city of Jaffa
Jaffa
Jaffa is an ancient port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world. Jaffa was incorporated with Tel Aviv creating the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical story of the prophet Jonah.-Etymology:...
and Jerusalem. Saint Paul spent a night there when he was brought from Jerusalem to Caesarea . The city was devastated during the southern battles of the First Jewish-Roman War
First Jewish-Roman War
The First Jewish–Roman War , sometimes called The Great Revolt , was the first of three major rebellions by the Jews of Judaea Province , against the Roman Empire...
from 66-70 CE and did not recover until the 2nd century CE, but in 363 an earthquake leveled the city.
Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, Fatimid Rule
On April 637 CE, and after a siege of four months, Byzantine Patriarch of Jerusalem SophroniusSophronius
Sophronius was the Patriarch of Jerusalem from 634 until his death, and is venerated as a saint in the Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Churches...
offered to surrender the city of Jerusalem and pay a jizya
Jizya
Under Islamic law, jizya or jizyah is a per capita tax levied on a section of an Islamic state's non-Muslim citizens, who meet certain criteria...
, Caliph Umar
Umar
`Umar ibn al-Khattāb c. 2 November , was a leading companion and adviser to the Islamic prophet Muhammad who later became the second Muslim Caliph after Muhammad's death....
traveled to Jerusalem in person to receive the submission of the city. Following the Caliph's instructions, Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan proceeded to Caesarea, and once again laid siege to the port city, He must have passed via Majdal Yaba in his way.
On April 27, 750 CE, the Abbasid
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate or, more simply, the Abbasids , was the third of the Islamic caliphates. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphate from all but the al-Andalus region....
Abdullah Ibn Ali, Abu Al-Abbas As-Saffah
As-Saffah
Abu al-`Abbās `Abdu'llāh ibn Muhammad as-Saffāh, or Abul `Abbas al-Saffah , was the first Abbasid caliph .As-Saffah was the head of one branch of the Banu Hashim, who traced their lineage to Hashim, a great-grandfather of...
's uncle, marched to Antipatris (Abu Futrus), on June 25, 750 CE Abdullah Ibn Ali invited 80 Umayyad
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the four major Arab caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. It was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty, whose name derives from Umayya ibn Abd Shams, the great-grandfather of the first Umayyad caliph. Although the Umayyad family originally came from the...
's to (Abu-Futrus) with fair promises . Then, apparently aroused suddenly to revenge and killed them all.
On 5 April 885 AD, at the banks of Auja River, Abul Abbas Ibn Al-Muwaffaq
Al-Muwaffaq (vizier)
Abu Ahmad ibn al-Mutawakkil , better known as al-Muwaffaq , was the brother and regent of the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mu'tamid....
, later known as Abbasid Caliph Al-Mu'tadid
Al-Mu'tadid
Al-Mu'tadid was the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad from 892 to 902. As the son and heir of the powerful vizier and virtual regent Al-Muwaffaq , Mu'tadid was already in possession of supreme power even before he was appointed Caliph, and continued as Caliph to ably administer the Government...
, fought at the battle of Tawahin (The Mills) with Khumarawaih ibn Ahmad ibn Tulun
Ahmad ibn Tulun
Ahmad ibn Ṭūlūn was the founder of the Tulunid dynasty that ruled Egypt briefly between 868 and 905 AD. Originally sent by the Abbasid caliph as governor to Egypt, ibn Ṭūlūn established himself as an independent ruler.-Biography:...
, Ibn Al-Muwaffaq first won this battle, Khumaruwaih fled to Egypt. Ibn Al-Muwaffaq army later lost then he fled as well to Damascus.
On 975 AD, The Fatimid
Fatimid
The Fatimid Islamic Caliphate or al-Fāṭimiyyūn was a Berber Shia Muslim caliphate first centered in Tunisia and later in Egypt that ruled over varying areas of the Maghreb, Sudan, Sicily, the Levant, and Hijaz from 5 January 909 to 1171.The caliphate was ruled by the Fatimids, who established the...
Caliph of Egypt Al-'Aziz
Abu Mansoor Nizar al-Aziz Billah
Al-Aziz was the fifth Caliph of the Fatimids .- History :Since Abdallah, the heir to the throne, had died before his father Ma'ad al-Muizz Li-Deenillah , his brother Abu Mansur Nizar al-Azizbillah acceded to the Caliphate with the help of Jawhar as-Siqilli...
concquered and took prisoner Aftakin
Aftakin
Aftakin was a Turkic general in Hamdanid service. He is best known for his participation in the war against the Fatimid dynasty in Syria from 974-977), his notable engagement was the Battle of Ramleh in 977....
the Turkish General in Hamdanid service with his army on the eastern bank of Auja River opposite the ruined castle of Majdal Yaba.
Crusader, Ayyubid and Mamluk rule
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
from the Arab Muslims in 1099, and built a fortress on the site of Majdal Yaba in 1152, naming it Mirabel. The fort was held against Baldwin of Ibelin
Baldwin of Ibelin
Baldwin of Ibelin, also known as Baldwin III of Ramla , was an important noble of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century. He was the second son of Barisan of Ibelin, and was the younger brother of Hugh of Ibelin and older brother of Balian of Ibelin...
by Manasses of Hierges
Manasses of Hierges
Manasses of Hierges was an important crusader lord, and constable of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.He was the son of Hodierna of Rethel and Héribrand II of Hierges; Hodierna was a sister of King Baldwin II of Jerusalem...
, but eventually fell to Baldwin who ruled it as an independent lordship of the Kingdom of Jerusalem
Kingdom of Jerusalem
The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Catholic kingdom established in the Levant in 1099 after the First Crusade. The kingdom lasted nearly two hundred years, from 1099 until 1291 when the last remaining possession, Acre, was destroyed by the Mamluks, but its history is divided into two distinct periods....
from 1162 to 1171. In 1166, lands belonging to the fortress and the harvest of its fields were given to the Church of St. John the Baptist in Nablus
Nablus
Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 126,132. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center.Founded by the...
.
The tyranny of a crusader lord in Majdal Yaba near Nablus was reported in 1156 CE; he imposed excessive taxs on Muslims, and required Muslims to pay four times as much tax as Christians nearby. The inhabitants of eight villages left their homes in 1156 AC and migrated to Damascus, where they founded "Al-Salahiah" suburb.
In 1177, the Muslim Ayyubids under Saladin
Saladin
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was an Arabized Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...
marched their army from south of Palestine northwards past Ascalon
Ashkelon
Ashkelon is a coastal city in the South District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The ancient seaport of Ashkelon dates back to the Neolithic Age...
to the Castle of Mirabel which was being used to defend the road from Jaffa to Jerusalem. In July 1187, Saladin's younger brother, al-Adil I
Al-Adil I
Al-Adil I was an Ayyubid-Egyptian general and ruler of Kurdish descent. From his honorific "Sayf al-Din" he was sometimes known to the Frankish crusaders as "Saphadin".- Life :...
, conquered Mirabel, but did not destroy the castle fortress. According to E.G. Rey there existed among the ruins, 'the remains of a fine church of the 12th century', a claim repeated by T. A. Archer. Chronicler Baha ad-Din ibn Shaddad
Baha ad-Din ibn Shaddad
Bahā' ad-Dīn Yusuf ibn Rafi ibn Shaddād was a 12th-century Muslim jurist and scholar, an Arabian historian of great note, notable for writing a biography of Saladin whom he knew well.Ibn Shaddād was born in Mosul on 10 Ramadan 539 AH , where he studied the...
recorded that in 1191-92, Saladin used the castle fortress as a base for carrying out raids against the Crusaders, although he camped outside of it. However, Saladin gave orders to dismantle the walls of Mirabel after his defeat at the battle of Arsuf.
While under Ayyubid rule in 1226, Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi
Yaqut al-Hamawi
Yāqūt ibn-'Abdullah al-Rūmī al-Hamawī) was an Islamic biographer and geographer renowned for his encyclopedic writings on the Muslim world. "al-Rumi" refers to his Greek descent; "al-Hamawi" means that he is from Hama, Syria, and ibn-Abdullah is a reference to his father's name, Abdullah...
mentions it as Majdal Yafa or "Tower of Jaffa", probably due to its proximity to the city of Jaffa
Jaffa
Jaffa is an ancient port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world. Jaffa was incorporated with Tel Aviv creating the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical story of the prophet Jonah.-Etymology:...
. He says it was a village with a "formidable fort".
June 1240 CE marked the arrival of the English crusade led by Richard of Cornwall
Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall
Richard of Cornwall was Count of Poitou , 1st Earl of Cornwall and German King...
, brother of the King Henry III of England and brother-in-law of Emperor Frederick II
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick II , was one of the most powerful Holy Roman Emperors of the Middle Ages and head of the House of Hohenstaufen. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, and even to Jerusalem, were enormous...
. As-Salih Ayyub
As-Salih Ayyub
Al-Malik as-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub , also known as al-Malik al-Salih was the Ayyubid ruler of Egypt from 1240 to 1249.-Biography:...
, King of Egypt, offered Richard of Cornwall a new treaty to be complementary to the earlier treaty held with Theobald IV, Count of Champagne, France. His offer this time included his readiness to recognize the legitimacy of the concessions made by his uncle and opponent As-Salih Ismail
As-Salih Ismail
Imad ad-Din "al-Malik as-Salih" Ismail bin Saif ad-Din Ahmad better known as as-Salih Ismail was the Ayyubid sultan based in Damascus in 1237 then in 1239-45.- Sultan of Damascus :...
, King of Damascus, to the Crusaders, so that the Galilee, and Jaffa and Ashkelon, and all of the city of Jerusalem, including Bethlehem and Majdal Yaba, in addition to Tiberias, Safed, and Belvoir Castle and Al-Tur Castle, were all included in the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
In 1266, after the fall of Jaffa to the Mamluk
Mamluk
A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...
s, Sultan Baibars
Baibars
Baibars or Baybars , nicknamed Abu l-Futuh , was a Mamluk Sultan of Egypt. He was one of the commanders of the forces which inflicted a devastating defeat on the Seventh Crusade of King Louis IX of France and he led the vanguard of the Egyptian army at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, which marked...
sent chiefs from Deir Ghassaneh to protect Majdal Yaba's tower. In the late 13th century, the castle fortress at Majdal Yafa was abandoned.
Ottoman rule
Majdal Yaba was apparently repopulated when Palestine was incorporated into the Ottoman EmpireOttoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
in the early 16th century, and by 1596, it was a small village in the nahiya ("subdistrict") of Jabal Qubal, part of Sanjak Nablus. It paid taxes on wheat, barley, beehives and goats. The population consisted of 8 Muslim families. The castle fortress in Majdal Yaba that was abandoned in the 13th century, was rebuilt in 18th to 19th centuries.
On March 3, 1799, General Kleber
Jean Baptiste Kléber
Jean Baptiste Kléber was a French general during the French Revolutionary Wars. His military career started in Habsburg service, but his plebeian ancestry hindered his opportunities...
, Commander in Chief of the invading French forces, received the order to push detachments after having taken up position to the south of the river Nahar-al-Ougeh, to watch enemy movements, and to prepare for the army to march to Acre. He instructed General Damas (Lannes
Jean Lannes
Jean Lannes, 1st Duc de Montebello, was a Marshal of France. He was one of Napoleon's most daring and talented generals. Napoleon once commented on Lannes: "I found him a pygmy and left him a giant"...
), on March 6, to undertake a reconnaissance in the mountains inhabited by the Naplousains, who seemed to be hostile. Turks were firing from behind rocks and down precipices. The small column was obliged to retreat with heavy losses where sixty Franks were killed and more than double the number wonded, and Damas's arm was broken.
Bedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
Bani Ghazi tribe that emigrated to Palestine from Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
in the 17th century. According to Eli Smith, in 1843, the fortress (known as the "Rayyan Fortress") in the village was in ruins.
In Thursday, November 7, 1850 James Finn
James Finn
James Finn was a British Consul in Jerusalem, in the then Ottoman Empire . He arrived in 1845 with his wife Elizabeth Anne Finn. Finn was a devout Christian, who belonged to the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews, but who did not engage in missionary work during his years in...
future British Consul to Jerusalem and Palestine, visited the village and found it and the castle in a very dilapidated condition, he met Sheikh Al Sadiq family, and slept in the castle for a night, he surveyed the church attached to the castle and saw the Greek inscription upon the lintel signifying "Martyr Memorial Church of the Holy Herald,
When Edward Robinson
Edward Robinson (scholar)
Edward Robinson was an American biblical scholar, known as the “Father of Biblical Geography.” He has been referred to as the “founder of modern Palestinology.” -Biography:...
visited in 1852, he reported that the fortress had been rebuilt and also served as a palace for the ruling sheikh
Sheikh
Not to be confused with sikhSheikh — also spelled Sheik or Shaikh, or transliterated as Shaykh — is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor"...
. Sheikh al-Sadiq, however, had been banished by the Ottomans. In the 1850s, the Rayyan controlled 22-25 villages in the nahiya of Jamma'in West
Jamma'in
Jamma'in is a Palestinian town in the northern West Bank located southwest of Nablus, northwest of Salfit and north of Ramallah. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 6,227 in 2007.-History:...
in Sanjak Nablus, with Majdal Yaba being their main village, where they maintained a fortress and manor. During this time, however, they were embroiled in war with their rival clan, the Qasim — who controlled the Jamma'in East area and also belonged to the Bani Ghazi tribe.
In 1859, Sulayman Rayyan was in control of Majdal Yaba, and by 1860 the Rayyan clan had lost all of their influence in the sanjak
Sanjak
Sanjaks were administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire. Sanjak, and the variant spellings sandjak, sanjaq, and sinjaq, are English transliterations of the Turkish word sancak, meaning district, banner, or flag...
after they were defeated by the Qasims. The Rayyan continued to live in and rule Majdal Yaba, but the village ceased to be a center of power. According to the Survey of Western Palestine, the Rayyan were "ruined by the Turkish Government." Members of the survey who visited in 1873 reported a large building of "massive masonry", probably a former church, with a side door inscribed in Greek "Memorial of Saint Cerycus".
In 1888, a school was founded in Majdal Yaba.
British Mandate period
Majdal Yaba was incorporated into the British Mandate of Palestine in 1922. The layout of the village resembled a parallelogram and its houses were built close together, being only separated by narrow alleys. They were built of mud and straw or stone and cement. Each neighborhood was inhabited by a single hamula ("clan") and contained a diwanDivan (furniture)
A divan is a piece of couch-like sitting furniture; or in the UK, a box-spring based bed....
for public meetings and receiving guests. The Rayyan family had still not recovered by the beginning of the Mandate Period; it was known to be impovrished, as was the Qasim family. "Dar az-zalimin kharab [the home of the oppressors is ruined]," said peasants when they passed by their kursis. In 1935, a mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
was built in Majdal Yaba and the Ottoman-built school had reopened in 1920, enrolling 147 students in the mid-1940s. There was also a clinic in the village. Agriculture was the basis of the economy, with farmers planting wheat, corn, barley, vegetables, and sesame. They also tended fruit orchards, particularly citrus. Artesian wells irrigated the fields.
1948 War and aftermath
Alexandroni Brigade
The Alexandroni Brigade is an Israel Defense Forces brigade that fought in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Along with the 7th Armoured Brigade both units had 139 killed during the first battle of Latrun - Operation Ben Nun Alef .The unit is currently a reserve unit.-Katz controversy:In 1998, Teddy Katz...
on July 12, 1948 in Operation Danny
Operation Danny
Operation Danny was an Israeli military offensive launched at the end of the first truce of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The objectives were to capture territory east of Tel Aviv and then to push inland and relieve the Jewish population and forces in Jerusalem...
, after wresting it from the Iraqi Army
Iraqi Army
The Iraqi Army is the land component of the Iraqi military, active in various forms since being formed by the British during their mandate over the country after World War I....
who were defending the village 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...
. The nearby village of Ras al-Ein
Antipatris
Antipatris, one of two places known as Tel Afek , was a city built by Herod the Great, and named in honour of his father, Antipater II of Judea...
, deserted in the 1920s, was also captured. The New York Times reported that the situation of the surrounded Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
i troops was "hopeless". The capture of Majdal Yaba also led to the control of the hills lying to the north of the operation zone and the springs of the al-Auja river. On August 28, 1948 The Iraqi forces attempted to recapture the village, but were asked to abandon the operation
The Israeli town of Rosh HaAyin
Rosh HaAyin
Rosh HaAyin is a city in the Center District of Israel. To the west of Rosh HaAyin is the fortress of Antipatris and the source of the Yarkon River. To the southeast is the fortress of Migdal Afek...
— which today is a city — was built on village lands in 1950, and in 1953, the Jewish moshav
Moshav
Moshav is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists during the second aliyah...
of Giv'at HaShlosha was established on village lands. According to Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi
Walid Khalidi
Walid Khalidi is an Oxford University-educated Palestinian historian who has written extensively on the Palestinian exodus. He is General Secretary and co-founder of the Institute for Palestine Studies, established in Beirut in December 1963 as an independent research and publishing center...
, the Rayyan Fortress still "crowns the site" in addition to the tomb of Sheikh Muhammad Al-Sadiq, and a part of the village cemetery still remains. The fortress is "slowly crumbling" and the dome of the tomb is severely cracked.
Demographics
Sami Hadawi
Sami Hadawi was a Palestinian scholar and author. He is known for documenting the effects of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War on the Arab population in Palestine and published statistics for individual villages prior to Israel's establishment. Hadawi worked as a land specialist until he was exiled from...
recorded a population of 1,520 inhabitants in his 1945 land and population survey. In 1948, it had a projected population of 1,763. 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 and their descendants numbered 10,828 in 1998.
See also
- List of Arab towns and villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
- Migdal AfekMigdal AfekMigdal Afek Migdal Afek Migdal Afek (also Migdal Tsedek is a national park near Rosh HaAyin, Israel. On the site are the ruins of Mirabel, a Crusader castle. Before the establishment of the state, the Palestinian Arab village of Majdal Yaba was located in this area....