Product Code Database
Jish (, ), also known by its Hebrew language name of Gush Halab (, ), or by its classical name of Gischala,Palmer, 1881, p. 76 Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 225 is a local council in Upper Galilee, located on the northeastern slopes of Mount Meron, north of Safed, in Israel's Northern District. In , it had a population of , which is predominantly Maronite Church and Melkite Greek Catholic Christians (63%), with a Sunni Islam Arab minority (about 35.7%).YNET [3] On the slopes of a hill, at an elevation of 860 meters surrounded by cherry orchards, pears and apples, built houses, especially church building looks from afar. Number of inhabitants 3,000 divided by 55% Maronite Christian, 30% Greek Catholics and the rest are Muslims.
Jish is the ancient Giscala or Gush Halav, first mentioned in the historical record by the Roman-Jewish historian Josephus, who described it as the home of John of Giscala and the last city in the Galilee to fall to the Roman Empire during the First Jewish–Roman War (War 4:93). Encyclopedia Judaica, Jerusalem, 1978, "Giscala," vol. 7, 590 Archeological excavations uncovered remains from the and Israelites periods; later archaeological finds in Jish include two ancient synagogues, a unique mausoleum and rock-cut tombs from the Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire periods. Historical sources dating from the 10th-15th centuries describe Jish ( Gush Halav) as a village with a strong Jews presence.
In the early Ottoman empire era, Jish was wholly Muslim. In the 17th century, the village was inhabited by Druze. In 1945, under British rule, Jish had a population of 1,090 with an area of 12,602 dunams. The village was largely depopulated during the 1948 Palestine war as part of the larger 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight. After the war Jish was resettled not only by the original inhabitants, who were largely Maronite Christians, but also by some Maronite Christians who were expelled from the razed villages of Kafr Bir'im and some Muslims who were expelled from Dallata.Morris, 2004, p. 508
In 2010, the population of Jish was 3,000.
After the fall of Gamla, Gush Halav was the last Jewish stronghold in the Galilee and Golan region during the Great Jewish Revolt against Rome (66-73 CE), and the home of John of Giscala. Redefining ancient borders: The Jewish scribal framework of Matthew's Gospel, Aaron M. Gale Excavations at the ancient synagogue of Gush Ḥalav, Eric M. Meyers, Carol L. Meyers, James F. Strange
Two ancient were discovered at Jish. The first was located at the top of the hill, below the current Maronite Church. The second one was discovered at the foot of the hill, close to a spring; one of its columns is inscribed in Aramaic with the name of a particular "Yose son of Tanhum". This synagogue went through several phases of construction and reconstruction, one destruction being dated by excavator Eric M. Meyers to the earthquake of 551. In addition to Jewish structures and burial sites dated to the 3rd through 6th centuries, both Jewish and Christian amulets have also been discovered nearby. The missing century: Palestine in the fifth century: growth and decline, Zeev Safrai Christian artifacts from the Byzantine period have been found at the site.
According to local tradition, two nearby rock-cut tombs contain the graves of 1st century BCE Jewish sages Shemaiah and Abtalion.
In the 17th century, the village had been inhabited by Druze, but they later departed from it. The Turkish traveler Evliya Çelebi, who passed by the village in 1648, wrote:
According to Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, Maronites first settled in Jish during the early 18th century. This may have happened as a result of the Battle of Ain Dara (1711), in which the Qaysis defeated the Yamanis and drove many of them from Mount Lebanon. Ben-Zvi recorded a local tradition, according to which two families in the village preceded the Maronite immigration; One of them—the Hashouls, the oldest family in the village— were Maronites of Jewish ancestry and were originally known by the name Shaul.
The Galilee earthquake of 1837 caused widespread damage and over 200 deaths. 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 consisting of soft bedrock and soil has made it more vulnerable to landslides. Damage Caused By Landslides During the Earthquakes of 1837 and 1927 in the Galilee Region 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.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 3. pp. 368-369 At the time, the village was noted as a mixed Muslim and Maronite village in the Safad district.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. 134
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.Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 198
A population list from about 1887 showed El Jish to have about 1,935 inhabitants; 975 Christians and 960 Muslims.Schumacher, 1888, p. 189
In the 1945 statistics, Jish had a population of 1,090; 350 Christians and 740 Muslims,Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 09 and the village spanned 12,602 , mostly Arab-owned.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 70 Of this, 1,506 dunums were plantations and irrigable land, 6,656 used for ,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 119 while 72 dunams were built-up (urban) land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 169
The Israeli prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, ordered an investigation of the deathsGelber, 2001, p.226 but no IDF soldiers were brought to trial,Morris, 2008, p. 345 though a military investigation concluded with the order that those responsible for the unjustified killings were to be tried 'immediately'.
Many of the residents of Jish were forced to leave the village in 1948 and became Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Some Christians from the nearby town of Kafr Bir'im resettled in Jish, where 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.Morris, 1993, p. 167
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.
Jish is known for its efforts to revive Aramaic language as a living language. In 2011, the Israeli Ministry of Education approved a program to teach the language in Jish elementary schools. Some local Maronite activists 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.
In 2022, 63% of the population was Christian and 37% was Muslim.
According to tradition, the Israelite prophet Joel was also buried there. Gush Halav The structure traditionally believed to be his tomb is situated on the western outskirts of the modern village, and contains several ancient rock-cut tombs.Cinamon, G. (2013). Gush Halav. Hadashot Arkheologiyot: Excavations and Surveys in Israel/חדשות ארכיאולוגיות: חפירות וסקרים בישראל.
According to Christian tradition, the parents of Saint Paul were from Jish. Galilee villages launch campaign to attract Christian pilgrims John of Giscala, the son of Levi, was born in 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.
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 National Park. 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. ERETZ Magazine
Middle Ages
Historical sources from the 10th to the 15th centuries describe it as a large Jewish village, and it is mentioned in the 10th century by Arab geographer Al-Muqaddasi. 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. This passage is not present in the edition of Ishtori Haparchi also attended a megilla reading when he visited in 1322.
Ottoman Empire
In 1596, Jish appeared in Ottoman Empire Defter as being in the Nahiya of Jira, of the Liwa Safad. It had a population of 71 households and 20 bachelors, all Muslim. The villagers paid taxes on goats and beehives, but most of its taxes were in the form of a fixed sum: total taxes amounted to around 30,750 akçe.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 176Note that Rhode, 1979, p. 6 writes that the register that Hütteroth and Abdulfattah studied was not from 1595/6, but from 1548/9
Then comes the village of Jish, with one hundred houses of accursed believers in the transmigration of souls ( tenāsukhi mezhebindén). Yet what beautiful boys and girls they have! And what a climate! Every one of these girls has queenly, gazelle-like, bewitching eyes, which captivate the beholder—an unusual sight.
British Mandate
At the time of the 1922 census of Palestine, Jish had a population of 721–380 Christians and 341 Muslims.Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Safad, p. 41 The Christians were classified as 71% Maronite Church and 29% Greek Catholic (or Melkite).Barron, 1923, Table XVI, p. 51 By the 1931 census, Jish had 182 inhabited houses and a population of 358 Christians and 397 Muslims.Mills, 1932, p. 107
1948 Palestine war
IDF captured Jish on 29 October 1948, during Operation Hiram.Morris, 2004, p. 473 A massacre was perpetrated by Israeli troops.Morris 2004 Historian Saleh Abdel Jawad has estimated "at least 100 fatalities". Historian Benny Morris wrote that "the troops apparently murdered about 10 Moroccan POWs (who had served with the Syrian Army) and a number of civilians, including, apparently, four Maronite Christians, and a woman and her baby."Morris, 2004, p. 481, citing Israeli sources but noting their lack of clarity
Israel
In December 2010, a hiking and bicycle path known as the Coexistence Trail was inaugurated, linking Jish with Dalton, a neighboring Jewish village. 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. Galilee Coexistence Trail Inaugurated, Jerusalem Post
Demographics
Today, 55% of the inhabitants of Jish are Maronite Christians, 10% percent are Melkites and 35% percent are Muslims. The population of the village was .
Geography
Jish is located in Upper Galilee, in the Northern district of Israel. The town is close to Mount Meron, the tallest standing mountain of Galilee. Recently, a new road has connected Jish with the nearby Jewish village of Dalton.
Religious sites and shrines
The tombs of Shmaya and Abtalion, a Zugot who taught in Jerusalem in the early 1st century BCE, are located in Jish.
Archaeology
Eighteen archaeological sites have been excavated to date in Jish and vicinity. Archaeologists have excavated two in use since the Roman and Byzantine periods (3rd to 6th centuries CE). Projects - Preservation One synagogue is located at the top of the village and the other east of it.Conder and HH Kitchener (1881), p. 224 On the remains of the upper synagogue, found by Kitchener of the Palestine Exploration Fund, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church of Mar Boutros was built. Jewish-Christian amulets were discovered nearby.
See also
Bibliography
(1977). 9783920405414, Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. . ISBN 9783920405414
External links
Categories: Official Website, Ancient Synagogues In The Land Of Israel, Arab Christian Communities In Israel, Arab Localities In Israel, Archaeological Sites In Israel, Jewish Pilgrimage Sites, Local Councils In Northern District, Maronite Communities, Melkite Greek Catholic Church In Israel, Ancient Jewish Settlements Of Galilee
|
|
