Isfiya

Isfiya was built on the ruins of an ancient settlement. A building, dating from the second–fourth centuries CE has been excavated, together with ceramics and coins dating from the period.Oren, 2008, [http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=967&mag_id=114 'Isfiya]

File:Huseifa hoard - Tyrian shekels (3).JPG

In 1930, remains of a 5th-century Jewish town, Husifah or Huseifa, were unearthed in Isfiya.{{cite web|url=http://www.smoe.org/arcana/diss5.html|title=Astrology and Judaism in Late Antiquity}} Among the finds are a synagogue with a mosaic floor bearing Jewish symbols and the inscription "Peace upon Israel".Avi-Yonah and Makhouly, 1934, pp. [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.56293/page/n196/mode/1up 118–131] A cache of 4,500 gold coins were found dating from the Roman period.[https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Society_&_Culture/druze.html Druze] Jewish Virtual Library

A rock-cut burial cave containing pottery coffins, eight ossuaries, numerous oil lamps, as well as pottery, glass vessels, and several bronze objects was unearthed on HaHoresh Street. One of the ossuaries bears a Greek inscription indicating it belongs to Maia, the daughter or wife of a man named Saul.{{Citation |title=CXI. Ḥusifa (mod. ʿIsfiya) |date=2023-03-20 |work=Volume 5/Part 1 Galilaea and Northern Regions: 5876-6924 |pages=1002–1007 |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110715774-119/html |access-date=2024-02-07 |publisher=De Gruyter |language=en |doi=10.1515/9783110715774-119 |isbn=978-3-11-071577-4|url-access=subscription }}

Crusader remnants have been found in the village. Isfiya was mentioned as part of the domain of the Sultan during the hudna between the Crusaders based in Acre and the Mamluk sultan al-Mansur (Qalawun) declared in 1283.{{cite news |author= Dan Barag |title= A new source concerning the ultimate borders of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem |journal= Israel Exploration Journal |volume= 29 |year= 1979 |pages= 197–217}}

The Druze came to the village in the early eighteenth century. The inhabitants made their living from olive oil, honey and grapes.

Isfiya was one of only two villages remaining on Mount Carmel after the expulsion of Ibrahim Pasha in 1841. Seventeen other villages disappeared. The village's survival was attributed partly to "the exceptional valour" of the inhabitants, partly to buying protection from a local Galilee chief, Aqil Agha.Tristram, 1865, p. [https://archive.org/stream/landisraelajour01trisgoog#page/n160/mode/1up 112]

In 1859, the English consul Rogers estimated the population to be 400, who cultivated 20 feddans of land.Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp01conduoft#page/282/mode/1up 282] In 1863, H.B. Tristram visited the village, which he described as Druze and Christian, with a Christian sheikh.Tristram, 1865, pp [https://archive.org/stream/landisraelajour01trisgoog#page/n159/mode/1up 111]- [https://archive.org/stream/landisraelajour01trisgoog#page/n162/mode/1up 114] Tristam noted that the women's clothing in this village were much like those of al-Bassa, being either "plain, patched or embroidered in the most fantastic and grotesque shapes".Weir, 1989, p. 80, citing Tristram, 1865, p. [https://archive.org/stream/landisraelajour01trisgoog#page/n116/mode/1up 68] In 1870, the French explorer Victor Guérin found that the village had six hundred inhabitants, almost all Druze, with the exception of sixty, who belonged to the "Schismatic Greeks". Gardens were grown all around the village. Some houses seemed very old and dated, Guérin surmised, from the Middle Ages or even earlier, from the time of the Crusades.Guérin, 1875, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongogr04gugoog#page/n273/mode/1up 248]-249

In 1881 the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described it as standing "on the highest part of the Carmel watershed, and the highest house was therefore the trigonometrical station on the ridge. It is a moderate-sized village of stone houses, with a well on the south-west. The inhabitants are all Druses. [..] Corn-land and olives surround the land."Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp01conduoft#page/281/mode/1up 281] -282 A population list from about 1887 showed that Isfiya had about 555 inhabitants; 480 Druze and 75 Catholic Christians.Schumacher, 1888, p. [https://archive.org/stream/quarterlystateme19pale#page/n203/mode/1up 178] When a Jewish moshava was established at Mutallah (Metula) north of Safed in 1896, the Druze population resisted eviction until receiving a reasonable compensation in 1904;{{cite book |last= Avneri |first= Arieh L. |title= The Claim of Dispossession: Jewish Land-settlement and the Arabs, 1878-1948 |pages= 96–98 |year= 1984 |publisher= Transaction Publishers |isbn= 0-87855-964-7 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=8Teb4dKHQcoC&pg=PA96 |access-date= 2 March 2021}} some relocated to Isfiya, including the Wahb family.Falah 1975, p. 45.

File:Isafiya old city - panoramio.jpg

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Isfiya had a population of 733; 590 Druze, 17 Muslims and 126 Christians;Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-District of Haifa, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n35/mode/1up 33] the Christians broken down by denomination were six Orthodox, six Roman Catholics, 107 Greek Catholics (Melkites), and seven Maronites.Barron, 1923, Table XVI, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n51/mode/1up 49] At the time of the 1931 census, Isfiya had 251 occupied houses and a population of 742 Druzes, 187 Christians, and 176 Muslims; a total of 1,105. These counts included the smaller localities Damun Farm, Shallala Farm and al-Jalama.Mills, 1932, p. [https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas 92]

In the 1945 statistics the population of Isfiya consisted of 1,790; 180 Muslims, 300 Christians and 1,310 classified as "others", that is, Druze,Department of Statistics, 1945, p. [http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VSpages/VS1945_p14.jpg 14] while the land area was 46,905 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/Haifa/Page-048.jpg 48] Of this, 1,103 dunams were designated for plantations and irrigable land, 17,357 for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20II/Haifa/Page-090.jpg 90] while 74 dunams were built-up (urban) areas.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20III/Haifa/Page-140.jpg 140]

During the 1936-39 Arab revolt in Palestine, the villagers initially supported a local rebel group led by Yusuf Abu Durra. However, after local leaders were abducted and murdered, the notables turned to the British, who destroyed the group. A Druze self-defense force was established that received arms from the British and sometimes coordinated its activities with local Jewish forces.[http://surj.stanford.edu/2005/pdfs/Adi.pdf] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100711113709/http://surj.stanford.edu/2005/pdfs/Adi.pdf|date=July 11, 2010}}

Though Isfiya is predominantly Druze, a number of Jews also live there and in other Druze villages due to their low rent rates.{{cite web|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/142435|title=Jews Moving to Druze Villages|work=Arutz Sheva|date=21 February 2011 }}

Isfiya has a mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: Csa). The average annual temperature is {{convert|18.7|°C|1}}, and around {{convert|689|mm|2|abbr=on}} of precipitation falls annually.

{{Weather box

|width = auto

|location = Isfiya

|metric first = Y

|single line = Y

|Jan high C = 14.8

|Feb high C = 15.5

|Mar high C = 17.7

|Apr high C = 21.6

|May high C = 26.2

|Jun high C = 28.2

|Jul high C = 29.5

|Aug high C = 30.1

|Sep high C = 28.6

|Oct high C = 26.8

|Nov high C = 22.6

|Dec high C = 17.1

|Jan mean C = 11.3

|Feb mean C = 11.8

|Mar mean C = 13.2

|Apr mean C = 16.3

|May mean C = 20.6

|Jun mean C = 23.1

|Jul mean C = 24.8

|Aug mean C = 25.4

|Sep mean C = 24

|Oct mean C = 21.9

|Nov mean C = 18.1

|Dec mean C = 13.4

|Jan low C = 7.8

|Feb low C = 8.2

|Mar low C = 8.8

|Apr low C = 11.1

|May low C = 15.1

|Jun low C = 18.1

|Jul low C = 20.1

|Aug low C = 20.8

|Sep low C = 19.5

|Oct low C = 17.1

|Nov low C = 13.7

|Dec low C = 9.8

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm = 184

|Feb precipitation mm = 128

|Mar precipitation mm = 79

|Apr precipitation mm = 26

|May precipitation mm = 8

|Jun precipitation mm = 0

|Jul precipitation mm = 0

|Aug precipitation mm = 0

|Sep precipitation mm = 2

|Oct precipitation mm = 20

|Nov precipitation mm = 91

|Dec precipitation mm = 151

|year precipitation mm= 689

|source = {{cite web

|url = https://en.climate-data.org/asia/israel/haifa-district/isfiya-202118/

|title = Climate: Isfiya

|date = September 2019}}

}}

File:PikiWiki Israel 70263 usfia.jpg

77.1% of the population is Druze, 13.6% is Christian and 9.1% is Muslim. A few Jewish families also live there.{{cite web|url=https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/DocLib/2018/local_authorities16_1722/708_0534.pdf|title=Isfiya Municipal Profile|publisher=Israel Central Bureau of Statistics|year=2016}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.galil.gov.il/?s=3806|title=הרשות לפיתוח הגליל - בואו להכיר את עוספיא|website=www.galil.gov.il|access-date=2017-02-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616153623/http://www.galil.gov.il/?s=3806|archive-date=2018-06-16|url-status=dead}} The Christian population is mostly Melkite Catholic, with a few Maronite households.

The tomb of Abu Abdallah is located in Isfiya. Abu Abdullah was one of three religious leaders chosen by Caliph Al-Hakem in 996 CE to proclaim the Druze faith. He is said to have been the first Druze religious judge (qadi). The Druze make an annual visit to this shrine on November 15.[http://www.tourism.gov.il/Tourism_Euk/Tourist+Information/Ethnic+Groups/Druze/The+Abu+Abdullah+Shrine+in+Isfiya.htm The Abu Abdullah Shrine in Isfiya] Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Isfiya and Daliyat al-Karmel joined Yokneam Illit and the Megiddo Regional Council to develop the Mevo Carmel Jewish-Arab Industrial Park{{cite web|url=http://mevoe-carmel.co.il/|title=מבוא כרמל}} to benefit from the existing high-tech ecosystem.{{cite web|title=Mevo Carmel|url=http://www.cjaed.org.il/Index.asp?CategoryID=58&ArticleID=42|publisher=The Center for Jewish - Arab Economic Development|access-date=3 March 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140801024334/http://cjaed.org.il/Index.asp?CategoryID=58&ArticleID=42|archive-date=1 August 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://www.jasmine.org.il/?page_id%3D1693%26lang%3Den |title=Small Business Incubator for "Green" Businesses Mevo Carmel - Joint Jewish-Arab Employment Zone | יסמין | יזמות נשים |access-date=2014-04-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006102920/http://www.jasmine.org.il/?page_id=1693&lang=en |archive-date=2014-10-06 }}

The economy of Isfiya is consistently growing as more tourists are visiting regularly, and more businesses are being opened.

• Zeidan Atashi
• Reda Mansour
• Elias Tony Absawy
• Hiyam Qablan

• Arab localities in Israel
• Druze in Israel
• Zodiac mosaics in ancient synagogues

{{reflist|25em}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite journal | last1 =Avi-Yonah|first1=M.|author-link= Michael Avi-Yonah | last2 =Makhouly|first2=N.| title = A sixth-century synagogue at 'Isfiya|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.56293 |journal = Quarterly of the Department of Antiquities in Palestine| volume = 3 | year = 1934 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.56293/page/n186 118]–131}}
• {{cite journal | author = Barag, Dan | title = A new source concerning the ultimate borders of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem | journal = Israel Exploration Journal | volume = 29 | year = 1979 | pages = 197–217}}
• {{cite book | editor =Barron, J.B. | title = Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922 |url=https://archive.org/details/PalestineCensus1922 |publisher = Government of Palestine | year = 1923}}
• {{cite book|last1=Conder|first1=C.R.|author-link1=Claude Reignier Conder|last2=Kitchener|first2=H.H.|author-link2=Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener|year=1881|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp01conduoft|title=The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology|location=London|publisher=Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund|volume=1}}
• {{cite book |last1=Falah |first1=Salman |editor1-last=Maoz |editor1-first=Moshe |title=Studies on Palestine during the Ottoman Period |date=1975 |publisher=Magnes Press |location=Jerusalem |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DoJtAAAAMAAJ |chapter=A History of the Druze Settlements in Palestine during the Ottoman Period|isbn=9789652235893 }}
• {{cite book|title=Village Statistics, April, 1945 |url=http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nli/Hebrew/library/Pages/BookReader.aspx?pid=856390|author=Department of Statistics|year=1945|publisher=Government of Palestine}}
• {{cite book|last=Guérin|first=V.|author-link=Victor Guérin|title=Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine|url=https://archive.org/details/descriptiongogr04gugoog|volume=2: Samarie, pt. 2|year=1875|publisher= L'Imprimerie Nationale|location=Paris|language=fr}}
• {{cite book|title=Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine|url=http://www.palestineremembered.com/Articles/General-2/Story3150.html|first=S.|last=Hadawi|author-link=Sami Hadawi|year=1970|publisher=Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center}}
• {{cite book | editor = Mills, E. | title = Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas |url=https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas | publisher = Government of Palestine | location = Jerusalem | year = 1932}}
• {{cite journal|last=Oren|first= Eliran |date=2008-12-04|url=http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=967&mag_id=114 |title='Isfiya|publisher=Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel|number=120}}
• {{cite book|last=Palmer|first=E.H.|author-link=Edward Henry Palmer|year=1881|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp00conduoft|title=The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer|publisher=Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund}}
• {{cite journal | last = Schumacher | first =G.| author-link = Gottlieb Schumacher | title = Population list of the Liwa of Akka | journal = Quarterly Statement - Palestine Exploration Fund | volume = 20 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/quarterlystateme19pale/page/169 169]–191 | url =https://archive.org/details/quarterlystateme19pale | year = 1888}}
• {{cite book|last=Tristram|first=H.B. |author-link=Henry Baker Tristram|year=1865|url=https://archive.org/details/landisraelajour01trisgoog|title= Land of Israel, A Journal of travel in Palestine, undertaken with special reference to its physical character|location=London|publisher=Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge}}
• {{cite book|last=Weir|first=Shelagh|year=1989|title= Palestinian Costume|publisher=British Museum Publications Ltd|isbn=0-7141-2517-2}}

{{refend}}

• [http://www.palestineremembered.com/GeoPoints/_Isfiya_1522/index.html Welcome To 'Isfiya]
• Survey of Western Palestine, Map 5: [http://www.iaa-archives.org.il/zoom/zoom.aspx?folder_id=93&type_id=6&id=8368 IAA], [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Survey_of_Western_Palestine_1880.05.jpg Wikimedia commons]

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{{Haifa District}}

Category:Arab localities in Israel

Category:Druze communities in Israel

Category:Arab Christian communities in Israel

Category:Local councils in Haifa District

Category:Mount Carmel