Mallaha

{{Main article|Ain Mallaha}}

Evidence of settlement at Mallaha (or 'Ain Mallaha) dates back to the Mesolithic period circa 10,000 BCE.Schmandt-Besserat, 2009, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=LMY-ISqnT8MC&pg=PA47 47] The first permanent village settlement of pre-agricultural times in Palestine, Kathleen Kenyon describes the material remains found there as Natufian, consisting of 50 circular, semi-subterranean, one-room huts, paved with flat slabs and surrounded by stone walls up to {{convert|1.2|m|ft|sp=us}} high.Kenyon, 1985, p. 20.Kipfer, 2013, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=BDKqBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA357 357] The floors and walls of the homes were decorated in solid white or red, a simple and popular decorative motif in the Near East at the time. The inhabitants appear to have subsisted on fish from nearby Lake Hula, as well as by hunting and gathering; no evidence of animal domestication or cultivation has been found,Edwards et al., 1970, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=azrzAAAAMAAJ&q=Mallaha 499] with the exception of dogs: the burial of a human being with a domestic dog at the site represents the earliest known archaeological evidence of dog domestication.Davis, S.J.M. and Valla, F.R. 1978. Evidence for the domestication of the dog 12,000 years ago in the Natufian of Israel. Nature 276, 608-10.

During the Crusader era, the Franks referred to Mallaha as Merla.Lyon and Jackson, 1984, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=kRF1F3wK26YC&pg=PA430 430] Ibn al-Qalanisi describes a battle that took place at Mallaha in June 1157 between the Arab and Turkish forces of Nur ad-Din Zangi and those of the Crusaders under King Baldwin III.Maalouf, 1987, pp.143-158 cited in Khalidi, 1992, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=_By7AAAAIAAJ&q=Mallaha 472] Qalanisi writes that Nur ad-Din sent his troops to Mallaha immediately after learning via pigeon post that the Franks had set up an encampment there. The battle, as described by Qalanisi, was bloody and quick, resulting in decisive victory for the Muslim forces, who are reported to have lost only two men,Gabrieli, 2009, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=amWLAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA40 40]{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}-41 with the king narrowly escaping with a bodyguard.Dabbagh, pp.165-166 cited in Khalidi, 1992, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=_By7AAAAIAAJ&q=Mallaha 472] The battles for control over Mallaha continued. The Itinerary of Richard I notes that the army had advanced to Merla, "where the king had spent one of the previous nights."

Just SE of Mallaha (at grid 2071/2737), excavations have revealed structures, probably dating to thirteenth or fourteenth century, that is after the area fell to Mamluk sultan Baybars. The structures have been assumed to belong to a sugar-producing installation.Pringle, 1997, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=-_NbE5obqRMC&pg=PA108 108]-9

Mallaha, like most of Palestine, was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in the early sixteenth century. Sufi traveller al-Bakri al-Siddiqi passed by the village in the mid-eighteenth century.{{dubious|Mistake? Not Mustafa al-Bakri al-Siddiqi in mid-C18, a Sufi of this name died already in 1709, but maybe Mustafa ibn Kamal al-Din al-Bakri (d. 1748), Syrian Sufi teacher active in Jerusalem, short stay in Cairo; likely time: "first third C18" – see Khalidi p. XXII!|date=July 2015}}

Johann Ludwig Burckhardt travelled in the region during the start of the nineteenth century,Burckhardt, 1822, p. [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.22956/page/n352 316] but according to Edward Robinson, who travelled there in 1838, Burckhardt mislabeled the whole S.W. coast of the lake as el-Mellahah. Robinson observed that Ain el-Mallaha lay northwest of Lake Hula, and was "a single large fountain." Nearby was "usually a large encampment of the Ghawarineh in tents and reed huts."Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/341/mode/1up 341]

In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Ain el Mellahahmeaning "Spring of the sweetened water" according to Palmer, 1881, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp00conduoft#page/64/mode/1up 64] as a "very large perennial spring, flowing in a long stream from the base of the mountain; at once turns a mill, and forms almost a small river."Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp01conduoft#page/213/mode/1up 213]

File:ירושלים - כפר מלחה - נוף מלחה-JNF043318.jpeg

During the British Mandate times, Mallaha had a roughly rectangular configuration that stretched from north to south. The population lived mostly of agriculture.Khalidi, 1992, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=_By7AAAAIAAJ&q=Mallaha 472] In the 1922 census of Palestine, Mallaha had a population of 440, all Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Safad, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n44/mode/1up 42] increasing in the 1931 census to a population of 654, still all Muslims, in 161 houses.Mills, 1932, p. [https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas 108]

The population, combined with that of 'Arab al-Zubayd, came to 890 Muslims in the 1945 statistics, with a total of 2,168 dunams of land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. [http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VSpages/VS1945_p10.jpg 10]Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/Safad/Page-070.jpg 70] In 1944/45 a total of 1,761 dunums were used for cereals by the villagers,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20II/Safad/Page-119.jpg 119] while 20 dunams were classifies as built-up land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20III/Safad/Page-169.jpg 169]

File:Qadas.jpg

On 25 May 1948 the villagers left their homes on the advice of their Jewish neighbours. This was part of a "whispering campaign" launched by the Haganah following Operation Yiftach.Morris, 1987, p. 123Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA251 251]; note 707note 707: Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA303 303]

According to the Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi, describing the remains of the village in 1992: "The sandy hill on which the village was situated is completely overgrown with tall grass, cactuses, and weeds, as well as an assortment of fig, eucalyptus, and date-palm trees. Amidst the overgrowth, stone rubble from destroyed houses can be seen. The surrounding land is cultivated by the settlement of Yesud ha-Ma'ala.

A village history was published in Damascus in 2005.'Abd al-'Aal, 2005, Judhur wa furu' Filastiniyya min al-Mallaha According to a commentator on Palestinian village history, Rochelle A. Davis, this history is especially notable due to the prominent role women are given in describing village life. Davis believes this might be because the villagers belonged to the Ghawarneh group, where women traditionally took more prominent roles.Davis, 2011, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=wlKjZwMwz0wC&pg=PA108 108]

• Depopulated Palestinian locations in Israel
• Al-Mansura
• Al-Salihiyya

{{Reflist|25em}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book |title=Judhur wa furu' Filastiniyya min al-Mallaha [Palestinian roots and branches from Mallala]|first=Yusif 'Ali|last='Abd al-'Aal|publisher= Damascus, Syria: Dar al-Umma lil-Tiba' wal-Nashr wal-Tawzi'|year=2005}}
• {{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|title= Travels in Syria and the Holy Land |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.22956 |first=J.L.| last= Burckhardt |author-link=Johann Ludwig Burckhardt|year=1822|publisher=J. Murray}}
• {{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 |title=Palestinian Village Histories: Geographies of the Displaced|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wlKjZwMwz0wC |first=Rochelle A.|last=Davis|publisher=Stanford University Press, Stanford, California|year=2011|isbn=978-0-8047-7312-6}}
• {{cite book |title=The Cambridge Ancient History: Prolegomena and Prehistory, Vol 1/Part 1|url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgeancient05camb|url-access=registration|first1=I.E.S.|last1=Edwards|author-link1=I. E. S. Edwards|first2=Cyril John|last2=Gadd|first3=N.G.L. |author-link3=N. G. L. Hammond|last3=Hammond|first4=J.|last4=Boardman |author-link4=John Boardman (art historian)|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-521-07051-5}}
• {{cite book|title=Arab Historians of the Crusades|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=amWLAgAAQBAJ|first=F.|last=Gabrieli|author-link=Francesco Gabrieli|publisher=Routledge|year=2009|isbn=978-1135176075}}{{Dead link|date=May 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
• {{cite book|title=Village Statistics, April, 1945 |url=http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nli/Hebrew/library/Pages/BookReader.aspx?pid=856390|author=Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics|year=1945}}
• {{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|access-date=2015-01-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181208215837/http://www.palestineremembered.com/Articles/General-2/Story3150.html|archive-date=2018-12-08|url-status=dead}}
• {{cite book |title=Archaeology in the Holy Land|author-link=Kathleen Mary Kenyon|first=K.|last=Kenyon|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=1985|isbn=0-416-36490-X}}
• {{cite book|title=All That Remains:The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_By7AAAAIAAJ |first=W.|last=Khalidi|author-link=Walid Khalidi|year=1992|location=Washington D.C.|publisher=Institute for Palestine Studies|isbn=0-88728-224-5}}
• {{cite book|title=Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BDKqBgAAQBAJ |first1=B.A.|last1=Kipfer|author-link=Barbara Ann Kipfer |publisher=Springer|year=2013|isbn=978-1475751338}}
• {{cite book|title=Saladin: The Politics of the Holy War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kRF1F3wK26YC |first1=Malcolm Cameron|last1=Lyons|first2=David Edward Pritchett|last2=Jackson|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1984|isbn=0-521-31739-8}}
• {{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 book|title=The Birth of the Palestinian refugee problem, 1947-1949|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lP7MRAAACAAJ |author-link=Benny Morris|first=B.|last=Morris|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1987|isbn= 0-521-33028-9}}
• {{cite book|title=The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C |author-link=Benny Morris|first=B.|last=Morris|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2004|isbn=0-521-00967-7}}
• {{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 book|title= Secular buildings in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: an archaeological Gazetter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-_NbE5obqRMC|last= Pringle |first= D.|author-link=Denys Pringle|year=1997|isbn=0521-46010-7|publisher=Cambridge University Press}}
• {{cite book|last1=Robinson|first1=E.|author-link1=Edward Robinson (scholar)|last2=Smith|first2=E.|author-link2=Eli Smith|year=1841|url=https://archive.org/details/biblicalresearch03robiuoft |title=Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838 |location=Boston|publisher=Crocker & Brewster|volume=3}}
• {{cite book|title=When Writing Met Art: From Symbol to Story|first=D.|last=Schmandt-Besserat|author-link=Denise Schmandt-Besserat |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LMY-ISqnT8MC |publisher=University of Texas Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0292774872}}

{{refend}}

• [http://www.palestineremembered.com/Safad/Mallaha/index.html Welcome to Mallaha]
• [https://www.zochrot.org/en/village/49259 Mallaha], Zochrot
• [http://www.villagesofpalestine.com/AlMallaha.htm Al-Mallaha], Dr. Khalil Rizk
• Survey of Western Palestine, map 4: [http://www.iaa-archives.org.il/zoom/zoom.aspx?folder_id=93&type_id=6&id=8367 IAA], [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Survey_of_Western_Palestine_1880.04.jpg Wikimedia commons]
• [http://www.alnakba.org/villages/safad/mallaha.htm Mallaha], from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center

{{Palestinian Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Palestine War}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War

Category:District of Safad

Category:Hula Valley