Manasseh Hills

The hill country of Manasseh or Manasseh hill country, sometimes fully capitalised,{{cite book |last= Zertal |first= Adam |author-link= Adam Zertal |title= The Manasseh Hill Country Survey: The Shechem Syncline |publisher= BRILL |series= The Manasseh Hill Country Survey|volume=1 |year= 2004 |isbn= 9789004137561 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Vt-IvRhCEyYC |access-date= 12 July 2021}} is named for its location within the allotment of the biblical Tribe of Manasseh, itself named after its biblical forefather, Manasseh or Manasses.

During the Ottoman Period, the Menashe Hills formed part of Turabay Emirate (1517-1683), which encompassed also the Jezreel Valley, Haifa, Jenin, Beit She'an Valley, Mount Carmel, northern Jabal Nablus, and the northern part of the Sharon plain.{{Cite web |last1=al-Bakhīt |first1=Muḥammad ʻAdnān |last2=al-Ḥamūd |first2=Nūfān Rajā |title=Daftar mufaṣṣal nāḥiyat Marj Banī ʻĀmir wa-tawābiʻihā wa-lawāḥiqihā allatī kānat fī taṣarruf al-Amīr Ṭarah Bāy sanat 945 ah |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/28579982 |access-date=2023-05-15 |website=www.worldcat.org |publisher=Jordanian University |pages=1–35 |language=en |publication-place=Amman |publication-date=1989}}{{Cite journal |last1=Marom |first1=Roy |last2=Tepper |first2=Yotam |last3=Adams |first3=Matthew J. |date=2023 |title=Lajjun: Forgotten Provincial Capital in Ottoman Palestine |url=https://www.academia.edu/101515579 |journal=Levant |volume=55 |issue=2 |pages=218–241 |doi=10.1080/00758914.2023.2202484}}

During the late Ottoman period, the largest dispersal in the Mannaseh Hills was of people from Egypt, with another significant group being those from Hebron (Khalilia). These migrants likely settled in the area following the withdrawal of Ibrahim Pasha's forces and sustained themselves through vassalship in the local effendi communities or by residing in temporary or seasonal hamlets. Despite this immigration, the area was not very populated.{{Cite book |last=Grossman |first=David |title=Arab Demography and Early Jewish Settlement in Palestine: Distribution and Population Density during the Late Ottoman and Early Mandate Periods |publisher=The Hebrew University Magness Press, Jerusalem |year=2004 |isbn=978-965-493-184-7 |location=Jerusalem |pages=159 |language=he}}

File:PikiWiki Israel 17346 Plants of Israel.jpg

While Manasseh hill country (Ramat Menashe) is part of the mountain range, it is just 200 m above sea level on average, and peaks at 400 m. The plateau is bordered by the Jezreel Valley to the northeast, Wadi Milh (the Yokne'am Stream{{cite book |last= Benvenisti |first= Meron |author-link= Meron Benvenisti |title= Sacred Landscape: The Buried History of the Holy Land since 1948 |page= 52 |publisher= University of California Press |year= 2000 |isbn= 9780520928824 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=7itq6zYtSJwC&pg=PA52 |access-date= 12 July 2021}}) to the northwest, Wadi Ara to the southeast, and the Nadiv Valley to the southwest.{{Cite encyclopedia |author=Zev Vilnay |author-link=Zev Vilnay |title= Ramat Menashe |encyclopedia= Ariel Encyclopedia |volume= 8 |page= 7585 |publisher= Am Oved |location= Israel |year= 1980 |language= he}}

The Manasseh Hill Country , known in Hebrew as Ramot Menashe, was officially added to UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserves in 2011. The region was credited with encompassing "a mosaic of ecological systems that represent the Mediterranean Basin's version of the global evergreen sclerophyllous forests, woodlands and scrub ecosystem types."{{cite news|last=Rinat|first=Zafrir|title=UNESCO recognizes Ramot Menashe area as 'Biosphere Reserve'|url=http://www.haaretz.com/unesco-recognizes-ramot-menashe-area-as-biosphere-reserve-1.371300|accessdate=5 July 2011|newspaper=Haaretz|date=4 July 2011|quote=Efforts to preserve nature and open spaces in Israel enjoyed yesterday international recognition, with UNESCO affording the area of Ramot Menashe the title of "Biosphere Reserve," adding it to the organization's Man and the Biosphere program.}}

A 2,500 ha tract of agricultural country with oak trees, on the western slopes of Mount Carmel, some 5 km from the coast, has been recognised as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports a population of lesser kestrels, with some 40 breeding pairs estimated in 1991.{{cite web |url=http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/ramot-menashe-iba-israel|title= Ramot Menashe|author= |date=2021|website= BirdLife Data Zone|publisher= BirdLife International|access-date= 23 February 2021}}

Localities in Ramot Menashe include

• Dalia, a kibbutz
• Ein HaEmek, a community settlement
• Ein HaShofet, a kibbutz
• Gal'ed, a kibbutz
• Ramat HaShofet, a kibbutz
• Ramot Menashe, a kibbutz

• Geography of Israel

{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Coord|32|35|N|35|8|E|display=title}}

Category:Biosphere reserves of Israel

Category:Regions of Israel

Category:Geography of Israel

Category:Important Bird Areas of Israel