Al-Nabi Yusha' ( ar, النبي يوشع was a small
Palestinian
Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
village in the
Galilee
Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Galil ...
situated 17 kilometers to the northeast of
Safad
Safed (known in Hebrew as Tzfat; Sephardic Hebrew & Modern Hebrew: צְפַת ''Tsfat'', Ashkenazi Hebrew: ''Tzfas'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Ṣǝp̄aṯ''; ar, صفد, ''Ṣafad''), is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevat ...
, with an elevation of 375 meters above sea level. It became part of the
Palestine Mandate under British control from 1923 until 1948, when it was depopulated during the
1948 Arab-Israeli War
Events January
* January 1
** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated.
** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect.
** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...
. The village was surrounded by forest land overlooking the
Hula Valley
The Hula Valley ( he, עמק החולה, translit. ''Emek Ha-Ḥula''; also transliterated as Huleh Valley, ar, سهل الحولة) is an agricultural region in northern Israel with abundant fresh water, which used to be Lake Hula, prior t ...
.
History
During the late eighteenth century, a family known as ''al-Ghul'' built the shrine for ''Nabi Yusha'' ("Prophet Joshua"), which included a
mosque
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...
and a building for visitors, as an act of devotion. This family, also called the "servants of the shrine," numbered about fifty and were the first to settle the site. They cultivated the surrounding land, and the place subsequently evolved into a village.
[Khalidi, 1992, p. 481]
In 1851/1852
van de Velde noted the
wali
A wali (''wali'' ar, وَلِيّ, '; plural , '), the Arabic word which has been variously translated "master", "authority", "custodian", "protector", is most commonly used by Muslims to indicate an Islamic saint, otherwise referred to by the ...
at Al-Nabi Yusha, with an old
terebinth
''Pistacia terebinthus'' also called the terebinth and the turpentine tree, is a deciduous tree species of the genus ''Pistacia'', native to the Mediterranean region from the western regions of Morocco and Portugal to Greece and western and s ...
tree.
In 1875
Victor Guérin
Victor Guérin (15 September 1821 – 21 Septembe 1890) was a French intellectual, explorer and amateur archaeologist. He published books describing the geography, archeology and history of the areas he explored, which included Greece, Asia Mino ...
arrived at the
Maqam (shrine)
A Maqām ( ar, مقام) is a shrine built on the site associated with a religious figure or saint, typical to the regions of Palestine and Syria. It is usually a funeral construction, commonly cubic-shaped and topped with a dome.
Maqams are as ...
after walking up on a very steep and difficult path from the east. He described the shrine, dedicated by the local
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
s to ''Nabi Yusha, as a building surmounted with two small
cupola
In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome.
The word derives, via Italian, from ...
s.
In 1881, the
PEF's
''Survey of Western Palestine'' (SWP) noted that the "
Metawali
Lebanese Shia Muslims ( ar, المسلمون الشيعة اللبنانيين), historically known as ''matāwila'' ( ar, متاولة, plural of ''mutawālin'' ebanese pronounced as ''metouali'' refers to Lebanese people who are adherents ...
" from nearby
Qadas
Qadas (also Cadasa; ar, قدس) was a Palestinian village located 17 kilometers northeast of Safad that was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. One of seven Shia Muslim villages, called ''Metawalis'', that fell within the boundaries of ...
came to Al-Nabi Yusha' to venerate the name of Joshua.
Pottery from
Rachaya Al Foukhar
Rachaya Al Foukhar (also spelled Rashaya Al Foukhar, ar, راشيا الفخار) is a Lebanese village in the district of Hasbaya in the Nabatiye Governorate in southern Lebanon. It is located on the western slopes of Mount Hermon at an altitu ...
have been found in the village.
British Mandate era
At the end of World War I it was under French control, and the 1920
boundary agreement between Britain and French placed it in Lebanon.
At the time of the census conducted by the French in 1921, the villagers were granted Lebanese citizenship.
However the Boundary Commission established by the 1920 agreement shifted the border, leaving the village in Palestine.
Transfer of control to the British authorities was not complete until 1924.
[Biger, 2004, p]
134
/ref>
During the Mandate period, the British built a police station in the village.[ The people of al-Nabi Yusha', all of whom were Shia Muslims, held an annual ''mawsim'' (pilgrimage) and festival on the fifteenth of the month ]Sha'aban
Shaʽban ( ar, شَعْبَان, ') is the eighth month of the Islamic calendar. It is called as the month of "separation", as the word means "to disperse" or "to separate" because the pagan Arabs used to disperse in search of water.
The fiftee ...
(the eighth month of the Islamic calendar
The Hijri calendar ( ar, ٱلتَّقْوِيم ٱلْهِجْرِيّ, translit=al-taqwīm al-hijrī), also known in English as the Muslim calendar and Islamic calendar, is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or ...
). The ''mawsim'' was similar to that of the Nabi Rubin
Al-Nabi Rubin ( ar, النبي روبين, transliteration: ''an-Nabî Rûbîn'') was a Palestinian village in central Palestine region, what is now Israel, located west of Ramla, Already this year, 1495, Mujir al-Din mentioned it as a place of ...
festival in southern coast of Palestine.[
]
In the 1931 census of Palestine
The 1931 census of Palestine was the second census carried out by the authorities of the British Mandate for Palestine. It was carried out on 18 November 1931 under the direction of Major E. Mills after the 1922 census of Palestine.
* Census of P ...
, the village was home to 52 residents that year (12 households),[Mills, 1932, p]
109
/ref> growing to 70 in the 1945 statistics,[ and 81 (18 households) by 1948 when it was depopulated. The village occupied an area of 3,617 dunams, all private except for a dunam of public property.][ In 1944–45 the village had 640 dunams of land used for cereals,][Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p]
120
/ref> while 16 dunams was built-up (urban) area.
1948 war, and aftermath
Al-Nabi Yusha' was depopulated on May 16, in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
Events January
* January 1
** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated.
** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect.
** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...
during Operation Yiftach
Operation Yiftach ( he, מבצע יפתח, ''Mivtza Yiftah'') was a Palmach offensive carried out between 28 April and 23 May 1948. The objectives were to capture Safed and to secure the eastern Galilee before the British Mandate ended on 14 May ...
led by Israeli army officer Yigal Allon
Yigal Allon ( he, יגאל אלון; 10 October 1918 – 29 February 1980) was an Israeli politician, commander of the Palmach, and general in the Israel Defense Forces, IDF. He served as one of the leaders of Ahdut HaAvoda party and the Labor P ...
who later became a key Israeli figure. An early attempt to take the village by Haganah
Haganah ( he, הַהֲגָנָה, lit. ''The Defence'') was the main Zionist paramilitary organization of the Jewish population ("Yishuv") in Mandatory Palestine between 1920 and its disestablishment in 1948, when it became the core of the ...
forces during the operation ended in the deaths of 22 Haganah fighters, who had their corpses reportedly decapitated
Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the au ...
by the Arab forces.
Most of its residents ended up in refugee camps in Lebanon and Syria. In 1998, the descendants of al-Nabi Yusha' refugees were estimated at 499.
The Israeli moshav Ramot Naftali
Ramot Naftali ( he, רָמוֹת נַפְתָּלִי) is a moshav in northern Israel. Located in the Upper Galilee near the Lebanese border, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mevo'ot HaHermon Regional Council. In it had a population of .
The ...
was established in 1945 south of the village, and since 1948 includes Al-Nabi Yusha' land. It is located close to the border between Al-Nabi Yusha' and the lands of Mallaha
Mallaha ( ar, ملاّحة) was a Palestinian Arab village, located northeast of Safed, on the highway between the latter and Tiberias. 'Ain Mallaha is the local Arabic name for a spring that served as the water source for the village inhabitan ...
.[
The Palestinian historian ]Walid Khalidi
Walid Khalidi ( ar, وليد خالدي, born 1925 in Jerusalem) is an Oxford University-educated Palestinian people, Palestinian historian who has written extensively on the 1948 Palestinian exodus, Palestinian exodus. He is a co-founder of the ...
described the village remains in 1992 as: "The site has been fenced in with barbed wire and is buried under rubble, making access difficult. However, some evidence of the village remains: fragments of houses, tombs in the village's cemetery, and the shrine of al-Nabi Yusha'. The two domes and arched entrance of the main part of the shrine are still intact, but the thick stone walls of the rooms attached to it are broken and the entire complex of buildings is neglected; weeds sprouts from the roof. The village site is surrounded by fig trees and cactuses. The flat lands around the site are planted by Israeli farmers with apple trees, while the sloping parts are wooded or used as pasture."
The Nabi Yusha shrine
The shrine was surveyed by the British School of Archaeology in 1994, who described it as rectangular structure formed around a courtyard
A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky.
Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary ...
, aligned north-south, which was entered through a gateway on the north end. The principal rooms were at the south end of the courtyard, with two major dome
A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...
d chambers, of which the west chamber was found to be the oldest in the whole shrine complex.
Alternative traditional sites for the Prophet's tomb are situated in Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
(the shrine on Joshua's Hill
Joshua's Hill ( tr, Yuşa Tepesi or Hazreti Yuşa Tepesi), a hill located on the Anatolian shore of Bosporus in Beykoz district of Istanbul, Turkey is a shrine containing a mosque and a tomb dedicated to Yusha ( tr, Hazreti Yuşa). The sacred p ...
, Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
), Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
(An-Nabi Yusha' bin Noon, a Sunni shrine
A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy sacred space, space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor worship, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, Daemon (mythology), daem ...
near the city of Al-Salt
Al-Salt ( ar, السلط ''As-Salt'') is an ancient salt trading city and administrative centre in west-central Jordan. It is on the old main highway leading from Amman to Jerusalem. Situated in the Balqa highland, about 790–1,100 metres ...
[Mazar Hazrat Yusha' bin Noon, on the website of the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada]
/ref>[Tomb of Prophet Yusha' (photo of the tomb; Islamic view on Prophet Yusha'/Joshua]
/ref>) and Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
(the Nabi Yusha' shrine of Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
).
See also
* Depopulated Palestinian locations in Israel
*Metzudat Koach
Metzudat Koach ( he, מצודת כ"ח) (also Nabi Yusha fort) is a British Mandate police fort built during the 1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine. On the grounds of the fort are a memorial monument and a museum founded in 2014. The Metzud ...
*Metawali
Lebanese Shia Muslims ( ar, المسلمون الشيعة اللبنانيين), historically known as ''matāwila'' ( ar, متاولة, plural of ''mutawālin'' ebanese pronounced as ''metouali'' refers to Lebanese people who are adherents ...
*Shia villages in Palestine
From 1923 to 1948, there were seven villages in Mandatory Palestine for which the population was predominantly Shia Islam, Shia Muslim (of Metawali creed). They were Tarbikha, Saliha, Al-Malkiyya, Malkiyeh, Al-Nabi Yusha', Nabi Yusha, Qadas, Hu ...
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*Lamb, Franklin
Completing The Task Of Evicting Israel From Lebanon
2009-06-02
*
*
*
*
* al-Qawuqji, F. (1972)
Memoirs of al-Qawuqji, Fauzi
in ''Journal of Palestine Studies
The ''Journal of Palestine Studies (JPS)'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal established in 1971. It is published by Taylor and Francis on behalf of the Institute for Palestine Studies, having previously been published by the University ...
''
"Memoirs, 1948, Part I" in 1, no. 4 (Sum. 72): 27-58.
dpf-file, downloadable
"Memoirs, 1948, Part II" in 2, no. 1 (Aut. 72): 3-33.
dpf-file, downloadable
*
*
External links
Palestine Remembered
al-Nabi Yusha'
Zochrot
Zochrot ( he, זוכרות; "Remembering"; ar, ذاكرات; "Memories") is an Israeli nonprofit organization founded in 2002. Based in Tel Aviv, its aim is to promote awareness of the Palestinian ''Nakba'' ("Catastrophe"), including the 1948 Pa ...
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 4
IAA
SWP Wikimedia commons
at Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center
Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center () is a leading Palestinian arts and culture organization that aims to create a pluralistic, critical liberating culture through research, query, and participation, and that provides an open space for the community ...
Al-Nabi Yusha'
Dr. Khalil Rizk.
UN map of the 1947 plan
The Destroyed Palestinian Villages on Google Earth
{{Palestinian Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Palestine War
District of Safad
Islamic shrines in Israel
Tegart forts
Shia shrines
Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War