Ein Hod ( he, עֵין הוֹד) is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

Haifa District Haifa District ( he, מחוז חיפה, ''Mehoz Ḥeifa''; ar, منطقة حيفا) is an administrative district surrounding the city of Haifa, Israel. The district is one of the seven administrative districts of Israel, and its capital is Ha ...

in northern

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. Located at the foot of Mount Carmel and southeast of

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

, it falls under the jurisdiction of

Hof HaCarmel Regional Council Hof HaCarmel Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית חוף הכרמל, ''Mo'atza Azorit Hof ha-Karmel'', ''lit.'' Carmel Coast Regional Council) is a regional council located in the northern Israeli coastal plain. The council serves a large ...

and has the status of

community settlement A community settlement ( he, יישוב קהילתי, ''Yishuv Kehilati'') is a type of village in Israel and the West Bank. While in an ordinary town anyone may buy property, in a community settlement the village's residents are organized in ...

. In it had a population of . The village is situated on a hillside amidst olive groves, with a view of the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

. Prior to the 1948 Arab–Israeli War Ein Hod was the site of the

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 of Ein Hawd. Most of the Arab inhabitants were expelled during the war, however some remained in the area and settled nearby, forming a new village, also by the name of

Ein Hawd Ein Hawd ( ar, عين حوض; he, עין חוד) is an Arab village in northern Israel. Located on the foot of Mount Carmel, near Haifa, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof HaCarmel Regional Council. In it had a population of . History The ...

. After a failed attempt to create a moshav on the site, Ein Hod became an

artists' colony An art colony, also known as an artists' colony, can be defined two ways. Its most liberal description refers to the organic congregation of Artist, artists in towns, villages and rural areas, often drawn by areas of natural beauty, the prior exi ...

in 1953.

History

Ayyubid Period

The village was one of the "Al-Hija" villages founded by relatives of

Emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...

Hussam al-Din Abu al-Hija.Benvenisti, 2000, pp.
193

195
/ref> Abu al-Hija ("the Daring") was an Iraqi Kurd and commander of the

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

forces that took part in Sultan

Saladin Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سه‌لاحه‌دین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...

's conquest of the Crusader

Kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem ( la, Regnum Hierosolymitanum; fro, Roiaume de Jherusalem), officially known as the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem or the Frankish Kingdom of Palestine,Example (title of works): was a Crusader state that was establish ...

in the 1180s. He was renowned for his bravery, and commanded the garrison of Acre at the time of the

Siege of Acre Siege of Acre may refer to: * Siege of Acre (1104), following the First Crusade *Siege of Acre (1189–1191), during the Third Crusade * Siege of Acre (1263), Baibars laid siege to the Crusader city, but abandoned it to attack Nazareth. *Siege of A ...

(1189–1192). Abu al-Hija apparently returned to

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 the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

, but several members of his family remained in the country under orders from Saladin, and these family members settled on spacious tracts of land that they were granted in the

Carmel Carmel may refer to: * Carmel (biblical settlement), an ancient Israelite town in Judea * Mount Carmel, a coastal mountain range in Israel overlooking the Mediterranean Sea * Carmelites, a Roman Catholic mendicant religious order Carmel may also ...

region, in the Lower, Eastern and Western Galilee, and in the Hebron Highlands. One of these land grants became the village of Ein Hawd. Other al-Hija villages were

Hadatha Hadatha, also El Hadetheh or Hadateh, was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Tiberias, located 12.5 km southwest of Tiberias. It was depopulated in the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine. History Ceramics from the late ...

and

Sirin Sirin is a mythological creature of Russian legends, with the head of a beautiful woman and the body of a bird (usually an owl), borrowed from the siren of the Greek mythology. According to myth, the Sirin lived in Iriy or around the Euphrates R ...

in the Lower Galilee, Ruweis and Kawkab in the

Western 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 ...

. By tradition the remaining residents today still claim to be blood relations of al-Hija.

Ottoman Period

In 1596, the village of Ayn Hawd was part of the Ottoman ''

nahiya A nāḥiyah ( ar, , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level division w ...

'' (subdistrict) of ''Sahil

Atlit Atlit ( he, עַתְלִית, ar, عتليت) is a coastal town located south of Haifa, Israel. The community is in the Hof HaCarmel Regional Council in the Haifa District of Israel. Off the coast of Atlit is a submerged Neolithic village. At ...

'' under the ''

liwa' Sanjaks (liwāʾ) (plural form: alwiyāʾ) * Armenian: նահանգ (''nahang''; meaning "province") * Bulgarian: окръг (''okrǔg''; meaning "county", "province", or "region") * el, Διοίκησις (''dioikēsis'', meaning "province" ...

'' (district) of

Lajjun Lajjun ( ar, اللجّون, ''al-Lajjūn'') was a large Palestinian Arab village in Mandatory Palestine, located northwest of Jenin and south of the remains of the biblical city of Megiddo. The Israeli kibbutz of Megiddo, Israel was built o ...

with a population of 8 households, an estimated 44 persons, all

Muslims 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 ...

. The villagers paid a fixed tax-rate of 25% on agricultural products, including

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

and

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley p ...

, as well as on goats and beehives; a total of 2,650 akçe. All of the revenue went to a

Waqf A waqf ( ar, وَقْف; ), also known as hubous () or '' mortmain'' property is an inalienable charitable endowment under Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot of land or other assets for Muslim religious or charitab ...

. In 1851 van der Velde visited "Ain Haud" and "spent a pleasant evening in Shech Soleiman's house". Van der Velde describes how the villagers, all Muslim, were in great alarm over conscription to the

Ottoman army The military of the Ottoman Empire ( tr, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nun silahlı kuvvetleri) was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. Army The military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the ...

. According to Shech Soleiman a former Sultan had given them a firman, exempting the villagers from conscription. In 1870,

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 Min ...

visited the village. He found it had 120 inhabitants, with houses built of

rammed earth Rammed earth is a technique for constructing foundations, floors, and walls using compacted natural raw materials such as earth, chalk, lime, or gravel. It is an ancient method that has been revived recently as a sustainable building method. ...

or different construction aggregates. The village was surrounded by a small wall. In 1881, "Ain Haud" was described as a small village situated on the end of a spur, inhabited by fifty people who cultivated 3

faddan A feddan ( ar, فدّان, faddān) is a unit of area used in Egypt, Sudan, Syria, and the Oman. In Classical Arabic, the word means 'a yoke of oxen', implying the area of ground that could be tilled by oxen in a certain time. In Egypt, the fedda ...

s of land, while a population list from about 1887 showed that ''Ain Hod'' had about 195 inhabitants, all Muslim. The village elementary school for boys was founded in 1888,Khalidi, 1992, p.149 and in the early twentieth century the number of inhabitants was given as 283. It was further noted that the village had 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, ...

British Mandate

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, 'Ain Hud had a population of 350; 347 Muslims and 3 Christians, where the Christians were all Maronites. At the time of the 1931 census, the population of Ein Haud had increased to 459, all Muslims, in a total of 81 occupied houses.Mills, 1932, p
90
/ref> In the 1945 statistics the population was 650, all Muslims, and it had a total of 12,605 dunams of land according to an official land and population survey. 1,503 dunams were for plantations and irrigable land, 4,422 for cereals, while 50 dunams were built-up (urban) land.

1948

Ayn Hawd and the neighboring village of

Ayn Ghazal Ayn Ghazal ( ar, عين غزال, "Spring of the Gazelle") was a Palestinian Arab village located south of Haifa. Depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War as a result of an Israeli military assault during Operation Shoter, the village was ...

were attacked on the evening of 11 April 1948, according to the Palestinian newspaper '' Filastin'', who reported that a group of 150

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

ish troops were unsuccessful in driving out the inhabitants.''Filastin''
13.04.1948
cited in Khalidi, 1992, p. 150, cited in Slyomovics, 1998, p
100
/ref> On 20 May, the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

reported that another attack on Ayn Ghazal and Ayn Hawd had been thwarted. During 17–19 July,

IDF IDF or idf may refer to: Defence forces * Irish Defence Forces * Israel Defense Forces *Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006 * Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917 Organizations * Israeli Diving Federation * Interac ...

units attacked and occupied the villages of Ayn Hawd, together with Kafr Lam,

Sarafand Sarafand or Sarafend may refer to: Places * Sarafand, Lebanon, also spelled Sarafend ** Sarepta, an ancient Phoenician city at the location of the modern Lebanese town * Tzrifin, area in central Israel previously known as "Sarafand" or "Sarafend", ...

and al-Mazar, with Ayn Hawd being depopulated. File:Atlit 1932.jpg, Ein Hod (Ein Haud) 1932 1:20,000 File:Jaba 1945.jpg, Ein Hod (Ein Haud) 1945 1:250,000

Ein Hawd: new village after 1948

Most of the 700–900 Arab villagers of Ein Hod from before the 1948 Arab–Israeli War resettled in the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, many in the refugee camp in Jenin. A group of 35 original inhabitants, many of them members of the Abu al-Hija family, took shelter in a nearby

wadi Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water ...

. Attempts to dispossess them by legal means did not succeed. This new village was named

. Initially, the Israeli authorities did not recognize the village. In 1988, residents helped to form the association of the Arab Unrecognized Villages in Israel. In 1992, the state finally officially recognized the village, but it was only granted full recognition in 2005, when it was connected to Israel's electric grid.

Moshav Ein Hod

In July 1949 the Moshavim Movement settled

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...

from

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

and

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

in the depopulated village, renaming the village Ein Hod. The movement allocated instructors to the new settlers as the agricultural endeavour. The short lived re-use of the village as an agricultural concern was abandoned and the village remained deserted for a further year and a half.

Artists' colony

Ein Hod became an artists' colony in 1953. The driving spirit behind the project was

Marcel Janco Marcel Janco (, ; common rendition of the Romanian name Marcel Hermann Iancu ; 24 May 1895 – 21 April 1984) was a Romanian and Israeli visual artist, architect and art theorist. He was the co-inventor of Dadaism and a leading exponent of Const ...

, an acclaimed

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 1920 Dada flourished in Pari ...

artist, who kept the village from being demolished by the security forces and convinced the government to let him build an artists' colony there.

Today

Ein Hod is now a community settlement run by an elected administrative committee. Many Israeli painters, sculptors and musicians live there, and maintain studios and galleries that are open to the public. Efforts have been made to preserve some of the old houses. The village

was converted into a restaurant-bar modeled after Cafe Voltaire in Zurich. During the Carmel forest fire in 2010 Ein Hod was evacuated and the village suffered considerable property damage.

Culture

Ein Hod has 22 galleries, 14 art workshops, 2 museums and 14 rooms for rent to tourists. Workshops include printing, sculpture, photography, silk screening, music (vocal), ceramics, mosaics, design, stained glass, lithography and blacksmithing. Ein Hod: A Unique Village in Israel
, Emunah The Gertrud Kraus House sponsors biweekly chamber music concerts and guest lectures. During the summer months, performances of popular music and light entertainment take place in an outdoor

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

. Throughout the year, free outdoor jazz concerts are held on Saturdays near the village's central square. Ein Hod's main gallery has five exhibition halls, each devoted to a different artistic sector. Hall 1 exhibits art by immigrants from the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia; Hall 2 is exclusively for Ein Hod artists, past and present; Halls 3 and 4 are for changing exhibitions, solo and group shows of residents and outsiders; and Hall 5 is for theme shows. The Nisco Museum of Mechanical Music in Ein Hod is the first museum in Israel dedicated to antique musical instruments. The collection, accumulated over 40 years by Nisan Cohen, contains music boxes,

hurdy-gurdies The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to those of a vio ...

, an automatic organ, a reproducing player piano, a collection of 100-year-old manivelles, gramophones, hand-operated automatic pianos and other instruments. In 1992 an original part from the Berlin Wall was placed in the village, and it has since been welcoming the visitors to the main museum. The Düsseldorf-Ein Hod exchange program has brought

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...

artists to Ein Hod and vice versa over the past two decades. A similar program has been inaugurated for artists from

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

.Ein Hod Artists Official Site, EIN HOD WEB SITE, EIN HOD ARTISTS – International Projects
/ref>

Notable residents

An early resident was the American children's writer and amateur archaeologist

Nora Benjamin Kubie Nora Benjamin Kubie (January 4, 1899 - September 8, 1988) was an American writer, artist and amateur archaeologist. Biography Born Eleanor Gottheil, she was the daughter of Muriel H. and Paul Gotteil, an executive with the Cunard Line in New York. ...

. One of Ein Hod's veteran artists is Ursula Malbin, whose bronze sculptures have been on display since 1978 in

's Vista of Peace Garden, the first public sculpture garden in Israel dedicated solely to the works of a woman sculptor. Others include Avraham Eilat, a multimedia artist whose latest video art installation "Psychophysical Time" is shown in several leading art events in Europe, and

Dina Merhav Dina Merhav (; he, דינה מרחב; March 9, 1936 – October 19, 2022) was a Yugoslav-born Israeli sculptor. Biography Dina Gross (later Merhav) was born in Vinkovci to a Yugoslav Jewish family of Zlatko and Steffi Gross. During World War I ...

creates sculptures from old metal utensils and industrial machine parts. One of her works, ''Totem'', was exhibited at the Olympic Sculpture Garden in Beijing, China, when the Olympic Games were held there.

Yigal Tumarkin Igael Tumarkin (Hebrew: יגאל תומרקין; 23 October 1933 – 12 August 2021) was an Israeli painter and sculptor. Biography Peter Martin Gregor Heinrich Hellberg (later Igael Tumarkin) was born in 1933 in Dresden, Saxony, Germany. His fa ...

, Israeli painter and sculptor, also studied at Ein Hod. Dan Chamizer, creator of the "Chamizer riddle," is a resident of Ein Hod. Based on an original coding system, the Chamizer riddle is widely used to teach problem-solving in schools, government agencies and high-tech companies. Ten Ein Hod residents have won the Israel Prize, awarded annually on

Israel Independence Day Independence Day ( he, יום העצמאות ''Yom Ha'atzmaut'', lit. "Day of Independence") is the national day of Israel, commemorating the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948. The day is marked by official and unofficial ceremonies ...

. According to Robert Nechin, who lives in the village, the artists working there today "are fully aware of the illustrious example of these great artists and scholars, who lived and are still living among them. Ein Hod residents who have won the prize are: * Genia Berger, in 1953 became one of the founders of the artists' colony *

Zahara Schatz Zahara Schatz ( he, זהרה ש"ץ; 1916–1999), was an Israeli artist and designer. She was the daughter of Boris Schatz, who founded the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem. She was best known for the six-branched Temple menorah ...

, for painting and sculpture (1955) *

, for painting (1967) *

Gertrud Kraus Gertrud Kraus ( he, גרטרוד קראוס; 5 May 1901 – 13 November 1977) was an Israeli pioneer of modern dance in Israel. Biography Gertrud Kraus was born in 1901 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary. Her father, Leopold Kraus, and her mother, Olga ...

, for dance (1968) * Simon Halkin, for literature (1975) *

Haim Hefer Haim Hefer ( he, חיים חפר 29 October 1925 – 18 September 2012) was a Polish-born Israeli songwriter, poet and writer. He wrote for numerous composers and musical artists, as well as for military bands. Several of his songs, including "H ...

, for Hebrew songwriting (1983) *

Natan Zach Nathan Zach (13 December 1930 – 6 November 2020; Hebrew: נתן זך) was an Israeli poet. Widely regarded as one of the preeminent poets in the country's history, he was awarded the Israel Prize in 1995 for poetry. He was also the recipie ...

, for poetry (1995) * Michael Gross, for painting and sculpture (2000) *

Gila Almagor Gila Almagor Agmon ( he, גילה אלמגור אגמון; born Gila Alexandrowitz; July 22, 1939) is an Israeli actress, film star, and author. In Israel, she is known as "queen of the Israeli cinema and theatre". Biography Gila Alexandrowitz (A ...

, for acting (2004)

Gallery

File:Benjamin Levy-1.jpg, Benjamin Levy. Lovers in the box of sardines. File:Benjamin Levy-2.jpg, Benjamin Levy. Lovers on the axle of wheels. File:Girl on Roller Skates.jpg, Girl on Roller Skates. File:POB world.jpg, POB world.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * *Mülinen, Egbert Friedrich von 1908,
Beiträge zur Kenntnis des Karmels
' "Separateabdruck aus der Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palëstina-Vereins Band XXX (1907) Seite 117–207 und Band XXXI (1908) Seite 1–258." * * * (winner of the 1999 Albert Hourani Book Award) (p
100
*

External links

Ein Hod – The Artists' SiteThe Janco Dada Museum
F.A.S.T.

30 April 2006, Ynetnews
ISRAEL: An IDP village sees light at the end of the tunnel
IRIN, 5 August 2007

Adena Kerstein (30 September 2005), Jerusalem Post
Ein Hod: A Unique Village in Israel
Emunah magazine

Haaretz, 12 April 2007

The historic village

'Ayn Hawd
in the ''Palestine Remembered'' database
'Ayn Hawd
Zochrot *Survey of Western Palestine, Map 5
IAAWikimedia commons
{{Authority control Community settlements Former moshavim Populated places in Haifa District Artist colonies