Muqeible or Muqeibla ( ar, مقيبلة, he, מֻקֵיבִּלָה), meaning "The front place", is an

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

town in

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 ...

's Northern District, situated in the

Jezreel Valley The Jezreel Valley (from the he, עמק יזרעאל, translit. ''ʿĒmeq Yīzrəʿēʿl''), or Marj Ibn Amir ( ar, مرج ابن عامر), also known as the Valley of Megiddo, is a large fertile plain and inland valley in the Northern Distr ...

between

Jenin Jenin (; ar, ') is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank. It serves as the administrative center of the Jenin Governorate of the State of Palestine and is a major center for the surrounding towns. In 2007, Jenin had a population of app ...

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 ...

and the

Ta'anakh The Ta'anakh region ( he, חבל תענך, ''Hevel Ta'anakh''), also known as Ta'anachim ( he, תענכים), is an area to the south of Israel's Jezreel Valley and east of the Wadi Ara region. The area is named after the biblical city (Joshua 17 ...

area. It is a part of the

Gilboa Regional Council Gilboa Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית הגלבוע, ''Mo'atza Azorit (ha)Gilbo'a'') is a regional council in northern Israel, located on the slopes of the Gilboa mountain range. There are more than 22,000 residents in 38 settlemen ...

.In its population was . The inhabitants are

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 and

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

History

During the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

-era, a town called "Muqeibleh" stood at the site.

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

-era settlement is attested to archaeologically by a

well A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

and pottery workshops from that period near the present village.Petersen, 2001, p
223
/ref>

Ottoman era

According to a local inhabitant, the villagers moved here from the al-Haram- Sidna Ali-area in the latter part of the Ottoman period. In 1838 Edward Robinson noted Mukeibileh as a “village in the plain, on the direct route from

Nazareth Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...

.” He placed Mukeibileh as being in the District of Jenin, also called "Haritheh esh-Shemaliyeh".

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 ...

, who visited in 1870, noted that the village contained 400 inhabitants and had a number of

cistern A cistern (Middle English ', from Latin ', from ', "box", from Greek ', "basket") is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by t ...

s. In 1882, the PEF's ''

Survey of Western Palestine The PEF Survey of Palestine was a series of surveys carried out by the Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF) between 1872 and 1877 for the Survey of Western Palestine and in 1880 for the Survey of Eastern Palestine. The survey was carried out after the ...

'' described Muqeible as "a

mud A MUD (; originally multi-user dungeon, with later variants multi-user dimension and multi-user domain) is a Multiplayer video game, multiplayer Time-keeping systems in games#Real-time, real-time virtual world, usually Text-based game, text-bas ...

village in the plain, supplied by

s."

British Mandate era

In the

1922 census of Palestine The 1922 census of Palestine was the first census carried out by the authorities of the British Mandate of Palestine, on 23 October 1922. The reported population was 757,182, including the military and persons of foreign nationality. The divisi ...

conducted by the British Mandate authorities, ''Muquibleh'' had a population of 201; 181 Muslims and 20 Christians,Barron, 1923, Table IX, Sub-district of Jenin, p
29
/ref> where all the Christians were Orthodox.Barron, 1923, Table XV, p
47
/ref> In the 1931 census the population had increased to 270; 244 Muslims and 26 Christians, in a total of 67 houses.Mills, 1932, p
69
/ref> By the 1945 statistics Muqeible had 460 inhabitants, all classified as Muslims. They owned a total of 2,687 dunams of land, while 4,441 dunams were public, a total of 7,128.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945''. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p
55
/ref> Of this, 174 dunams were used for plantations or irrigable land, 6,421 for cereals, while 22 dunams were built-up land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p
149
/ref>

State of Israel

After the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...

, Muqeible became been part of the Israel. In 1994, Andrew Petersen, an archaeologist specializing in

Islamic architecture Islamic architecture comprises the architectural styles of buildings associated with Islam. It encompasses both secular and religious styles from the early history of Islam to the present day. The Islamic world encompasses a wide geographic ar ...

, examined the "Hawsh"; a large, square

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 ...

building, resembling a

khan Khan may refer to: *Khan (inn), from Persian, a caravanserai or resting-place for a travelling caravan *Khan (surname), including a list of people with the name *Khan (title), a royal title for a ruler in Mongol and Turkic languages and used by ...

, in the center of the village. The central courtyard of the "Hawsh" measures approximately 30m per side. On the east side there is a small gateway, leading into a tall

iwan An iwan ( fa, ایوان , ar, إيوان , also spelled ivan) is a rectangular hall or space, usually vaulted, walled on three sides, with one end entirely open. The formal gateway to the iwan is called , a Persian term for a portal projecting ...

. Petersen noted that the masonry suggested that it was built either in late Ottoman or early Mandate Period.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * *

External links

Welcome To Muqeibila
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 8:
IAAWikimedia commons
{{Gilboa Regional Council Arab villages in Israel Arab Christian communities in Israel Populated places in Northern District (Israel)