Julis ( ar, جولس ''Jūlis'', he, ג'וּלִס ''G'ulis'') is a

Druze The Druze (; ar, دَرْزِيٌّ, ' or ', , ') are an Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from Western Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion based on the teachings of ...

village and local council in the Northern District of

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 ...

. In it had a population of .

Etymology

According to local legend, the name is derived from "Julius," the name of a Roman commander who camped in the area. Others say it is from the Arabic word for "sitting" - "jalis", as it is located on lower hills than the surrounding villages, and thus seems to be sitting.

History

Julis was a

Jewish 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""The ...

village in

Talmudic The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...

times and had a Jewish presence in the Late Middle Ages (14th-16th centuries). In 1388, Sa'adia Ben Ya'akov copied "The Sufficient Guide" by the Tanhum of Jerusalem, "in the town of Julis... near Acre."

Ottoman period

According to the 1596 Ottoman '' tax records'' Julis had a predominantly Muslim (Druze?) population, with a total of 79 households. The taxable produce comprised wheat, barley, "summer crops", fruit trees, and "goats and bees". Julis also had a press for olive oil or grape syrup. Total taxes were 7,047

akçe The ''akçe'' or ''akça'' (also spelled ''akche'', ''akcheh''; ota, آقچه; ) refers to a silver coin which was the chief monetary unit of the Ottoman Empire. The word itself evolved from the word "silver or silver money", this word is der ...

. During the 16th century there was also a small Jewish population. In the early part of the 18th century Julis was one of the major

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

producing villages in the area. Later in the same century it was one of five villages in ''

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") Sahil Akka (Acre coast), which were owned directly by the governor of

Acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, of a square mile, 4,840 square ...

, and were exempt from the usual Ottoman taxes. A map by

Pierre Jacotin Pierre Jacotin (1765–1827) was the director of the survey for the '' Carte de l'Égypte (Description de l'Égypte)'', the first triangulation-based map of Egypt, Syria and Palestine. The maps were surveyed in 1799-1800 during the campaign in ...

from Napoleon's invasion of 1799 showed the place, named as ''Gioules''. In 1875, the French explorer

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, which he called ''Djoules''. He noted that "before arriving at Julis I came upon a small plateau pierced by many

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 ...

s. The cisterns and the cut stones which are built up in the modern houses show that the place is the site of an ancient town or village. On a neighbouring hill a ''waly'' is consecrated to the

Sheikh Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...

Aly.'" In 1881, the PEF's '' Survey of Western Palestine'' described Julis as "a village built of stone containing about 200 Druzes, surrounded by olives and arable land." A population list from about 1887 showed that ''Julis'' had 360 inhabitants; all Druze.

British Mandate

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 divis ...

, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Jules had a total population of 446 residents; 442 Druzes, 3 Christians and 1 Muslim. All the Christians were Orthodox. In the 1931 census it had increased to a population of 614; 586 Druse, 26 Christians, and 2 Muslims, in a total of 123 houses.Mills, 1932, p
101
/ref> In the 1945 statistics the population of Julis was 820; 40 Christians and 780 classified as others (i.e. Druze),Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p
4
/ref> and the total land area was 14,708

dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; tr, dönüm; he, דונם), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area equivalent to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amou ...

s, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 1,347 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 6,568 used for cereals, while 63 dunams were built-up (urban) land.

Israel

Julis was captured by the Israeli army during Operation Dekel, 8–14 July 1948. Unlike many of the neighboring villages the inhabitants remained in their homes. Reuven Rivlin visit in Julis (5984)

In 1967, Julis achieved local council status. The head of the council was Salman Hino. At the end of 2007, the town had 5,400 residents. The annual population growth rate was 1.8%. The residents are Druze. In 2000, a high percentage (72.1%, compared to 60.3% in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

) of all high school students received a matriculation certificate. The mean income was NIS 5,067 per month (2007), compared to a national average of NIS 6,743.

Landmarks

* Druze Center House *Maqam Shaykh al-Farsi - Cocated to the south of the old village, consisting of two older buildings and a

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 one. In an open area there are two

cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...

s with inscriptions which record the life of Shaykh al-Farsi. His date of death is given as 1167 H (1753-1754 C.E.). According to an inscription, the construction of 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 ...

started in August, 1754.Sharon, 2016, pp.
208210
/ref> *Sheik Ali Faris cave - Located about 2 kilometers North-East of Julis. In this cave Sheik Ali Faris resided and did his contemplation.

Notable people

Amin Tarif Amin Tarif ( ar, أمين طريف, Hebrew: אמין טריף; born 1898, died October 2, 1993) was the qadi, or spiritual leader, of the Druze in Mandatory Palestine from 1928 and then Israel until his death in 1993. Such was the esteem in whic ...

Mowafaq Tarif Shaykh Mowafaq Tarīf ( ar, موفق طريف, he, מוואפק טריף) is the qadi (spiritual leader) of the Druze in Israel. Tarif was born in 1963 in the city of Julis. Since 1753, his family has been leading the Druze community in Mandatory ...

* Salah Tarif

References

Bibliography

* * Cited in Petersen, (2001) * * * * * Cited in Petersen, 2001. * * * * * * *

External links

News website of Julis
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 3
IAAWikimedia commons

{{Authority control Arab localities in Israel Druze communities in Israel Local councils in Northern District (Israel)