Al-Nabi Yusha' () was a small
Palestinian village in the
Galilee situated 17 kilometers to the northeast of
Safad, 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. The village was surrounded by forest land overlooking the
Hula Valley.
History
During the late eighteenth century, a family known as ''al-Ghul'' built the religious complex and shrine known as the
Maqam an-Nabi Yusha' (biblical
Joshua
Joshua ( ), also known as Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' Literal translation, lit. 'Yahweh is salvation'), Jehoshua, or Josue, functioned as Moses' assistant in the books of Book of Exodus, Exodus and ...
), which included a
mosque
A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard.
Originally, mosques were si ...
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 at Al-Nabi Yusha, with an old
terebinth tree.
In 1875
Victor Guérin arrived at the
Maqam (shrine) after walking up on a very steep and difficult path from the east. He described the shrine, dedicated by the local
Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
s to ''Nabi Yusha, as a building surmounted with two small
cupola
In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout.
The word derives, via Ital ...
s.
In 1881, the
PEF's
''Survey of Western Palestine'' (SWP) noted that the "
Metawali" from nearby
Qadas came to Al-Nabi Yusha' to venerate the name of Joshua.
Pottery from
Rachaya Al Foukhar 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 (the eighth month of the ]Islamic calendar
The Hijri calendar (), also known in English as the Islamic calendar, is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to determine the proper days of Islamic holidays and rituals, such as the Ramad ...
). The ''mawsim'' was similar to that of the Nabi Rubin festival in southern coast of Palestine.[
]
In the 1931 census of Palestine, 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 during Operation Yiftach led by Israeli army officer Yigal Allon who later became a key Israeli figure. An early attempt to take the village by Haganah forces during the operation ended in the deaths of 22 Haganah fighters, who had their corpses reportedly decapitated 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 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.[
The Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi 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 a ...
, 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 domed 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, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
(the shrine on Joshua's Hill, Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
), Jordan
Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
(An-Nabi Yusha' bin Noon, a Sunni shrine near the city of Al-Salt[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, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
(the Nabi Yusha' shrine of Baghdad
Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...
).
See also
* Depopulated Palestinian locations in Israel
*Metzudat Koach
Metzudat Koach () (also Nabi Yusha fort) is a Mandatory Palestine, 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 Metzudat ...
* Metawali
* Shia villages in Palestine
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''
"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
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 4
IAA
SWP Wikimedia commons
at Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center
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