Ma'in () is a small

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

village in the south

Hebron Hills The Hebron Hills, also known as Mount Hebron (, ), are a mountain ridge, geographic region, and geologic formation, constituting the southern part of the Judaean Mountains, Judean Mountains. The Hebron Hills are located in the southern West Ban ...

of the

Hebron Governorate The Hebron Governorate () is an administrative district of Palestine in the southern West Bank. The governorate's land area is and its population according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics in mid-year 2019 was 1,004,510. This ...

, located 14 kilometers south of

Hebron Hebron (; , or ; , ) is a Palestinian city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Hebron is capital of the Hebron Governorate, the largest Governorates of Palestine, governorate in the West Bank. With a population of 201,063 in ...

. It is bordered by the villages of

at-Tuwani Tawani or at-Tuwani () is a small Palestinian Territories, Palestinian village in the south Hebron Hills of the Hebron Governorate. Many of the village's residents live in caves. The village is located south-east of the village of Yatta, Hebron ...

to the east,

al-Karmil al-Karmil () is a Palestinian village located twelve kilometers south of Hebron. The village is in the Hebron Governorate Southern West Bank, within Area A under total Palestinian control.Gideon Levy and Alex Levac'Bitter waters: Settlers inv ...

village to the north, Khallet Salih to the west, and Qawawis to the south. According to the

Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS; ) is the official statistical institution of Palestine. Its main task is to provide credible statistical figures at the national and international levels. It is a state institution that provid ...

, the village had a population of 459 in 2007.Ma'in village profile
ARIJ, 2009 The village is situated immediately to the north of Khirbet Ma'in (Horvat Maon), an archaeological site containing the remains of the ancient town of Ma'on. It is home to members of several clans, including Makhamra, Dababsah, Hamamdah, Muhammad, and Abu Taha.

Name

Ma'in preserves the name of the ancient town of '' Ma'on'',

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

for 'dwelling', 'habitation'.

Services and work

Ma'in village has one religious establishment, the Hamza Mosque. The village lacks any health services, and the nearest health facilities are located in

Al-Karmil al-Karmil () is a Palestinian village located twelve kilometers south of Hebron. The village is in the Hebron Governorate Southern West Bank, within Area A under total Palestinian control.Gideon Levy and Alex Levac'Bitter waters: Settlers inv ...

, 2 kilometers away, or in Yatta, 7 kilometers away. Despite having 8,000 dunums of agricultural land, about 80% of Ma'in's labor force works in the Israeli labor market. The remaining 20% are employed in agriculture (18%) and in the public and private sectors (2%).

Demography

The residents of Ma'in belong to several families, including Makhamra, Dababsah, Hamamdah, Muhammad and Abu Taha.

Archaeological site of Khirbet Ma'in

Ma'in is located just north of Khirbet Ma'in (Horvat Maon), an ancient tell comprising the ruins of ancient Ma'on. The site is mentioned as one of the cities of Judah,Amit (n.d.), pp. 222–223 and hometown of

Nabal According to the 1st Book of Samuel Chapter 25, Nabal ( ''Nāḇāl'', "fool") was a rich Calebite, described as harsh and surly. He is featured in a story in which he is threatened by David over an insult, and ultimately killed by God. Biblica ...

the Carmelite. "The wilderness of Maon" appears in the Bible as a place of refuge for

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

when he fled from

king Saul Saul (; , ; , ; ) was a monarch of ancient Israel and Judah and, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament, the first king of the United Monarchy, a polity of uncertain historicity. His reign, traditionally placed in the late elevent ...

. ''

Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael The Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael ( IPA , "a collection of rules of interpretation") is midrash halakha to the Book of Exodus. The Aramaic title ''Mekhilta'' corresponds to the Mishnaic Hebrew term ' "measure," "rule", and is used to denote a compi ...

'' says that Rabban

Yohanan ben Zakkai Yohanan ben Zakkai (; 1st century CE), sometimes abbreviated as for Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai, was a tanna, an important Jewish sage during the late Second Temple period during the transformative post-destruction era. He was a primary cont ...

is said to have gone up to Maon of Judah.''

'' on Exodus 19:1 Following the destruction of the Second Temple, Maon is referenced when Rabban

is said to have traveled there. In the early 4th century CE,

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius, was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist from the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima. ...

' ''''

Onomasticon Onomasticon may refer to: *Onomasticon (Eusebius) *Onomasticon of Amenope *Onomasticon of Joan Coromines *Onomasticon of Julius Pollux Julius Pollux (, ''Ioulios Polydeukes''; fl. 2nd century) was a Greeks, Greek scholar and rhetorician from Naucr ...

'''' mentions Maon as being "in the tribe of Judah; in the east of

Daroma Daroma (Aramaic) or Darom (Hebrew), both meaning 'South', was the name of the southern Hebron Hills in the Late Roman and Byzantine periods. The term is used in Eusebius's ''Onomasticon'' (4th century) and in rabbinic literature. By the late ten ...

."Chapman & Taylor (2003), p. 72. During this period, Darom (or Daroma) referred to the southern Hebron Hills, which retained a Jewish population living alongside a newer Christian one. The archaeological site has been inhabited for a long time, with evidence found from the Early Bronze Age and up to

Late Antiquity Late antiquity marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was popularized by Peter Brown (historian), Peter Brown in 1971, and this periodiza ...

. People living there during the Israelite period left behind potsherds with

inscriptions. In the 6th century, a Jewish population built the Ma'on synagogue. Magness, Jodi (2003). ''The Archaeology of the Early Islamic Settlement in Palestine''. Eisenbrauns, Vol.1, pp
96

97
Accessed 8 Feb 2024. The lack of remains from the late 7th-early 8th century suggests the village was abandoned during that time.

References

External links

Ma'in Village (Fact Sheet)
ARIJ
Ma'in Village Profile
ARIJ
Ma'in Areal Photo
ARIJ
The priorities and needs for development in Ma'in village based on the community and local authorities' assessment
ARIJ {{Authority control Villages in the West Bank Hebron Governorate Municipalities of Palestine