Ein Hod (Hebrew:עֵין הוֹד) is avillage inHaifa District in northernIsrael. Located at the foot ofMount Carmel and southeast ofHaifa, it falls under the jurisdiction ofHof HaCarmel Regional Council and has the status ofcommunity settlement. In 2022 it had a population of 664.^[1]

Ein Hod עֵין הוֹד‎
Ein Hod Show map of Haifa region of Israel Ein Hod Show map of Israel
Coordinates:32°42′05″N34°58′48″E / 32.70139°N 34.98000°E /32.70139; 34.98000
Country	Israel
District	Haifa
Council	Hof HaCarmel
Population  (2022)[1]	664
Website	ein-hod.org

Ayn Hawd عين حوض
Map of Ayn Hawd and surrounding area, 1870s. The Survey of Western Palestine.London:Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund
Etymology: Spring of thecistern[2]
Ayn Hawd
Coordinates:32°42′05″N34°58′48″E / 32.70139°N 34.98000°E /32.70139; 34.98000
Palestine grid	148/234
Geopolitical entity	Mandatory Palestine
Subdistrict	Haifa
Date of depopulation	15 July 1948[5]
Area [4]
• Total	12,605 dunams (12.605 km2 or 4.867 sq mi)
Population  (1945)
• Total	650[3][4]
Cause(s) of depopulation	Military assault byYishuv forces
Current localities	Ein Hod[6][7]Nir Etzion[7]

The village is situated on a hillside amidstolive groves, with a view of theMediterranean Sea. Prior to the1948 Arab–Israeli War Ein Hod was the site of theArabic village ofEin 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 ofEin Hawd.

After a failed attempt to create amoshav on the site, Ein Hod became anartists' colony in 1953.

The village was one of the "Al-Hija" villages founded by relatives ofEmir Hussam al-Din Abu al-Hija.^[8] Abu al-Hija ("the Daring") was an Iraqi Kurd and commander of theKurdish forces that took part in SultanSaladin's conquest of the CrusaderKingdom of Jerusalem in the 1180s. He was renowned for his bravery, and commanded the garrison ofAcre at the time of theSiege of Acre (1189–1192).^[8]

Abu al-Hija apparently returned toIraq, 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 theCarmel region, in the Lower, Eastern and WesternGalilee, and in the Hebron Highlands.^[8] One of these land grants became the village of Ein Hawd. Other al-Hija villages wereHadatha andSirin in theLower Galilee,Ruweis andKawkab in theWestern Galilee. By tradition the remaining residents today still claim to be blood relations of al-Hija.^[8]

In 1596, the village of Ayn Hawd was part of theOttomannahiya (subdistrict) ofSahilAtlit under theliwa' (district) ofLajjun with a population of 8 households, an estimated 44 persons, allMuslims. The villagers paid a fixed tax-rate of 25% on agricultural products, includingwheat andbarley, as well as on goats and beehives; a total of 2,650akçe. All of the revenue went to aWaqf.^[9]

In 1851van der Velde visited "Ain Haud" and "spent a pleasant evening inShech Soleiman's house". Van der Velde describes how the villagers, allMuslim, were in great alarm overconscription to theOttoman army. According to Shech Soleiman a formerSultan had given them afirman, exempting the villagers from conscription.^[10]

In 1870,Victor Guérin visited the village. He found it had 120 inhabitants, with houses built oframmed earth ordifferent construction aggregates. The village was surrounded by a small wall.^[11]

In 1881, "Ain Haud" was described as a small village situated on the end of a spur, inhabited by fifty people who cultivated 3faddans of land,^[12] while a population list from about 1887 showed thatAin Hod had about 195 inhabitants, all Muslim.^[13]

The village elementary school for boys was founded in 1888,^[14] and in the early twentieth century the number of inhabitants was given as 283. It was further noted that the village had amosque.^[15]

In the1922 census of Palestine, conducted by theBritish Mandate authorities, 'Ain Hud had a population of 350; 347 Muslims and 3 Christians,^[16] where the Christians were allMaronites.^[17] At the time of the1931 census, the population of Ein Haud had increased to 459, all Muslims, in a total of 81 occupied houses.^[18]

In the1945 statistics the population was 650, all Muslims,^[3] and it had a total of 12,605dunams of land according to an official land and population survey.^[4] 1,503 dunams were for plantations and irrigable land, 4,422 for cereals,^[19] while 50 dunams were built-up (urban) land.^[20]

Ayn Hawd and the neighboring village ofAyn Ghazal were attacked on the evening of 11 April 1948, according to the Palestinian newspaperFilastin, who reported that a group of 150Jewish troops were unsuccessful in driving out the inhabitants.^[21] On 20 May, theAssociated Press reported that another attack on Ayn Ghazal and Ayn Hawd had been thwarted.^[22]

During 17–19 July,IDF units attacked and occupied the villages of Ayn Hawd, together withKafr Lam,Sarafand andal-Mazar, with Ayn Hawd being depopulated.^[23]

•  
  Ein Hod (Ein Haud) 1932 1:20,000
•  
  Ein Hod (Ein Haud) 1945 1:250,000

Most of the 700–900 Arab villagers of Ein Hod from before the1948 Arab–Israeli War resettled in theWest Bank, many in the refugee camp inJenin. A group of 35 original inhabitants, many of them members of the Abu al-Hija family, took shelter in a nearbywadi. Attempts to dispossess them by legal means did not succeed.^[8] This new village was namedEin Hawd.^[24] Initially, the Israeli authorities did not recognize the village. In 1988, residents helped to form the association of the Arab Unrecognized Villages in Israel.^[25] 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.^[24]

In July 1949 theMoshavim Movement settledimmigrants fromTunisia andAlgeria 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.^[8]

Ein Hod became anartists' colony in 1953. The driving spirit behind the project wasMarcel Janco, an acclaimedDada artist, who kept the village from being demolished by the security forces and convinced the government to let him build an artists' colony there.^[26]

Ein Hod is now a community settlement run by an elected administrative committee.^[26] 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 villagemosque was converted into a restaurant-bar modeled after Cafe Voltaire inZurich.^[27]

During the2010 Mount Carmel forest fire Ein Hod was evacuated and the village suffered considerable property damage.^[28]

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.^[29] The Gertrud Kraus House sponsors biweeklychamber music concerts and guest lectures.^[30] During the summer months, performances of popular music and light entertainment take place in an outdooramphitheatre. Throughout the year, free outdoor jazz concerts are held on Saturdays near the village's central square.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[29]

The Nisco Museum of Mechanical Music in Ein Hod is the first museum in Israel dedicated to antique musical instruments.^[31] The collection, accumulated over 40 years by Nisan Cohen, contains music boxes,hurdy-gurdies, an automatic organ, a reproducing player piano, a collection of 100-year-old manivelles, gramophones, hand-operated automatic pianos and other instruments.^[32]

In 1992 an original part from theBerlin Wall was placed in the village, and it has since been welcoming the visitors to the main museum.^{[citation needed]}

The Düsseldorf-Ein Hod exchange program has broughtDüsseldorf artists to Ein Hod and vice versa over the past two decades. A similar program has been inaugurated for artists fromNew Hampshire.^[33]

An early resident was the American children's writer and amateur archaeologistNora Benjamin Kubie. One of Ein Hod's veteran artists isUrsula Malbin, whose bronze sculptures have been on display since 1978 inHaifa's Vista of Peace Garden, the first public sculpture garden in Israel dedicated solely to the works of a woman sculptor.^[29] Others includeAvraham Eilat, a multimedia artist whose latest video art installation "Psychophysical Time" is shown in several leading art events in Europe, andDina Merhav 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.^[29]Yigal Tumarkin, 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.^[29]

Ten Ein Hod residents have won theIsrael Prize, awarded annually onIsrael Independence Day. 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.^[26] Ein Hod residents who have won the prize are:

• Genia Berger, in 1953 became one of the founders of the artists' colony
• Zahara Schatz, for painting and sculpture (1955)
• Marcel Janco, for painting (1967)
• Gertrud Kraus, for dance (1968)
• Simon Halkin, for literature (1975)
• Haim Hefer, for Hebrew songwriting (1983)
• Natan Zach, for poetry (1995)
• Michael Gross, for painting and sculpture (2000)
• Gila Almagor, for acting (2004)

•  
  Benjamin Levy. Lovers in the box of sardines.
•  
  Benjamin Levy. Lovers on the axle of wheels.
•  
  Girl on Roller Skates.
•  
  POB world.

• Visual arts in Israel
• Depopulated Palestinian locations in Israel
• List of villages depopulated during the Arab-Israeli conflict
• 500 Dunam on the Moon, 2002 documentary film about the fate of the 1948 Arab village
• The Promise (2011 TV serial), fictional account about the owner of a house in Ein Hod

• Ein Hod – The Artists' Site
• Battle of Ein Hod
• The Janco Dada Museum
• Ein Hud – International architecture competition F.A.S.T.
• In and around Ein Hod 30 April 2006,Ynetnews
• ISRAEL: An IDP village sees light at the end of the tunnel IRIN, 5 August 2007
• "Hurdy-Gurdy Time", Adena Kerstein (30 September 2005), Jerusalem Post
• Ein Hod: A Unique Village in Israel, Emunah magazine
• What would Janco say?Haaretz, 12 April 2007

• 'Ayn Hawd in thePalestine Remembered database
• 'Ayn Hawd,Zochrot
• Survey of Western Palestine, Map 5:IAA,Wikimedia commons