Isfiya
| |
|---|---|
| Hebrew transcription(s) | |
| • ISO 259 | ʕisp̄íyaˀ |
 View of the village | |
  Isfiya Location within Israel Show map of Haifa region of Israel Isfiya Isfiya (Israel) Show map of Israel | |
| Coordinates:32°43′10″N35°03′48″E / 32.71944°N 35.06333°E /32.71944; 35.06333 | |
| Grid position | 156/236PAL |
| Country |  Israel |
| District |  Haifa |
| Area | |
• Total | 15,561dunams (15.561 km2; 6.008 sq mi) |
| Population (2023)[1] | |
• Total | 13,150 |
| • Density | 845.1/km2 (2,189/sq mi) |
| Name meaning | The devious (road)[2] |
Isfiya (Arabic:عسفيا,Hebrew:עִסְפִיָא), also known asUsfiya,[3] is aDruze-majority village in northernIsrael, governed by alocal council. It also includesChristians,Muslims and a fewJewish households. Located onMount Carmel, it is part of theHaifa District. In 2023 its population was 12,136.[4] In 2003, the local council was merged with nearbyDaliyat al-Karmel to formCarmel City. However, the new city was dissolved in 2008 and the two villages resumed their independent status.
Isfiya was built on the ruins of an ancient settlement. A building, dating from the second–fourth centuries CE has been excavated, together with ceramics and coins dating from the period.[5]
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In 1930, remains of a 5th-centuryJewish town, Husifah or Huseifa, were unearthed in Isfiya.[6] Among the finds are asynagogue with amosaic floor bearing Jewish symbols and the inscription "Peace upon Israel".[7] A cache of 4,500 gold coins were found dating from theRoman period.[8]
A rock-cut burial cave containing pottery coffins, eightossuaries, numerousoil lamps, as well as pottery, glass vessels, and several bronze objects was unearthed on HaHoresh Street. One of the ossuaries bears aGreek inscription indicating it belongs to Maia, the daughter or wife of a man named Saul.[9]
Crusader remnants have been found in the village.[6] Isfiya was mentioned as part of the domain of the Sultan during thehudna between the Crusaders based inAcre and theMamluk sultan al-Mansur (Qalawun) declared in 1283.[10]
The Druze came to the village in the early eighteenth century. The inhabitants made their living from olive oil, honey and grapes.[8]
Isfiya was one of only two villages remaining on Mount Carmel after theexpulsion of Ibrahim Pasha in 1841. Seventeen other villages disappeared. The village's survival was attributed partly to "the exceptional valour" of the inhabitants, partly to buying protection from a local Galilee chief,Aqil Agha.[11]
In 1859, the English consul Rogers estimated the population to be 400, who cultivated 20 feddans of land.[12] In 1863,H.B. Tristram visited the village, which he described as Druze and Christian, with a Christiansheikh.[13] Tristam noted that the women's clothing in this village were much like those ofal-Bassa, being either "plain, patched or embroidered in the most fantastic and grotesque shapes".[14] In 1870, the French explorerVictor Guérin found that the village had six hundred inhabitants, almost all Druze, with the exception of sixty, who belonged to the"Schismatic Greeks". Gardens were grown all around the village. Some houses seemed very old and dated, Guérin surmised, from the Middle Ages or even earlier, from the time of the Crusades.[15]
In 1881 thePalestine Exploration Fund'sSurvey of Western Palestine described it as standing "on the highest part of the Carmelwatershed, and the highest house was therefore the trigonometrical station on the ridge. It is a moderate-sized village of stone houses, with a well on the south-west. The inhabitants are all Druses. [..] Corn-land and olives surround the land."[16] A population list from about 1887 showed that Isfiya had about 555 inhabitants; 480 Druze and 75 Catholic Christians.[17] When a Jewishmoshava was established at Mutallah (Metula) north of Safed in 1896, the Druze population resisted eviction until receiving a reasonable compensation in 1904;[18] some relocated to Isfiya, including the Wahb family.[19]
In the1922 census of Palestine conducted by theBritish Mandate authorities, Isfiya had a population of 733; 590 Druze, 17 Muslims and 126 Christians;[20] the Christians broken down by denomination were six Orthodox, sixRoman Catholics, 107 Greek Catholics (Melkites), and sevenMaronites.[21] At the time of the1931 census, Isfiya had 251 occupied houses and a population of 742 Druzes, 187 Christians, and 176 Muslims; a total of 1,105. These counts included the smaller localitiesDamun Farm, Shallala Farm andal-Jalama.[22]
In the1945 statistics the population of Isfiya consisted of 1,790; 180 Muslims, 300 Christians and 1,310 classified as "others", that is, Druze,[23] while the land area was 46,905dunams, according to an official land and population survey.[24] Of this, 1,103 dunams were designated for plantations and irrigable land, 17,357 for cereals,[25] while 74 dunams were built-up (urban) areas.[26]
During the1936-39 Arab revolt in Palestine, the villagers initially supported a local rebel group led byYusuf Abu Durra. However, after local leaders were abducted and murdered, the notables turned to the British, who destroyed the group. A Druze self-defense force was established that received arms from the British and sometimes coordinated its activities with local Jewish forces.[27]
Though Isfiya is predominantly Druze, a number ofJews also live there and in other Druze villages due to their low rent rates.[28]
Isfiya has amediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification:Csa). The average annual temperature is 18.7 °C (65.7 °F), and around 689 mm (27.13 in) of precipitation falls annually.
| Climate data for Isfiya | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 14.8 (58.6) | 15.5 (59.9) | 17.7 (63.9) | 21.6 (70.9) | 26.2 (79.2) | 28.2 (82.8) | 29.5 (85.1) | 30.1 (86.2) | 28.6 (83.5) | 26.8 (80.2) | 22.6 (72.7) | 17.1 (62.8) | 23.2 (73.8) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 11.3 (52.3) | 11.8 (53.2) | 13.2 (55.8) | 16.3 (61.3) | 20.6 (69.1) | 23.1 (73.6) | 24.8 (76.6) | 25.4 (77.7) | 24 (75) | 21.9 (71.4) | 18.1 (64.6) | 13.4 (56.1) | 18.7 (65.6) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 7.8 (46.0) | 8.2 (46.8) | 8.8 (47.8) | 11.1 (52.0) | 15.1 (59.2) | 18.1 (64.6) | 20.1 (68.2) | 20.8 (69.4) | 19.5 (67.1) | 17.1 (62.8) | 13.7 (56.7) | 9.8 (49.6) | 14.2 (57.5) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 184 (7.2) | 128 (5.0) | 79 (3.1) | 26 (1.0) | 8 (0.3) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 2 (0.1) | 20 (0.8) | 91 (3.6) | 151 (5.9) | 689 (27.1) |
| Source:[29] | |||||||||||||
77.1% of the population isDruze, 13.6% isChristian and 9.1% isMuslim. A few Jewish families also live there.[30][31] The Christian population is mostlyMelkite Catholic, with a fewMaronite households.
The tomb of Abu Abdallah is located in Isfiya. Abu Abdullah was one of three religious leaders chosen by CaliphAl-Hakem in 996 CE to proclaim the Druze faith. He is said to have been the first Druze religious judge (qadi). The Druze make an annual visit to this shrine on November 15.[32]
Isfiya andDaliyat al-Karmel joinedYokneam Illit and theMegiddo Regional Council to develop the Mevo Carmel Jewish-Arab Industrial Park[33] to benefit from theexisting high-tech ecosystem.[34][35]
The economy of Isfiya is consistently growing as more tourists are visiting regularly, and more businesses are being opened.
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