Mallaha ملاّحة | |
|---|---|
 Bundles of dried papyrus being loaded onto a lorry. Mallaha, circa 1936. | |
| Etymology: "the salty site" | |
.jpg) 1870s map.jpg) 1940s map.jpg) modern map.jpg) 1940s with modern overlay mapA series of historical maps of the area around Mallaha (click the buttons) | |
  Mallaha Location withinMandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates:33°05′24″N35°34′55″E / 33.09000°N 35.58194°E /33.09000; 35.58194 | |
| Palestine grid | 204/277 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Safad |
| Date of depopulation | 25 May 1948[2] |
| Area | |
• Total | 2,168dunams (2.168 km2; 0.837 sq mi) |
| Population (1931) | |
• Total | 654[1] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Whispering campaign |
Mallaha (Arabic:ملاّحة) was aPalestinianArab village, located 16 kilometers (9.9 mi) northeast ofSafed, on the highway between the latter andTiberias.[4] 'Ain Mallaha is the localArabic name for a spring that served as the water source for the village inhabitants throughout the ages. It is also one of the names used in English to refer to the ancientNatufian erasettlement at the site.
Evidence of settlement at Mallaha (or 'Ain Mallaha) dates back to theMesolithic period circa 10,000 BCE.[5] The first permanent village settlement of pre-agricultural times inPalestine,Kathleen Kenyon describes the material remains found there asNatufian, consisting of 50 circular, semi-subterranean, one-room huts, paved with flat slabs and surrounded by stone walls up to 1.2 meters (3.9 ft) high.[6][7] The floors and walls of the homes were decorated in solid white or red, a simple and popular decorativemotif in theNear East at the time.[5] The inhabitants appear to have subsisted on fish from nearbyLake Hula, as well as by hunting and gathering; no evidence of animal domestication or cultivation has been found,[6][8] with the exception of dogs: the burial of a human being with a domestic dog at the site represents the earliest known archaeological evidence of dog domestication.[9]
During theCrusader era, the Franks referred to Mallaha asMerla.[10]Ibn al-Qalanisi describes a battle that took place at Mallaha in June 1157 between theArab andTurkish forces ofNur ad-Din Zangi and those of theCrusaders underKing Baldwin III.[11][12] Qalanisi writes that Nur ad-Din sent his troops to Mallaha immediately after learning viapigeon post that the Franks had set up an encampment there. The battle, as described by Qalanisi, was bloody and quick, resulting in decisive victory for the Muslim forces, who are reported to have lost only two men,[11] with the king narrowly escaping with a bodyguard.[13] The battles for control over Mallaha continued. TheItinerary ofRichard I notes that the army had advanced to Merla, "where the king had spent one of the previous nights."[10]
Just SE of Mallaha (at grid 2071/2737), excavations have revealed structures, probably dating to thirteenth or fourteenth century, that is after the area fell toMamluk sultanBaybars. The structures have been assumed to belong to a sugar-producing installation.[14]
Mallaha, like most ofPalestine, was incorporated into theOttoman Empire in the early sixteenth century.Sufi traveller al-Bakri al-Siddiqi passed by the village in the mid-eighteenth century.[dubious –discuss]
Johann Ludwig Burckhardt travelled in the region during the start of the nineteenth century,[15] but according toEdward Robinson, who travelled there in 1838, Burckhardt mislabeled the whole S.W. coast of the lake as el-Mellahah. Robinson observed thatAin el-Mallaha lay northwest of Lake Hula, and was "a single large fountain." Nearby was "usually a large encampment of theGhawarineh in tents and reed huts."[16]
In 1881, thePEF'sSurvey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Ain el Mellahah[17] as a "very large perennial spring, flowing in a long stream from the base of the mountain; at once turns a mill, and forms almost a small river."[18]
During theBritish Mandate, Mallaha had a roughly rectangular configuration that stretched from north to south, and its residents predominately sustained themselves through agriculture.[4] In the1922 census of Palestine, Mallaha had a population of 440 residents, allMuslim. By the1931 census, the population increased to 654 residents across 161 households.[1]
The population, combined with that of'Arab al-Zubayd, came to 890 Muslims in the1945 statistics, with a total of 2,168 dunams of land.[19][3][4] In 1944/45 a total of 1,761dunums were used for cereals by the villagers,[20] while 20 dunams were classifies as built-up land.[21]
On 25 May 1948 the villagers left their homes on the advice of their Jewish neighbours. This was part of a "whispering campaign" launched by theHaganah followingOperation Yiftach.[22][23][24]
According to thePalestinian historianWalid Khalidi, describing the remains of the village in 1992: "The sandy hill on which the village was situated is completely overgrown with tall grass, cactuses, and weeds, as well as an assortment of fig, eucalyptus, and date-palm trees. Amidst the overgrowth, stone rubble from destroyed houses can be seen. The surrounding land is cultivated by the settlement ofYesud ha-Ma'ala.[4]
A village history was published in Damascus in 2005.[25] According to a commentator on Palestinian village history, Rochelle A. Davis, this history is especially notable due to the prominent role women are given in describing village life. Davis believes this might be because the villagers belonged to theGhawarneh group, where women traditionally took more prominent roles.[26]
