Archaeological findings in Mashad include a third-centuryAramaic gravestone, indicatingJewish settlement at the site during the Late Roman period, and a stone inscribed withGreek letters now reused in Mashad's mosque.[7]
In 1517, the village was incorporated into theOttoman Empire with the rest ofPalestine, and in 1596 it appeared in the Ottomantax registers under the name ofMashad Yunis, as being in thenahiya (subdistrict) ofTabariyya, part ofSafad Sanjak. It had a population of 31 households and 6 bachelors, allMuslim. They paid a fixed tax rate of 20% on agricultural products, which includedwheat andbarley, fruit trees, vegetable and fruit garden, orchard, as well as on goats and/or beehives; a total of 865Akçe. All of the revenue went to awaqf.[8][9]
In 1838 it was noted as a Muslim village in the Nazareth district.[11][12]
In 1875, the French explorerVictor Guérin visited the village, which he estimated had at most 300 inhabitants.[13]In 1881, thePEF'sSurvey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Meshed as "A small village, built of stone, surrounding the traditional tomb of Jonah -a low building surmounted by two white-washed domes. It contains about 300 Moslems, and is situated on the top of a hill, without gardens. The water supply is fromcisterns."[14]
A population list from about 1887 showed thatel Meshed had about 450 inhabitants; all Muslims.[15]
In the1945 statistics the population was 660, all Muslims,[18] with 11,067dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.[19] Of this, 378 dunams were for plantations and irrigable land, 4,663 for cereals,[20] while 24 dunams were built-up land.[21]
^"This place is probably the Gittah-Hepher or (Gath ha Hepher of (Joshua 19:13), and (2 Kings 14:25). Jerome says that the prophetJonah was buried at Gath, about two miles from Sepphoris.Benjamin of Tudela says that the prophet's tomb was on a hill near Sepphoris. Conder and Kitchener, 1881, p.413
^Note that Rhode, 1979, p.6 writes that the register that Hütteroth and Abdulfattah studied from the Safad-district was not from 1595/6, but from 1548/9
Alexandre, Yardenna (2008-01-13)."Tel Gat Hefer Final Report" (120). Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel.{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)
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