Lajjun
Encyclopedia
Lajjun was a Palestinian
Arab
village of nearly 1,300 people located 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) northwest of Jenin
. The village along with nearby Umm al-Fahm
and seven hamlets, had a total land area of 77,242 dunam
s or 77.2 km² (19,076.5 acre), of which 0.128 km² (31.6 acre) were built-up, while the rest was used for agricultural purposes. Lajjun contained two mosque
s, six grain mills and had a bus line that served surrounding cities.
Named after an early Roman legion
camp in Palestine
called "Legio
" — which was located at the same site — Lajjun's history of habitation spanned some 2,000 years. Under Abbasid
rule it was the capital of a subdistrict, under Mamluk
rule an important station in the postal route
, and under Ottoman
rule, it was the capital of a district that bore its name. After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in the wake of World War I
, Lajjun, like other localities in Palestine, was placed under the administration of the British Mandate in Palestine. The village was entirely depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
, when it was captured by Israel.
, derives from its earliest Roman name, Legio, meaning "legion". The Romans named it thus after they settled one of their legions at the site. In the 3rd century, it was renamed Maximianopolis meaning "City of Maximian" by Diocletian
in honor of Maximian
, his co-emperor. The latter name, however, did not catch on with the local population who still referred to is as "Legio". Upon the arrival of the Muslim
s, the name was Arabicized
into al-Lajjûn or el-Lejjûn, which was used until the Crusader
s conquered Palestine
in 1099. The Crusaders restored the Roman name "Legio", and introduced new names such as Ligum and le Lyon, but after the town was reconquered by the Muslims in 1187, "al-Lajjun" once again became its name, and was called such until its demise in 1948 after its capture by Israel.
Lajjun is associated with the adjacent Megiddo. During the rule of the Canaan
ites and then the Israelite
s, Megiddo, located on the military road leading from Asia
to Egypt
and in a commanding situation, was heavily fortified by both peoples. After the Bar Kochba Revolt—a Jewish uprising against the Roman
—had been suppressed in 130 CE, the Roman emperor Hadrian
ordered a second Roman legion
, Legio VI Ferrata
, ("Ironside"), to be stationed in the north of the country to guard the Wadi Ara
region, a crucial line of communication between the coastal plain of Palestine
and the Jezreel Valley
. The place where it established its camp was known as Legio
. Then in the 3rd century CE, when the army was removed, Legio became a city and its name was augmented with the adjectival Maximianopolis
. Tell al-Mutasallim, a Bronze
and Iron Age
site also associated with Tel Megiddo, lays 1 kilometre (0.621372736649807 mi) to the north of al-Lajjun.
fought between the army
of the Rashidun Caliphate
under generals Khaled ibn al-Walid and Amr ibn al-'As, and the Byzantine Empire
in 634 CE was at Lajjun. Following the Muslim Arab victory, Lajjun, along with most of Palestine, and southern Syria
were incorporated into the Caliphate
. According to 9th-century Persian
geographer Estakhri
, Lajjun was the northernmost town in Jund Filastin
(District of Palestine). Arab
geographer Ibn Hawqal
supports this claim in 977.
The 10th-century Persian geographer Ibn al-Faqih
writes of a local legend related by the people of Lajjun regarding the source of the abundant spring used as the town's primary water source over the ages:
The Abbasid army under supreme commander Ibn Ra'iq, in an attempt to subdue the Ikhshidids of Egypt
, fought against them in an indecisive battle at Lajjun. During the battle, Abu Nasr Husayn—the general of the Ikhshidids and brother of their king—was killed. Ibn Ra'iq saw Husayn's dead body, grew sympathetic and offered his seventeen year-old son, Abu'l-Fath Muzahim, to King Muhammad bin Tughj Al-Ikhshid "to do with him whatever they saw fit". The king thought of this as an honorable act, and instead, gave Muzahim several gifts and robes, then married him to his daughter Fatima.
In 945, the Hamdanids of Aleppo
and the Ikhshidids fought a battle in Lajjun. It resulted in an Ikhshidid victory putting a halt to Hamdanid expansion southward under the leadership of Sayf al-Daula
. Arab geographer al-Muqaddasi
writes that in 985, while Lajjun under the rule of the Abbasid Caliphate, was "a city on the frontier of Palestine, and in the mountain country... it is well situated and is a pleasant place". He also says that it was the center of a nahiya ("subdistrict") that formed a part of Jund al-Urrdun (District of Jordan), and in turn, part of the Province of Syria. The nahiya included the towns of Nazareth
and Jenin
.
from the Fatimid
s in 1099, al-Lajjun's Roman name was restored and the town formed a part of the lordship of Caesarea. During this time, Christian settlement in Legio grew significantly. John of Ibelin
records that the community "owed the service of 100 sergeants". Bernard, the archbishop of Nazareth granted some of the tithe
s of Legio to the hospital of the monastery of St. Mary in 1115, then in 1121, he extended the grant to include all of Legio, including its church as well as the nearby village of Ti'inik
. By 1147, the de Lyon family controlled Legio, but by 1168, the town was held by Payen, the lord of Haifa
. Legio had markets, a town oven and held other economic activities during this era. In 1182, the Ayyubids raided Legio, and in 1187, it was captured by them under the leadership of Saladin
's nephew Husam ad-Din 'Amr and consequently its Arabic name was restored.
In 1226, Arab geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi
writes of the Mosque of Abraham in Lajjun, its "copious stream", and that it is a "part of the Jordan Province". A number of Muslim kings and prominent persons passed through the village, including al-Kamil
, the sixth Ayyubid sultan
, who there gave his daughter 'Ashura' in marriage to his nephew in 1231. The Ayyubids ceded Lajjun to the Crusaders in 1241, but it fell to the Mamluk
s under Baibars
in 1263. A year later, a party of Templars and Hospitallers raided Lajjun and took 300 male and female captives to Acre
. In the treaty between Sultan Qalawun
and the Crusaders on June 4, 1283, Lajjun was formally listed as belonging to the Mamluks.
By 1300, the Province of Syria was completely controlled by the Mamluks and divided into nine kingdoms. Lajjun became the center of a nahiya in the Kingdom of Safad, encompassing the villages of al-Ashir, Kawkab al-Hawa
, and Jenin. The Mamluks fortified it in the 15th century and the town became a major staging post on the postal route
between Egypt
and Damascus
.
conquered most of Palestine from the Mamluks after the Battle of Marj Dabiq
in 1517. As the army of Sultan Selim I
moved south towards Egypt, the Tarabay clan of the Bani Hareth, a Bedouin
tribe from the Hejaz
, aided them by serving as guides and scouts. When the Mamluks were completely uprooted and Selim returned to Istanbul
, the Tarabays were granted the territory of Lajjun. The town eventually became the capital of the Sanjak
("District") of Lajjun, which was a part of the province of Damascus
, and encompassed the Jezreel Valley
, northern Samaria
, and a part of the north-central coastline of Palestine as its territory. It was composed of four nahiyas ("sub-districts") (Jinin, Sahel Atlit, Sa'ra, and Shafa), and encompassed a total of 55 villages, including Haifa
, Jenin, and Baysan.
After a short period in which the Tarabays were in a state of rebellion, tensions suddenly died down and the Ottomans appointed Ali ibn Tarabay as the governor of Lajjun in 1559. His son Assaf Tarabay ruled Lajjun from 1571 to 1583. During his reign, he extended Tarabay power and influence to Sanjak Nablus. In 1579, Assaf, referred to as the "Sanjaqbey
of al-Lajjun," is mentioned as the builder of a mosque in the nearby village of al-Tira. Assaf was deposed and banished in 1583 to the island of Rhodes
. Six years later, in 1589, he was pardoned and resettled in the town. At the time, an impostor also named Assaf, had attempted to seize control of Sanjak Lajjun. Known later as Assaf al-Kadhab ("Assaf the Liar"), he was arrested and executed in Damascus where he traveled in attempt to confirm his appointment as governor of the district. In 1596, Lajjun was a part of the nahiya of Sha'ra and paid taxes on a number of crops, including wheat, barley, as well as goats, beehives and water buffaloes.
Assaf Tarabay was not reinstated as governor, but Lajjun remained in Tarabay hands, under the rule of Governor Tarabay ibn Ali who was succeeded upon his death by his son Ahmad in 1601, who also ruled until his death in 1657. Ahmad, known for his courage and hospitality, helped the Ottomans defeat the rebel Janbulad and gave shelter to Yusuf Sayfa — Janbulad's principle rival. Ahmad, in coordination with the governors of Gaza
(the Ridwan family) and Jerusalem (the Farrukh family), also fought against Fakhr ad-Din II in a prolonged series of battles, which ended with the victory of the Tarabay-Ridwan-Farrukh alliance after their forces routed Fakhr ad-Din's army at the al-Auja river in central Palestine in 1623.
The Ottoman authorities of Damascus expanded Ahmad's fief as a token of gratitude. Ahmad's son Zayn Tarabay ruled Lajjun for a brief period until his death in 1660. He was succeeded by Ahmad's brother Muhammad Tarabay, who—according to his French secretary—had good intentions for governing Lajjun, but was addicted to opium
and as a result had been a weak leader. After his death in 1671, other members of the Tarabay family ruled Lajjun until 1677 when the Ottomans replaced them with a government officer. The main reason behind the Ottoman abandonment of the Tarabays was that their larger tribe, the Bani Hareth, migrated east of Lajjun to the eastern banks of the Jordan River. Later during this century, Sheikh Ziben of the Arrabah
-based Abd al-Hadi clan, became the leader of Sanjak Lajjun. When Henry Maundrell
visited in 1697, he described the place as "an old village near which was a good khan
.
for a short period during the second half of the 18th-century, was reported to have used cannons against Lajjun in the course of his campaign between 1771-1773 to capture Nablus
. It is possible that this attack led to the village's decline in the years that followed. By that time, Lajjun's influence was diminished by the increasing strength of Acre's political power and Nablus's economic muscle.
Edward Robinson
visited in 1838, and noted that the khan, which Maundrell commented on, was for the accommodation of the caravans passing on the great road between Egypt and Damascus which Lajjun comes over the hills from the western plain along the coast and enters that of Esdraelon. When the British consul
James Finn
visited the area in the mid-19th century, he did not see a village. The authors of the Survey of Western Palestine also noticed a khan, however, south of the ruins of Lajjun in the early 1880s.
In the late 19th-century, Arabs from Umm al-Fahm
migrated to al-Lajjun to make use of its farmland. Gradually, they settled in the village, building their houses around the springs, especially next to the khan. When the massive mound at nearby Tall al-Mutasallim (ancient Megiddo) was excavated by German archaeologists in 1903, some of the inhabitants of Lajjun reused stones from the ancient structure that had been unearthed to build new housing.
Lajjun had a school that was founded in 1937 and that had an enrollment of 83 in 1944. It was located in the quarter belonging to the al-Mahajina al-Fawqa clan, that is, in Khirbat al-Khan. In 1943 one of the large landowners in the village financed the construction of a mosque, built of white stone, in the al-Ghubariyya (eastern) quarter. Another mosque was also established in the al-Mahamid quarter during the same period, and was financed by the residents themselves.
There was a small market place in the village, as well as six grain mills (powered by the numerous springs and wadis in the vicinity), and a health center. The various quarters of Lajjun had many shops. A bus company was established in Lajjun by a villager from Umm al-Fahm; the bus line served Umm al-Fahm, Haifa
, and a number of villages, such as Zir'in
. In 1937, the line had seven buses. Subsequently, the company was licensed to serve Jenin also, and acquired the name of "al-Lajjun Bus Company".
(ALA). It was first assaulted by the Haganah
on April 13, during the battle around kibbutz
Mishmar HaEmek
. ALA commander Fawzi al-Qawuqji
claimed Jewish forces ("Haganah") had attempted to reach the crossroads at Lajjun in an outflanking operation, but the attack failed. The New York Times reported that twelve Arabs were killed and fifteen wounded during that Haganah offensive. Palmach
units of the Haganah raided and blew up most of Lajjun on the night of April 15–16.
On April 17, it was occupied by the Haganah. According to the newspaper, Lajjun was the "most important place taken by the Jews, whose offensive has carried them through ten villages south and east of Mishmar Ha'emek." The report added that women and children had been removed from the village and that 27 buildings in the village were blown up by the Haganah. However, al-Qawuqji states that attacks resumed on May 6, when ALA positions in the area of Lajjun were attacked by Haganah forces. The ALA's Yarmouk Battalion and other ALA units drove back their forces, but two days later, the ALA commander reported that the Haganah was "trying to cut off the Lajjun area from Tulkarm
in preparation of seizing Lajjun and Jenin..."
On May 30, 1948, in the first stage of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
, Lajjun was captured by Israel
's Golani Brigade
in Operation Gideon
. The capture was particularly important for the Israelis because of its strategic location at the entrance of the Wadi Ara
, which thus, brought their forces closer to Jenin. During the second truce between Israel and the Arab coalition, in early September, a United Nations
official fixed the permanent truce line in the area of Lajjun, according to press reports. A 500-yard strip was established on both sides of the line in which Arabs and Jews were allowed to harvest their crops. Lajjun was used as transit place by the Israel Defense Forces
to transfer 1,400 Arab women, children and elderly from Ijzim
, who then were sent on foot to Jenin.
Walid Khalidi
describes the remains of Lajjun:
, a pillar of the Peace Now movement, was built on some of Lajjun's village lands. A few of the buildings from Lajjun still stand within the kibbutz
grounds, including the mosque known as the "White" which was built in 1943, and is today used as a carpentry shop.
Andrew Petersen, inspecting the place in 1993, writes that the principal extant buildings at the site are the khan and a bridge. The bridge, which crosses a major tributary of the Kishon River
, is approximately 4 metres (13.1 ft) wide and 16 metres (52.5 ft) to 20 metres (65.6 ft) long. It is carried on three arches, the north side has been robbed of its outer face, while the south side is heavily overgrown with vegetation. According to Petersen, the bridge already seems to have been in a ruined condition when drawn by William Charles Wilson in the 1870s. The khan is located on a low hill 150 metres (492.1 ft) to the southwest of the bridge. It is a square enclosure measuring approximately 30 metres (98.4 ft) per side with a central courtyard. The ruins are covered with vegetation, and only the remains of one room is visible.
(Marj ibn Amer). The village is located on both the banks of Wadi al-Lajjun, with Jenin and the entire valley visible from it. It is bordered by Tall al-Mutsallem to the northeast, and by Tall al-Asmar to the northwest. Lajjun, which was linked by secondary roads to the Jenin-Haifa road, and the road that led southwest to the town of Umm al-Fahm, laid close to the junctions of the two highways. The main spring that supplied the village with water was Ayn al-Hajja.
Jenin was located 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) northwest of Lajjun and according to al-Hamawi, roughly 32 kilometres (19.9 mi) southwest of Tabariyyah and 64 kilometres (39.8 mi) north of Ramla
. Nearby localities included, the destroyed village of Ayn al-Mansi
to the northwest, and the surviving villages of Zalafa
to the south, Baiyada and Musheirifa
to the southwest, and Zububa
(part of the Palestinian territories
) to the southeast. The largest town near al-Lajjun was Umm al-Fahm, to the south.
Lajjun, Umm al-Fahm and seven hamlets had a total land area of 77.24 square kilometres (29.8 sq mi), of which 68.3 square kilometres (26.4 sq mi) was Arab-owned, and the remainder being public property. There was a total of 50 km² (12,355.3 acre) of land that was cultivated; 4.3 km² (1,062.6 acre) were used for plantations and irrigated, and 44.6 km² (11,020.9 acre) were planted with cereals (wheat and barley). The built-up area of the villages was 0.128 km² (31.6 acre), most of it being in Umm al-Fahm and Lajjun.
, the population had more than doubled to 857, of which 829 were Muslim
s, 26 were Christians, as well as two Jews. In that year, there were 162 houses in the village. At the end of 1940, Lajjun had 1,103 inhabitants, and in 1945, Sami Hadawi
counted Lajjun with Umm al-Fahm and seven other hamlets in his land and population survey with the total population amounting to 5,490.
The prominent families of al-Lajjun were the Jabbarin, Ghubayriyya, Mahamid and the Mahajina. The projected population of al-Lajjun alone in 1948 was 1,280. Refugee
s from the village and their descendants numbered 7,857 in 1998. Around 80% of its inhabitants fled to Umm al-Fahm, where they currently live as Arab citizens of Israel
and internally displaced Palestinians
.
struck the stone with his staff. Abraham had entered the town with his flock of sheep on his way towards Egypt
, and the people of the village informed him that the village possessed only small quantities of water, thus Abraham should pass on the village to another. According to the legend, Abraham was commanded to strike the rock, resulting in water "bursting out copiously". From then, the village orchards and crops were well-irrigated and the people satisfied with a surplus of drinking water from the spring.
In Lajjun there are tombs for two Mamluk-era Muslim relics who were from the village. The holy men were Ali Shafi'i who died in 1310 and Ali ibn Jalal who died in 1400.
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
village of nearly 1,300 people located 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) northwest of Jenin
Jenin
Jenin is the largest town in the Northern West Bank, and the third largest city overall. It serves as the administrative center of the Jenin Governorate and is a major agricultural center for the surrounding towns. In 2007, the city had a population of 120,004 not including the adjacent refugee...
. The village along with nearby Umm al-Fahm
Umm al-Fahm
Umm al-Fahm is a city in the Haifa District of Israel with a population of 43,300, nearly all of whom are Arab citizens of Israel. The city is situated on the Umm al-Fahm mountain ridge, the highest point of which is Mt. Iskander , overlooking Wadi Ara...
and seven hamlets, had a total land area of 77,242 dunam
Dunam
A dunam or dönüm, dunum, donum, dynym, dulum was a non-SI unit of land area used in the Ottoman Empire and representing the amount of land that can be plowed in a day; its value varied from 900–2500 m²...
s or 77.2 km² (19,076.5 acre), of which 0.128 km² (31.6 acre) were built-up, while the rest was used for agricultural purposes. Lajjun contained two mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
s, six grain mills and had a bus line that served surrounding cities.
Named after an early Roman legion
Roman legion
A Roman legion normally indicates the basic ancient Roman army unit recruited specifically from Roman citizens. The organization of legions varied greatly over time but they were typically composed of perhaps 5,000 soldiers, divided into maniples and later into "cohorts"...
camp in Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
called "Legio
Legio
Legio was a Roman Catholic titular see in the former Roman province of Palestina Secunda, which was suffragan of ScythopolisIt figures for the first time in a Latin episcopal notitia, dating probably from the eleventh century, where it is given under the name of Legionum, between the Bishoprics of...
" — which was located at the same site — Lajjun's history of habitation spanned some 2,000 years. Under Abbasid
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate or, more simply, the Abbasids , was the third of the Islamic caliphates. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphate from all but the al-Andalus region....
rule it was the capital of a subdistrict, under Mamluk
Mamluk
A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...
rule an important station in the postal route
Postal history of Palestine
The postage stamps and postal history of Palestine emerges out of its geographic location as a crossroads amidst the empires of the ancient Near East, the Levant and the Middle East...
, and under Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
rule, it was the capital of a district that bore its name. After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in the wake of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Lajjun, like other localities in Palestine, was placed under the administration of the British Mandate in Palestine. The village was entirely depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
1948 Arab-Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...
, when it was captured by Israel.
Etymology
The name Lajjun in ArabicArabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
, derives from its earliest Roman name, Legio, meaning "legion". The Romans named it thus after they settled one of their legions at the site. In the 3rd century, it was renamed Maximianopolis meaning "City of Maximian" by Diocletian
Diocletian
Diocletian |latinized]] upon his accession to Diocletian . c. 22 December 244 – 3 December 311), was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305....
in honor of Maximian
Maximian
Maximian was Roman Emperor from 286 to 305. He was Caesar from 285 to 286, then Augustus from 286 to 305. He shared the latter title with his co-emperor and superior, Diocletian, whose political brain complemented Maximian's military brawn. Maximian established his residence at Trier but spent...
, his co-emperor. The latter name, however, did not catch on with the local population who still referred to is as "Legio". Upon the arrival of the Muslim
Caliphate
The term caliphate, "dominion of a caliph " , refers to the first system of government established in Islam and represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah...
s, the name was Arabicized
Arabization
Arabization or Arabisation describes a growing cultural influence on a non-Arab area that gradually changes into one that speaks Arabic and/or incorporates Arab culture...
into al-Lajjûn or el-Lejjûn, which was used until the Crusader
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
s conquered Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
in 1099. The Crusaders restored the Roman name "Legio", and introduced new names such as Ligum and le Lyon, but after the town was reconquered by the Muslims in 1187, "al-Lajjun" once again became its name, and was called such until its demise in 1948 after its capture by Israel.
Antiquity
Lajjun is associated with the adjacent Megiddo. During the rule of the Canaan
Canaan
Canaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
ites and then the Israelite
Israelite
According to the Bible the Israelites were a Hebrew-speaking people of the Ancient Near East who inhabited the Land of Canaan during the monarchic period .The word "Israelite" derives from the Biblical Hebrew ישראל...
s, Megiddo, located on the military road leading from Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
to Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and in a commanding situation, was heavily fortified by both peoples. After the Bar Kochba Revolt—a Jewish uprising against the Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
—had been suppressed in 130 CE, the Roman emperor Hadrian
Hadrian
Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...
ordered a second Roman legion
Roman legion
A Roman legion normally indicates the basic ancient Roman army unit recruited specifically from Roman citizens. The organization of legions varied greatly over time but they were typically composed of perhaps 5,000 soldiers, divided into maniples and later into "cohorts"...
, Legio VI Ferrata
Legio VI Ferrata
Legio sexta Ferrata , was a Roman Legion formed in 65 BC, and in existence up to at least 3rd century. A Legio VI fought in the Roman Republican civil wars of the 40s and 30s BC...
, ("Ironside"), to be stationed in the north of the country to guard the Wadi Ara
Wadi Ara
Wadi Ara or Nahal Iron , refers to an area within Israel that is mostly populated by Arabs. It is located northwest of the Green Line and is mostly within Israel's Haifa District. Today, Highway 65 runs through the wadi.-Geography:...
region, a crucial line of communication between the coastal plain of Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
and the Jezreel Valley
Jezreel Valley
-Etymology:The Jezreel Valley takes its name from the ancient city of Jezreel which was located on a low hill overlooking the southern edge of the valley, though some scholars think that the name of the city originates from the name of the clan which founded it, and whose existence is mentioned in...
. The place where it established its camp was known as Legio
Legio
Legio was a Roman Catholic titular see in the former Roman province of Palestina Secunda, which was suffragan of ScythopolisIt figures for the first time in a Latin episcopal notitia, dating probably from the eleventh century, where it is given under the name of Legionum, between the Bishoprics of...
. Then in the 3rd century CE, when the army was removed, Legio became a city and its name was augmented with the adjectival Maximianopolis
Maximianopolis
Maximianopolis can refer to:* Maximianopolis * Maximianopolis * Maximianopolis...
. Tell al-Mutasallim, a Bronze
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
and Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
site also associated with Tel Megiddo, lays 1 kilometre (0.621372736649807 mi) to the north of al-Lajjun.
Arab rule
According to some Muslim historians, the site of the Battle of AjnadaynBattle of Ajnadayn
The Battle of Ajnadayn, fought on July 30, 634, south of Beit Shemesh in present day Israel, was the first major pitched battle between the Eastern Roman Empire and the army of the Arabic Rashidun Caliphate. The result of the battle was a decisive Muslim victory...
fought between the army
Rashidun army
The Rashidun Caliphate Army or Rashidun army was the primary military body of the Rashidun Caliphate's armed forces during the Muslim conquests of the 7th century, serving alongside the Rashidun Navy...
of the Rashidun Caliphate
Rashidun Caliphate
The Rashidun Caliphate , comprising the first four caliphs in Islam's history, was founded after Muhammad's death in 632, Year 10 A.H.. At its height, the Caliphate extended from the Arabian Peninsula, to the Levant, Caucasus and North Africa in the west, to the Iranian highlands and Central Asia...
under generals Khaled ibn al-Walid and Amr ibn al-'As, and the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
in 634 CE was at Lajjun. Following the Muslim Arab victory, Lajjun, along with most of Palestine, and southern Syria
Hauran
Hauran, , also spelled Hawran or Houran, is a volcanic plateau, a geographic area and a people located in southwestern Syria and extending into the northwestern corner of Jordan. It gets its name from the Aramaic Hawran, meaning "cave land." In geographic and geomorphic terms, its boundaries...
were incorporated into the Caliphate
Caliphate
The term caliphate, "dominion of a caliph " , refers to the first system of government established in Islam and represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah...
. According to 9th-century Persian
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
geographer Estakhri
Estakhri
Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Farisi al Istakhri was a medieval Persian geographer in the 10th century.-Career:...
, Lajjun was the northernmost town in Jund Filastin
Jund Filastin
Jund Filastin was one of several sub-provinces of the Ummayad and Abbasid Caliphate province of Syria, organized soon after the Muslim conquest of Syria in the seventh century. According to al-Biladhuri, the main towns in the district at its capture by the Rashidun Caliphate, were Gaza, Sebastiya,...
(District of Palestine). Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
geographer Ibn Hawqal
Ibn Hawqal
Muḥammad Abū’l-Qāsim Ibn Ḥawqal was a 10th century Muslim writer, geographer, and chronicler. His famous work, written in 977, is called Ṣūrat al-’Arḍ ....
supports this claim in 977.
The 10th-century Persian geographer Ibn al-Faqih
Ibn al-Faqih
Ibn al-Faqih al-Hamadani was a 10th century Persian historian and geographer, famous for his Mukhtasar Kitab al-Buldan .-References:...
writes of a local legend related by the people of Lajjun regarding the source of the abundant spring used as the town's primary water source over the ages:
there is just outside of al-Lajjun a large stone of round form, over which is built a dome, which they call the MosqueMosqueA mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
of AbrahamAbrahamAbraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
. A copious stream of water flows from under the stone and it is reported that Abraham struck the stone with his staff, and there immediately flowed from it water enough to suffice for the supply of the people of the town, and also to water their lands. The spring continues to flow down to the present day.
The Abbasid army under supreme commander Ibn Ra'iq, in an attempt to subdue the Ikhshidids of Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, fought against them in an indecisive battle at Lajjun. During the battle, Abu Nasr Husayn—the general of the Ikhshidids and brother of their king—was killed. Ibn Ra'iq saw Husayn's dead body, grew sympathetic and offered his seventeen year-old son, Abu'l-Fath Muzahim, to King Muhammad bin Tughj Al-Ikhshid "to do with him whatever they saw fit". The king thought of this as an honorable act, and instead, gave Muzahim several gifts and robes, then married him to his daughter Fatima.
In 945, the Hamdanids of Aleppo
Aleppo
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...
and the Ikhshidids fought a battle in Lajjun. It resulted in an Ikhshidid victory putting a halt to Hamdanid expansion southward under the leadership of Sayf al-Daula
Sayf al-Daula
Ali ibn Abi al-Hayja 'Abd Allah ibn Hamdan ibn al-Harith Sayf al-Dawla al-Taghlibi , more commonly known simply by his laqab of Sayf al-Dawla , was the ruler of northern Syria and the brother of al-Hasan ibn Hamdan , the founder and the most prominent prince of the Arab Hamdanid dynasty from...
. Arab geographer al-Muqaddasi
Al-Muqaddasi
Muhammad ibn Ahmad Shams al-Din Al-Muqaddasi , also transliterated as Al-Maqdisi and el-Mukaddasi, was a medieval Arab geographer, author of Ahsan at-Taqasim fi Ma`rifat il-Aqalim .-Biography:Al-Muqaddasi, "the Hierosolomite" was born in Jerusalem in 946 AD...
writes that in 985, while Lajjun under the rule of the Abbasid Caliphate, was "a city on the frontier of Palestine, and in the mountain country... it is well situated and is a pleasant place". He also says that it was the center of a nahiya ("subdistrict") that formed a part of Jund al-Urrdun (District of Jordan), and in turn, part of the Province of Syria. The nahiya included the towns of Nazareth
Nazareth
Nazareth is the largest city in the North District of Israel. Known as "the Arab capital of Israel," the population is made up predominantly of Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel...
and Jenin
Jenin
Jenin is the largest town in the Northern West Bank, and the third largest city overall. It serves as the administrative center of the Jenin Governorate and is a major agricultural center for the surrounding towns. In 2007, the city had a population of 120,004 not including the adjacent refugee...
.
Crusader, Ayyubid and Mamluk periods
When the Crusaders invaded and conquered the LevantLevant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
from the Fatimid
Fatimid
The Fatimid Islamic Caliphate or al-Fāṭimiyyūn was a Berber Shia Muslim caliphate first centered in Tunisia and later in Egypt that ruled over varying areas of the Maghreb, Sudan, Sicily, the Levant, and Hijaz from 5 January 909 to 1171.The caliphate was ruled by the Fatimids, who established the...
s in 1099, al-Lajjun's Roman name was restored and the town formed a part of the lordship of Caesarea. During this time, Christian settlement in Legio grew significantly. John of Ibelin
John of Ibelin (jurist)
John of Ibelin , count of Jaffa and Ascalon, was a noted jurist and the author of the longest legal treatise from the Kingdom of Jerusalem. He was the son of Philip of Ibelin, bailli of the Kingdom of Cyprus, and Alice of Montbéliard, and was the nephew of John of Ibelin, the "Old Lord of Beirut"...
records that the community "owed the service of 100 sergeants". Bernard, the archbishop of Nazareth granted some of the tithe
Tithe
A tithe is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques, or stocks, whereas historically tithes were required and paid in kind, such as agricultural products...
s of Legio to the hospital of the monastery of St. Mary in 1115, then in 1121, he extended the grant to include all of Legio, including its church as well as the nearby village of Ti'inik
Ti'inik
Ti'inik is a Palestinian village in the West Bank, located 13 km Northwest of the city of Jenin in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 1,095 inhabitants in mid-year 2006....
. By 1147, the de Lyon family controlled Legio, but by 1168, the town was held by Payen, the lord of Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
. Legio had markets, a town oven and held other economic activities during this era. In 1182, the Ayyubids raided Legio, and in 1187, it was captured by them under the leadership of Saladin
Saladin
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was an Arabized Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...
's nephew Husam ad-Din 'Amr and consequently its Arabic name was restored.
In 1226, Arab geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi
Yaqut al-Hamawi
Yāqūt ibn-'Abdullah al-Rūmī al-Hamawī) was an Islamic biographer and geographer renowned for his encyclopedic writings on the Muslim world. "al-Rumi" refers to his Greek descent; "al-Hamawi" means that he is from Hama, Syria, and ibn-Abdullah is a reference to his father's name, Abdullah...
writes of the Mosque of Abraham in Lajjun, its "copious stream", and that it is a "part of the Jordan Province". A number of Muslim kings and prominent persons passed through the village, including al-Kamil
Al-Kamil
Al-Kamil was a Kurdish Ayyubid sultan who ruled North Africa. During his tenure as sultan, the Ayyubids defeated two crusades. In a temporary agreement with the Crusaders, he ceded Jerusalem to the Christians.-Biography:He was the son of sultan al-Adil, a brother of Saladin...
, the sixth Ayyubid sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
, who there gave his daughter 'Ashura' in marriage to his nephew in 1231. The Ayyubids ceded Lajjun to the Crusaders in 1241, but it fell to the Mamluk
Mamluk
A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...
s under Baibars
Baibars
Baibars or Baybars , nicknamed Abu l-Futuh , was a Mamluk Sultan of Egypt. He was one of the commanders of the forces which inflicted a devastating defeat on the Seventh Crusade of King Louis IX of France and he led the vanguard of the Egyptian army at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, which marked...
in 1263. A year later, a party of Templars and Hospitallers raided Lajjun and took 300 male and female captives to Acre
Acre, Israel
Acre , is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the country....
. In the treaty between Sultan Qalawun
Qalawun
Saif ad-Dīn Qalawun aṣ-Ṣāliḥī was the seventh Mamluk sultan of Egypt...
and the Crusaders on June 4, 1283, Lajjun was formally listed as belonging to the Mamluks.
By 1300, the Province of Syria was completely controlled by the Mamluks and divided into nine kingdoms. Lajjun became the center of a nahiya in the Kingdom of Safad, encompassing the villages of al-Ashir, Kawkab al-Hawa
Kawkab al-Hawa
Kawkab al-Hawa is a depopulated former Palestinian village located11 km north of Baysan. Kawkab al-Hawa contained the Crusader fortress of Belvoir. The Crusader names for the Frankish settlement at Kuwaykat were Beauvoir, Belvoir, Bellum videre, Coquet, Cuschet and Coket...
, and Jenin. The Mamluks fortified it in the 15th century and the town became a major staging post on the postal route
Postal history of Palestine
The postage stamps and postal history of Palestine emerges out of its geographic location as a crossroads amidst the empires of the ancient Near East, the Levant and the Middle East...
between Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
.
Early rule and the Tarabay family
The Ottoman EmpireOttoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
conquered most of Palestine from the Mamluks after the Battle of Marj Dabiq
Battle of Marj Dabiq
The battle of Marj Dābiq was a decisive military clash in Middle Eastern history, fought on 24 August 1516, 44 km north of Halab , Syria.- Battle preparations :...
in 1517. As the army of Sultan Selim I
Selim I
Selim I, Yavuz Sultân Selim Khan, Hâdim-ül Haramain-ish Sharifain , nicknamed Yavuz "the Stern" or "the Steadfast", but often rendered in English as "the Grim" , was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to...
moved south towards Egypt, the Tarabay clan of the Bani Hareth, a Bedouin
Bedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
tribe from the Hejaz
Hejaz
al-Hejaz, also Hijaz is a region in the west of present-day Saudi Arabia. Defined primarily by its western border on the Red Sea, it extends from Haql on the Gulf of Aqaba to Jizan. Its main city is Jeddah, but it is probably better known for the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina...
, aided them by serving as guides and scouts. When the Mamluks were completely uprooted and Selim returned to Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, the Tarabays were granted the territory of Lajjun. The town eventually became the capital of the Sanjak
Sanjak
Sanjaks were administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire. Sanjak, and the variant spellings sandjak, sanjaq, and sinjaq, are English transliterations of the Turkish word sancak, meaning district, banner, or flag...
("District") of Lajjun, which was a part of the province of Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
, and encompassed the Jezreel Valley
Jezreel Valley
-Etymology:The Jezreel Valley takes its name from the ancient city of Jezreel which was located on a low hill overlooking the southern edge of the valley, though some scholars think that the name of the city originates from the name of the clan which founded it, and whose existence is mentioned in...
, northern Samaria
Samaria
Samaria, or the Shomron is a term used for a mountainous region roughly corresponding to the northern part of the West Bank.- Etymology :...
, and a part of the north-central coastline of Palestine as its territory. It was composed of four nahiyas ("sub-districts") (Jinin, Sahel Atlit, Sa'ra, and Shafa), and encompassed a total of 55 villages, including Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
, Jenin, and Baysan.
After a short period in which the Tarabays were in a state of rebellion, tensions suddenly died down and the Ottomans appointed Ali ibn Tarabay as the governor of Lajjun in 1559. His son Assaf Tarabay ruled Lajjun from 1571 to 1583. During his reign, he extended Tarabay power and influence to Sanjak Nablus. In 1579, Assaf, referred to as the "Sanjaqbey
Sanjak-bey
Sanjak-bey, Sanjaq-bey or -beg was the Turkish title of the Bey in military and administrative command of a sanjak , answerable to a Wāli or other provincial governor. In a few cases the Sanjak-Bey was himself a governor directly answering to Istanbul....
of al-Lajjun," is mentioned as the builder of a mosque in the nearby village of al-Tira. Assaf was deposed and banished in 1583 to the island of Rhodes
Rhodes
Rhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...
. Six years later, in 1589, he was pardoned and resettled in the town. At the time, an impostor also named Assaf, had attempted to seize control of Sanjak Lajjun. Known later as Assaf al-Kadhab ("Assaf the Liar"), he was arrested and executed in Damascus where he traveled in attempt to confirm his appointment as governor of the district. In 1596, Lajjun was a part of the nahiya of Sha'ra and paid taxes on a number of crops, including wheat, barley, as well as goats, beehives and water buffaloes.
Assaf Tarabay was not reinstated as governor, but Lajjun remained in Tarabay hands, under the rule of Governor Tarabay ibn Ali who was succeeded upon his death by his son Ahmad in 1601, who also ruled until his death in 1657. Ahmad, known for his courage and hospitality, helped the Ottomans defeat the rebel Janbulad and gave shelter to Yusuf Sayfa — Janbulad's principle rival. Ahmad, in coordination with the governors of Gaza
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
(the Ridwan family) and Jerusalem (the Farrukh family), also fought against Fakhr ad-Din II in a prolonged series of battles, which ended with the victory of the Tarabay-Ridwan-Farrukh alliance after their forces routed Fakhr ad-Din's army at the al-Auja river in central Palestine in 1623.
The Ottoman authorities of Damascus expanded Ahmad's fief as a token of gratitude. Ahmad's son Zayn Tarabay ruled Lajjun for a brief period until his death in 1660. He was succeeded by Ahmad's brother Muhammad Tarabay, who—according to his French secretary—had good intentions for governing Lajjun, but was addicted to opium
Opium
Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...
and as a result had been a weak leader. After his death in 1671, other members of the Tarabay family ruled Lajjun until 1677 when the Ottomans replaced them with a government officer. The main reason behind the Ottoman abandonment of the Tarabays was that their larger tribe, the Bani Hareth, migrated east of Lajjun to the eastern banks of the Jordan River. Later during this century, Sheikh Ziben of the Arrabah
Arrabah
Arraba, , a Palestinian village in the northern West Bank located 13 kilometers southwest of Jenin. The village is 350 meters above sea level and lies near Sahl Arrabah, a plain that lies between Mount Carmel and Nablus...
-based Abd al-Hadi clan, became the leader of Sanjak Lajjun. When Henry Maundrell
Henry Maundrell
Henry Maundrell was an academic at Oxford University and later a Church of England clergyman who served from 20 December 1695 as chaplain to the Levant Company in Syria. His Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem at Easter A.D...
visited in 1697, he described the place as "an old village near which was a good khan
Caravanserai
A caravanserai, or khan, also known as caravansary, caravansera, or caravansara in English was a roadside inn where travelers could rest and recover from the day's journey...
.
Later Ottoman rule
By the 18th-century, Lajjun was replaced by Jenin as the administrative capital of the sanjak which now included the Sanjak of Ajlun. By the 19th-century it was renamed Sanjak Jenin, although Ajlun was separated from it. Dhaher al-Omar, who became the effective ruler of the GalileeGalilee
Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...
for a short period during the second half of the 18th-century, was reported to have used cannons against Lajjun in the course of his campaign between 1771-1773 to capture Nablus
Nablus
Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 126,132. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center.Founded by the...
. It is possible that this attack led to the village's decline in the years that followed. By that time, Lajjun's influence was diminished by the increasing strength of Acre's political power and Nablus's economic muscle.
Edward Robinson
Edward Robinson (scholar)
Edward Robinson was an American biblical scholar, known as the “Father of Biblical Geography.” He has been referred to as the “founder of modern Palestinology.” -Biography:...
visited in 1838, and noted that the khan, which Maundrell commented on, was for the accommodation of the caravans passing on the great road between Egypt and Damascus which Lajjun comes over the hills from the western plain along the coast and enters that of Esdraelon. When the British consul
Consul
Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
James Finn
James Finn
James Finn was a British Consul in Jerusalem, in the then Ottoman Empire . He arrived in 1845 with his wife Elizabeth Anne Finn. Finn was a devout Christian, who belonged to the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews, but who did not engage in missionary work during his years in...
visited the area in the mid-19th century, he did not see a village. The authors of the Survey of Western Palestine also noticed a khan, however, south of the ruins of Lajjun in the early 1880s.
In the late 19th-century, Arabs from Umm al-Fahm
Umm al-Fahm
Umm al-Fahm is a city in the Haifa District of Israel with a population of 43,300, nearly all of whom are Arab citizens of Israel. The city is situated on the Umm al-Fahm mountain ridge, the highest point of which is Mt. Iskander , overlooking Wadi Ara...
migrated to al-Lajjun to make use of its farmland. Gradually, they settled in the village, building their houses around the springs, especially next to the khan. When the massive mound at nearby Tall al-Mutasallim (ancient Megiddo) was excavated by German archaeologists in 1903, some of the inhabitants of Lajjun reused stones from the ancient structure that had been unearthed to build new housing.
British Mandate period
More people moved to Lajjun during the British mandate period, and particularly in the late thirties, due to the British government's persecution of the population for their activities in the 1936-39 revolt that had spread throughout Palestine. The tomb of Yusuf al-Hamdan, a local leader of the revolt, is located in the village. Lajjun's economy grew rapidly as a result of the influx of the additional population. As the village expanded, it was divided into three quarters, one to the east, one to the west, and another known as Khirbat al-Khan. Each quarter was inhabited by one or more hamulas ("clans"); the al-Mahajina al-Tahta and al-Ghubariyya clans, the al-Jabbarin and al-Mahamid clans, and the al-Mahajina al-Fawqa clan.Lajjun had a school that was founded in 1937 and that had an enrollment of 83 in 1944. It was located in the quarter belonging to the al-Mahajina al-Fawqa clan, that is, in Khirbat al-Khan. In 1943 one of the large landowners in the village financed the construction of a mosque, built of white stone, in the al-Ghubariyya (eastern) quarter. Another mosque was also established in the al-Mahamid quarter during the same period, and was financed by the residents themselves.
There was a small market place in the village, as well as six grain mills (powered by the numerous springs and wadis in the vicinity), and a health center. The various quarters of Lajjun had many shops. A bus company was established in Lajjun by a villager from Umm al-Fahm; the bus line served Umm al-Fahm, Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
, and a number of villages, such as Zir'in
Zir'in
Zir'in was a Palestinian Arab village of over 1,400 in the Jezreel Valley, located north of Jenin. Identified as the Canaanite town of Yizre'el, it was known as Zir'in during Islamic rule, and was near the site of the Battle of Ain Jalut, in which the Mamluks halted Mongol expansion southward...
. In 1937, the line had seven buses. Subsequently, the company was licensed to serve Jenin also, and acquired the name of "al-Lajjun Bus Company".
1948 War
Lajjun was allotted to the Arab state in the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan. The village was defended by the Arab Liberation ArmyArab Liberation Army
The Arab Liberation Army , also translated as Arab Salvation Army, was an army of volunteers from Arab countries led by Fawzi al-Qawuqji...
(ALA). It was first assaulted by the Haganah
Haganah
Haganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...
on April 13, during the battle around kibbutz
Kibbutz
A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism...
Mishmar HaEmek
Mishmar HaEmek
Mishmar HaEmek is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the western Jezreel Valley, it falls under the jurisdiction of Megiddo Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 964....
. ALA commander Fawzi al-Qawuqji
Fawzi Al-Qawuqji
Fawzi al-Qawuqji was the field commander of the Arab Liberation Army during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War in Palestine, and a rival of the principal Palestinian Arab leader, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini.-Biography:...
claimed Jewish forces ("Haganah") had attempted to reach the crossroads at Lajjun in an outflanking operation, but the attack failed. The New York Times reported that twelve Arabs were killed and fifteen wounded during that Haganah offensive. Palmach
Palmach
The Palmach was the elite fighting force of the Haganah, the underground army of the Yishuv during the period of the British Mandate of Palestine. The Palmach was established on May 15, 1941...
units of the Haganah raided and blew up most of Lajjun on the night of April 15–16.
On April 17, it was occupied by the Haganah. According to the newspaper, Lajjun was the "most important place taken by the Jews, whose offensive has carried them through ten villages south and east of Mishmar Ha'emek." The report added that women and children had been removed from the village and that 27 buildings in the village were blown up by the Haganah. However, al-Qawuqji states that attacks resumed on May 6, when ALA positions in the area of Lajjun were attacked by Haganah forces. The ALA's Yarmouk Battalion and other ALA units drove back their forces, but two days later, the ALA commander reported that the Haganah was "trying to cut off the Lajjun area from Tulkarm
Tulkarm
Tulkarem or Tulkarm is a Palestinian city in the northern Samarian mountain range in the Tulkarm Governorate in the extreme northwestern West Bank adjacent to the Netanya and Haifa districts to the west, the Nablus and Jenin Districts to the east...
in preparation of seizing Lajjun and Jenin..."
On May 30, 1948, in the first stage of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
1948 Arab-Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...
, Lajjun was captured by Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
's Golani Brigade
Golani Brigade
The Golani Brigade is an Israeli infantry brigade that is subordinated to the 36th Division and traditionally associated with the Northern Command. Its symbol is a green tree on a yellow background, and its soldiers wear a brown beret. It is one of the most highly decorated infantry units in the...
in Operation Gideon
Operation Gideon
Operation Gideon was a Haganah offensive launched in the closing days of the British Mandate in Palestine, as part of the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine. Its objectives were to capture Beisan , clear the surrounding villages and bedouin camps and block one of the possible entry routes...
. The capture was particularly important for the Israelis because of its strategic location at the entrance of the Wadi Ara
Wadi Ara
Wadi Ara or Nahal Iron , refers to an area within Israel that is mostly populated by Arabs. It is located northwest of the Green Line and is mostly within Israel's Haifa District. Today, Highway 65 runs through the wadi.-Geography:...
, which thus, brought their forces closer to Jenin. During the second truce between Israel and the Arab coalition, in early September, a United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
official fixed the permanent truce line in the area of Lajjun, according to press reports. A 500-yard strip was established on both sides of the line in which Arabs and Jews were allowed to harvest their crops. Lajjun was used as transit place by the Israel Defense Forces
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
to transfer 1,400 Arab women, children and elderly from Ijzim
Ijzim
Ijzim was a Palestinian village located in the Haifa district of British Mandate Palestine, 19.5 kilometers south of the city, that was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war...
, who then were sent on foot to Jenin.
Walid Khalidi
Walid Khalidi
Walid Khalidi is an Oxford University-educated Palestinian historian who has written extensively on the Palestinian exodus. He is General Secretary and co-founder of the Institute for Palestine Studies, established in Beirut in December 1963 as an independent research and publishing center...
describes the remains of Lajjun:
Only the white stone mosque, one village mill, the village health center, and a few partially destroyed houses remain on the site. The mosque has been converted into a carpentry workshop and one of the houses has been made into a chicken coop. The health center and grain mill are deserted, and the school is gone. The cemetery remains, but it is in a neglected state; the tomb of Yusuf al-Hamdan, a prominent nationalist who fell in the 1936 revolt, is clearly visible. The surrounding lands are planted with almond trees, wheat, and barley; they also contain animal sheds, a fodder plant, and a pump installed on the spring of 'Ayn al-Hajja. The site is tightly fenced in and entry is blocked.
Aftermath
Kibbutz Megiddo, associated with Hashomer HatzairHashomer Hatzair
Hashomer Hatzair is a Socialist–Zionist youth movement founded in 1913 in Galicia, Austria-Hungary, and was also the name of the group's political party in the Yishuv in the pre-1948 British Mandate of Palestine...
, a pillar of the Peace Now movement, was built on some of Lajjun's village lands. A few of the buildings from Lajjun still stand within the kibbutz
Kibbutz
A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism...
grounds, including the mosque known as the "White" which was built in 1943, and is today used as a carpentry shop.
Andrew Petersen, inspecting the place in 1993, writes that the principal extant buildings at the site are the khan and a bridge. The bridge, which crosses a major tributary of the Kishon River
Kishon River
The Kishon River is a river in Israel that flows into the Mediterranean Sea at the city of Haifa.- Course :The Kishon River is a 70-km-long perennial stream in Israel...
, is approximately 4 metres (13.1 ft) wide and 16 metres (52.5 ft) to 20 metres (65.6 ft) long. It is carried on three arches, the north side has been robbed of its outer face, while the south side is heavily overgrown with vegetation. According to Petersen, the bridge already seems to have been in a ruined condition when drawn by William Charles Wilson in the 1870s. The khan is located on a low hill 150 metres (492.1 ft) to the southwest of the bridge. It is a square enclosure measuring approximately 30 metres (98.4 ft) per side with a central courtyard. The ruins are covered with vegetation, and only the remains of one room is visible.
Geography
Lajjun is situated on an elevated hill with an altitude of 150 meters above sea level, located on the southwestern edge of the Jezreel ValleyJezreel Valley
-Etymology:The Jezreel Valley takes its name from the ancient city of Jezreel which was located on a low hill overlooking the southern edge of the valley, though some scholars think that the name of the city originates from the name of the clan which founded it, and whose existence is mentioned in...
(Marj ibn Amer). The village is located on both the banks of Wadi al-Lajjun, with Jenin and the entire valley visible from it. It is bordered by Tall al-Mutsallem to the northeast, and by Tall al-Asmar to the northwest. Lajjun, which was linked by secondary roads to the Jenin-Haifa road, and the road that led southwest to the town of Umm al-Fahm, laid close to the junctions of the two highways. The main spring that supplied the village with water was Ayn al-Hajja.
Jenin was located 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) northwest of Lajjun and according to al-Hamawi, roughly 32 kilometres (19.9 mi) southwest of Tabariyyah and 64 kilometres (39.8 mi) north of Ramla
Ramla
Ramla , is a city in central Israel. The city is predominantly Jewish with a significant Arab minority. Ramla was founded circa 705–715 AD by the Umayyad Caliph Suleiman ibn Abed al-Malik after the Arab conquest of the region...
. Nearby localities included, the destroyed village of Ayn al-Mansi
Ayn al-Mansi
Ayn al-Mansi was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Jenin of the British Mandate of Palestine. It was depopulated as a result of a military attack in mid-April during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine.-External links:*...
to the northwest, and the surviving villages of Zalafa
Zalafa
Zalafa can refer to:*Khirbat Zalafa, a Palestinian village in the District of Tulkarm that was depopulated in April 1948*Zalafa, Ara Valley, a Palestinian village that was incorporated into Israel in 1948...
to the south, Baiyada and Musheirifa
Ma'ale Iron
Ma'ale Iron is an Israeli-Arab local council in Israel's Haifa District and is a part of the Wadi Ara region adjacent to the Triangle. The town consists of the five Arab villages of Baiada, Musmus, Salim, Musheirifa and Zalafa. The villages were joined together by the Interior Ministry of Israel...
to the southwest, and Zububa
Zububa
Zububa is a Palestinian village in the West Bank, located 10 km Northwest of the city of Jenin in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 2,124 inhabitants in mid-year 2006....
(part of the Palestinian territories
Palestinian territories
The Palestinian territories comprise the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, the region is today recognized by three-quarters of the world's countries as the State of Palestine or simply Palestine, although this status is not recognized by the...
) to the southeast. The largest town near al-Lajjun was Umm al-Fahm, to the south.
Lajjun, Umm al-Fahm and seven hamlets had a total land area of 77.24 square kilometres (29.8 sq mi), of which 68.3 square kilometres (26.4 sq mi) was Arab-owned, and the remainder being public property. There was a total of 50 km² (12,355.3 acre) of land that was cultivated; 4.3 km² (1,062.6 acre) were used for plantations and irrigated, and 44.6 km² (11,020.9 acre) were planted with cereals (wheat and barley). The built-up area of the villages was 0.128 km² (31.6 acre), most of it being in Umm al-Fahm and Lajjun.
Demographics
During early Ottoman rule, in 1596, Lajjun had a population of 226 people. In the British Mandate survey in 1922, there 417 inhabitants. In the 1931 census of Palestine1931 census of Palestine
The 1931 census of Palestine was the second census carried out by the authorities of the British Mandate of Palestine. It was carried out on 18 November 1931 under the direction of Major E. Mills. The first census had been conducted in 1922...
, the population had more than doubled to 857, of which 829 were Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s, 26 were Christians, as well as two Jews. In that year, there were 162 houses in the village. At the end of 1940, Lajjun had 1,103 inhabitants, and in 1945, Sami Hadawi
Sami Hadawi
Sami Hadawi was a Palestinian scholar and author. He is known for documenting the effects of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War on the Arab population in Palestine and published statistics for individual villages prior to Israel's establishment. Hadawi worked as a land specialist until he was exiled from...
counted Lajjun with Umm al-Fahm and seven other hamlets in his land and population survey with the total population amounting to 5,490.
The prominent families of al-Lajjun were the Jabbarin, Ghubayriyya, Mahamid and the Mahajina. The projected population of al-Lajjun alone in 1948 was 1,280. Refugee
Palestinian refugee
Palestinian refugees or Palestine refugees are the people and their descendants, predominantly Palestinian Arabic-speakers, who fled or were expelled from their homes during and after the 1948 Palestine War, within that part of the British Mandate of Palestine, that after that war became the...
s from the village and their descendants numbered 7,857 in 1998. Around 80% of its inhabitants fled to Umm al-Fahm, where they currently live as Arab citizens of Israel
Arab citizens of Israel
Arab citizens of Israel refers to citizens of Israel who are not Jewish, and whose cultural and linguistic heritage or ethnic identity is Arab....
and internally displaced Palestinians
Internally displaced Palestinians
A present absentee is a Palestinian who fled or was expelled from his home in Palestine by Jewish or Israeli forces, before and during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, but who remained within the area that became the state of Israel. Present absentees are also referred to as internally displaced...
.
Culture
Local tradition centered around Ayn al-Hajja, the spring of Lajjun, date back to the 10th century CE when the village was under Islamic rule. According to geographers of that century, as well as the 12th century, the legend was that under the Mosque of Abraham, a "copious stream flowed" which formed immediately after the prophet AbrahamAbraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
struck the stone with his staff. Abraham had entered the town with his flock of sheep on his way towards Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, and the people of the village informed him that the village possessed only small quantities of water, thus Abraham should pass on the village to another. According to the legend, Abraham was commanded to strike the rock, resulting in water "bursting out copiously". From then, the village orchards and crops were well-irrigated and the people satisfied with a surplus of drinking water from the spring.
In Lajjun there are tombs for two Mamluk-era Muslim relics who were from the village. The holy men were Ali Shafi'i who died in 1310 and Ali ibn Jalal who died in 1400.
See also
- History of PalestineHistory of PalestineThe Southern Levant is the southern portion of the geographical region bordering the Mediterranean between Egypt and Mesopotamia . A narrow definition would take in roughly the same area as the modern states of Israel, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and Jordan, while a wider definition would...
- List of Arab towns and villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
- List of villages depopulated during the Arab-Israeli conflict
External links
- Welcome To al-Lajjun, palestineremembered.com
- Al-Lajjon from Dr. Moslih Kanaaneh
- Al- Lajjun from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural CenterKhalil Sakakini Cultural CenterKhalil Sakakini Cultural Center is an organization established in 1996. It is located at 4 Raja Street, Ramallah in the West Bank. The traditional manor that houses the centre was the former family home of Khalil Salem Salah, the mayor of Ramallah between 1947/1951, is now owned by the Palestinian...
- Lajjun, from ZochrotZochrotZochrot is an Israeli-Jewish non-profit organization founded in 2002. Based in Tel Aviv, its aim is to promote awareness of the Palestinian Nakba , the 1948 Palestinian exodus. The group's director is Eitan Bronstein...
- Visit to al-Lajjun, by Amit Landau, October 5, 2004, ZochrotZochrotZochrot is an Israeli-Jewish non-profit organization founded in 2002. Based in Tel Aviv, its aim is to promote awareness of the Palestinian Nakba , the 1948 Palestinian exodus. The group's director is Eitan Bronstein...
- Ziyad Mahajneh, al-Lajjun, 2004, Zochrot
- Lily Traubman, Kibbutz Meggido, 2004, Zochrot
- 10th Annual Procession of Return to al-Lajjun, April 24, 2007, Zochrot