Mulabbis

Tell Mulabbis
ملبس, אומלבס, מולבס
Alternative nameKhirbat Mulabbes, Bulbus
LocationPetah Tikva, Israel
RegionYarkon River basin
TypeArchaeological mound
History
PeriodsRoman, Byzantine, Early Islamic, Crusader, Mamluk, Late Ottoman

Tell Mulabbis (Arabic: ملبس, Hebrew: אומלבס, מולבס) is an archaeological mound in modern Petah Tikva, Israel.

Mulabbis is a key site in the Yarkon River basin, with habitation remains from the Roman, Byzantine, Early Islamic, Crusader, Mamluk and Late Ottoman periods.[1]

Crusader and Mamluk periods

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Khirbat Mulabbes was home to the Crusader village of Bulbus, an identification proposed in the nineteenth century by French scholar fr. A Crusader source from 1133 CE states that the Count of Jaffa granted the land to the Hospitaller order, including “the mills of the three bridges” (“des moulins des trios ponts”).[2][3][4][5]

In 1478 CE (AH 883), the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt, Qaitbay, endowed a quarter of the revenues of Mulabbes to two newly established institutions: Madrasa Al-Ashrafiyya in Jerusalem, and a mosque in Gaza.[1][6]

Ottoman period

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David Grossman suggest that Mulabbes was "Milus", a village with 42 Muslim households, mentioned in the Ottoman tax records in 1596.[7]

"Melebbes" appears on Jacotin's map drawn up during Napoleon's invasion in 1799,[8] and shows up as "el Mulebbis" on Kiepert's map of Palestine, published in 1856.[9]

Following the invasion of the Levant by Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt (1831-1841), the village was repopulated by Egyptian emigrants belonging to the Abu Hamed al-Masri clan as part of a wider wave of migration that settled in Palestine's coastal lowlands.[10]

In 1870, Victor Guérin noted that "Melebbes" was a small village with 140 inhabitants, surrounded by fields of watermelon and tobacco.[11] An Ottoman village list from about the same year showed that "Mulebbes" had 43 houses and a population of 125, though the population count included men only. It was also noted that the village was located on a hill, "Auf einer Anhöhe", 2.75 hours northeast of Jaffa.[12][13]

The Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine visited "Mulebbis" in 1874 and described it as "a similar mud village [as Al-Mirr], with a well."[14] Following the sale of Mulabbes' lands to Jewish entrepreneurs, its residents dispersed in neighboring villages like Jaljulia and Fajja.[10]

In 1878, Jewish colonist purchased the land of Mulabbes, establishing the first Jewish moshava, Petah Tikvah.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ a b Marom, Roy (April 3, 2019). "A short history of Mulabbis (Petah Tikva, Israel)". Palestine Exploration Quarterly. 151 (2): 134–145. doi:10.1080/00310328.2019.1621734. S2CID 197799335. Archived from the original on May 29, 2021. Retrieved November 30, 2020 – via Taylor and Francis+NEJM.
  2. ^ Röhricht, 1893, RRH, p. 37, No. 147
  3. ^ Delaville Le Roulx, 1894, pp. 86−87, No. 97
  4. ^ Clermont-Ganneau, 1895, pp. 192−196: "Les Trois−Ponts, Jorgilia"
  5. ^ Haddad, 2013, Petah Tikva, Kh. Mulabbis Archived 2020-07-17 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Marom, Roy (2021-06-09). "The Abu Hameds of Mulabbis: an oral history of a Palestinian village depopulated in the Late Ottoman period". British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. 50: 87–106. doi:10.1080/13530194.2021.1934817. ISSN 1353-0194. S2CID 236222143.
  7. ^ Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 154. Suggested by David Grossman, 1986, p. 372, cited in Marom, 2019 Archived 2020-01-22 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Karmon, 1960, p. 170 Archived 2019-12-22 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Kiepert, 1856, Map of Southern Palestine Archived 2021-03-08 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ a b Marom, The village of Mulabbis Archived 2021-05-29 at the Wayback Machine, Cathedra 176, 2020, pp. 48-64.
  11. ^ Guérin, 1875, p. 372
  12. ^ Socin, 1879, p. 158
  13. ^ Hartmann, 1883, p. 136, also noted 43 houses at "Mulebbes".
  14. ^ Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 252

Bibliography

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  • ‘Azab, Anan (2008-10-05). "Petah Tiqwa". Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel (120). Archived from the original on 2020-07-15. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
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