Mashhad, Israel

For the Iranian city, see Mashhad.

For other uses, see Mashhad (disambiguation).

Local council in Israel

Mashhad

* מַשְׁהַד
* مشهد

Local council (from 1960)

Hebrew transcription(s)
• ISO 259| Mašhad
• Also spelled| Meshhed (official)
Mashhed (unofficial)

Mashhad, 2014

Mashhad

Coordinates: 32°44′16″N 35°19′32″E﻿ / ﻿32.73778°N 35.32556°E﻿ / 32.73778; 35.32556
Grid position| 180/238 PAL
Country|  Israel
District| Northern
Area

• Total

| 7,286 dunams (7.286 km2 or 2.813 sq mi)
Population

(2023)[1]

• Total

| 8,695
• Density| 1,200/km2 (3,100/sq mi)
Name meaning| "The shrine or place of martyrdom"[2]

Mashhad (Hebrew: מַשְׁהַד, Arabic: مشهد, romanized: Mash-hed 'martyrium') is an Arab town located 5 kilometers (3.1 mi) northeast of Nazareth in Israel's Northern District. In 2023 it had a population of 8,695,[1] most of whom were Muslims.[3]

## History

[edit]

Remains from the Early Bronze Age, Persian, Roman and Byzantine eras have been found.[4][5]

Mashhad is located on the site of Gath-hepher, an ancient Israelite town mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as the home of Jonah; his supposed tomb is still pointed out by locals.[6]

Archaeological findings in Mashad include a third-century Aramaic gravestone, indicating Jewish settlement at the site during the Late Roman period, and a stone inscribed with Greek letters now reused in Mashad's mosque.[7]

### Ottoman Empire

[edit]

In 1517, the village was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire with the rest of Palestine, and in 1596 it appeared in the Ottoman tax registers under the name of Mashad Yunis, as being in the nahiya (subdistrict) of Tabariyya, part of Safad Sanjak. It had a population of 31 households and 6 bachelors, all Muslim. They paid a fixed tax rate of 20% on agricultural products, which included wheat and barley, fruit trees, vegetable and fruit garden, orchard, as well as on goats and/or beehives; a total of 865 Akçe. All of the revenue went to a waqf.[8][9]

A map from Napoleon's invasion of 1799 by Pierre Jacotin showed the place, named as El Mecheb.[10]

In 1838 it was noted as a Muslim village in the Nazareth district.[11][12]

In 1875, the French explorer Victor Guérin visited the village, which he estimated had at most 300 inhabitants.[13] In 1881, the PEF's Survey 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 from cisterns."[14]

A population list from about 1887 showed that el Meshed had about 450 inhabitants; all Muslims.[15]

### British Mandate

[edit]

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Mashad had a total population of 356, all Muslim,[16] which had increased in the 1931 census to 487; 486 Muslims and 1 Christian, in a total of 111 houses.[17]

In the 1945 statistics the population was 660, all Muslims,[18] with 11,067 dunams 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]

### Israel

[edit]

Mashhad became a local council in 1960.[citation needed]

## Demographics

[edit]

In 2022, 100% of the population was Muslim[22]

## See also

[edit]

* Arab localities in Israel

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Regional Statistics". Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 11 August 2025.
2. ^ Palmer, 1881, p. 131
3. ^ Mashhed (Israel): Description Gutterman, Dov. FOTW.
4. ^ Porat, 2006, Tel Gat Hefer
5. ^ "This place is probably the Gittah-Hepher or (Gath ha Hepher of (Joshua 19:13), and (2 Kings 14:25). Jerome says that the prophet Jonah 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
6. ^ Limburg 1993, p. 39.
7. ^ "CVIII. Geth Ḥefer (mod. Mashhad)", Volume 5/Part 1 Galilaea and Northern Regions: 5876-6924, De Gruyter, pp. 997–998, 2023-03-20, doi:10.1515/9783110715774-116, ISBN 978-3-11-071577-4, retrieved 2024-02-07
8. ^ Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 188
9. ^ 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
10. ^ Karmon, 1960, p. 166.
11. ^ Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. 132
12. ^ Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, p. 209
13. ^ Guérin, 1880, p. 165 ff
14. ^ Conder and Kitchener, 1881, p. 363.
15. ^ Schumacher, 1888, p. 182
16. ^ Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Nazareth, p. 38
17. ^ Mills, 1932, p. 74
18. ^ Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 8
19. ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 62
20. ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 109
21. ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 159
22. ^ "משהד" (PDF). Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 16 July 2025.

## Bibliography

[edit]

* 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)
* Barron, J.B., ed. (1923). Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922. Government of Palestine.
* Conder, C.R.; Kitchener, H.H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. Vol. 1\. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
* Department of Statistics (1945). Village Statistics, April, 1945. Government of Palestine.
* Feig, Nurit (2016-12-19). "Tel Gat Hefer Final Report" (128). Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel. `{{cite journal}}`: Cite journal requires `|journal=` (help)
* Guérin, V. (1880). Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine (in French). Vol. 3: Galilee, pt. 1. Paris: L'Imprimerie Nationale.
* Hadawi, S. (1970). Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine. Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center.
* Hütteroth, W.-D.; Abdulfattah, K. (1977). Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century. Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. ISBN 3-920405-41-2.
* Jaffe, Gilad Bezal’el (2012-11-27). "Tel Gat Hefer Final Report" (124). Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel. `{{cite journal}}`: Cite journal requires `|journal=` (help)
* Karmon, Y. (1960). "An Analysis of Jacotin's Map of Palestine" (PDF). Israel Exploration Journal. 10 (3, 4): 155–173, 244–253.
* Limburg, James (1993), Jonah: A Commentary, Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster Knox Publishers, ISBN 0-664-21296-4
* Mills, E., ed. (1932). Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas. Jerusalem: Government of Palestine.
* Palmer, E.H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
* Porat, Leea (2006-09-21). "Tel Gat Hefer Final Report" (118). Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel. `{{cite journal}}`: Cite journal requires `|journal=` (help)
* Rhode, H. (1979). Administration and Population of the Sancak of Safed in the Sixteenth Century. Columbia University.
* Robinson, E.; Smith, E. (1841). Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838. Vol. 3\. Boston: Crocker & Brewster.
* Schumacher, G. (1888). "Population list of the Liwa of Akka". Quarterly Statement - Palestine Exploration Fund. 20: 169–191.

## External links

[edit]

* Welcome To Mashhad
* Survey of Western Palestine, Map 6: IAA, Wikimedia commons

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