Iksal (
Arabic: إكسال, Iksal;
Hebrew: אִכְּסָאל, כִּסְלוֹת תָּבוֹר, Kislot Tavor[3]) is an
Arablocal council in northern
Israel, about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) southeast of
Nazareth.[4] It has an area of 9,000
dunams and a population of 15,336 primarily
Muslim inhabitants. [1]
Iksal was known to
Josephus as Xaloth.[6][7] Archaeological excavations in Iksal revealed artifacts from the period of
Roman and
Byzantine rule in
Palestine.[8] A ring decorated with the image of a lion was found and dates to one of these time periods.[9] In
burial caves carved into the rock,
sarcophagi and
ossuaries containing
pottery, glass vessels, and jewelry were found. Also dated to the Byzantine period are agricultural installations, carved into the rock and plastered, inside of which were found part of a
winepress.[8]
Archaeologist Uzi Leibner identifies Iksal as one of several villages in Galilee that had a
Jewish population during the Roman period and later had a
Christian population in the Byzantine period.[10]
Middle Ages
In 536 a Council was held in
Jerusalem to condemn
Severus of Antioch and his followers. Present at that Council were 45
bishops from Palestine, including one Parthenius, bishop of Exalus, which is identified with Iksal.[11] Thus do we know the town had enough Christians in the 6th Century to warrant a bishop.
Remains have been excavated dating to the
Umayyad period (7th century CE), including pottery and Cream Ware bowls.[12]
On December 22, 946, the forces of the Egyptian
Ikhshidid dynasty defeated those of
Sayf al-Daula at Iksal. The latter retreated to
Aleppo, while the Ikshidid forces advanced onto
Damascus.[13]
During the period of
Crusader or
Mamluk rule in Palestine, a castle was built in Iksal, the ruins of which remain visible today.[8] The Crusaders probably added to a much older structure which had been constructed first in the
Abbasid, and then in the
Fatimid era.[14] A large cemetery by the village was named Mukbarat el Afranj ("Cemetery of the
Franks").[15]
Yaqut al-Hamawi described the place (which he called Aksal), as "A village in the Jordan Province, lying 5
leagues from
Tiberias towards Ar Ramlah. The river Abu Futrus is in the neighbourhood."[16]
Building remains from the Mamluk period have also been excavated.[8] One excavation revealed three constructions with pottery remains, all dating from the
Mamluk era, 14th and 15th century CE.[17]
Ottoman Empire
In 1517, the village was included in the
Ottoman empire with the rest of
Palestine, and in the 1596
tax-records it appeared as Ksal, located in the Nahiya of
Tabariyya of the
Safad Sanjak. The population was 17 households and 1 bachelor, all
Muslim. They paid a tax rate of 25% on agricultural products, which included wheat, barley, summer crops, fruit trees, occasional revenues, goats and beehives; a total of 6,633
Akçe.[18][19]
In 1738
Richard Pococke passed by the place, which he called Zal. He noted that near it was "many
sepulchres cut in the rock, some of them are like stone coffins above-ground, others are cut into the rock, like graves, some of them have stone covers over them, so that formerly this might be no inconsiderable place."[20] A map from
Napoleon's invasion of 1799 by
Pierre Jacotin showed the place, named as Iksad.[21]
Edward Robinson, who passed by the village in 1838, repeated Pocockes assertion that Iksal had many sepulchres.[22]
In 1863
Henry Baker Tristram saw the remains of a "Crusader" tower in Iksal,[23] while in 1875,
Victor Guérin found it to have 400 inhabitants, all Muslim.[24] In 1881, the
PEF's
Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Iksal as "a large stone village, built in the plains, with a conspicuous square tower, surrounded by gardens and containing about 400 Moslims, many caves and cisterns."[25]
A population list from about 1887 showed that Iksal had about 600 Muslim inhabitants.[26]
British Mandate
At the time of the
1922 census of Palestine Iksal had a population of 621 Muslims,[27] increasing slightly in the
1931 census to 752, still all Muslims, in a total of 166 houses.[28]
In the
1945 statistics the population was 1,110, all Muslims,[29] while the total land area was 16,009
dunams, according to an official land and population survey.[30] Of this, 581 were allocated for plantations and irrigable land, 13,029 for cereals,[31] while 47 dunams were classified as built-up (urban) areas.[32]
Israel
Like many other
Arab towns and villages in the
Galilee that were left standing after the
1948 Arab-Israeli War, Iksal surrendered to Israeli forces without putting up a fight. Individuals who had collaborated with
Zionist officials prior to Israel's establishment, negotiated the terms of surrender and transition to rule under the new military government.[33]
Demographics
According to the
Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a low ranking (3 out of 10) on the country's socioeconomic index (December 2001). Only 65.3% of students are entitled to a matriculation certificate after Grade 12 (2000). The average salary that year was
NIS 3,640 per month, whereas the national average was NIS 6,835. Its population has grown at an annual rate of 2.8%. In Iksal, about 60 percent of the inhabitants are family relations of one another.[34]
Archaeology
In 2008 and 2012, archaeological surveys were conducted at the ancient site by Daniel Zohar and Mouqary `Abdallah on behalf of the
Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).[35]
^Note that Rhode, 1979, p.
6Archived 2019-04-20 at the
Wayback Machine writes that the register that Hütteroth and Abdulfattah studied from the Safad-district was not from 1595/6, but from 1548/9
Aharoni, Yohanan (1979). The land of the Bible: a historical geography (2nd, illustrated, revised ed.). Westminster John Knox Press.
ISBN0-664-24266-9.
Alexandre, Yardenna (2008-03-26).
"Iksal Final Report". Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel (120).
Alexandre, Yardenna (2011-08-29).
"Iksal Final Report". Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel (123).
Armstrong, George (2009). Names and Places in the Old Testament and Apocrypha. BiblioBazaar, LLC.
ISBN978-1-103-29324-7.