Welcome To al-Majdal - المجدل (אל-מג'דל)

District of Tiberias Ethnically cleansed days ago	العربية Google Earth
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Statistic & Fact

Value

Occupation Date

April 22, 1948

Distance From District

4 (km) Northwest of Tiberias

Elevation

-200 (meters)

Before & After Nakba, Click Map For Details

Pre-Nakba Map showing before and after destruction

Map Location

See location #8 on the map

View from satellite

Attacking Units

Some unidentified troops from the Haganah

Exodus Cause

Military assault by Zionist troops

Village Temains

al-Majdal was mostly destroyed with the exception of its shrine.

Ethnically Cleansing

al-Majdal inhabitants were completely ethnically cleansed.

Pre-Nakba
Land Ownership

Ethnic Group	Land Ownership (Dunums)*
Arab	88
Jewish	0
Public	15
**Total	103

*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics
**Town Lands' Demarcation Maps

Land Usage
As of 1945

Land Usage	Arab (Dunum)*
Citrus Groves	24
Irrigated & Plantation	17
Planted W/ Cereal	41
Built up	6
Arable	82
Non-Arable	15

*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics

Population

Year	Population*
19th century	80
1931	284
1945	360
1948	418
Est. Refugees 1998	2,565

*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics

Number of Houses

Year	Number of Houses
1931	62
1948	91

Near By Towns

al-Wa'ra al-Sawda', Khirbat ↖	Ghuwayr Abu Shusha ↑ (N)
Wadi al-Hamam ←	al-Majdal	→ Tiberias Lake
↙ Hittin

Town's Name Through History

The Romans referred to al-Majdal by Tariclreae.

Shrines / Maqams

A shrine for Muhammad al-'Ajami (still standing)

Exculsive Jewish Colonies
Who Usurped Village Lands

Migdal

Village Before Nakba

The village was located on the western shore of Lake Tiberias, on the southern edge of the plain of Ghuwayr Abu Shusha, at the foot of a mountain that rose sharply above the plain to a height of some 380 m. It was linked to the city of Tiberias by a highway that wound around the lake shore. AI-Majdal was probably the ancient town mentioned in the New Testament (Luke 7:37-50) as Magdala, the home of Mary Magdalene. In Talmudic sources it appears as Migdal Nunaya, a center for fishing and the fish-salting industry. It was known in the Roman period as Taricheae, a prosperous, fortified Jewish city known for weaving, dye making, and fishing. The Swiss traveler Burckhardt noted in 1821 that the village was in rather poor condition. [Burckhardt 1822:320] In the late nineteenth century, al-Majdal was described as a stone-built village, situated on a partially arable plain. Its population was estimated to be eighty. [SWP (1881) I:361]

In modern times, al-Majdal had a rectangular layout. Its houses were crowded together, although a few houses were spaced further apart toward the north, along the lake shore. They were built of stone, cement, and mud, and some had roofs made of wood and cane covered with a layer of mud. It was the smallest village in the sub-disctrict in terms of area. The inhabitants, all of whom were Muslims, maintained a shrine for one Muhammad al-'Ajami on the northern outskirts of the village. The remains of the Crusader fortress of Magdala (later known as Qal'at ('the fortress of”) Na'la were located on the summit of the mountain, west of the village. About 1 km south of the village, on the lake's shore, was a perforated black stone that was mentioned by Arab travelers in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Local belief had it that the holes in the rock were caused by ants that had eaten through it, and for this reason it was called hajar al-namla, 'the ant's stone.' The village economy was based on agriculture; vegetables and grain were the most important agricultural products. In 1944/45, 24 dunums of its lands were planted with citrus and bananas and 41 dunums were planted in cereals; 17 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards. Archaeological evidence of the previous occupations was found in the village.

Village Occupation and Ethnic Cleaning

The only fact provided about the fall of al-Majdal in Israeli sources is that the villagers left on 22 April 1948. Israeli historian Benny Morris indicates that the depopulation of the village was partly due to a military attack as well as to the demoralizing effect of the fall of neighboring Tiberias (on 18 April). Haganah forces based in Tiberias probably seized the village a few days after Tiberias fell into their hands. [M:xv]

Zionists Colonies on Village Lands

The settlement of Migdal (197249), established in 1910 on land purchased by Zionists, is 1.5 km northwest of the village site. After 1948 it was expanded to accommodate immigrant settlers. Its population has grown from 213 (in 1948) to 830 (in 1983), and in the course of its expansion it has spread onto village land. [See Katz 1987]

Village Today

The site is dotted with rubble, Christ's-thorn, and a few palm and olive trees. The only remaining village landmark is the neglected shrine of Muhammad al-'Ajami, a low, square, stone structure topped by a formerly whitewashed dome. The land in the vicinity is cultivated by Israelis.

Source

Dr. Walid al-Khalidi, 1992: All That Remains.

Want to browse more? 80,000 pictures were grouped in these gallaries:

Display Name	Clan/Hamolah	Country of Residence
سامر سعيد	-	-
اسماعيل محمود السعيد	-	الشونه الشماليه, الاردن
دكتور اسحاق الشيخ احمد	الشيخ احمد	جده, السعوديه

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عين المجدل /طبريا Duration: 2 min 10 sec
الذاكرة مفتاح العودة -- الحلقة 96 -- سيبانة Duration: 23 min 22 sec

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