Shibli–Umm al-Ghanam (, ) is an

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

at the foot of Mount Tabor in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

's Northern District. In it had a population of .

History

Archaeological excavations east of the village have revealed flint from the

Mousterian The Mousterian (or Mode III) is an Industry (archaeology), archaeological industry of Lithic technology, stone tools, associated primarily with the Neanderthals in Europe, and with the earliest anatomically modern humans in North Africa and We ...

culture, several knapped using the

Levallois technique The Levallois technique () is a name given by archaeologists to a distinctive type of stone knapping developed around 250,000 to 400,000Shipton, C. (2022). Predetermined Refinement: The Earliest Levallois of the Kapthurin Formation. *Journal of ...

. Ceramics from the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

era have been found here.

Ottoman era

In 1517, the village was included in the

Ottoman empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

with the rest of

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

, and in the 1596 tax-records it appeared as ''Um al-Ganam'', located in the ''

Nahiya A nāḥiyah ( , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiyeh, nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level divisi ...

'' of Tabariyya, part of

Safad Sanjak Safed Sanjak (; ) was a '' sanjak'' (district) of Damascus Eyalet ( Ottoman province of Damascus) in 1517–1660, after which it became part of the Sidon Eyalet (Ottoman province of Sidon). The sanjak was centered in Safed and spanned the Galil ...

. The population was 8 households, all

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 25% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley and summer crops, in addition to occasional revenues, and goats and beehives; a total of 1,910 akçe. In 1875, Victor Guérin found here "several ancient

cistern A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster. Cisterns are disti ...

s, still unbroken, and ancient caves cut in rock, which now serve as refuge for shepherds." In 1881 the

Palestine Exploration Fund The Palestine Exploration Fund is a British society based in London. It was founded in 1865, shortly after the completion of the Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem by Royal Engineers of the War Department. The Fund is the oldest known organization i ...

's ''Survey of Western Palestine'' found at Kh. Umm el Ghanem: "Heaps of stones, a few of which are hewn, all of small size, one small cave and one

British Mandate era

In the

1922 census of Palestine The 1922 census of Palestine was the first census carried out by the authorities of the British Mandate of Palestine, on 23 October 1922. The reported population was 757,182, including the military and persons of foreign nationality. The divis ...

conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Umm al Ghanam had a population of 52, all Muslims.Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Nazareth, p
38
/ref> In the 1931 census the population of Umm al-Ghanam was counted with that of Reineh, together they had 1015 inhabitants in a total of 243 houses. In the 1945 statistics the population of Umm al-Ghanam was counted with that of Mount Tabor, and their total land area was 8,409

dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; ; ; ), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area analogous in role (but not equal) to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amo ...

s, according to an official land and population survey.Department of Statistics, 1945, p
8
/ref> Of this, 232 dunams were allocated for plantations and irrigable land, 6,215 for cereals, while a total of 1,962 dunams were classified as non-cultivable land.

State of Israel

The town was formed in 1992 as a result of a municipal merger of the villages of Shibli and Umm al-Ghanam. Shibli High School is attended by 270 Arab students, Special educational programs introduced at the school have boosted the

Bagrut Te'udat Bagrut (, ''lit.'' "graduation certificate", Arabic: شهادة بجروت) is a certificate that attests that a student has successfully passed Israel's high school matriculation examination. Bagrut is a prerequisite for higher education ...

matriculation pass rate and percentage of graduates attending university.

Jordan Lead Codices

The so-called Jordan Lead Codices are considered by Israeli and Jordanian specialists to be fakes. Hassan Saida of Shibli–Umm Al-Ghanam owns a collection of small cast lead books featuring what is believed to be the first-ever portrait of

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

. The books are thought to have been created by followers of Jesus in the first decades after his crucifixion. The books, containing cryptic messages in Hebrew and ancient Greek, have been in Saida's family since they were found by his great-grandfather.Lost for 2,000 years... Could this be the first portrait of Jesus?
/ref>

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Official websiteWelcome To Umm al-Ghanam
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 6
IAAWikimedia commons
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shibli-Umm al-Ghanam Arab localities in Israel Local councils in Northern District (Israel) Mount Tabor