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

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

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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