Eilabun
Eilabun is an Arab Christian village located in the Beit Netofa Valley around south-west of Safed in northern Galilee between Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee, Israel. It had a population of in, which was 70,5% Christian and 29.5% Muslim. In 1973, Eilabun was granted local council status by the Israeli government.
Etymology
According to the Survey of Western Palestine, the name Eilabun comes from Arabic, meaning "hard, rocky ground". According to some scholars, Eilabun was built on the ancient site of "Ailabu", a possible variation of the name Ein Levon.History
Bronze Age to Mamluk period
Pottery remains from the Middle Bronze Age, Iron Age II, Persian, early Roman and from the Byzantine era have been excavated. Rock-cut sarcophagi have been found to the west of the village.Eilabun is mentioned as one of the cities associated with one of the twenty-four priestly divisions, the residence of the priestly clan known as Haqoṣ. A stone inscription mentioning the town was discovered in Yemen by orientalist, Walter W. Muller, in 1970, and is believed to have been part of a! synagogue, now turned mosque.
In 2013, excavations were conducted in Eilabun by Gilad Cinamon on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, during which time remains from the Mamluk era were discovered.
Ottoman period
16th century
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 as being in the nahiya of Tabariyya, part of Safad Sanjak, with a population of 13 Muslim households. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on various agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, cotton, goats and bee hives, in addition to occasional revenues and a tax for a press for olive oil or grape syrup; a total of 4,500 akçe.19th century
According to a local tradition cited by Emanuel Hareuveni, Arab Christians from the neighbouring Christian village of Deir Hanna settled in Eilabun during the 19th century.In 1838, Aleibun was noted as a Christian village in the Esh Shagur district, which was located between Safad, Acca and Tiberias.
In 1875, the French explorer Victor Guérin found that the village had a population of about 100 Greek Christians, with a "humble" chapel. He noted an excellent water source, and remains of old buildings.
In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described it as "a stone village, well built, containing about 100 Christians. It is situated on a ridge, surrounded by brushwood, with arable land in the valley. A good spring exists to the west of the village."
A population list from about 1887 showed that Ailbun had about 210 inhabitants; all Catholic Christians.
British Mandate
In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Ailabun had a total population of 319, all Christian, increasing in the 1931 census to 404, 32 Muslims and 372 Christians, in a total of 85 houses.In the 1945 statistics, the population comprised 530 Christians and 20 Muslims, who owned a total of 11,190 dunams of land, while 3,522 dunams of land was public. Of this, 1,209 dunams were for plantations and irrigable land, 2,187 for cereals, while 18 dunams were built-up land.