Al-Majdal, Tiberias

Al-Majdal (Arabic: المجدل, "tower", also transliterated Majdal and Mejdal) was a Palestinian Arab village located Template:Km to mi northwest of Tiberias, Template:M to ft above sea level. It is identified with the site of the ancient town of Magdala, reputed to be the birthplace of Mary Magdalene. The village was depopulated on April 22 in the lead up to the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

Etymology

The Arabic name Majdal means "tower" and preserves the ancient place name Magdala. Magdala was also known in ancient times as Migdal, and Aramaic names ascribed to it are Magdala Nunaya (also, Migdal Nunnaya or Nunayah; "Tower of Fish") and Magdala Tza'baya (or Migdal Seb'iya; "Magdala of the dyers" or "Tower of Dyers"). It is referred to by these names in the Babylonian Talumd (b. Pesah. 46b) and Jerusalem Talmud (y. Ta'an. 4.8.) respectively. Also known in Greek as Magdala Taricheae ("Magdala of the fish salters"), likely due to the town's famed fish-curing industry, Josephus writes of it simply as Taricheae (Ant. 14.20; 20. 159; J.W. 1. 180; 2. 252). Magadan and Dalmanutha mentioned in Matthew 15:39 and Mark 8:10 are likely corrupt forms of Magdal and Magdal Nuna.

Mary Magdalene's surname as transcribed in the gospels is said to be derived from Magdala, her home and place of her birth. Alfred Edersheim cites the Talmud, which describes several Rabbis as 'Magdalene' or residents of Magdala, as evidence for this naming practice.

Majdal and Majdalani ("of Majdal") are common place names and family names in Syria-Palestine. Examples of such place names include Majdal (Askalan), Majdal Yaba, Al-Mujaydil, Majdal Shams, Majdal Bani Fadil and Majdal Anjar.

History

Josephus writes in the 1st century CE of a Roman road that connected Magdala on the Sea of Galilee to Akka (then Ptolemais), passing through Cana. Recognition of Magdala as the birthplace of Mary Magdalene begins in texts from the 6th century CE. In the 8th and 10th centuries CE, Christian sources write of a church in the village that was also Mary Magdalene's house, where Jesus exorcised her demons. An alternate account in the anonymously penned Life of Constantine, attributes the church to St Helena. Christian pilgrims to Palestine in the 12th century, mention the location of Magdala, but fail to mention the presence of any church.

In 1283, Burchard of Mount Sion records having entered the house of Mary Magdalene in the village and about ten years later, Ricoldus of Montecroce notes his joy at having found the church and house still standing. Francesco Quaresmi writes of al-Majdal in 1626 that "certain people have claimed that her house is to be seen there;" however, Denys Pringle writes that by this time the site was in ruins. Part of the site came to be and is still owned by the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land.

The small Muslim Arab village of Al-Majdal was located to the south of the land owned by the Franciscans. In the early 19th century, foreign travellers interested in the Christian traditions associated with the site visited the village. The English traveler James Silk Buckingham observed in 1816 that a few Muslim families resided there, and in 1821, the Swiss traveler Johann Ludwig Burckhardt notes that the village was in a rather poor condition. Edward Robinson also writes of Al-Majdal during his travels through Syria and Palestine in 1838. Transcribing its name as el-Mejdel, he describes it as "a miserable little Muslim village, looking much like a ruin, though exhibiting no marks of antiquity."

A map of the Tiberias region published in 1880 by the Palestine Exploration Fund

Robinson was nevertheless aware of the village's ancient associations:

"The name Mejdel, is obviously the same with the Hebrew Migdal and Greek Magdala; there is little reason to doubt that this place is the Magdala of the New Testament, chiefly known as the native town of Mary Magdalene. The ancient notices respecting its position are exceedingly indefinite; yet it seems to follow from the New Testament itself, that it lay on the west side of the lake. After the miraculous feeding of four thousand, which appears to have taken place in the country east of the lake, Jesus 'took ship and came into the coast of Magdala;' for which Mark writes Dalmanutha. Here, the Pharisees began to question him, but he 'left them, and entering into the ship again, departed to the other side [...] This view is further confirmed by the testimony of the Rabbins in the Jerusalem Talmud, compiled at Tiberias; who several times speak of Magdala as adjacent to Tiberias and Hammath or the hot springs. The Migdal-el of the Old Testament in the tribe of Naphtali was probably the same place."

In the late 19th century, a survey undertaken by the Palestine Exploration Fund, describes al-Majdal as a stone-built village, situated on a partially arable plain, with an estimated population of about 80 people.

In 1944-45, cultivated lands in the village included 24 dunums used for growing citrus and bananas, and 41 dunums devoted to cereals. Another 17 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards;

1948, and aftermath

After the fall of Arab Tiberias to Jewish forces and the evacuation of its inhabitants, Arab villages surrounding it were also depopulated. Benny Morris writes that the inhabitants of Al-Majdal were 'persuaded by the headmen of [neighbouring Jewish] Migdal and Genossar' to evacuate their homes; the villagers were paid P£ 200 for eight rifles, ammunition and a bus they handed over. They were then transported to the Jordanian border in Jewish buses.

The Jewish settlement of Migdal was established in 1910 on land purchased by Russian Zionists, Template:Km to mi northwest of the village of Al-Majdal. After 1948, Migdal expanded to include the village land of Al-Majdal.

Walid Khalidi, the Palestinian historian describes the village remains in 1992: "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."

Excavations

See also: Syro-Palestinian archaeology

The remains of a church with an apse and a stone inscribed with a cross and the date 1389 were found near Birqat Sitti Miriam (Arabic: "The Pool of Mary") on the Franciscan-owned grounds. Between 1971 and 1976, excavations there also discovered the remains of a Byzantine era monastery.

References

Bibliography

• Buckingham, James Silk (1821): Travels in Palestine Through the Countries of Bashan and Gilead, East of the River Jordan, Including a Visit to the Cities of Geraza and Gamala in the Decapolis ILLUSTRATED 553p.
• Burckhardt, John Lewis, 1784-1817 (1822): Travels in Syria and the Holy Land Edition: reprint, Published by J. Murray, 668 pages.
• Green, Joel B.; McKnight, Scot; Marshall, I. Howard (1992). Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels. InterVarsity Press. ISBN 0830817778, 9780830817771. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
• Hadawi, Sami (1970), Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine, Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center
• Hastings, James (2004). A Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels: Volume II (Part One -- Labour - Profession). The Minerva Group, Inc. ISBN 1410217876, 9781410217875. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
• Israel. Agaf ha-ʻatiḳot ṿeha-muzeʼonim, Ḥevrah la-ḥaḳirat Erets-Yiśraʾel ṿe-ʻatiḳoteha, Universiṭah ha-ʻIvrit bi-Yerushalayim. Makhon le-arkheʾologyah (1979). Israel exploration journal. Israel Exploration Society.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Khalidi, Walid (1992). All That Remains. Washington D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies. ISBN 0887282245.
• Kregel Carta (1999). The River Jordan: An Illustrated Guide from Bible Days to the Present (Illustrated ed.). Kregel Publications. ISBN 0825423767, 9780825423765. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
• MacAdam, Henry Innes (1986). "Studies in the history of the Roman province of Arabia: the northern sector". 295–296 (Illustrated ed.). Biblical Archaeology Review. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Morris, Benny (2006). The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521009677.
• Petersen, Andrew (2002): A Gazetteer of Buildings in Muslim Palestine: Volume I (British Academy Monographs in Archaeology) p.210
• Murphy-O'Connor, Jerome (2008). The Holy Land: an Oxford archaeological guide from earliest times to 1700 (5th, illustrated ed.). Oxford University Press US. ISBN 0199236666, 9780199236664. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
• Porter, Josias (2005). Through Samaria to Galilee and the Jordan: Scenes of the Early Life and Labors of Our Lord. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 1417975350, 9781417975358. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
• Pringle, Denys (1998). The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: L-Z (excluding Tyre). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521390370.
• Robinson, Edward; Smith, Eli (1860). Biblical researches in Palestine, and in the adjacent regions: a journal of travels in the year 1838. Vol. v. 2 (2nd ed.). Crocker and Brewster.

External links

• Welcome to al-Majdal
• Al-Majdal at Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center
• Al-Majdal, Dr. Moslih Kanaaneh
• Al-Majdal