Al-Mas'udiyya
Place in Jaffa, Mandatory Palestine
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Al-Mas'udiyya (also known as Summayl), was a Palestinian Arab village in the Jaffa Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on December 25, 1947. It was located 5 km northeast of Jaffa, situated 1.5 km south of the al-'Awja River. The village used to be known as Summayl.
Al-Mas'udiyya
المسعوديّة/صميل Summayl | |
|---|---|
 Remains of Al-Mas'udiyya, in 2005. | |
| Etymology: Summeil, personal name, from "hard", or "withered"[1] | |
.jpg) 1870s map .jpg) 1940s map.jpg) modern map .jpg) 1940s with modern overlay mapA series of historical maps of the area around Al-Mas'udiyya (click the buttons) | |
  Al-Mas'udiyya Location within Mandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates: 32°05′07″N 34°46′54″E | |
| Palestine grid | 129/165 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Jaffa |
| Date of depopulation | December 25, 1947[2] |
| Population (1945) | |
• Total | 850[3][4] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Fear of being caught up in the fighting |
| Current Localities | part of Tel Aviv[5] |
History
In 1799, it was noted as an unnamed village on the map that Pierre Jacotin compiled that year.[6]
An Ottoman village list from about 1870 showed that Samwil had 23 houses and a population of 62, though the population count included men, only. It was noted as a Bedouin camp, 4,5 km north of Jaffa centre, and 1 km from the sea.[7][8]
In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Summeil as an ordinary adobe village,[9] which had a large well, and a cave.[10]
Excavations revealed traces of Late Ottoman infant jar-burials, commonly associated with nomads or itinerant workers of Egyptian origins.[11]
British Mandate era
In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Mas'udiyeh had a population of 443; 437 Muslims and 6 Christians,[12] (where the Christians all belonged to the Templar community),[13] increasing in the 1931 census to 658; 654 Muslim and 4 Christians, in a total of 127 houses.[14]
On 20 December 1942, Al-Mas'udiyya was annexed into Tel Aviv as part of a municipal border expansion.[15]
In the 1945 statistics, the village had a population of 850; 830 Muslims and 20 Christians.[3][4]
Al-Mas'udiyya had an elementary school founded in 1931, and in 1945 it had 31 students.[5]
1948, aftermath
In 1992, the village site was described: "The area is part of Tel Aviv. All that remains of the village is one deserted house that belonged to Muhammad Baydas. Cactuses, castor-oil (ricinus) plants, and palm and cypress trees further mark the site. Nearby is the al-Mas'udiyya (or Summayl) bridge – an arched, steel structure."[5]