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Meiser מֵיסִר‎ ميسر
Hebrew transcription(s)
• unofficial	Shaykh Maysar, Shaykh Maysir, Khirbat Maysar
Etymology: Sheikh Meisir, p.n.; meaning a certain gambling game with arrows.
MeiserShow map of Haifa region of IsraelMeiserShow map of Israel
Coordinates: 32°26′41″N 35°2′31″E / 32.44472°N 35.04194°E / 32.44472; 35.04194
Grid position	203/705 ITM 154/205 PAL
Country	Israel
District	Haifa
Council	Menashe
Population	2,115

Meiser (Arabic: ميسر; Hebrew: מֵיסַר, also known as Shaykh Maysar or Khirbat Maysar) is an Arab village in northern Israel. Located half a kilometre west of the Green Line, north of the city of Baqa al-Gharbiyye in the triangle area of Wadi Ara, it is one of three Arab villages under the jurisdiction of Menashe Regional Council. In 2022 it had a population of 2,115.

History

Antiquity

Remains from the Early Roman era (end of the first century BCE–beginning of the first century CE) have been found here.

Three strata from the Roman-Byzantine periods was excavated in the centre of the village. A bathhouse, dating from the same time, has also been found.

Ceramics and other remains from the Byzantine era have been found here.

An excavation revealed remains dating from the end of the Byzantine period (7th century CE), and above it were remains of a residential house from the Abbasid period (9th–10th centuries CE).

Ottoman era

In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) found at Sheikh Meisir "foundations near a modern Mukam" (Muslim tomb). In spite of this, Andrew Petersen, who inspected the Maqam in 1994, suggested "that the building may be considerably older than the nineteenth century."

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Kherbet Maisir had a population of 49 Muslims.

In the 1945 statistics Meiser was counted with Qaffin and Kh. el Aqaba, together they had a population of 1,570 Muslims, with a land area of 23,755 dunams, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 5,863 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 8,371 were used for cereals, while 40 dunams were built-up (urban) land.

• Meiser 1942 1:20,000
• Meiser 1945 1:250,000

See also

• Arab localities in Israel
• Wadi Ara

References

1. Palmer, 1881, p. 152
2. ^ "Regional Statistics". Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
3. Dagot, 2007, Horbat Mesar
4. ^ Zertal, 2016, pp. 292-294
5. Massarwa, 2010, Horbat Mesar
6. Sa‘id, 2009, Horbat Mesar
7. Tabar and Gendelman, 2013, Horbat Mesar
8. Dauphin, 1998, p. 752
9. Massarwa, 2009, Horbat Mesar (North)
10. Sa‘id, 2008, Horbat Mesar
11. Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 68
12. Petersen, 2001, p. 283
13. Barron, 1923, Table IX, Sub-district of Jenin, p. 30
14. Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 21
15. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 76
16. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 127
17. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 177

Bibliography

• Barron, J.B., ed. (1923). Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922. Government of Palestine.
• Conder, C.R.; Kitchener, H.H. (1882). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. Vol. 2. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
• Dagot, Angelina (2007-01-10). "Horbat Mesar". Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel (119).
• Dauphin, C. (1998). La Palestine byzantine, Peuplement et Populations. BAR International Series 726 (in French). Vol. III : Catalogue. Oxford: Archeopress. ISBN 0-860549-05-4.
• Department of Statistics (1945). Village Statistics, April, 1945. Government of Palestine.
• Hadawi, S. (1970). Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine. Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center.
• Massarwa, Abdallah (2009-06-23). "Horbat Mesar (North)". Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel (121).
• Massarwa, Abdallah (2010-03-30). "Horbat Mesar". Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel (122).
• Palmer, E.H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
• Petersen, Andrew (2001). A Gazetteer of Buildings in Muslim Palestine (British Academy Monographs in Archaeology). Vol. 1. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-727011-0.
• Sa‘id, Kareem (2008-12-18). "Horbat Mesar". Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel (120).
• Sa‘id, Kareem (2009-12-07). "Horbat Mesar". Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel (121).
• Tabar, Murad Anton; Gendelman, Peter (2013-12-31). "Horbat Mesar". Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel (125).
• Zertal, A. (2016). The Manasseh Hill Country Survey. Vol. 3. Boston: BRILL. ISBN 978-9004312302.

External links

• Village website
• Welcome To Kh. al-Shaykh Meiser
• Survey of Western Palestine, Map 8: IAA, Wikimedia commons

• Menashe Regional Council
• Arab villages in Israel
• Wadi Ara
• Populated places in Haifa District