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Hurfeish

Hurfeish
  • חֻרְפֵישׁ, חורפיש
  • حرفيش
Hebrew transcription(s)
 • ISO 259 Ḥurp̄eiš
Official logo of Hurfeish
Logo
Hurfesh.JPG
Hurfeish is located in Israel
Hurfeish
Hurfeish
Coordinates: 33°1′4.36″N 35°20′46.49″E / 33.0178778°N 35.3462472°E / 33.0178778; 35.3462472Coordinates: 33°1′4.36″N 35°20′46.49″E / 33.0178778°N 35.3462472°E / 33.0178778; 35.3462472
Grid position 182/269 PAL
District Northern
Government
 • Type Local council (from 1967)
 • Head of Municipality Mofid Mari
Area
 • Total 4,229 dunams (4.229 km2 or 1.633 sq mi)
Population (2015)
 • Total 6,077
Name meaning possibly from "snake"

Hurfeish (Arabic: حرفيش‎‎; Hebrew: חֻרְפֵישׁ‎) (lit. "milk thistle" or possibly from "snake" ) is a Druze town in the Northern District of Israel. In 2015 it had a population of 6,077.

The town is situated on an ancient site, where mosaics and Greek inscriptions have been excavated.

In the Crusader era, Hurfeish was known as Horfeis, Hourfex, Orpheis, or Orfeis. In 1183 it was part of an estate sold from Geoffrey le Tor to Count Jocelyn III. In 1220 Jocelyn III´s daughter Beatrix de Courtenay and her husband Otto von Botenlauben, Count of Henneberg, sold the estate to the Teutonic Knights. It was listed as still belonging to the Teutonic Knights in 1226.

In 1596 the village appeared under the name of Hurfays in the Ottoman tax registers as part of the nahiya (subdistrict) of Jira in the Sanjak (district) of Safad. It had an all Muslim population, consisting of 41 households and 10 bachelors. They paid taxes on goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues; but the largest amount was a fixed tax of 6,000 akçe; the taxes totalled 6,930 akçe. All of the taxes went to a Waqf.


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