Maghar, Israel
Maghar
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| Hebrew transcription(s) | ||
| • ISO 259 | (Mrar) (Israeli pronunciation) | |
| • Also spelled | Mughar (official) Mrar, Mghar (unofficial) |
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 Maghar
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| Coordinates: 32°53′24″N 35°24′30″E / 32.89000°N 35.40833°ECoordinates: 32°53′24″N 35°24′30″E / 32.89000°N 35.40833°E | ||
| Grid position | 188/255 PAL | |
| District | Northern | |
| Government | ||
| • Type | Local council (from 1956) | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 19,810 dunams (19.81 km2 or 7.65 sq mi) | |
| Population (2015) | ||
| • Total | 21,650 | |
| Name meaning | The Caves | |
Maghar (Arabic: المغار, Hebrew: מַעָ'ר, also al-Maghar or Mghar; lit. the cave) is an Arab town in Israel's Northern District with an area of 19,810 dunams. Maghar was given the status of a local council in 1956. In 2015 it had a population of 21,650.
Pottery remains from the early Roman period have been found here, together with architectural remains and pottery fragments from the Late Roman period. A quarry has also been excavated.
The village's name comes from the Arabic word for "the caves".
In 1596 the village appeared in the Ottoman tax registers as Magar Hazur, part of the nahiya of Tabariyya in the Liwa of Safad. It had an entirely Muslim population consisting of 169 households and 17 bachelors. Taxes were paid on wheat, barley, olive trees, goats and/or beehives, and a press for olives or grapes, and in 1555 on silk spinning.
In 1875 French explorer Victor Guérin found the village, which he called el-Mehar, to be a large one with 1200 inhabitants. It was divided into three quarters, with Muslim, Christian and Druse inhabitants. In 1881, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described El Mughar as a "large stone-built village, containing about 1,100 Moslems, Druses, and Christians, situated on the slope of the hill, with extensive olive-groves to the south and west; a large spring and birkeh gives a good supply of water."
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