Meithalun
| Meithalun | |
|---|---|
| Other transcription(s) | |
| • Arabic | ميثلون |
 Meithalun
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| Coordinates: 32°20′57″N 35°16′24″E / 32.34917°N 35.27333°ECoordinates: 32°20′57″N 35°16′24″E / 32.34917°N 35.27333°E | |
| Palestine grid | 175/194 |
| Governorate | Jenin |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipality |
| • Head of Municipality | Jihad Saleh Rabay'a |
| Area | |
| • Jurisdiction | 12,495 dunams (12.5 km2 or 4.8 sq mi) |
| Population (2007) | |
| • Jurisdiction | 6,995 |
Meithalun (Arabic: ميثلون, transliteration: Meithalûn; also spelled Maythalun, Maithaloun or Meithalon) is a Palestinian town in the Jenin Governorate in the northern West Bank, located 26 kilometers south of Jenin. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) census, the town had a population of 6,995 in 2007.
Meithalun has four mosques, six schools, four pharmacies, two weather stations, two kindergartens, two clinics: maternity and general, several workshops, two multipurpose halls, two cemeteries, a police station, an office of the Ministry of Interior, three bakeries, four Internet cafes, two cultural centers, two major diwans, and a bank (Bank of Palestine). The town occupies an area of around 12,495 dunums.
According to E. H. Palmer, Meithalun's name derives from Mithilihieh, which in Phoenician means "an image". The classical Arabic translation is "traces of a dwelling which are becoming effaced".
Pottery from the Roman and Byzantine periods in Palestine have been found in the old core of Meithalun.
Meithalun was referred to "Gastine Medeclala" and "Gastine Mesdedula" by the Crusaders. King Amalric I apportioned half of the site to the Crusader lord Guido and the other half to another lord known as Gilbert of Neapolis. In 1186, it became part of the Jeoshafat Abbey after it was purchased from Guido.
Meithalun was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire with the rest of Palestine in 1517. In the 1596 Ottoman tax records, Meithalun had a population of 16 families and one bachelor. The entire population were Muslim. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 33.3% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues; a total of 7,160 akçe.
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