Al-Mas'udiyya

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.

For the former Palestinian village in the Gaza subdistrict which used to have a similar name, see Summil.
Al-Mas'udiyya

المسعوديّة/صميل

Summayl
Remains of Al-Mas'udiyya, in 2005.
Etymology: Summeil, personal name, from "hard", or "withered"[1]
1870s map
1940s map
modern map
1940s with modern overlay map
A 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 grid129/165
Geopolitical entityMandatory Palestine
SubdistrictJaffa
Date of depopulationDecember 25, 1947[2]
Population
 (1945)
 • Total850[3][4]
Cause(s) of depopulationFear of being caught up in the fighting
Current Localitiespart of Tel Aviv[5]

History
The village shown within the Jaffa municipality (thick red line) on a 1930 Survey of Palestine map; click image to view full map

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]

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,[11] (where the Christians all belonged to the Templar community),[12] increasing in the 1931 census to 658; 654 Muslim and 4 Christians, in a total of 127 houses.[13]

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]

References
  1. Palmer, 1881, p. 219
  2. Morris, 2004, p. xviii, village #205. Also gives cause of depopulation.
  3. Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 27
  4. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 52
  5. Khalidi, 1992, p. 249
  6. Karmon, 1960, p. 161
  7. Socin, 1879, p. 160
  8. Hartmann, 1883, p. 137 also noted 23 houses
  9. Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 254
  10. Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 275
  11. Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Jaffa, p. 20
  12. Barron, 1923, Table XIV, p. 46
  13. Mills, 1932, p. 14

Bibliography
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