Abdel Hamid Palace
The Churches
The village had three churches, up until 2014, after which they were all abandoned and unused. Today, the Orthodox Church of St. George, located in the eastern part near the entrance of the village, is the one strong reminder of Christianity since ancient times in Nisf Jubeil. This Church was built in 1880, and went under restoration recently in 2014, when it was officially reopened with the attendance of His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III and Mr. Basem with his wife Muna Hishmeh, who financially supported the restoration project along with The Jerusalem Patriarchate (Heba Hrimat, 2017). A stone plaque exists today commemorating the construction of the church. The church includes a rectangular hall, with a small arched bell tower holding a copper bell, and surmounted with a stone cross on top. A stone wall surrounds the courtyard of the church, in the middle of which a crypt was used to bury Christian personalities of the village.
The Church of St. George, a Roman Catholic church, had its own Priests until the year 1963, when the late reverend Father Nikola Khouri rested, and was buried in the small cemetery inside the Church’s courtyard. Afterwhich, the Roman Catholic in Nisf Jubeil became under the Orthodox Church in Nablus’s priest. The priest of Nablus would celebrate the weekly Divine Liturgy at the Church of Nisf Jubeil (Heba Hrimat, 2017).
The second church, a protestant church, is the oldest church in Nisf Jubeil, and is located in the middle of the village. The church has been sold and converted into a house. It comprises a 6m high 8 x 8m room. Some lateral rooms have been discovered under the adjacent street. It is known by residents that under the church there are other old inaccessible rooms. The church is currently hidden under a new cement building, which covers all of its original elements.
The third church is believed to be the Latin place of prayer for those Latin Christians. It was based in one of the resident’s house: Lina and Linda’s house, according to testimonies from various village residents.
Maqam Al Khader
Special attention is required to the Shrine (Maqam) of Al Khader. It is a green dome at the entrance of the village. The building is ancient, and unlike the majority of the shrines in the area, there is no tomb inside. Both Muslims and Christians venerate Saidna al Khader (translated to the Green One: identified by Christians with St. George or less frequently with St. Elijah. It is said that he has passed by here, used the spring, rested and prayed. The shrine was built to mark his resting stop, and was used in the past as a mosque, before the building of the present Omari Mosque.
Al Khader is believed to have curative powers, mainly of inflictions caused by the envious, jealous evil eye. The shrine was used in the past for many traditional ceremonies as the ones that were common in every shrine in Palestine. Its walls were painted with Henna and the interior was enlightened by oil lamps. Vow making was among the practices devoted to the Saint.
The second room (4 x 2.5m) belongs to a different historical phase. A part of its roof has collapsed in the past.
The shrine is entered through a door in the northern facade. The door is quite low and people should move downward to get in. The spring of Ain Al Khader is located in the western part of the shrine (further down the steps).
Al Omari Mosque
Ceramics Center
Mr. Mahmoud Awayis donated his house to the village council – building dated back to the end of the 19th century, beginning of the 20th century. (signed agreement with village council to lease the house for 15 years starting in 2006/7). House is located in the east end of the village and overlooks Wadi Ain Sharqiya. 55 square meter, 5.5m high, and open space in front of the entrance to the room. Foundations of the room are built directly on the rock that declines from south to north. Rock is still visible inside the room, bottom of the southern wall. The room is covered by a cross vault, which rests on four pilasters at the four corners. A double window opens in the northern wall, and in the eastern wall there is the entrance door with a small opening over it. The door that once opened in the western wall has been recently walled up because the room on the other side belongs to a different owner (his brother?).
The external facades are made of stones. In the northwest corner a stairs, built inside the thickness of the corner fill, leads to the roof.
Is originally for Musallem, her mom in law lived in it, and gave birth to all her children in it. but Mohammad Al Qaroot took it (Awayes).