Nisf Jubeil: The Hidden and Mysterious Village
Traveling through the Levant, you run across several dwellings that hold the name Jubeil, but you rarely hear of the village of Nisf Jubeil. People often know of Bint Jubeil, Jubeil but almost never Nisf Jubeil – not even among locals. Given the common use of the name ‘Jubeil’ it is believed to have existed in ancient languages. Myth states that the name Jbeil is used based on the importance of the sun in older civilizations, and the intensity of the sun in this region. However, there is no evidence of Jubeil meaning sun in any modern or ancient language. Furthermore, in Nisf Jubeil, the sun shines for a short period of the day. It rises late in the morning, and sets early in the afternoon.
“Digging deep, one uncovers the village as part of an ecosystem; it is a holistic and complete system of networks, activities, functions, and building components that work together in a more or less synergetic and congruent way. Over time, it has become an everlasting model of self-sufficiency. It has a quality of wholeness: every part contributes to the bigger whole. Underlying this village character is the Palestinian farmer and the peasants as a collective, which has greatly influenced the development of Palestinian society” – Su’ad Amiry.
Why Nisf Jubeil? The Springs
The village of Nisf Jubeil is built around three springs, which stream along the slope of the mountain. The three springs historically supplied the village with an amount that reaches the quantity of 100 cubic meters daily. Since Roman times, the water was collected in a reservoir and canalized to the houses of the village through an aqueduct before modernizing the system in the 20th century. The springs are: ‘Ayn Sharqiya, which pumps out almost 50 cubic meters each day; Naba’et al Wad, which pumps out 30 cubic meters per day; and ‘ayn al Khader which pumps out 20 cubic meters per day. Spring water was collected in underground channels and galleries since ancient times. The springs reached their present shapes after several projects and improvements carried out across history. Some of their channels are visible and are 30m long and 40cm large (wide?), while they vary from 40cm to 150cm high.
Nisf Jubeil is unique with its richer water source, while it is common for Palestinian villages to have one spring, which was the case with its surrounding villages of Asira Ash-Shamaliah, Ijnisinya, Burqa, Beit Imrin and Sebastia.
Education in Nisf Jubeil
It is apparent that education in Nisf Jubeil was important early on, as the majority of the village residents were literate and had some level of education. According to the population census of 1900 (1318 – 1319 Hijri), there were two schools in Nisf Jubeil: an English school with 20 male students, and a French school with ten male students and seven female students. In July 1944, there was also a church school under the Roman church with 11 male students and three female students. These two schools were among nine others missionary schools in the area of Nablus which were located in: Sebastia, Rafidia, Beit Imreen, Burqa, and Tubas. Nisf Jubeil also had one of five private schools in the Nablus region known as Nisf Jubeil school.
Although Ottoman schools didn’t exist in Nisf Jubeil in 1903, they existed in several of the surrounding villages in Wadi Al Sha’ir including Deir Sharaf, Sebastia, Beit Imreen and Burqa. Residents of Nisf Jubeil accessed the schools in Nisf Jubeil and around it, and hence residents were generally in access of education. The school in Burqa was well established and had eight teachers in 1944. In the neighboring village of Burqa, there was also a school especially for girls.
“Schools were very weak,” says Mohammad Mahmoud Daghlas. Mohammad used to study in Beit Imreen given the larger population and hence the more established school. The school of Nisf Jubeil had one classroom for three simultaneous grades which were determined depending on the kids in the village. Today there is a proper built school, and the previous school is someone’s house.