al-Murassas

Al-Murassas was situated atop a low hill between Wadi al-‘Asheh to the north and Wadi Jalud to the south. From the southern side, the village overlooked expanses of land that gradually sloped down toward Wadi Jalud. To the northwest, a secondary road connected it to the main road between Baysan and al-‘Aqoula, which in turn led to Haifa on the coast. Other smaller roads linked the village to several neighboring communities.

The residents obtained water from springs located to the west of the village, as well as from rainwater collected in wells. In 1856, Al-Murassas was listed as a farm that paid taxes to the Ottoman authorities (Bakhit & Al-Hamoud, 1989, A:17). The Swiss traveler Johann Burckhardt, who visited the area in the early 19th century, mentioned the village but did not describe it (Burckhardt, 1822: 842–843).

By the late 19th century, Al-Murassas was a small mud-brick village built on elevated ground and surrounded by agricultural land (SWP, 1882, p. 85). To the west of the village site was a small forest. The village had a circular layout, with homes clustered around the intersection of roads in the center, while a few houses were also built on the elevated terrain to the east.

The population was 460: 450 Muslims and 10 Christians. The villagers worked primarily in agriculture, especially grain and vegetable cultivation, farming lands located to the west and north of the village site. In 1944/1945, a total of 9,894 dunums was dedicated to grain cultivation, and 16 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards.

In the southern part of the village was an archaeological pool known as al-Fakht, which contained a water cistern.

The Village Today

The village site is now part of an agricultural area exploited by the settlements of Sde Nahum and Beit HaShita. The only remaining landmarks in the area are a few telephone poles and a small shack. A small mound surrounded by cultivated fields marks the village site, now covered in rubble.

Zionist Settlements on Village Lands

There are no Israeli settlements on the village lands themselves. The settlement of Sde Nahum was established in 1937 approximately 3 kilometers south of the site, on land traditionally belonging to the city of Baysan. The settlement of Beit HaShita was founded in 1935 on land purchased from the village of Shatta, located about 4 kilometers southwest of the site.