Al-Masmiyya al-Kabira

al-Masmiyya al-Kabira
المسمية الكبيرة
al-Masmiyya
Masmiya al Kabira, 1947
Masmiya al Kabira, 1947
Etymology: from "to be lofty"[1]
1870s map
1940s map
modern map
1940s with modern overlay map
A series of historical maps of the area around Al-Masmiyya al-Kabira (click the buttons)
al-Masmiyya al-Kabira is located in Mandatory Palestine
al-Masmiyya al-Kabira
al-Masmiyya al-Kabira
Location within Mandatory Palestine
Coordinates: 31°45′27″N 34°47′05″E / 31.75750°N 34.78472°E / 31.75750; 34.78472
Palestine grid129/129
Geopolitical entityMandatory Palestine
SubdistrictGaza
Date of depopulationJuly 8, 1948[4]
Area
 • Total20,687 dunams (20.687 km2 or 7.987 sq mi)
Population
 (1945)
 • Total2,520[2][3]
Cause(s) of depopulationMilitary assault by Yishuv forces
Current LocalitiesBnei Re'em,[5] Hatzav,[5] Yinon,[5] Ahva[5]

Al-Masmiyya al-Kabira (Arabic: المسمية الكبيرة) was a Palestinian village in the Gaza Subdistrict, located 41 kilometers (25 mi) northeast of Gaza.[6] With a land area of 20,687 dunams, the village site (135 dunams) was situated on an elevation of 75 meters (246 ft) along the coastal plain. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Before the war, it had a population of 2,520 in 1945.[5]

The name of the village has been retained in the "Masmiya junction", the unofficial name of the large junction connecting Israel's Highway 3 with Highway 40, which the village ruins are adjacent to.

  1. ^ Palmer, 1881, p. 272
  2. ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 32
  3. ^ a b Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 46
  4. ^ Morris, 2004, p. xvii village #273, also gives depopulation method
  5. ^ a b c d e Khalidi, 1992, p.125.
  6. ^ Khalidi, 1992, p.124