Mashhad, Israel

Mashhad (Hebrew: מַשְׁהַד, Arabic: مشهد, romanized: Mash-hed 'martyrium') is an Arab town located 5 kilometers (3.1 mi) northeast of Nazareth in Israel's Northern District. In 2023 it had a population of 8,695, most of whom were Muslims.

Remains from the Early Bronze Age, Persian, Roman and Byzantine eras have been found.

Mashhad is located on the site of Gath-hepher, an ancient Israelite town mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as the home of Jonah; his supposed tomb is still pointed out by locals.

Archaeological findings in Mashad include a third-century Aramaic gravestone, indicating Jewish settlement at the site during the Late Roman period, and a stone inscribed with Greek letters now reused in Mashad's mosque.

In 1517, the village was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire with the rest of Palestine, and in 1596 it appeared in the Ottoman tax registers under the name of Mashad Yunis, as being in the nahiya (subdistrict) of Tabariyya, part of Safad Sanjak. It had a population of 31 households and 6 bachelors, all Muslim. They paid a fixed tax rate of 20% on agricultural products, which included wheat and barley, fruit trees, vegetable and fruit garden, orchard, as well as on goats and/or beehives; a total of 865 Akçe. All of the revenue went to a waqf.

A map from Napoleon's invasion of 1799 by Pierre Jacotin showed the place, named as El Mecheb.

In 1838 it was noted as a Muslim village in the Nazareth district.

In 1875, the French explorer Victor Guérin visited the village, which he estimated had at most 300 inhabitants. In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Meshed as "A small village, built of stone, surrounding the traditional tomb of Jonah -a low building surmounted by two white-washed domes. It contains about 300 Moslems, and is situated on the top of a hill, without gardens. The water supply is from cisterns."