Meithalun

Meithalun (Arabic: ميثلون‎, transliteration: Meithalûn; also spelled Maythalun, Maithaloun or Meithalon) is a Palestinian town in the Jenin Governorate in the northern West Bank, located 26 kilometers south of Jenin. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) census, the town had a population of 6,995 in 2007.

Meithalun has four mosques, six schools, four pharmacies, two weather stations, two kindergartens, two clinics: maternity and general, several workshops, two multipurpose halls, two cemeteries, a police station, an office of the Ministry of Interior, three bakeries, four Internet cafes, two cultural centers, two major diwans, and a bank (Bank of Palestine). The town occupies an area of around 12,495 dunums.

Etymology

According to E. H. Palmer, Meithalun's name derives from Mithilihieh, which in Phoenician means "an image". The classical Arabic translation is "traces of a dwelling which are becoming effaced".

History

Pottery from the Roman and Byzantine periods in Palestine have been found in the old core of Meithalun.