Metula

For the genus of gastropods, see Metula

Metula (Hebrew: מְטֻלָּה) is a town in the Northern District of Israel. Metula is located between the sites of the Biblical cities of Dan, Abel Bet Maacah, and Ijon, bordering Lebanon.

History

Early history

Traces of ancient settlement have been found here, including wine presses and a mosaic pavement. A tomb excavated in 1967 contained at least four graves dating from between the late third century and the late sixth century.

A settlement existed in the area in the Roman-Byzantine era.

Ottoman period

In 1816, the traveller Buckingham visited "a large village, called Metully, altogether inhabited by Druses". In 1875, Victor Guérin described Methelleh or Metelleh as a village with a spring, occupied by Druzes from the Hauran who cultivated a garden to the east. Soon afterwards, in 1881, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine recorded "El Mutallah: A small village, built of stone, containing about 100 Druzes, situated on slope of hill, near a large stream, surrounded by arable land."

Metula (gastropod)

Metula is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Buccinidae, the true whelks.

Fossil records

This genus is known in the fossil records from the Paleocene to the Quaternary (age range: from 61.7 to 0.781 million years ago).

Species

Species in the genus Metula include: