Editing Sharon plain (section)

== History ==
=== Early ===
The Sharon valley is mentioned in an [[ancient Egypt]]ian stele of [[Amenhotep II]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Service des Antiquités de l'Égypte |url=http://archive.org/details/ASAE-42-1943 |title=Vol 42: Annales du Service des Antiquités de l'Égypte (1943) |date=1943 |publisher=Le Caire, Imprimerie de l'Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale |others=France) Bibliothèque d'égyptologie du Collège de France (Paris}}</ref> and as the Sharon field containing both [[Jaffa]] and [[Tel Dor|Dor]] on the [[Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar II]].

The Plain of Sharon is mentioned in the Bible ([[1 Chronicles]] 5:16, 27:29; [[Book of Isaiah]] 33:9, 35:2, 65:10), including the famous reference to the enigmatic "[[Rose of Sharon]]" ([[Song of Songs 2:1]]).

Excavations were performed before road construction in the north part of Sharon plain. Near [[En Esur]], an early [[Bronze Age]] planned metropolis, including a temple, stretching over 65 [[hectare|ha]] for 6,000 inhabitants, was discovered. Under the 5000-year-old city, an even older settlement from 7000 [[Before Present|YBP]] has been found, according to a report from the antiquities office of Israel on 6 October 2019.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://religion.orf.at/m/stories/2992551/ |title=Archäologen finden in Israel 5.000 Jahre alte Großstadt |website=[[ORF (broadcaster)|ORF]] |date=2019-10-06 |access-date=2019-10-06 |language=de}}</ref>

=== Modern ===
Before the 20th century, the region was covered by the Forest of Sharon, an open [[woodland]] dominated by Mount Tabor Oak ''([[Quercus ithaburensis]])'', which extended from [[Kfar Yona]] in the north to [[Ra'anana|Ra’ananna]] in the south. The area was called al-Ghāba in [[Arabic]], “The forest, e.g. the great Oak forest of Sharon”.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Marom |first=Roy |last2=Zadok |first2=Ran |date=2023 |title=Early-Ottoman Palestinian Toponymy: A Linguistic Analysis of the (Micro-)Toponyms in Haseki Sultan’s Endowment Deed (1552) |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0cs6f5k5 |journal=Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins |language=en |volume=139 |issue=2}}</ref> The local Arab inhabitants traditionally used the area for [[pasture]], [[firewood]] and intermittent [[Agriculture|cultivation]]. The intensification of settlement and agriculture in the [[Israeli coastal plain|coastal plain]] during the 19th century led to [[deforestation]] and subsequent [[environmental degradation]] known from [[Hebrew literature|Hebrew sources]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Marom |first=Roy |date=2022-12-01 |title=יער‬ ‫השרון (אל-ע'אבה) בתקופה העות'מאנית:‬ ‫בתקופה‬ ‫מהמחקר‬ ‫חדשות‬ ‫תובנות‬ ‫הגיאוגרפי-היסטורי The Oak Forest of the Sharon (al-Ghaba) in the Ottoman Period: New Insights from Historical- Geographical Studies |url=https://www.academia.edu/93207554 |journal=Muse |volume=5 |pages=90–107}}</ref>

Prior to 1948, the region was subordinate to [[Jaffa Subdistrict, Mandatory Palestine|Jaffa Subdistrict]] and [[Tulkarm Subdistrict, Mandatory Palestine|Tulkarm Subdistrict]].

Historically, while some parts of the Sharon plain were very fertile, much of it was swampy and malarial, a condition exacerbated by massive [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] deforestation. [[Zionism|Zionist]] immigrants arrived in the early 20th century and populated the region with many settlements.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.bartleby.com/65/sh/SharonPln.html | title=Sharon Plain | access-date=2008-01-14 | publisher=[[Bartleby.com]] | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706161828/http://bartleby.com/65/sh/SharonPln.html | archive-date=2008-07-06 }}</ref>

By 1945, [[Jaffa Subdistrict, Mandatory Palestine|Jaffa Subdistrict]] had a population of 373,800, consisting of 71% Jewish residents and 29% Palestinian Muslim and Christian residents. [[Tulkarm Subdistrict, Mandatory Palestine|Tulkarm Subdistrict]] had a population 86,120, consisting of 17% Jewish residents and 83% Palestinian Muslim and Christian residents. During the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]], the Arab population of the region left or was expelled almost entirely.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

In 2008, it was the most densely populated region of Israel.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761572912/Sharon_Plain_of.html | title=Sharon Plain of Israel | access-date=2008-01-14 | publisher=[[Encarta]] | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070916122843/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761572912/Sharon_Plain_of.html | archive-date=2007-09-16 }}</ref>