Iksal

Iksal is an Arab neighborhood council in northern Israel, approximately 5 kilometres southeast of Nazareth. It has a place of 9,000 dunams and a population of 14,245 typically Muslim population. The name of town is believed to derive from that of Chesulloth, a biblical city cited in the Book of Joshua.

Iksal was acknowledged to Josephus as Xaloth. Archaeological excavations in Iksal found out artifacts from the duration of Roman and Byzantine rule in Palestine.8 A ring adorned with the photo of a lion was observed and dates to one of these time durations. In burial caves carved into the rock, sarcophagi and ossuaries containing pottery, glass vessels, and jewelry were located. Also dated to the Byzantine duration are agricultural installations, carved into the rock and plastered, internal of which have been located a part of a winepress. In 536 a Council become held in Jerusalem to condemn Severus of Antioch and his fans. Present at that Council were forty five bishops from Palestine, together with one Parthenius, bishop of Exalus, that is diagnosed with Iksal. Thus we realize the city had sufficient Christians within the 6th Century to warrant a bishop.