A cave above the old part of Fureidis on the western slope of the
Carmel was found to contain fragments of pottery from the
Chalcolithic period, including large bowls, jars,
ossuary fragments and a pale pink limestone pendant. It appears to have been used as a dwelling and a burial cave. The artifacts in the cave attest to the presence of a settlement from the pre-
Ghassulian period. In the 19th century, three rock-hewn
tombs were examined at Fureidis, each with several
kokhim. Pottery and remains from an
aqueduct dating to the Roman and
Byzantine periods have also been found. At the northern edge of Fureidis,
pottery remains from the 13th -14th century, a coin dating to 1388–1399 CE, and building remains dated to the
Mamluk period have been excavated.
Ottoman Empire In 1517 Fureidis was incorporated into the
Ottoman Empire with the rest of Palestine. During the
16th and
17th centuries, it belonged to the
Turabay Emirate (1517-1683), which encompassed the
Jezreel Valley,
Mount Carmel,
Beit She'an Valley, northern
Samaria,
Ramot Menashe, the northern part of the
Sharon plain. During the late
Ottoman period, in 1859, the English consul Rogers estimated the population to be 200, who cultivated 18
feddans of land. In 1882, the
PEF's
Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described the place as a village of
adobe and stone at the foot of the hill, with a well to the south. A population list from about 1887 showed that
Kh. Fureidis had about 300 inhabitants, all Muslim.
British Mandate In the
1922 census of Palestine conducted by the
British Mandate authorities,
Al Feridis had a population of 335; all Muslims, increasing in the
1931 census to 454; still all Muslims, in a total of 98 houses. In the
1945 statistics the population of Fureidis consisted of 780 Muslims and the land area was 4,450
dunams, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 365 dunams were designated for plantations and irrigable land, 1,717 for cereals, while 6 dunams were built-up (urban) areas.
Israel Fureidis is one of the few
Arab villages on Israel's coast left intact after the
1948 war. As of the census of 2008, Fureidis had 10,800 residents, of whom 99.6% were Muslim Arabs. In 2023, Fureidis had 13,356 residents. == Education ==