Mikhmas is located north-east of Jerusalem. It is the same village as the biblical Michmash. It is bordered by Deir Dibwan to the east and north, Burqa to the west, and Jaba' to the south.
History
from the Byzantine era have been found here. Clermont-Ganneau also found Byzantine remains here, speculating that they might be from the convent found by abbot Firminus, a disciple of St. Sabas. The SWP noted about Mikhmas: "In the village are remains of old masonry, apparendy a church. A pillar-shaft is built into a wall in the north-west corner of the village. Two lintel stones are built over the door of another house, one with three crosses in circles, the second with a design apparently cut in half."
Ottoman era
Mukhmas was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517 with all of Palestine, and in 1596 it appeared in the tax registers as being in the nahiya of Al-Quds in the liwa of Al-Quds under the name of Mihmas. It had a population of 24 household; who were all Muslims. They paid a fixed Ziamet tax-rate of 33.3% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, olive trees, fruit trees, goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues; a total of 2,200 akçe. In 1838, it was noted as a Muslim village, Mukhmas, located in the area immediately north of Jerusalem. In 1863, Victor Guérin observed a great number of sizeable antique stones in the modern houses. About thirty cisterns and silos dug in the rock also dated back to antiquity. An Ottoman village list of about 1870 showed that Muchmas had 36 houses and a population of 120, though the population count included only men. In 1883 the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described Mukhmas as: "A small stone village on the slope of a ridge. The houses are poor and scattered. The water supply is from cisterns. It has a well to the east, and some scattered figs to the west. On the north are rock-cut tombs; an ancient road leads past the place. There are foundations and remains of former buildings in the village; on the south a steep slope leads clown to the great valley, Wady Suweinit. This place is the ancient Michmash, which is placed by the Onomasticon 9 Roman miles from Jerusalem. The distance is 7 1/2 English or 8 Roman miles in a line." In 1896 the population of Muchmas was estimated to be about 288 persons.
In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Mukhmas had a population of 361, increasing in the 1931 census to 404 inhabitants, in 80 houses. In the 1945 statistics, Mukhmas had a population of 540 Muslims, and a land area of 13,479 dunams. Of this, 569 dunams were designated for plantations and irrigable land, 2,274 for cereals, while 28 dunams were built-up land.
