Zefta, Lebanon

History

In the 1596 tax records, it was named as a village, Zafta, in the Ottoman nahiya (subdistrict) of Sagif under the liwa' (district) of Safad, with a population of 17 households and 4 bachelors, all Muslim. The villagers paid a fixed tax-rate of 25 % on agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, fruit trees, goats and beehives, in addition to "occasional revenues" and a press for olive oil or grape syrup; a total of 1,740 akçe.

In 1875, Victor Guérin found here a village with 200 Metuali inhabitants.