Aayta Ej Jabal ( ar, عيتا الجبل), is a village in
Nabatiye Governorate
Nabatieh Governorate ( ar, محافظة النبطية, ') is one of the nine governorates of Lebanon. The area of this governorate is 1,058 km2. The capital is Nabatieh.
Districts
The governorate is divided into four districts (Aqdiya, sing ...
, in the
Bint Jbeil District of southern Lebanon, about from
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
. The village is situated in the southern outskirts of the town of
Tebnine, in the heart of the
Lebanese Shia Muslim community of ''
Jabal Amel
Jabal Amil ( ar, جبل عامل, Jabal ʿĀmil), also spelled Jabal Amel and historically known as Jabal Amila, is a cultural and geographic region in Southern Lebanon largely associated with its long-established, predominantly Twelver Shia Musl ...
''. The village sits on an elevation of above sea level.
History
In the 1596
Ottoman tax records, the village, named Ayta al-Gajar'', was located in the
Ottoman ''
nahiya
A nāḥiyah ( ar, , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level division w ...
'' (subdistrict) of
Tibnin
Tebnine ( ar, تبنين ''Tibnīn'', also Romanized ''Tibnine'') is a Lebanese town spread across several hills (ranging in altitude from 700m to 800m (2,275 ft to 2,600 ft) above sea level) located about east of Tyre (Lebanon), i ...
under the
Liwa of Safad, with a population of 12 households and 3 bachelors, all
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
. The villagers paid a fixed tax-rate of 25% on agricultural products, such as
wheat
Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
(2,600
akçe
The ''akçe'' or ''akça'' (also spelled ''akche'', ''akcheh''; ota, آقچه; ) refers to a silver coin which was the chief monetary unit of the Ottoman Empire. The word itself evolved from the word "silver or silver money", this word is deri ...
),
barley
Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...
(1,400 akçe), olive trees (500 akçe), goats and beehives (400 akçe), in addition to "occasional revenues" (137 akçe) and a press for olive oil or grape syrup (12 akçe); a total of 5,049 akçe. Part of the revenue went to a
waqf
A waqf ( ar, وَقْف; ), also known as hubous () or '' mortmain'' property is an inalienable charitable endowment under Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot of land or other assets for Muslim religious or charitabl ...
.
[Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 183]
In 1856 it was named ''Aithat et Tut'' on
Kiepert's map of Palestine/Lebanon published that year, while in 1875,
Victor Guérin
Victor Guérin (15 September 1821 – 21 Septembe 1890) was a French intellectual, explorer and amateur archaeologist. He published books describing the geography, archeology and history of the areas he explored, which included Greece, Asia Mino ...
passed by and noted: “to my left, beyond a
wadi
Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water onl ...
,
sthe village of ''A'ïtha'', on a high hill; it does not look very considerable and is inhabited by
Metualis."
In 1881, the
Palestine Exploration Fund
The Palestine Exploration Fund is a British society based in London. It was founded in 1865, shortly after the completion of the Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem, and is the oldest known organization in the world created specifically for the study ...
's
''Survey of Western Palestine'' (SWP) described the village (which it called Aita ez Zut''): "A village, built of stone, containing about fifty
Metawileh, situated on a hill-top, with figs, olives, and arable land around. There are two
cistern
A cistern (Middle English ', from Latin ', from ', "box", from Greek ', "basket") is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by t ...
s in the village."
The current Bint Jbeil province was created in 1922 by French colonials.
[ Ahmad Rida, ''Memoirs of History'' (مذكرات للتاريخ), Dar An-Nahar: Beirut 2009, pp. 138, 179, 180, 183, 227.]
Notable people from Ayta al-Jabal
*
Youssef Mohamad, footballer
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
External links
* Aita ez Zut'' on the Palestine Exploration Fund Map of 1878, Map 2
IAAWikimedia commonsAayta Ej Jabal
Localiban
{{Bint Jbeil District
Populated places in Bint Jbeil District
Shia Muslim communities in Lebanon