Damour river or (, Nahr Al Damour) is a coastal river in the

Mount Lebanon Governorate french: Gouvernorat du Mont-Liban , native_name_lang = , image_map = Administrative divisions of Lebanon 2017-08 (Numbered).png , map_caption = The governorates of Lebanon, including Mount Lebanon (in pink, label ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

. The river's headwaters originate in and around the slopes of the 1943-meter peak Jabal el-Barouk, site of a

nature preserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

where some of Lebanon's largest and oldest

Cedars of Lebanon ''Cedrus libani'', the cedar of Lebanon or Lebanese cedar (), is a species of tree in the genus cedrus, a part of the pine family, native to the mountains of the Eastern Mediterranean basin. It is a large evergreen conifer that has great rel ...

are found, and flows west through the

Jisr Al-Kadi The glossary of Arabic toponyms gives translations of Arabic terms commonly found as components in Arabic toponyms. A significant number of them were put together during the PEF Survey of Palestine carried out in the second half of the 19th cent ...

valley, where it receives water from the creeks of the

Chouf Chouf (also spelled Shouf, Shuf or Chuf, in ''Jabal ash-Shouf''; french: La Montagne du Chouf) is a historic region of Lebanon, as well as an administrative district in the governorate (muhafazat) of Mount Lebanon. Geography Located south-east ...

mountains. The river flows towards the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

, south of

Damour Damour ( ar, الدامور) is a Lebanese Christian town that is south of Beirut. The name of the town is derived from the name of the Phoenician god Damoros who symbolized immortality ( in Arabic). Damour also remained the capital of Mount ...

, which is both the largest town on its banks and the one which bears the river's name.

Mythology

During the

Phoenicia Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...

n time, Canaanite people being affected by drought seasons, called the river "Damoros" ancient Tamyrus,''Travels in Palestine and Syria'', Volume 1, page 286 By George Robinson in the attribution of 'Damoros' god of immortality, related to ' Achtarout', god of love and beauty. This attribution symbolized the immortality of the river '' and the beauty of the region. In 1302, the river being a strategic point towards the

holy land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

, a

crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were i ...

battle took place on its edge. Following the battle, French crusaders nicknamed the river "Fleuve D'amour". BattleofDamour

The city foundation

The city was founded on the river's edge by poor people who wanted to charge the

right of way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

to the

emirs Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...

. Because the river has a big flow rate in the winter season, residents assured the transport of passengers from side to other, obliging passengers to pay dearly for this service.

References

Rivers of Lebanon Hellenistic religion Tourism in Lebanon {{Lebanon-river-stub