Marjayoun ( ar, مرج عيون: Lebanese pronunciation), also Marj 'Ayoun, Marjuyun or Marjeyoun (lit. "meadow of springs") and Jdeideh / Jdeida / Jdeidet Marjeyoun, is a Lebanese town and an administrative district, the

Marjeyoun District The Marjeyoun District is a district in the Nabatieh Governorate of Lebanon. The capital of the district is Marjeyoun. Marjeyoun Marjayoun ( ar, مرج عيون: Lebanese pronunciation), also Marj 'Ayoun, Marjuyun or Marjeyoun (lit. "meadow o ...

, in the

Nabatieh Governorate Nabatieh Governorate ( ar, محافظة النبطية, ') is one of the nine governorates of Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in West ...

Southern Lebanon Southern Lebanon () is the area of Lebanon comprising the South Governorate and the Nabatiye Governorate. The two entities were divided from the same province in the early 1990s. The Rashaya and Western Beqaa Districts, the southernmost distric ...

Geography

Marjayoun is above sea level, standing on the west side of the

Jordan Rift Valley The Jordan Rift Valley, also Jordan Valley ''Bīrʿāt haYardēn'', ar, الغور Al-Ghor or Al-Ghawr),, date=November 2022 also called the Syro-African Depression, is an elongated depression located in modern-day Israel, and Jordan. This g ...

just across from the ancient regional capital,

Caesarea Philippi Banias or Banyas ( ar, بانياس الحولة; he, בניאס, label=Modern Hebrew; Judeo-Aramaic, Medieval Hebrew: פמייס, etc.; grc, Πανεάς) is a site in the Golan Heights near a natural spring, once associated with the Greek ...

, which was located at the foot of

Mount Hermon Mount Hermon ( ar, جبل الشيخ or جبل حرمون / ALA-LC: ''Jabal al-Shaykh'' ("Mountain of the Sheikh") or ''Jabal Haramun''; he, הַר חֶרְמוֹן, ''Har Hermon'') is a mountain cluster constituting the southern end of the ...

on the east side of the Rift Valley. It is not to be confused with the

Banias Banias or Banyas ( ar, بانياس الحولة; he, בניאס, label=Modern Hebrew; Judeo-Aramaic, Medieval Hebrew: פמייס, etc.; grc, Πανεάς) is a site in the Golan Heights near a natural spring, once associated with the Greek ...

Springs at Caesarea Philippi. Marjeyoun stands on a hill facing Mt Hermon to the east, the Crusader castle of Beafort, set above the

Litani River The Litani River ( ar, نهر الليطاني, Nahr al-Līṭānī), the classical Leontes ( grc-gre, Λέοντες, Léontes, lions), is an important water resource in southern Lebanon. The river rises in the fertile Beqaa Valley, west of B ...

and overlooking Mount Amel (Jabal Amel), to the west, the

Mount Lebanon Mount Lebanon ( ar, جَبَل لُبْنَان, ''jabal lubnān'', ; syr, ܛܘܪ ܠܒ݂ܢܢ, ', , ''ṭūr lewnōn'' french: Mont Liban) is a mountain range in Lebanon. It averages above in elevation, with its peak at . Geography The Mount Le ...

range with the Rihan and Niha peaks to the north, with the fertile Marjeyoun plains extending southward into the

Galilee Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Galil ...

plains and the

Golan Heights The Golan Heights ( ar, هَضْبَةُ الْجَوْلَانِ, Haḍbatu l-Jawlān or ; he, רמת הגולן, ), or simply the Golan, is a region in the Levant spanning about . The region defined as the Golan Heights differs between di ...

History

Crusader period

On June 10, 1179, during the

Battle of Marj Ayyun The Battle of Marj Ayyun was a military confrontation fought at Marjayoun, Marj Ayyoun near the Litani River (modern-day Lebanon) in June 1179 between the Kingdom of Jerusalem under Baldwin IV and the Ayyubid armies under the leadership of Saladin ...

, an

Ayyubid The Ayyubid dynasty ( ar, الأيوبيون '; ) was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultan of Egypt, Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. A Sunni ...

army defeated a crusader army. The crusader king narrowly escaped being captured in the rout.

Ottoman period

In the 1596 tax records, it was named as a village, ''Jadida'', 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' Sanjaks (liwāʾ) (plural form: alwiyāʾ) * Armenian: նահանգ (''nahang''; meaning "province") * Bulgarian: окръг ('' okrǔg''; meaning "county", "province", or "region") * el, Διοίκησις (''dioikēsis'', meaning "province") ...

'' (district) of

Safad Safed (known in Hebrew as Tzfat; Sephardic Hebrew & Modern Hebrew: צְפַת ''Tsfat'', Ashkenazi Hebrew: ''Tzfas'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Ṣǝp̄aṯ''; ar, صفد, ''Ṣafad''), is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevat ...

, with a population of 28 households and 12 bachelors, all Muslim. 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 ...

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 ...

, olive trees, vineyards, goats and beehives, in addition to "occasional revenues" and a press for olive oil or grape syrup; a total of 9,606

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 ...

.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 182 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 ...

visited Marjayoun (which he called ''Djedeideh''), and found it to have about 2,000 inhabitants, mostly " Schismatic Greek" (i.e.

Melkite The term Melkite (), also written Melchite, refers to various Eastern Christianity, Eastern Christian churches of the Byzantine Rite and their members originating in the Middle East. The term comes from the common Central Semitic Semitic root, ro ...

Uniat The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (''sui iuris'') particular churches of th ...

s), but also some

Greek Orthodox The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek language, Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the Eastern Orthodox Church, entire body of Orthodox (Chalced ...

and Muslims. The

Saint Peter Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...

's Cathedral was built in 1892 and it was restored in 1968 after a fire.

20th-21st centuries

During the Syria-Lebanon Campaign of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, British and Australian forces advancing from

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

entered the town on 11 June 1941 against badly equipped defenders, but were forced to withdraw on 15 June following a

Vichy French Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...

counterattack. The

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

recaptured the town on 24 June in the

Battle of Merdjayoun The Battle of Merdjayoun took place during the Syria-Lebanon Campaign of World War II from 19–24 June 1941 between Vichy French and predominantly Australian Allied forces in and near the Lebanese town of Marjayoun. Initial fighting Australi ...

. Marjayoun was the headquarters of the

South Lebanon Army The South Lebanon Army or South Lebanese Army (SLA; ar, جيش لبنان الجنوبي, Jayš Lubnān al-Janūbiyy), also known as the Lahad Army ( ar, جيش لحد, label=none) and referred to as the De Facto Forces (DFF) by the United Nat ...

, the

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

-affiliated militia that controlled southern Lebanon during Israel's occupation of the region after the

1982 Lebanon War The 1982 Lebanon War, dubbed Operation Peace for Galilee ( he, מבצע שלום הגליל, or מבצע של"ג ''Mivtsa Shlom HaGalil'' or ''Mivtsa Sheleg'') by the Israeli government, later known in Israel as the Lebanon War or the First L ...

until Israel's withdrawal from the region in 2000. During the 2006 war between Israel and the

Hezbollah Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's parami ...

organisation, after cease-fire negotiations stalled on August 10, Israeli forces took control of Marjayoun. The next day, a convoy of 3,000 people fled from the town. The convoy was attacked by the Israeli Air Force (IAF) northeast of

Hasbaya Hasbeya or Hasbeiya ( ar, حاصبيا) is a town in Lebanon, situated at the foot of Mount Hermon, overlooking a deep amphitheatre from which a brook flows to the Hasbani. In 1911, the population was about 5000. Hasbaya is the capital of the Wadi ...

en route to

Kefraya Kefraya ( ar, كفريا / ALA-LC: ''Kifrayā'') is a village in the Western Beqaa District of the Beqaa Governorate in the Republic of Lebanon, approximately northwest of Joub Jannine. The village is home to a mixed population of Sunnis and Gr ...

, in the south of the

Bekaa valley The Beqaa Valley ( ar, links=no, وادي البقاع, ', Lebanese ), also transliterated as Bekaa, Biqâ, and Becaa and known in classical antiquity as Coele-Syria, is a fertile valley in eastern Lebanon. It is Lebanon's most important ...

. The bombing resulted in the deaths of at least seven people, and is known as the Marjayoun convoy incident.

Demography

The town of Marjayoun has an overwhelmingly Christian population of about 5,000 people.

Christians compose the vast majority of the town's population, however, there are also

Maronite The Maronites ( ar, الموارنة; syr, ܡܖ̈ܘܢܝܐ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and Levant region of the Middle East, whose members traditionally belong to the Maronite Church, with the larges ...

and

Greek Catholic The term Greek Catholic Church can refer to a number of Eastern Catholic Churches following the Byzantine (Greek) liturgy, considered collectively or individually. The terms Greek Catholic, Greek Catholic church or Byzantine Catholic, Byzantine Ca ...

Christians living in Marjayoun. Outside the town, most villages in the surrounding valleys and mountains are predominantly

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...

Muslim. The Melkite

's Cathedral was built in 1892 and restored in 1968 after a fire and in 2009. Marjayoun is the seat of the Melkite (Greek Catholic) Archeparchy of Baniyas, which includes the southeastern part of Lebanon.

Parliamentary representation

The district of Marjayoun, which includes the town, is largely

Shia Muslim Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most ...

. It holds three seats in the Lebanese government, two belonging to Shia Muslims and one belonging to

Christians.

Hospital

Marjayoun is home to a regional government hospital founded in 1960, and a

Lebanese Red Cross The Lebanese Red Cross (LRC) ( ar, الصليب الأحمر اللبناني, ''al-Ṣalīb al-aḥmar al-lubnānī''; french: Croix-Rouge libanaise) is a humanitarian organization and an auxiliary team to the medical service of the Lebanese Ar ...

First Aid Center.

Marjayoun Airfield

An abandoned airfield is located south near Metula. Ruins of buildings and outline of the runways and taxiway are all that remains. In a strategic triangle linking Lebanon with Palestine and Syria is located the ruins of "Marjayoun Airport" or what is known as "Al-Marj Airport" or "English Airport" is located. The green color in the Marjayoun Plain is only disturbed by forgotten walls from the days of World War II, separating their hard stones between the fertile agricultural lands of the Marjayoun Plain. During the Second World War, the Marjayoun Plain and the region formed an arena of confrontation between the allies on one side and the German army on the other, so the allies had to fortify themselves, specifically in the Marjayoun plain, which was a defensive area or a back line of confrontations if Egypt fell into the hands of the German army. And if the German Army manages to advance to Palestine, Lebanon and Syria.

Notable people

Michael DeBakey Michael Ellis DeBakey (September 7, 1908 – July 11, 2008) was a Lebanese-American general and cardiovascular surgeon, scientist and medical educator who became Chairman of the Department of Surgery, President, and Chancellor of Baylor College ...

(1908–2008) – cardiac surgeon, whose parents are from Marjeyoun *

Brigitte Gabriel Brigitte Gabriel ( ar, بريجيت غابرييل; born Hanan Qahwaji, 21 October 1964) is a Lebanese-American conservative author, anti-Islam activist, and founder of the anti-Muslim group ACT! for America. Early life and education Gabriel ...

– journalist, author and lecturer *

Walid Gholmieh Walid Georges Gholmieh ( ar, وليد جرجس غلمية; 1938 – 7 June 2011) was the director of the '' Le Conservatoire libanais national supérieur de musique'' or The Lebanese National Higher Conservatory of Music. He was considered one of ...

– director of the '' Le Conservatoire libanais national supérieur de musique''; born in Marjeyoun *Major

Saad Haddad Saad Haddad ( ar, سعد حداد; 1936 – 14 January 1984) was the founder and head of the South Lebanon Army (SLA) during the Lebanese Civil War. For years Haddad was closely collaborating and receiving arms and political support from Israel ...

– founder and head of the

(SLA) during the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...

James Jabara James "Jabby" Jabara (10 October 1923 – 17 November 1966) was the first American and United States Air Force flying ace, jet ace. Born in Oklahoma, he lived in Kansas where he enlisted as an aviation cadet at Fort Riley after graduating from ...

– Lebanese-American U.S. Air Force Major, the first jet ace of the Korean war, flew missions in WW II and Vietnam; born in 1923 in

Muskogee, Oklahoma Muskogee () is the thirteenth-largest city in Oklahoma and the county seat of Muskogee County. Home to Bacone College, it lies approximately southeast of Tulsa. The population of the city was 36,878 as of the 2020 census, a 6.0 percent decrease ...

, both his father, John Jabara, and mother being immigrants from Marjeyoun * Dr. Richard Jabara, born in Marjeyoun (1920–1967), philanthropist, founded several hospitals from Tripoli in Lebanon to Saudi Arabia * George Jordac (1931–2014) – author and poet. * Alfred Naifeh, born 1915 in Covington, Tennessee, to a Lebanese immigrant family from Jdeidet Marjeyoun; U.S. naval destroyer USS Naifeh is named after him *

Issam Mahfouz Issam Abdel-Masih Mahfouz (also written 'Isam/Essam Mahfood/Mahfuz') (12 September 1939 – 3 February 2006) was a Lebanese playwright, poet, journalist, author, translator, and critic. His literary works include dozens of books on politics, cult ...

(1939–2006) – writer, journalist *

Anthony Shadid Anthony Shadid (September 26, 1968 – February 16, 2012) was a foreign correspondent for ''The New York Times'' based in Baghdad and Beirut who won the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting twice, in 2004 and 2010.Michael Shadid Michael Abraham Shadid (1882 – August 13, 1966) was a Lebanese physician who founded the first medical cooperative in Elk City, Oklahoma, in 1931. He was the first president of the Cooperative Health Federation of America, and an advocate f ...

– physician, born in Marjeyoun * General Ghassan Barakat; Former General in the

Internal Security Forces The Internal Security Forces Directorate ( ar, المديرية العامة لقوى الأمن الداخلي, al-Mudiriyya al-'aamma li-Qiwa al-Amn al-Dakhili; french: Forces de Sécurité Intérieure; abbreviated ISF) is the national police ...

* Saad Ayoub Tayar(1888-1958) Lebanese-Mexican Textile and Real Estate Entrepreneur http://www.emigrantelibanes.com/cgi-bin/InmiDatos?RN=%20%20%20%20%20%201272&MuestraImagen=1

References

Bibliography

* * * * *

Photo galleries

Baladiyat Marjeyoun photo gallery

(MHPP) Marjeyoun Photo and video gallery

Videos

(MHPP) Jdeidet Marjeyoun 1,000 Year History (English Version)

Tour of Jdeidet Marjeyoun, Lebanon

(MHPP) Road Trip To Jdeidet Marjeyoun

Easter 2014 in Jdeidet Marjeyoun

(MHPP) Jdeida Lives Now and Then
{{Marjeyoun District Eastern Orthodox Christian communities in Lebanon Populated places in the Israeli security zone 1985–2000 Israeli–Lebanese conflict Maronite Christian communities in Lebanon Melkite Christian communities in Lebanon Populated places in Marjeyoun District Shia Muslim communities in Lebanon Sunni Muslim communities in Lebanon