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Nabatieh ( ar, النبطية, links=no, ', ), or Nabatîyé (), is the city of the
Nabatieh 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 southern
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 lie ...
. The population is not accurately known as no census has been taken in Lebanon since the 1930s; estimates range from 15,000 to 120,000. A 2006 population estimate by the now-closed German population site called World Gazetteer put the population at 100,541, which would make it the fifth largest city in Lebanon, after Tyre, Sidon, Tripoli, and Beirut according to those 2006 population estimates of Lebanese cities, but after an update in either 2007 or 2008 and calculations for the following years the 2013 population estimate turned out to be much lower at 36,593 and making the city the 11th largest in Lebanon behind Tyre, Bint Jbeil,
Zahlé Zahlé ( ar, زَحْلة) is the capital and the largest city of Beqaa Governorate, Lebanon. With around 150,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Lebanon after Beirut and Tripoli and the fourth largest taking the whole urban area ...
,
Sidon Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast. ...
,
Baalbek Baalbek (; ar, بَعْلَبَكّ, Baʿlabakk, Syriac-Aramaic: ܒܥܠܒܟ) is a city located east of the Litani River in Lebanon's Beqaa Valley, about northeast of Beirut. It is the capital of Baalbek-Hermel Governorate. In Greek and Roman ...
,
Jounieh Jounieh ( ar, جونيه, or ''Juniya'', ) is a coastal city in Keserwan District, about north of Beirut, Lebanon. Since 2017, it has been the capital of Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate. Jounieh is known for its seaside resorts and bustling nightli ...
, Tripoli and
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 ...
according those 2013 estimates. It is the main city in the
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 ...
area and the chief center for both the
mohafazat A governorate is an administrative division of a state. It is headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either states or provinces, the term ''governorate'' is often used in translation from ...
, or governorate, and the
kaza A kaza (, , , plural: , , ; ota, قضا, script=Arab, (; meaning 'borough') * bg, околия (; meaning 'district'); also Кааза * el, υποδιοίκησις () or (, which means 'borough' or 'municipality'); also () * lad, kaza , ...
, or canton both also called Nabatieh. Nabatieh is an important town both economically and culturally. A market is held every Monday where traders and visitors from neighbouring villages gather in the centre of the town to exchange their goods in an area known in Arabic as the Souq Al Tanen. There are also branches of several banks, hospitals, restaurants and cultural centres of interest to tourists. Every year, the city commemorates the
Battle of Karbala The Battle of Karbala ( ar, مَعْرَكَة كَرْبَلَاء) was fought on 10 October 680 (10 Muharram in the year 61 AH of the Islamic calendar) between the army of the second Umayyad Caliph Yazid I and a small army led by Husayn ...
to remember the martyrdom of Imam al Husayn. Nabatieh was the birthplace of several learned men, including
linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
and Arab nationalist leader
Ahmad Rida Sheikh Ahmad Rida (also transliterated as Ahmad Reda) (1872–1953) ( ar, الشيخ أحمد رضا) was a Lebanese linguist, writer and politician. A key figure of the Arab Renaissance (known as al-Nahda), he compiled the modern monolingual Ar ...
,
historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...
Muhammad Jaber Al Safa Muhammad Jaber Āl Safa (also spelled Jabir Al Safa) (1875–1945) () was a historian, writer and politician from Jabal Amel (in modern-day Lebanon), known for his founding role in the anti-colonialist Arab nationalist movement in turn-of-the-cen ...
, scientist
Hassan Kamel Al-Sabbah Hassan Kamel Al-Sabbah ( ar, حسن كامل الصباح; August 16, 1894March 31, 1935) was a Lebanese electrical and electronics research engineer, mathematician and inventor. He was born in Nabatieh, Lebanon. Biography He studied at the Ameri ...
(nephew of Ahmad Rida) and theologian Sheikh
Ahmed Aref El-Zein Sheikh Ahmed Aref El-Zein (10 July 1884 – 13 October 1960) (Arabic: ) was a Shi'a intellectual from the Jabal Amil (جبل عامل) area of South Lebanon. He was a reformist scholar who engaged in the modernist intellectual debates that reso ...
.


Name

The town’s name originates with the Phoenician word meaning “the appearance.”


History

Nabatieh is known for its grottos, the most important of which are the grottos of Ich Al-Ghourab, “the crow’s nest,” and Maghar Mahalah, “the red spot.” Also of interest are some ancient rock tombs, Roman and Byzantine ruins, and two very old mosques. In the 1596 tax records, it was named as ''Nabatiyya al-Tahta'', 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 Sagif under the '' liwa''' (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 151 households and 28 bachelors, all Muslim. The villagers paid taxes on goats and beehives, "occasional revenues", a press for olive oil or grape syrup, a market toll, and a fixed sum; a total of 9,030
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. 185 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 ...
found Nabatieh et-Tahta ("The lower Nabatieh") to have 1,500
Metuali Lebanese Shia Muslims ( ar, المسلمون الشيعة اللبنانيين), historically known as ''matāwila'' ( ar, متاولة, plural of ''mutawālin'' ebanese pronounced as ''metouali'' refers to Lebanese people who are adheren ...
inhabitants, in addition to 300 Christians; mostly Greek Orthodox, but also some
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 ...
s. Following the 1982 Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon, in October 1983 an
Israeli Army The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branc ...
convoy accidentally drove into Nabatieh at the height of the
Ashura Ashura (, , ) is a day of commemoration in Islam. It occurs annually on the 10th of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar. Among Shia Muslims, Ashura is observed through large demonstrations of high-scale mourning as it marks the ...
celebrations. In the ensuing confrontation a jeep was overturned and set on fire. The soldiers responded with rifle fire and grenades and one person was killed and several wounded. This incident, as well as the assassination of Sheikh Ragheb Harb, is seen as the turning point in the Shia community’s relationship with the occupying Israelis. After Israel’s withdrawal in 1985 Nabatieh was on the edge of the so-called security zone. On 24 August 1989 an IAF air strike on Ain Abu Suwar near Nabatieh killed nine people. Reports stated that the dead were refugees from the
fighting Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...
in
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 ...
. In early December the same year Nabatieh was shelled for three days by 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 ...
. Four people were killed and eighteen wounded. On 17 May 1991 two bombs exploded in Nabatieh killing four people including a member 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 ...
. A statement from the
Islamic Jihad Organization The Islamic Jihad Organization – IJO ( ar, حركة الجهاد الإسلامي, Ḥarakat al-Jihād al-'Islāmiyy) or ''Organisation du Jihad Islamique'' (OJI) in French, but best known as "Islamic Jihad" (Arabic: ''Jihad al-Islami'') for ...
claimed responsibility. Five months later the area around Nabatieh was subjected to eight days of shelling by 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 ...
and the
Israeli Army The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branc ...
. The bombardment culminated on 1st November with a series of IAF airstrikes which destroyed two bridges between Nabatieh and Iqlim al Tuffah. The Israeli offensive coincided with the start of the Madrid Peace Conference. During
Operation Accountability On July 25, 1993, Israeli forces launched a week-long attack against Lebanon named Operation Accountability ( he, מבצע דין וחשבון, Mivtza Din VeHeshbon) in Israel and the Seven-Day War in Lebanon. Israel specified three purposes ...
, 25-31 July 1993, Nabatieh was extensively damaged by Israel artillery fire and airstrikes. Fifty-five towns and villages were heavily damaged during the offensive. The
Israeli Army The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branc ...
shelled Nabatieh again on 21 March 1994; during the bombardment a school was hit killing a twelve year old girl and wounding twenty-two others. Earlier in the day
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 ...
had killed two Israeli soldiers and three SLA militiamen. Just over four months later, 4 August, the
Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; he, זְרוֹעַ הָאֲוִיר וְהֶחָלָל, Zroa HaAvir VeHahalal, tl, "Air and Space Arm", commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial warfare branch of the Israel Defense ...
launched three airstrikes in the Nabatieh area which killed eight people and wounded eighteen. On 20 October Israeli shelling killed five people in Nabatieh. The day before the SLA had killed two civilians after their patrol hit a land mine. The shelling originated from the
IDF IDF or idf may refer to: Defence forces * Irish Defence Forces * Israel Defense Forces *Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006 * Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917 Organizations * Israeli Diving Federation * Interac ...
military outpost base, Dabshe, which was situated on a hill overlooking Nabatieh. The following week, 29 October, twenty Hizbollah fighters overran and set fire to the base. A video later broadcast by
al-Manar Al-Manar ( ar, المنار, ''al-Manār'', lit='' The Lighthouse'') is a Lebanese satellite television station owned and operated by the political party Hezbollah,
showing 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 ...
flag flying over 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 ...
i base caused a sensation. At the time it was estimated that Nabatieh had a population of 60,000. On 14 March 1995 the Lebanese
cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...
held a symbolic session in Nabatieh to mark the 14th anniversary of the 1978 invasion. The meeting called for the implementation of the seventeen year old
United Nations Security Council Resolution 425 United Nations Security Council Resolution 425, adopted on 19 March 1978, five days after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in the context of Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon and the Lebanese Civil War, called on Israel to withdraw immedi ...
. Later that year, 8 July, two teenage sisters and their four-year-old brother were killed when the town was hit by anti-personnel shells filled with steel darts. A weapon banned by the
Geneva Conventions upright=1.15, Original document in single pages, 1864 The Geneva Conventions are four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war. The singular term ''Geneva Conven ...
. It was reported that Prime Minister
Yitzhak Rabin Yitzhak Rabin (; he, יִצְחָק רַבִּין, ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77, and from 1992 until h ...
and Chief of Staff Amnon Shahak ‘reproved’ the unit involved. Ten rockets were fired into northern Israel. During
Operation Grapes of Wrath Operation Grapes of Wrath ( he, מבצע ענבי זעם ''Mivtsa Enavi Zaam''), known in Lebanon as the April Aggression (), is the seventeen-day campaign of the Israeli Defense Forces against Hezbollah in 1996 which attempted to end rocket at ...
by the
Israeli Army The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branc ...
, 18 April 1996, nine members of one family in Nabatieh were killed in the seventeen day bombardment when their house was destroyed.


Historic structures


Beaufort Castle

On the top of a hill overlooking the southern
Beqaa 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 ...
towards
Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...
stands Belfort or
Beaufort castle Beaufort Castle can refer to several places: * Beaufort Castle, Florennes, Belgium * Beaufort Castle, France, in the historical region of Auvergne * Beaufort Castle in Huy, Belgium * Beaufort Castle, Greece, a Frankish castle in Laconia * Beaufor ...
, known to Arab travellers as Shqif Arnun, the word ''shqif'' being a Syriac term meaning high rock. The castle, although looking inaccessible, can be reached with little difficulty from the village of
Arnoun Arnoun ( ar, ارنون, Syriac-Aramaic: ܐܪܢܘܢ) is a majority Lebanese Shia village south-east of Nabatiyeh, in Nabatiyeh Governorate, southern Lebanon. The village is located approximately from the Israeli border. The village is approxim ...
, which lies southeast of Nabatieh. There is no conclusive evidence for the age of this castle or for who built it. The Crusaders repaired and fortified Beaufort Castle during the twelfth century and it became the most important fortress in Lebanon.


Mosques

Nabatieh has two historic mosques. One was built in the 16th century and lies in the centre of the town. Another, known as "the Mosque of the Prophet," dates to the
Mamluk Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...
period and is located in Nabatieh al Fawqa.


Education

Mission laïque française Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity * Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...
Lycée Franco-Libanais Habbouche-Nabatieh is located few km to the north of the city. The National Evangelical School (Known Previously as American School for Girls in Nabatieh) The Christian College Notre Dame des Soeurs Antonines is one of the oldest institutions in the city.College Notre Dame des Soeurs Antonines
(Arabic)


Demographics

The inhabitants of Nabatieh are predominantly
Shi'a Muslims 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 n ...
, with a significant minority of Greek Catholics (Melkites). The Nabatieh district has three representatives in the Lebanese government, all belonging to the Shi'a religion, in accordance with Lebanon's
sectarian Sectarianism is a political or cultural conflict between two groups which are often related to the form of government which they live under. Prejudice, discrimination, or hatred can arise in these conflicts, depending on the political status quo ...
parliamentary system.


People from Nabatieh

*
Ahmad Rida Sheikh Ahmad Rida (also transliterated as Ahmad Reda) (1872–1953) ( ar, الشيخ أحمد رضا) was a Lebanese linguist, writer and politician. A key figure of the Arab Renaissance (known as al-Nahda), he compiled the modern monolingual Ar ...
(1872 – 1953) *
Muhammad Jaber Al Safa Muhammad Jaber Āl Safa (also spelled Jabir Al Safa) (1875–1945) () was a historian, writer and politician from Jabal Amel (in modern-day Lebanon), known for his founding role in the anti-colonialist Arab nationalist movement in turn-of-the-cen ...
(1875 – 1945) *
Ahmed Aref El-Zein Sheikh Ahmed Aref El-Zein (10 July 1884 – 13 October 1960) (Arabic: ) was a Shi'a intellectual from the Jabal Amil (جبل عامل) area of South Lebanon. He was a reformist scholar who engaged in the modernist intellectual debates that reso ...
(1884 – 1960) *
Hassan Kamel Al-Sabbah Hassan Kamel Al-Sabbah ( ar, حسن كامل الصباح; August 16, 1894March 31, 1935) was a Lebanese electrical and electronics research engineer, mathematician and inventor. He was born in Nabatieh, Lebanon. Biography He studied at the Ameri ...
(1894 – 1935) * Hisham Jaber (1942 – ) * Yassine Jaber (1951- )


References


Bibliography

* * *


External links


Nabatiyeh Et Tahta
Localiban
النبطية , الرئيسية
{{Authority control Populated places in Nabatieh District