Sawiri or Sawairy or es-Sawairi (الصويري) is a town in the eastern part of

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 ...

. It is located in the West Bekaa District near the

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

n border, in the

governorate 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 State (administrative division), states or province, provinces, the term ''govern ...

Beqaa Beqaa ( ar, بقاع, link=no, ''Biqā‘'') can refer to two places in Lebanon: * Beqaa Governorate, one of six major subdivisions of Lebanon * Beqaa Valley, a valley in eastern Lebanon and its most important farming region See also

*Kasbeel ...

in the foothills of the eastern mountains. Al-Masna (المصنع) is the main check point between the Lebanese & Syrian Borders and it is located in the territory of Sawiri.

History

In 1838,

Eli Smith Eli Smith (born September 13, 1801, in Northford, Connecticut, to Eli and Polly (Whitney) Smith, and died January 11, 1857, in Beirut, Lebanon) was an American Protestant missionary and scholar. He graduated from Yale College in 1821 and from Andov ...

noted it as ''es-Suweirah''; a

Sunni Muslim Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word ''Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagree ...

and

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 ...

village in the

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 ...

.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p
141
/ref>

Population

Sawiri's population is over 20,000 people with many of its inhabitants having immigrated to the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Canada and France in the 1900s. The major surnames or families in Sawiri are Janbein, Amer, Berro, Balhis, El Smaily (Smaily or Smaili), Youssef, Abdel Razzak, Zeitoun, Shouman, Abou Nemry, Taleb, Shalaby, Abou Arab, Chebli, Tahan, Salha, Abdallah, Zrara, Almoghabbat and Saleh.

Schools in Sawiri

Until the early 1990s, Sawiri had only two schools (Makased School and Sawiri Official School) educating up to Grade 9. At that time, the Sawiris used to continue their high school education in the neighbour towns of their village and then their university studies in Beirut. Sawiri nowadays has three big schools which allow the students to pass the Lebanese Brevet Examinations (Grade 9). Sawiri has one high school (up to Grade 12) which is funded by the Lebanese Ministry of Education. This high school is called: Sawiri Official High School. It started in 2003.

Agriculture in Sawiri

Sawiri is an agriculture and service-oriented town. Most people own their land and come from a farming background. Sawiri produces lentils, figs, and Armenian cucumbers (mikthi). However, olive,

Almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries, including the Levant. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within the genus ...

nut Nut often refers to: * Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, or a collective noun for dry and edible fruits or seeds * Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt Nut or Nuts may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Com ...

and cherry trees have been grown rapidly as well as grape vines of all sorts in the last 3 decades. In the late 1990s, many "Sawiris" started growing peanut trees (

Sterculia quadrifida ''Sterculia quadrifida'', also known as the peanut tree, or red-fruited kurrajong is a small tree that grows in the rainforests, vine thickets, and gallery forests of New Guinea and northern Australia. The tree grows to a height of and has a ...

) too.

Sawiri's borders

Sawiri extends from Beirut Damascus Highway at Masnaa border station to Manara town to the south and From the west, it borders Dakwee (Thakwee) mountains to the east all the way to Syrian Border trough rugged heights. It is opposite the

Tell Ain el Meten Tell Ain el Meten is a tell in the area of El Meten in the Rashaya District, south-eastern portion of the Bekaa Governorate of the Republic of Lebanon. It is located opposite the village of Sawiri. A Heavy Neolithic archaeological site of the ...

, a Heavy Neolithic archaeological site that was once used by the Qaraoun culture during the deforestation of Lebanon in

prehistory Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

. Some of the flints found at the site possibly date back to the

Middle Paleolithic The Middle Paleolithic (or Middle Palaeolithic) is the second subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. The term Middle Stone Age is used as an equivalent or a synonym for the Middle Paleoli ...

with other evidence of pottery from the Early Bronze Age and

Middle Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

References

Bibliography

* Frauberger, Heinrich: ''Die Akropolis von Baalbek'' (Keller : Frankfurt a. M., 1892. - 14, 22 S. : überw. Ill.)
pdf 24,6 MB
*

External links

Localiban

* Beqaa Governorate
Makassed Schools
* Anjar, Lebanon *

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 ...

{{Western Beqaa District Populated places in Western Beqaa District Great Rift Valley Archaeological sites in Lebanon Beqaa Valley Heavy Neolithic sites