Selaa, Silảh, ( ar, سلع) is a village in the
Tyre District
The Tyre District is a district in the South Governorate of Lebanon.
History Ancient history
Founded at the start of the third millennium BC, Tyre originally consisted of a mainland settlement and a modest island city that lay a short distance o ...
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 li ...
.
Name
According to
E. H. Palmer
Edward Henry Palmer (7 August 184010 August 1882), known as E. H. Palmer, was an England, English oriental studies, orientalist and explorer.
Biography
Youth and education
Palmer was born in Green Street, Cambridge the son of a private schoo ...
, Silảh comes from "the crevasse".
History
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 here 250
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. He further noted: "Here I found an ancient press, the lid of a
sarcophagus
A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...
with
acroteria
An acroterion, acroterium, or akroteria is an architectural ornament placed on a flat pedestal called the ''acroter'' or plinth, and mounted at the apex or corner of the pediment of a building in the classical style. An acroterion placed at th ...
, and a broken sarcophagus, at one of whose ends is a projection resembling an altar. Near it is a great grave with room for two bodies, with a partition wall left in the rock; and beside this an enormous detached block, hollowed out for two bodies, and resting on a surface purposely planed.'
Close to Silah, Guérin also found the ruins of a small village, completely destroyed, known as ''Kh. Fenian''.
[Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p]
139
/ref>
In 1881, the PEF's ''Survey of Western Palestine'' (SWP) described it as: "a village, built of stone and of good materials, containing about 200 .Metawileh
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 adherents ...
, on hill, with figs, olives, and arable land. Water from 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 and a spring near." They further noted that it had a perennial
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...
spring, built up with masonry,[Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p]
105
/ref> and that it was "an ancient site; there is a terraced hill; there are six sarcophagi and two olive-presses near the village."[
]
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
External links
Localiban
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 2:
IAA
Wikimedia commons
{{Tyre District
Populated places in Tyre District
Shia Muslim communities in Lebanon