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Shemlan ( ar, شملان), (also spelled Chemlane, Chimlane, Shimlan) is a village in the
Aley District Aley ( ar, عاليه) is a district (''qadaa'') in Mount Lebanon, Lebanon, to the south-east of the Lebanon's capital Beirut. The capital is Aley. Aley city was previously known as the "bride of the summers" during the 1960 and 1970s, when Aley ...
of 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 ...
in
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 ...
, located about 25 km from
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 ...
.


History

Shemlan is first mentioned in chronicles as early as the 12th century. Under Ottoman rule, Shemlan and surrounding villages were controlled first by the
Maan family The Ma'n dynasty ( ar, ٱلْأُسْرَةُ ٱلْمَعْنِيَّةُ, Banū Maʿn, alternatively spelled ''Ma'an''), also known as the Ma'nids; ( ar, ٱلْمَعْنِيُّونَ), were a family of Druze chiefs of Arab stock based in the ...
and then by the
Shihab dynasty The Shihab dynasty (alternatively spelled Chehab; ar, الشهابيون, ALA-LC: ''al-Shihābiyūn'') was an Arab family whose members served as the paramount tax farmers and local chiefs of Mount Lebanon from the early 18th to mid-19th centu ...
. Power struggles led to the departure of some rival Druze, and their replacement by Christians from the North, which in 1828 prompted the establishment of a Maronite Christian monastery, now the village church. 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 the place, called ''Shumlan'', located in ''El-Ghurb el-Fokany'', upper ''el-Ghurb''. For more than a century, Shemlan consisted of five extended families: the
Maronite Christian Lebanese Maronite Christians ( ar, المسيحية المارونية في لبنان; syc, ܡܫܝܚܝ̈ܐ ܡܪ̈ܘܢܝܐ ܕܠܒܢܢ) are adherents of the Maronite Church in Lebanon, which is the largest Christian denomination in the country ...
Jabbours, Hittis, Tabibs, and Farjallahs, plus the
Druze The Druze (; ar, دَرْزِيٌّ, ' or ', , ') are an Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from Western Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion based on the teachings of ...
Moukaddems, once lords and chief land-owners. Due to its strategic location overlooking
Beirut International Airport 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 of ...
and the diverse political make-up of the area, Shemlan became a fierce battleground during the
1958 civil war The 1958 Lebanon crisis (also known as the Lebanese Civil War of 1958) was a political crisis in Lebanon caused by political and religious tensions in the country that included a United States military intervention. The intervention lasted for aro ...
and the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Most inhabitants fled during the 1975 – 1990 civil war, many never to return. In 1948, the British Government opened the
Middle East Centre for Arab Studies The Middle East Centre for Arab Studies (MECAS) was an Arabic language college created by the British Army during World War II in Jerusalem, and relocated afterwards as a civilian institution to Lebanon near Beirut where it functioned between 1947 ...
(MECAS) in Shemlan. This school gained a reputation as being a "spy school" because of allegations, made by Lebanese politician
Kamal Jumblatt Kamal Fouad Jumblatt ( ar, كمال فؤاد جنبلاط; 6 December 1917 – 16 March 1977) was a Lebanese politician who founded the Progressive Socialist Party. He led the National Movement during the civil war against the Lebanese Front. H ...
, that many of its graduates worked for the
C.I.A. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
or
Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
's
Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...
. However, the only proven case of a spy studying at MECAS was that of British/Soviet double agent
George Blake George Blake ( Behar; 11 November 1922 – 26 December 2020) was a spy with Britain's Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) and worked as a double agent for the Soviet Union. He became a communist and decided to work for the MGB while a pris ...
, who was escorted from MECAS and formally arrested at Heathrow airport.


Notable citizens

Philip Khuri Hitti Philip Khuri Hitti (Arabic: فيليب خوري حتي), ( Shimlan 22 June 1886 – Princeton 24 December 1978) was a Lebanese-American professor and scholar at Princeton and Harvard University, and authority on Arab and Middle Eastern history, Isl ...
(1886-1978), a renowned
Lebanese American Lebanese Americans ( ar, أمريكيون لبنانيون) are Americans of Lebanese descent. This includes both those who are native to the United States of America, as well as immigrants from Lebanon. Lebanese Americans comprise 0.79% of the ...
author and professor on the Middle East, was Shemlan's most famous resident.


References


Bibliography

*


External links


Shimlan
- official municipality website (English)

Localiban {{Aley District Populated places in Aley District Maronite Christian communities in Lebanon