Chamaa

Chamaa شمع
Village
Chamaa
Coordinates: 33°08′44″N 35°12′29″E / 33.14556°N 35.20806°E / 33.14556; 35.20806
Grid position	169/283 PAL
Country	Lebanon
Governorate	South Governorate
District	Tyre District
Area
• Total	414 ha (1,023 acres)
Elevation	380 m (1,250 ft)
Population  (2015)
• Total	301
	[1]
Time zone	EET

Chamaa (

It is especially known for its historical castle on a strategic hill overlooking the coastal plain of Tyre and Naqoura.^[3]

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) Sector West headquarters, led by the contingent of the Italian army, are based on a neighbouring hill.^[4]

Name

According to E. H. Palmer, Kŭlảt Shemả, means the castle of Shemả; he suggested to link it with the Hebrew given name Shimeon.^[5]

While the transliteration of the Arabic word for castle of would more precisely be Qala'at, it has also been spelled Kalat.^[6]

Chamaa is also transliterated as Chama or Shama, and - more closely to the Arabic original pronunciation - Chama'a. It draws its name from a grave in a shrine on the main hill which is attributed by local tradition to

The preserved remains of a Roman-Byzantine village at the close by archaeological site of Ermet Tell seem to support the local tradition which states that the hill was used as a mausoleum in the first century CE. Evidently, the hill was inhabited during the Byzantine rule over the Levant (395–640), as is obvious from a mosaic which has been discovered on the top of the hill.^[3]

With regard to its strategic location near the

The exact date of the construction of the Shamoun al-Safa shrine is unknown, but its minaret was reportedly built in the late 11th century, shortly before the arrival of the crusaders.^[9]

Medieval Times

In 1116, during the aftermath of the First Crusade, a Frankish army constructed a fortress over the Byzantine site in order to block access to heavily fortified Tyre,^[10] which was the last city in the region held by Islamic rulers. It was eventually taken over by the Christian warriors in 1124, after a siege of almost six months had led to the negotiatied surrender of Tyre by the Seljuk military leader Toghtekin.^[11] The fortress of Chamaa, which was thus part of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, also became known as Scandelion Castle, named after the neighbouring coastal area of Iskandarounah which in turn was named after Alexander the Great.^[10]

It is unclear whether Chamaa Castle was - like many of Tyre's buildings - damaged in the

Although the

Illustration of the castle seen from the Northwestern side by Lortet, 1884

The Eastern side, 2019

While the French historian Ernest Renan assumed that major construction of the castle took place in the 16th century,^[6] modern historiography assumes that it was not until the mid-18th century that Chamaa experienced a major revival. At that time, Sheikh Nasif al-Nassar of the Shiite Ali al-Saghir dynasty, which dominated Jabal Amel for altogether almost three centuries, established de facto autonomy over the area and the castle became the property of his family.^[3] During this early period, the citadel underwent extensive renovation and was used for military and residential purposes.^[8] It also included an olive press, whose foundations are still visible today.^[3]

This boom period ended, however, already after three decades in 1781, when Al-Nassar was killed in a power-struggle with the Ottoman governor of Sidon, Ahmad Pasha al-Jazzar, who had the Shiite population decimated in brutal purges. Thus, the Shiite autonomy in Jabal Amel ended for a quarter century.^[18] According to Arab sources, Jazzar Pasha had his senior commander Salim Pasha al-Kabir demolish Chamaa castle,^[9] like many other fortifications of Al-Nassar as well.^[19]

Barely a century later, in 1875, French

During the

During Israel's invasion in the July 2006 Lebanon War, 21 civilians from the village of Marwahin, mostly children, were killed just outside of Chamaa in an Israeli Navy strike followed by a helicopter attack on their convoy while they were attempting to evacuate under Israeli orders.^[25] UNIFIL medical teams reportedly came under fire during their rescue mission.^[26]

In another assault, the citadel of Chamaa was partly destroyed, including its main tower.^[8] While the shrine of Shamoun was rehabilitated with support from the Sheikhdom of Qatar, the renovation of the castle began only in 2014, funded by the Italian government.^[23]

In July 2007, a French UNIFIL soldier was killed near Chamaa when an unexploded ordnance from the 2006 war blew up as he was trying to clear it.^[27]

It is not clear in which year UNIFIL established the Sector West HQ in Chamaa, about 10 kilometres north of the

The mayor of Chamaa municipality has been Abdel-Qader Safieddine.[8] Safieddine is also the most common name on the epitaphs of the cemetery next to the mausoleum of Shamoun Al Safa.

Gallery

The Shrine ("Maqam") of Shamoun Al Safa

• 
  Shiite cemetery at the entrance side, most epitaphs bear the family name "Safieddine"
• 
  View towards the Sea with the UNIFIL base in the background
• 
  View towards the North
• 
  Info sign

The Castle

• 
  Northwestern tower
• 
  Ruins of the northern flank
• 
  Entrance to the northwestern tower, looking North
• 
  Embrasures in the northwestern tower
• 
  The northwestern tower with the shrine's minaret (right)
• 
  One of the two southeastern towers
• 
  The two southeastern towers
• 
  Backside of one of the two southeastern towers
• 
  Embrasure in one of the two southeastern towers
• 
  Modern ruins inside the castle's courtyard
• 
  The northeastern side from below
• 
  The northeastern corner
• 
  More ruins at the northeastern side
• 
  Eastern side, looking southwards
• 
  Centre of the eastern side

• 
  Ruins in the northwestern part of the courtyard
• 
  Ruins in the northeastern part of the courtyard
• 
  Overgrown ruins of the southeasternmost tower
• 
  Embrasure in the northwestern tower

References