Shaqra, Lebanon
Chaqra and Doubay
شقرا ودوبيه | |
---|---|
Village | |
Coordinates: 33°11′30″N 35°27′46″E / 33.19167°N 35.46278°E | |
Grid position | 193/288 PAL (village) 198/289 UTC+3 (EEST) |
Dialing code | (+961) 07 |
Website | http://chaqradubay.org/ |
Shaqra (also spelt Chaqra, Chakra or even Chacra
Geography
The town is bounded to the northeast by Houla, to the east by Meiss Ej Jabal, to the southeast by Muhajbib, to the north by Majdel Selem, to the west by Safad-El-Batikh and Baraachit. It is located 6.8 km from the Golan Heights and the southern border of Lebanon.
Transport
To get there, you have to take the national 3 which goes from Beirut to Tyre, then the road to Bint-Jbeil.
Demography
There are 6,000 inhabitants in winter and more than double in summer, due to the fact that 20 million Lebanese living abroad come to visit their villages of origin.
Naming
- Shaqra: means blonde.[4]
- Kulat ed Dubbeh: means "The bear's castle".[5]
History
Chaqra
In 1596, it was named as a village, Saqra, in the
In 1875
In 1877, H.H. Kitchener visited the area. After describing the castle, he continues: "To the west of the castle is the village of Shakra, where I obtained a copy of an inscription. The sheikh of the village was extremely rude, and threw stones against the inscription when I attempted to copy it. I therefore left without doing so, and reported the matter to the governor, who immediately put the sheikh in prison. The next time I went to the village there was no opposition to my copying the inscription, I therefore had the sheikh set at liberty."[11]
In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described the village (which it called Shakra) as being "built of stone, containing about 200 Metawileh, on high-level plain, surrounded by olives and arable land; there is a mosque in the village; two birkets and several cisterns give the water supply."[12] They further added that there were: "Several ruined modern buildings and remains of ancient ruins; several lintels and cisterns; Greek inscription on capital of column built into wall of modern house to the south-west of the mosque: [ ] There probably once stood an early Christian church here."[9]
Doubay or Qal'at ad-Dubba
The castle of Chaqra and Doubiye, also called Qalaat Doubal, Kulat ed Dubbeh, and Qal'at Ad-Dubba,[15] is located in a valley about 4 km East of Chaqra.
According to Pringle, "Although largely rebuilt in Mamluk or Ottoman times, it incorporates a tower (8.5 by 10,3 m) and other structures which betray a Frankish origin,"[16]
In 1875 Victor Guérin noted "the remains of a small fortress of Muslim work and called Kala't Doubey. Surrounded by a moat now half filled and planted with tobacco, it was built with fairly coarsely carved blocks. Several of the square towers that flank it are still inhabited at this time by some families of Métualis, who settled in the middle of its ruins and contain their herds.[17]
In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described the castle (which it called Kulat ed Dubbeh):
There are here the foundations of a Crusading castle, on which a
Jubb Yusef, along the Damascus road. Some large drafted stones built into the walls show the Crusading origin of the castle, and bear a striking resemblance to the remains of that date at Tibnin.There is a rock-cut birkeh near, and between eight and ten rock-cut
sarcophagicut in the rock.The castle has a romantic and beautiful appearance, as it is not visible till quite close, on account of the high ground all round.[18]
Economy
The village lives on small trade, agriculture and a strong poultry economy.
Administration
The village is administered by a mayor assisted by municipal councillors.
Chaqra is divided into two parts:
- Chaqra as such which is the upper part and which is inhabited;
- Doubiye, which is located in the valley, uninhabited and housing Doubiye Castle, which was built on the ruins of a Roman-era building, and said to be renamed after a French Crusade commander.
References
- ^ a b Chaqra - Doubay, localiban
- ^ معلومات عامة عن البلدة, موقع بلدية شقرا و دوبيه
- ^ L'Argus de l'économie libanaise (in French). 1974. p. 18.
- ^ Palmer, 1881, p. 32
- ^ Palmer, 1881, p. 28
- ^ Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 179
- ^ Note that Rhode, 1979, p. 6 Archived 2019-04-20 at the Wayback Machine writes that the register that Hütteroth and Abdulfattah studied was not from 1595/6, but from 1548/9
- Métu'alis. La mosquée, orientée de l'ouest à l'est, semble avoir remplacé une ancienne église, dont elle a emprunté un certain nombre de belles pierres de taille et quelques futs mutilés de colonnes monolithes. Deux piscines, aujourd'hui fort mal entretenues, et une dizaine de citernes attestent également l'existence en cet endroit d'un village antérieur à l'invasion arabe."
- ^ a b Conder and Kitchener, 1881, p. 138
- ^ Conder, 1894, p.201 "At Shakra, with the Jerusalem cross, is by a deacon, in honour of Holy Procopius, and seems clearly to be of the twelfth century"
- ^ Kitchener, 1877, pp. 168-169
- ^ Conder and Kitchener, 1881, p. 90
- ^ Conder and Kitchener, 1881, p. 122
- ^ Pringle, 1998, pp.161- 162
- ^ Pringle, 1997, 79
- ^ Pringle, 1998, p. 161
- ^ Guérin, 1880, p. 382: "A midi quatre minutes, je parviens sur une plate-forme rocheuse longue et étroite, qui se rattache vers le sud à des hauteurs voisines, mais qui s'avance vers le nord comme une sorte de promontoire au-dessus du confluent de deux oued, l'Oued es-Selouki à l'ouest et l'Oued el-Djemal à l'est. Sur cette plate-forme je remarque une piscine et plusieurs citernes pratiquées dans le roc et, à l'extrémité septentrionale de cette espèce de promontoire, les restes d'une petite forteresse de fabrique musulmane et appelée Kala't Doubey. Entourée d'un fossé aujourd'hui à moitié comblé et planté de tabac, elle a été bâtie avec des blocs assez grossièrement taillés. Plusieurs des tours carrées qui la flanquent sont encore habitées en ce moment par quelques familles de Métualis, qui se sont installées au milieu de ses ruines et y renferment leurs troupeaux."
- ^ Conder and Kitchener, 1881, p. 123
Bibliography
- Conder, C.R. (1894). "Greek inscriptions in Western Palestine". Quarterly Statement - Palestine Exploration Fund. 26: 201–203.
- Conder, C.R.; Kitchener, H.H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. Vol. 1. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
- Enlart, C. (1929). Les Monuments des Croisés dans le Royaume de Jérusalem (in French). Vol. 2. Paris. pp. 266–7.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Guérin, V. (1880). Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine (in French). Vol. 3: Galilee, pt. 2. Paris: L'Imprimerie Nationale.
- Hütteroth, Wolf-Dieter; Abdulfattah, Kamal (1977). Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century. Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. ISBN 3-920405-41-2.
- Kitchener, H.H. (1877). "Lieutenant Kitchener's reports". Quarterly Statement - Palestine Exploration Fund. 9: 116-125, 165-178.
- Palmer, E. H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
- ISBN 0521-46010-7.
- ISBN 0-521-39037-0.
- Rhode, H. (1979). Administration and Population of the Sancak of Safed in the Sixteenth Century (PhD). Columbia University. Archived from the original on 2020-03-01. Retrieved 2021-08-30.
External links
- Official site archive in arabic
- Chaqra - Doubay, localiban
- Survey of Western Palestine, Map 2: IAA, Wikimedia commons
- "موقع بلدية شقرا ودوبيه". 2018-10-14. Archived from the original on 2018-10-14. Retrieved 2021-08-07.