Mlikh () is a mountain municipality in the

Jezzine Jezzine ( ''Jizzīn'') is a municipality in Lebanon, located from Sidon and south of Beirut. It is the capital of Jezzine District. Surrounded by mountain peaks, pine forests (like the Bkassine Pine Forest), and at an average altitude of 95 ...

district, located in the

South Governorate South Governorate (, or simply ) is one of the governorates of Lebanon, with a population of 590,000 inhabitants and an area of 929.6 km2. The capital is Sidon. The lowest elevation is sea-level; the highest is 1,000 meters. The local popul ...

Southern Lebanon Southern Lebanon () is the area of Lebanon comprising the South Governorate and the Nabatiye Governorate. The two entities were divided from the same province in the early 1990s. The Rashaya and Western Beqaa districts, the southernmost distr ...

. It lies on the

Al Rihan Ar-Rihan () is a municipality located in the southern part of Lebanon, on Ar-Rihan mountain in Jezzine District. The village is surrounded by mountain peaks, pine and oak forests. Its altitude ranges from 740 to 1250 m and is 83 km from the Ca ...

mountain chain (around 4,000-7,000 feet above sea level, Mlikh is located at around 1,280 meters and higher at other peaks above sea level). The village is located on a number of mountains peaks, and between the mountain peaks.

Etymology

The word Mlikh may derive from the Semitic (Aramaic) word for "king". The root of Mlikh or king in the Semitic language is mlk. The word

malik Malik (; ; ; variously Romanized ''Mallik'', ''Melik'', ''Malka'', ''Malek'', ''Maleek'', ''Malick'', ''Mallick'', ''Melekh'') is the Semitic term translating to "king", recorded in East Semitic and Arabic, and as mlk in Northwest Semitic d ...

derives from the Semitic root mlk. Mlikh or mlk may also possibly be connected to

Moloch Moloch, Molech, or Molek is a word which appears in the Hebrew Bible several times, primarily in the Book of Leviticus. The Greek Septuagint translates many of these instances as "their king", but maintains the word or name ''Moloch'' in others, ...

since moloch derives from the same mlk root, and means "to rule". In Phoenician (where it is theorized "mlk" derives from) mlk has been linked to "king", possibly deriving from pagan

Melqart Melqart () was the tutelary god of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre and a major deity in the Phoenician and Punic pantheons. He may have been central to the founding-myths of various Phoenician colonies throughout the Mediterranean, as well ...

History

In 1838,

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

noted ''Melikh '' as a village by

Jezzin Jezzine ( ''Jizzīn'') is a municipality in Lebanon, located from Sidon and south of Beirut. It is the capital of Jezzine District. Surrounded by mountain peaks, pine forests (like the Bkassine Pine Forest), and at an average altitude of 950 ...

, "East of et-Tuffa". Mlikh was under Israeli occupation from 1982 until 2000. On the night of 12-13 September 1997 four

Hizbullah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

members were killed in an Israeli ambush near Mlikh. Amongst the dead was 18-year-old Hadi Nasrallah, son of

Hassan Nasrallah Hassan Nasrallah (, ; 31 August 196027 September 2024) was a Lebanese cleric and politician who served as the third secretary-general of Hezbollah, a Shia Islamist political party and militia, from 1992 until his assassination in 2024. Bor ...

. Three months later, 12 December, another Hizbollah fighter was killed during an attack on a SLA compound near Mlikh.

Demographics

In 2014,

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

made up 53.88% and

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

made up 45.55% of registered voters in Mlikh. 52.36% of the voters were Shitte Muslims and 36.96% were

Maronite Catholics The Maronite Church (; ) is an Eastern Catholic ''sui iuris'' particular church in full communion with the pope and the worldwide Catholic Church, with self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. The head of the Maronite ...

. The natives of Mlikh are Metawli and

Maronite Maronites (; ) are a Syriac Christianity, Syriac Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant (particularly Lebanon) whose members belong to the Maronite Church. The largest concentration has traditionally re ...

-Christians. The village houses one church, one mosque, and a

Hussainiya A Husayniyya () is a building designed specifically for gatherings of Shia Muslims for spiritual practice, religious education and commemoration ceremonies, especially the Mourning of Muharram. The Husayniyya is a multipurpose hall for the comm ...

Historical significance

The village is home to a number of ancient "prophets" whose tombs are located on the mountain peaks surrounding Mlikh, including Burkab, and Sujud (believed by some scholars to be Oholiab, however his existence or this connection cannot be fully verified). Shia and Christian inhabitants of the village and of the southern Lebanese region make pilgrimages to the tombs.

Notable people

Amal Abou Zeid Amal Abou Zeid (born 12 June 1953) is a former Member of the Lebanese Parliament. He was a member of the National Commission for Economy, Trade, Industry and Planning in the Lebanese Parliament. He served as the advisor to Lebanese President Gen. ...

(born 5 June 1953) is a member of the Lebanese parliament, and is from Mlikh. He is a member of the National Commission for Economy, Trade, Industry and Planning in the Lebanese Parliament, since December 2016.

References

Bibliography

External links

Mlikh
localiban {{Jezzine District Populated places in Jezzine District Shia Muslim communities in Lebanon Maronite Christian communities in Lebanon