Chihine ( ar, شيحين) is a municipality in
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 distri ...
, located in
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 ...
,
Governorate of South Lebanon.
Name
According to
E. H. Palmer, the name comes from a personal name.
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 Min ...
found here 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 ...
inhabitants. He also noted: "that the hill on which the village stands is surrounded by an enclosure constructed of great blocks regularly cut and of varying dimensions. Here and there are standing, unbroken, pieces of this thick wall. On the highest point of the hill may be remarked the remains of a fortress built with stones of the same dressing, the interior of which has been transformed into private houses, themselves half demolished. Near here the site of an ancient tower is still to be made out. Here are also broken
sarcophagi
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 ...
,
cisterns, a press cut in the rock, and a great basin to hold rain-water."
In 1881, the
PEF's
''Survey of Western Palestine'' (SWP) described it: "A stone and mud village, containing 150
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 ...
, with traces of ruins
. situated on ridge of hills, with figs, olives and arable land. Here is a large birket and twelve
cisterns for water."
They further noted: "Some large well-dressed stones and foundations of ancient buildings ; one
column and broken sculptured stone ; probably an ancient place of importance."
During
Operation Accountability
On July 25, 1993, Israeli forces launched a week-long attack against Lebanon named Operation Accountability ( he, מבצע דין וחשבון, Mivtza Din VeHeshbon) in Israel and the Seven-Day War in Lebanon. Israel specified three purpose ...
, July 1993, Chihine was one of the villages devastated by Israeli artillery. On 19 August, nineteen days after the cease fire was established, eight Israeli soldiers were killed in a Hizbollah ambush close to the village.
[Middle East International No 457, 28 August 1993, Publishers Lord Mayhew, Dennis Walters MP; Editor Michael Adams; Gerald Butt pp.4-5]
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
External links
Chihine Localiban
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 3
IAAWikimedia commons
{{Tyre District
Populated places in the Israeli security zone 1985–2000
Populated places in Tyre District
Shia Muslim communities in Lebanon