Hermel ( ar, الهرمل) is a town in

Baalbek-Hermel Governorate french: Baalbek-Hermel , settlement_type = Governorate , image_skyline = Baalbek (4594513263).jpg , image_caption = Baalbek , image_flag = , image_seal = , image_shield = , image_ ...

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 Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

. It is the capital of

Hermel District The Hermel District ( ar, قضاء الهرمل) is a district in the Baalbek-Hermel Governorate of Lebanon. Its population is estimated at 48,000 inhabitants, with its semi-arid land contributing to its low population density. It borders the Akk ...

. Hermel is home to a Lebanese

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...

First Aid Center. Hermel's inhabitants are predominantly

Shia Muslim Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most ...

s. There is an ancient

pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...

known as

Kamouh el Hermel Kamouh el Hermel, the Pyramid of Hermel (also known as God's Pyramid, House of El, the Funnel of Hermel or Needle of Hermel) is an ancient pyramid located south of Hermel in Baalbek-Hermel Governorate, Lebanon. Location, description The pyramid ...

(Pyramid or Needle of Hermel) located about south of the town that is a popular attraction for local tourists.

Archaeology

Hermel plains

The Hermel plains are an area of low hills around Hermel, through which runs the Orontes river and several

wadi Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water ...

s, which drain into the Homs basin. The area dominates the north of the Beqaa Valley and reaches north to the border with Syria. A

curious Curiosity (from Latin '' cūriōsitās'', from ''cūriōsus'' "careful, diligent, curious", akin to ''cura'' "care") is a quality related to inquisitive thinking such as exploration, investigation, and learning, evident by observation in humans ...

and unpublished

archaeological industry :''Not to be confused with industrial archaeology, the archaeology of (modern) industrial sites.'' In the archaeology of the Stone Age, an industry or technocomplex is a typological classification of stone tools. An industry consists of a nu ...

exists from finds of stone tools in this area. It consists of generally small tools whose typology is limited. It was termed the Shepherd Neolithic industry by

Henri Fleisch Reverend Father Henri Fleisch (1 January 1904 – 10 February 1985) was a French archaeologist, missionary and Orientalist, known for his work on classical Arabic language and Lebanese dialect and prehistory in Lebanon. Fleisch spent years rec ...

Hermel I (Mrah Abbas)

Hermel I or Mrah Abbas was discovered by Shiat Ali el Karar w beit hmede and is north northeast of Hermel, before reaching

Mrah Abbas Hermel ( ar, الهرمل) is a town in Baalbek-Hermel Governorate, Lebanon. It is the capital of Hermel District. Hermel is home to a Lebanese Red Cross First Aid Center. Hermel's inhabitants are predominantly Shia Muslims. There is an ancien ...

, next to the road. It is located on an uncultivated sloping plain leading down from the Orontes. The garden revealed the remains of ten dolmens, most of which were built on a larger foundation than the covered chamber. Some were perhaps not covered by

tumuli A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones built ...

and a few were evidently not built to have cap-stones on top.

Hermel II (Jisr el Aassi)

Hermel II or Jisr el Aassi is east of Hermel I near the gorge through which the Orontes river flows. It was found by P. Billaux and mentioned by Maurice Tallon in 1958 who made a lengthy description of the largest tumulus in 1959. The lithic industry at the site was discussed by

in 1966.Fleisch, Henri. Notes de Préhistoire Libanaise: 1) Ard es Saoude. 2) La Bekaa Nord. 3) Un polissoir en plein air. BSPF, vol. 63, 1966. Several dolmens were found around the village of

Choueighir Hermel ( ar, الهرمل) is a town in Baalbek-Hermel Governorate, Lebanon. It is the capital of Hermel District. Hermel is home to a Lebanese Red Cross First Aid Center. Hermel's inhabitants are predominantly Shia Muslims. There is an ancien ...

, around north of the bridge over the Orontes, in and around the village extending about to the north along the track next to the river. Some of the dolmen are inclined inwards forming a

shape. There is a large tumulus north of the village that is composed of massive blocks where

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and ...

was found and dated to the

Early Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

III by Tallon. Henri Fleisch found a collection of Shepherd Neolithic flints around these dolmen.

Hermel III (Choueighir)

Hermel III or Choueighir is a village on the left (western) bank of the Orontes and an archaeological site was found by P. Billaux to the north of it. Flint material was described to be of the Shepherd Neolithic type and similar to that of Maakne and el Qaa by Henri Fleisch in 1966, it is held in the Museum of Lebanese Prehistory.

Hermel IV (Wadi el Joz)

Hermel IV or Wadi el Joz is a collection of megaliths that are east of Hermel Attika, southeast of Hermel on dry terraces that slope towards the channel of the Orontes. It was found by Mohammed Hamadé, surveyed by P. Billaux and published by Maurice Tallon in 1959.Tallon, Maurice., Tumulus et Mégalithes du Hermel et de la Beqa Nord. MUSJ, vol. 31, fasc. 3, p. 91, 1959. A number of tumuli were discovered in this area which covered chambers on rectangular foundation platforms. They were usually orientated east to west with some remnants of walls constructed of megalithic stones. Maurice Tallon made collectins of flint and pottery from the area dating to various periods. These included an incised sherd and a tang (tools), tanged scraper from the very earliest Neolithic times, an Early Bronze Age flat scraper along with later Middle Bronze Age and Iron Age material.

References

{{Authority control Archaeological sites in Lebanon Archaeological type sites Beqaa Valley Great Rift Valley Megalithic monuments in the Middle East Populated places in Hermel District Shepherd Neolithic sites Shia Muslim communities in Lebanon