Aabey, also spelled Abey (), is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

located in Mount Lebanon, in

Aley District Aley () is a district (''qadaa'') in Mount Lebanon, Lebanon, to the south-east of the Lebanon's capital Beirut. The capital is Aley. Aley city was previously known as the "bride of the summers" during the 1960 and 1970s, when Aley and neighbor ...

Mount Lebanon Governorate Mount Lebanon Governorate () is one of the nine governorates of Lebanon, of which it is the most populous. Its capital is Baabda. Other notable towns and cities include Aley, Bikfaya, and Beit Mery. This governorate is named after the mount ...

. It is located from Beirut and has an altitude of 800 m (2,600 feet). It is bordered by Kfarmatta (South), Al Bennay (East),

Damour Damour () is a Lebanese Christian town that is south of Beirut. It is located in the Chouf District in the Mount Lebanon Governorate. Geography The city is located in one of the few flat areas of the Lebanese coast. It is built to the nor ...

(West), and

Ain Ksour Ain Ksour (), is a village in Aley District, Lebanon. Municipal elections are held every six years. History In 1838, Eli Smith noted the place, called Ain Kesur'', located in ''El-Ghurb el-Fokany''; Upper el-Ghurb.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vo ...

(North). It overlooks

and the capital

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

and the sea can be seen from virtually any point in the village. Aabey contains the Dawdye college, Aabey Vocational School (Mihanye) etc.

Etymology

The name Aabey () comes from the

Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...

word meaning “abundant."

History

During the Fatimid and the Mamluk periods,

Tanukh The Tanukh (, sometimes referred to as the Tanukhids (, ), was an Arab tribal group whose history in the Arabian Peninsula and the Fertile Crescent spanned the 2nd century CE to the 17th century. The group began as a confederation of Arab tribes ...

settled in Aabey. The Tanukh emirs (

Buhturids The Buhturids () or the Tanukh () were a dynasty whose chiefs were the emirs (princes or commanders) of the Gharb area southeast of Beirut in Mount Lebanon in the 12th–15th centuries. A family of the Tanukhid tribal confederation, they were es ...

) were cavalry officers in a special regiment of the

Mamluk Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-so ...

army that conquered

in 1291, led by Sultan

al-Ashraf Khalil Al-Malik Al-Ashraf Salāh ad-Dīn Khalil ibn Qalawūn (; c. 1260s – 14 December 1293) was the eighth Turkic Bahri dynasty, Bahri Mamluk Sultanate, Mamluk sultan, succeeding his father Qalawun. He served from 12 November 1290 until his assassi ...

. The emirs established their summer residence in Aabey, where the remains of several buildings can still be seen today. Among the monuments left by this feudal dynasty is the Fountain of Emirs, the residence of Emir Qa'an At-Tannoukhi (17th-18th centuries), the residence of Sheikh Riad Amine Eddine, and the restored Druze tomb (

Maqam Maqam, makam, maqaam or maqām (plural maqāmāt) may refer to: Musical structures * Arabic maqam, melodic modes in traditional Arabic music ** Iraqi maqam, a genre of Arabic maqam music found in Iraq * Persian maqam, a notion in Persian clas ...

) of the revered Druze theologian Sayid Abdallah at-Tannukhi (died 1479), who is credited with uniting the Druze of the

Chouf Chouf (also spelled Shouf, Shuf or Chuf; ) is a historic region of Lebanon, as well as an administrative district in the governorate ( muhafazat) of Mount Lebanon. Geography Located south-east of Beirut, the region comprises a narrow coastal stri ...

mountains. Notable churches include the Church of as-Saydeh, Church of Mar Sarkis and Bakhos, Church of Mar Maroun, and the Evangelical Church founded by European missionaries in the 17th century. During the early 19th century, American

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

missionaries began arriving in Beirut. The Druze, unlike their

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 ...

and

Greek Orthodox Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Rom ...

contemporaries, welcomed the establishment of schools in their villages. In 1839 the missionaries established a medical centre in Aabey. in 1843 W.M. Thomson and

Cornelius Van Alen Van Dyck Cornelius Van Alen Van Dyck, M.D. (August 13, 1818 – November 13, 1895) was an American missionary physician, teacher and translator of the Protestant Bible into Arabic.locusts Locusts (derived from the Latin ''locusta'', locust or lobster) are various species of short-horned grasshoppers in the family Acrididae that have a Swarm behaviour, swarming phase. These insects are usually solitary, but under certain circu ...

which lasted four days. 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 the village, called Abeih '', located in ''El-Ghurb el-Fokany'', upper ''el-Ghurb''.

Notables

Melkite Archbishop

Grégoire Haddad Grégoire Haddad (; 25 September 1924 – 23 December 2015) was Archeparch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Beirut and Byblos from 1968 to 1975. He was known as the "Red Bishop of Beirut" promoting a secular "social movement" and a pla ...

, later known as the "Red Bishop of Beirut", was born in Aabey. Surgeon

Sami Ibrahim Haddad Sami Ibrahim Haddad, (July 3, 1890 – February 5, 1957) was a doctor, surgeon and writer. He was born in Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of ...

(born in

Jaffa Jaffa (, ; , ), also called Japho, Joppa or Joppe in English, is an ancient Levantine Sea, Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on ...

, Palestine) was originally from Aabey; he returned and founded the

Orient Hospital The Orient Hospital () was a Lebanese non-profit hospital located in Beirut and maintained for the care of low-income patients. It was founded in 1947 by Dr. Sami Ibrahim Haddad, a well-known physician and historian of medicine. It closed in 197 ...

which was later run by his sons Dr Farid Haddad and Dr Fuad Haddad who were both born in the village. Gregory IV of Antioch (born Ghantus Haddad)

patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and ...

of the

Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch (), also known as the Antiochian Orthodox Church and legally as the Rūm Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East (), is an autocephalous Greek Orthodox church within the wider communion of E ...

, was born in Aabey in 1859. Presbyterian missionary Layyah Barakat was born in Aabey, and returned in 1922 to open an orphanage for girls there. Aabey is the seat of the house of Al Nakadi, a Druze feudal family in Mount Lebanon. Ιn 1845 part of the Nakadi family, namely sheikh Qasim and his brothers Salim and Said, left

Deir al-Qamar Deir al-Qamar () is a city south-east of Beirut in south-central Lebanon. It is located five kilometres outside of Beit ed-Dine in the Chouf District of the Mount Lebanon Governorate at 800 m of average altitude. History Crusader period The ol ...

and relocated to Aabey. Aabey is the birthplace of

Fuad Hamza Fuad Hamza (), also known as Fuad Bey Hamza, (1899–1951) was a Palestinian who served as ambassador of Saudi Arabia to France and as King Abdulaziz's adviser and representative. Hafiz Wahba and he were the first ambassadors of Saudi Arabia, th ...

who served as the personal adviser of

King Abdulaziz Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud (; 15 January 1875Ibn Saud's birth year has been a source of debate. It is generally accepted as 1876, although a few sources give it as 1880. According to British author Robert Lacey's book ''The Kingdom'', ...

, the founder of

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. He was granted Saudi nationality and was appointed as a Saudi ambassador to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, as well as Saudi deputy minister for foreign affairs. One of his famous books is "Al-Bilad Al-Arabia Al-Saudia".

Families of Aabey

The main families in Aabey are: Hamza, Halabi, Haddad, Hassan, Abdel Wili, Amaneldine, Ataya, Faraj, Jamal, Jaber, Nakadi, Nasr, Kuntar, Ghrayeb, Khoury, Kanaan, Raydan, Shreety, Timani and Wehbe.

References

Bibliography

External links

Aabey – Ain Drafil
Localiban
Aabey Municipality Official BlogAabey Facebook Page Aabey Heritage Association
{{Aley District Populated places in Aley District