Bodai () is a Lebanese town in

Baalbek District Baalbek District () is an administrative district in the Baalbek-Hermel Governorate of the Republic of Lebanon, having the city Baalbek as its capital. It is by far the largest district in the country comprising a total of . Major towns of the d ...

Baalbek-Hermel Governorate Baalbek-Hermel () is a governorate of Lebanon and is the largest by area in the country. It comprises the districts of Baalbek and Hermel, which in turn are subdivided into a total of 74 municipalities. The capital is at Baalbek. The governorate ...

, situated west of the

Litani River The Litani River (), the classical Leontes (), is an important water resource in southern Lebanon. The river rises in the fertile Beqaa Valley, west of Baalbek, and empties into the Mediterranean Sea north of Tyre. Exceeding in length, the ...

in the foothills of

Mount Lebanon Mount Lebanon (, ; , ; ) is a mountain range in Lebanon. It is about long and averages above in elevation, with its peak at . The range provides a typical alpine climate year-round. Mount Lebanon is well-known for its snow-covered mountains, ...

. Bodai is located 15 km (9 miles) northwest of the ancient city of

Baalbek Baalbek (; ; ) is a city located east of the Litani River in Lebanon's Beqaa Valley, about northeast of Beirut. It is the capital of Baalbek-Hermel Governorate. In 1998, the city had a population of 82,608. Most of the population consists of S ...

and 26 km (16 miles) from the Lebanese–Syrian border and is 90 kilometers (55.926 mi) away from the capital of Beirut. Bodai, which sits in the

foothills Foothills or piedmont are geography, geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an highland, upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low terrain, relief hill ...

of the

range, has views across the

Beqaa Valley The Beqaa Valley (, ; Bekaa, Biqâ, Becaa) is a fertile valley in eastern Lebanon and its most important farming region. Industry, especially the country's agricultural industry, also flourishes in Beqaa. The region broadly corresponds to th ...

toward the city of Baalbek, and the

Anti-Lebanon The Anti-Lebanon mountains (), also called Mount Amana, are a southwest–northeast-trending, c. long mountain range that forms most of the border between Syria and Lebanon. The border is largely defined along the crest of the range. Most of ...

range that divides Lebanon from Syria.

History and etymology

There is a possibility that the etymology of the town's present day name Bodai could be traced to the time of the French Crusaders'

County of Tripoli The County of Tripoli (1102–1289) was one of the Crusader states. It was founded in the Levant in the modern-day region of Tripoli, Lebanon, Tripoli, northern Lebanon and parts of western Syria. When the Crusades, Frankish Crusaders, mostly O ...

within Mount Lebanon region and the possibility that the French Crusaders named the village or the area after the Maison Boudai, situated within

Montbozon Montbozon () is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. See also *Communes of the Haute-Saône department The following is a list of the 536 communes in the French department of ...

, a commune in the

Haute-Saône Haute-Saône (; Frainc-Comtou: ''Hâte-Saône''; English: Upper Saône) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of northeastern France. Named after the river Saône, it had a population of 235,313 in 2019.

department in the

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

Franche-Comté Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou dialect, Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; ; also ; ; all ) is a cultural and Provinces of France, historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of France, departments of Doub ...

in eastern France. 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 ''Budeys population as being predominantly

Metawileh Lebanese Shia Muslims (), communally and historically known as ''matāwila'' (, plural of ''mutawālin''; pronounced as ''metouéle'' in Lebanese Arabic), are Lebanese people who are adherents of Shia Islam in Lebanon, which plays a major role ...

Population

The settlement is almost entirely populated by Shiites. A significant percentage of the town population have migrated to the capital city of

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 ...

. Also, a significant percentage of the town population have migrated overseas to countries such as

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, United States of America, Canada,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Gulf Arab states The Arab states of the Persian Gulf, also known as the Gulf Arab states (), refers to a group of Arab states bordering the Persian Gulf. There are seven member states of the Arab League in the region: Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi ...

and

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

( UK and France).

Notable people

Ali Hussein Nassif Ali Hussein Nassif, known as Abu Abbas, was a Shia Lebanese politician and high-ranking founding member of Hezbollah. Nassif was the designated commander of all Hezbollah fighters in Syria during the Syrian civil war until his death on 1 Octobe ...

Mohammad Yazbek Mohammad Yazbek (born 1950) is a Lebanese people, Lebanese cleric. He is one of the Hezbollah founders and the head of the Sharia or religious council of the organization. Early life and education Yazbek hails from a family based in Bodai, a to ...

Mohammed Shamas Mouhamad Ali Chamass (; born 25 February 1987) is a Lebanese former association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Chamass signed for Lebanese Premier League side Nejmeh SC, Nejmeh's youth sector on 2 July 2004, and ...

References

Bibliography

External links

Bouday - Aallaq Et Tell
, Localiban {{Archaeological sites in Lebanon Populated places in Baalbek District Shia Muslim communities in Lebanon Maronite Christian communities in Lebanon Eastern Orthodox Christian communities in Lebanon World Heritage Sites in Lebanon Archaeological sites in Lebanon Great Rift Valley Phoenician cities Phoenician sites in Lebanon Populated places established in the 7th millennium BC Roman sites in Lebanon