Burj Rahal () is a municipality in the

Tyre District The Tyre District is a district in the South Governorate of Lebanon. Municipalities The following 72 municipalities are all located in the Tyre District: * Al-Aabbassiyah * Aaitit * Aalma ash-Shaab * Ain Abu Aabdallah * Ain az-Zarqa * Ain ...

in South

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

Etymology

According to

E. H. Palmer Edward Henry Palmer (7 August 184010 August 1882), known as E. H. Palmer, was an England, English oriental studies, orientalist and explorer. Biography Youth and education Palmer was born in Green Street, Cambridge, the son of a private scho ...

in 1881, the name ''Burj Rahhal'' means "the traveller’s tower".

History

In the 1860s,

Ernest Renan Joseph Ernest Renan (; ; 27 February 18232 October 1892) was a French Orientalist and Semitic scholar, writing on Semitic languages and civilizations, historian of religion, philologist, philosopher, biblical scholar, and critic. He wrote wo ...

found here seven singular constructions in a row, three being open, the rest closed. He was also informed that to the north-east of these, there were seven more hidden under grounds. The locals call them the Tombs of the Tyrian Kings, ''Kubur el Moluk''. In 1875,

Victor Guérin Victor Guérin (; 15 September 1821 – 21 September 1890) was a French people, French intellectual, explorer and amateur archaeologist. He published books describing the geography, archeology and history of the areas he explored, which included ...

found here a village with 400

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 ...

inhabitants. "Here are seen good cut stones lying here and there, taken from an ancient fort."Guérin, 1880, p
248
as given in Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p
58
/ref> He further noted: "Ten minutes to the west of the village I observed three good subterranean magazines contiguous and parallel. Partly cut in the rock and partly constructed of cut stones, they measure ten metres in length by a breadth not greater than a metre and a half. They are covered within by a stony cement, in which are inserted fragments of pottery, and arc surmounted by great inclined slabs forming a triangular roof. These are covered over by a layer of earth, so as to form a platform. Several other similar caves are adjoining them, but they are at the present moment closed. Formerly they probably served as oil and wine- cellars, or stores for corn. The place is called ''Kh. Mahatma.''" In 1881, the PEF's ''Survey of Western Palestine'' (SWP) described it as: "A large village built of stone, containing 150

, on a ridge, surrounded by figs, olives, and arable land. There is a good spring and well near." They further noted: "A few more minutes to the west, Guérin found a ruin called ''Kh. Kerry el Meserta'', where he observed the uprights of grooved oil-presses, broken

sarcophagi A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek σάρξ ' meaning "flesh", and φ� ...

, mill stones, numerous little cubes of mosaic scattered about, and a great

cistern A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster. Cisterns are disti ...

extending under a platform. At twenty minutes' march west-south-west of ''El Meserta'', he observed a hillock with the remains of a ruined village called ''Kh. Halua''. Not far from this place, to the east-north-east, he found a platform surrounded by a wall of large stones, having a great cistern hollowed in the middle. It is called B''ir el Mellaha''."

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 99.89% of registered voters in Burj Rahal. 99.40% of the voters were

Shiite Muslims Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood to ...

References

Bibliography

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External links

Borj Rahhal - Ain Abou Abdallah - Ain Zarka
Localiban *Survey of Western Palestine, Map 1
IAAWikimedia commons
{{Tyre District Populated places in Tyre District Shia Muslim communities in Lebanon