Chalaaboun (Arabic: شلعبون) is an

archeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

in the outskirts of

Ain Ebel Ain Ebel () is a municipality in the Nabatieh Governorate, about 90 kilometers (56 miles) south of Beirut. Its inhabitants are predominantly Christian. Etymology Historian Joseph Toufik Khoreich writes that the name means "Spring of the Mon ...

South 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 distr ...

History

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 ...

visited Chalaaboun during his mission to

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 ...

and described what he found in his book

Mission de Phénicie (1865-1874) Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality *Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * O ...

. Renan believed that Chalaaboun was the Biblical town of Shaalabbin of the

Tribe of Dan The Tribe of Dan (, "Judge") was one of the twelve tribes of Israel, according to the Torah. According to the Hebrew Bible, the tribe initially settled in the hill lands bordering Tribe of Ephraim, Ephraim and Tribe of Benjamin, Benjamin on the ...

. He found a tomb similar to that of

Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

. 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 ...

called for the "attention to the

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� ...

alluded to by Lieutenant Kitchener. He says there are two which have sculptured on the sides a winged figure holding up a garland to right and left, the curve of which is surmounted on one side by a disc, and on the other by a cross. Beside one lies the cross, furnished with a ridge and

acroteria An acroterion, acroterium, (pl. akroteria) is an architectural ornament placed on a flat pedestal called the ''acroter'' or plinth, and mounted at the apex or corner of the pediment of a building in the classical style. An acroterion placed ...

. To the west of this hill rises a second, the slopes of which are terraced, the highest platform being sustained by a strong wall. Here are the vestiges of a small town, in the shape of

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 ...

s and foundations of cut stones.Guérin, 1880, pp
110
111; as given in Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p
245
/ref> In 1881, the PEF's ''Survey of Western Palestine'' (SWP) described it: "Heaps of well-cut stones, some of large size ; four or five sarcophagi, very large and well-preserved, decorated with figures holding up a wreath, similar to those at Kades, but better preserved. There are also two caves and many cisterns, and a large birkeh on the south side. This was an ancient and important place.Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p
245
/ref>

References

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 4
IAAWikimedia commons
{{coord, 33.1242, N, 35.4172, E, source:wikidata, display=title Bint Jbeil District Tribe of Dan