Deir Qanoun an-Naher () is a municipality in

Southern 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 ...

, located in

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 ...

Governorate of 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 District, Rashaya and Western Beqaa District, Western ...

Etymology

According to E. H. Palmer in 1881, Deir Kânûn meant: the convent of the rule (canon).

History

In the early 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 ...

noted here a decorated

Sarcophagus 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 language, Greek wikt:σάρξ, σάρξ ...

. 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 the village to be inhabited by 400

Metuali 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 ...

s. He further noted: "Here I saw an ancient rock-cut basin, many cut-stones built up in private houses or forming the enclosure of gardens and

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, on the surface of a block lying on the ground, figures carved, to the number of five, each in a different frame. Unfortunately they are much mutilated by time and rough usage. The best preserved has the head surmounted by the high Egyptian coiffure known under the name of

pschent The pschent (/pskʰént/; Ancient Greek, Greek ''wikt:ψχέντ, ψχέντ'') was the double Crown (headgear), crown worn by rulers in ancient Egypt. The ancient Egyptians generally referred to it as Pa-sekhemty (''pꜣ-sḫm.ty''), the Two Powe ...

, and holds in one hand a sort of curved stick." In 1881, the PEF's ''Survey of Western Palestine'' (SWP) described it: "A village, built of stone, situated on the top of a hill, surrounded by gardens, fig-trees, olives, and arable land, containing about 250

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 ...

; water supply from springs, birket, and cisterns."

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 99.71% of registered voters in Deir Qanoun an-Naher. 99.27% of the voters were Shiite Muslims.https://lub-anan.com/المحافظات/الجنوب/صور/دير-قانون-النهر/المذاهب/

People from Deir Qanoun an-Naher

Hashem Safieddine Hashem Safieddine (1964) was a Lebanese Shia cleric who served as the head of Hezbollah's Executive Council from 2001 until his assassination in 2024. A maternal cousin of Hassan Nasrallah, Safieddine was considered the "number two" in Hezbol ...

References

Bibliography

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External links

Deir Qanoun En Nahr
Localiban *Survey of Western Palestine, Map 2:
IAAWikimedia commons
{{Tyre District Populated places in Tyre District Shia Muslim communities in Lebanon