Debel (also spelled Dibil,
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
: دبل) is a
Lebanese village located in the
caza
Caza (), the pseudonym of Philippe Cazaumayou (; born 14 November 1941), is a French comics artist.
Biography
At 18, Cazaumayou started a career in advertising which lasted for ten years, but in 1970 he entered the field of bandes dessinées, ...
of
Bint Jbeil in the
Nabatiye Governorate
Nabatieh Governorate ( ar, محافظة النبطية, ') is one of the nine governorates of Lebanon. The area of this governorate is 1,058 km2. The capital is Nabatieh.
Districts
The governorate is divided into four districts (Aqdiya, sing ...
in
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
.
Geography
Debel occupies several hills with elevation ranging from 560 to 650 meters above sea level. The main agricultural products of Debel are
olive
The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...
s and
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
.
Demography
The people of Debel are Lebanese and are predominantly
Maronite Christians.
History
In 1596, it was named as a village, ‘“Dibil” in the
Ottoman ''
nahiya
A nāḥiyah ( ar, , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level division w ...
'' (subdistrict) of
Tibnin
Tebnine ( ar, تبنين ''Tibnīn'', also Romanized ''Tibnine'') is a Lebanese town spread across several hills (ranging in altitude from 700m to 800m (2,275 ft to 2,600 ft) above sea level) located about east of Tyre (Lebanon), i ...
under the ''
liwa''' (district) of
Safad, with a population of 12 households and 6 bachelors, all Muslims. The villagers paid a fixed tax-rate of 25% on agricultural products, such as
wheat
Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
,
barley
Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...
, summer crops, fruit trees, goats and beehives, in addition to "occasional revenues”; a total of 1,530
akçe
The ''akçe'' or ''akça'' (also spelled ''akche'', ''akcheh''; ota, آقچه; ) refers to a silver coin which was the chief monetary unit of the Ottoman Empire. The word itself evolved from the word "silver or silver money", this word is deri ...
.
[Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 184]
In 1852,
Edward Robinson noted the village ("Dibl") on his travels in the region.
Ernest Renan
Joseph Ernest Renan (; 27 February 18232 October 1892) was a French Orientalist and Semitic scholar, expert of Semitic languages and civilizations, historian of religion, philologist, philosopher, biblical scholar, and critic. He wrote influe ...
visited the area during his mission to
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
and described what he found in his book
Mission de Phénicie (1865-1874)
The ''Mission de Phénicie'' was the first major archaeological mission to Lebanon and Syria. It took place in 1860-61 by a French team led by Ernest Renan. Renan was entrusted with the mission in October 1860, after French interest had been spar ...
. At Dibl he found Greek Inscriptions.
In 1875,
Victor Guérin
Victor Guérin (15 September 1821 – 21 Septembe 1890) was a French intellectual, explorer and amateur archaeologist. He published books describing the geography, archeology and history of the areas he explored, which included Greece, Asia Mino ...
visited, and described it as a village with 400 Maronite inhabitants. He also found here several inscriptions in Greek. He further noted: "At this village there are some rock-cut tombs, in one of which there is an inscription. Many well-dressed stones are used, and turn up in digging. On one of these was a fragmentary inscription. Under some of the houses of the village there is a large piece of
tesselated
A tessellation or tiling is the covering of a surface, often a plane, using one or more geometric shapes, called ''tiles'', with no overlaps and no gaps. In mathematics, tessellation can be generalized to higher dimensions and a variety of g ...
pavement of very good design. The colours are red, black, and white. There are some
sarcophagi and some broken pillars. This was probably an early Christian site."
In 1881, the
PEF's
''Survey of Western Palestine'' (SWP) described ''Dibl'': "A village, built of stone, containing about 500 Christians (
Guerin says 400 Maronites) ; there is a Maronite chapel. It is situated on hill-side, with grapes, figs, olives, mulberries, and arable land. The water supply is from many good springs in the wady to the north-west of village, and
cistern
A cistern (Middle English ', from Latin ', from ', "box", from Greek ', "basket") is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by t ...
s and birket near the village."
[Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p]
201
/ref>
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 4
IAA
Wikimedia commons
Localiban
{{Bint Jbeil District
Populated places in the Israeli security zone 1985–2000
Maronite Christian communities in Lebanon
Populated places in Bint Jbeil District