Jouret Bedran (; also spelled ''Jurat Badran'') is a village and municipality located in the

Keserwan District Keserwan District (, transliteration: ''Qaḍā' Kisrawān'') is a district (''qadaa'') in Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate, Lebanon, to the northeast of Lebanon's capital Beirut. The capital, Jounieh, is overwhelmingly Maronite Christian. The area ...

of the

Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate Keserwan-Jbeil () is the most recently created governorate of Lebanon. It consists of the districts of Jbeil and Keserwan. Keserwan-Jbeil covers an area of and is bounded by the North Governorate to the north, the Baalbek-Hermel Governorate 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 ...

. The village is north 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 ...

. It has an average elevation of 1200 meters above sea level and a total land area of 120

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

s. The village is bordered by the villages of

Yahchouch Yahchouch () is a municipality in the Keserwan District of the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate in Lebanon. It is located 42 kilometers north of Beirut. Its average elevation is 670 meters above sea level and its total land area is 636 hectares. Yahchou ...

, Ghbaleh, Azra, Mradiyeh and Hakl El Rayes. Jouret Bedran's inhabitants are

Maronites Maronites (; ) are a Syriac Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant (particularly Lebanon) whose members belong to the Maronite Church. The largest concentration has traditionally resided near Mount ...

History

Historically, it is believed that

Phoenicians Phoenicians were an ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syrian coast. They developed a maritime civi ...

inhabited the region since remains are found in nearby Ghineh, where historians believe is the resting place of the historical figure

Adonis In Greek mythology, Adonis (; ) was the mortal lover of the goddesses Aphrodite and Persephone. He was considered to be the ideal of male beauty in classical antiquity. The myth goes that Adonis was gored by a wild boar during a hunting trip ...

. The region was later occupied by

Muslim 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 ...

communities before its destruction at the hands of the

Mamluks Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-sold ...

in 1307. The region was abandoned for the next three centuries until

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

families arrived somewhere during the 17th century. Until 1863, Jouret Bedran was geographically and administratively a part of what was called " Ghbaleh and its farms". In 1863, the inhabitants of Jouret Bedran and Azra, led by Rouhana Zouein, announced their separation from Ghbaleh and a separate entity named "Jouret Bedran and its suburbs" was created, and this, until 1872. In 1872, the inhabitants of Azra, led by Youssef Kamel, then known as Abou Hosn, announced their separation from Jouret Bedran and the installation of their own municipality.

Families

The majority of the village's population holds the Ghanem surname. There are also inhabitants from the Zouein and Awad families.
The Ghanem family is descended from Moussa Ghanem Al-Ghassani, a descendant of the

Ghassanids The Ghassanids, also known as the Jafnids, were an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe. Originally from South Arabia, they migrated to the Levant in the 3rd century and established what would eventually become a Christian state, Christian kingdom unde ...

, who were a

dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

in the

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

under the aegis of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

. Moussa came to Yanouh in the 9th century and settled there. Later, in 1121, some of his descendants moved to Lehfed. Finally, Sarkis Ghanem moved from Lehfed to Jouret Bedran during the 17th century and settled there.

Places of worship

The main place of worship in the village is the

Saint Stephen Stephen (; ) is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first martyr of Christianity."St ...

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

that serves as the seat of the Azra-Jouret Bedran

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

, inaugurated in 1792 in a joint initiative from the inhabitants of Azra and Jouret Bedran. It is the third church ever built in the region, the first being the

Saints Sergius and Bacchus Sergius (or Serge) and Bacchus (Greek: Σέργιος & Βάκχος; ; , also called ) were fourth-century Syrian Christian soldiers revered as martyrs and military saints by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches. Their f ...

Church built in nearby Ghbaleh in 1780 and the second being the Church of Our Lady also built in Ghbaleh in 1789.
Other places of worship are: *

Saint Joseph According to the canonical Gospels, Joseph (; ) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. Joseph is venerated as Saint Joseph in the Catholic Church, Eastern O ...

Church, built by Father Youssef Ghanem towards the end of the 19th century *

Saint George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

Church, built by Father Gerges Ghanem II *

Saint Charbel Charbel Makhlouf, O.L.M. (, May 8, 1828 – December 24, 1898), born Youssef Antoun Makhlouf and venerated as Saint Charbel, was a Maronite monk and priest from modern-day Lebanon. During his life, he obtained a wide reputation for holiness, an ...

Church

References

Populated places in Keserwan District Maronite Christian communities in Lebanon {{lebanon-geo-stub