Kounin () is a municipality in

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 ...

located in

Bint Jbeil District The Bint Jbeil District (, ') is a district in the Nabatiyeh Governorate of Lebanon. The capital of the district is Bint Jbeil. Municipalities The following 36 municipalities are all located in the Bint Jbeil District: * Ain Ebel * Aitaroun * A ...

, south-east of

Tibnin Tibnin ( ''Tibnīn'', also Romanized ''Tibnîn'', ''Tebnine'' etc.) is a municipality 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, Tyre ...

Etymology

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 ...

wrote that the name ''Kounin'' came from a personal name.

History

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 ...

gives the population of this place at 400, divided between Moslems and

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 ...

. In 1881, the PEF's ''Survey of Western Palestine'' (SWP) described it as: "A village, built of stone, containing about 200 Metawileh ; it is situated on ridge, with olives and arable land around ; water from

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 in the village and from a large ''birket''." They further noted: "There are two round and two

octagonal In geometry, an octagon () is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, which alternates two types of edges. A truncated octagon, t is a hex ...

pillars at this village, remains of old materials, and a

lintel A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented/structural item. In the case ...

measuring 17' long and bearing a Greek inscription. There are also several cisterns and a large birkeh. The inscription on the lintel is probably the common formula, KYPIE BOHΘH ("Help, Lord")." In March 2024, senior

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

commander in the elite

Redwan force The al-Hajj Radwan Force (, , also spelled Redwan or Ridwan) is a special operation forces unit of Hezbollah. Its main mission is to infiltrate the territory of Israel, with specific attention to Galilee and northern Israel. Hezbollah has train ...

, Ismail al-Zin, was killed by an Israeli drone strike in Kounin.

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 99.60% of registered voters in Kounin. 97.67% 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 ...

. https://lub-anan.com/المحافظات/النبطية/بنت-جبيل/كونين/المذاهب/

References

Bibliography

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External links

Kounine
Localiban *Survey of Western Palestine, Map 4
IAAWikimedia commons
{{Bint Jbeil District Populated places in Bint Jbeil District Shia Muslim communities in Lebanon