Mazraat Meshref () is a municipality 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, the name ''Mezrah'' means "the sown land".

History

"In the Wady Ashur, west of Mezrah, may be seen the most important rock sculpture in the whole of the country round Tyre. It is a cdla or niche cut in the rock, below a great cavern cut out of the wall of the valley. The end of the niche is entirely occupied by a carving, which has an Egyptian appearance. The head-dresses especially of the principal personage, who is represented sitting, are quite those of Egypt, and greatly resemble the ''pschent''. Like all these Egypto-Phoenician sculptures, that of the Wady Ashur has the winged globe. The whole greatly resembles the Egyptian door of Umm el Awamid. Unfortunately the carving is in a very bad state. It has for centuries served as a mark for the Metawileh who traverse the valley, and in hatred of idolatry, think they must fire a shot at it". In 1881, the PEF's ''Survey of Western Palestine'' (SWP) described ''Mezrah'': "A small village, built of stone, on hill-top, spring, birket, 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, with many ruined houses; it contains about 100

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 ...

. There are olives, figs, and arable land around." They further noted: "There are ruined houses,

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 ...

s of well-dressed stone, and some

s in this village."

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 99.33% of registered voters in Mazraat Meshref. 97.40% of the voters were Shiite Muslims.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Mazraat El Mechref (archive.org)
Localiban *Survey of Western Palestine, Map 2:
IAAWikimedia commons
{{Tyre District Populated places in Tyre District Shia Muslim communities in Lebanon