Mais al-Jabal or Mais aj-Jabal () is a municipality in the

Marjayoun District The Marjayoun District is a district in the Nabatieh Governorate of Lebanon. The capital of the district is Marjayoun. Marjayoun stands at a hill facing Mount Hermon to the East, with Beaufort Castle, Lebanon, Beaufort Castle. The Litani River an ...

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 ...

Etymology

According to E. H. Palmer, the name ''Meis'' comes from the name of a tree.

Location

The municipality of Mais al-Jabal is located in the

, one of the eight mohafazats (governorates) of Lebanon. Mais al-Jabal is 114 kilometers (70.8396 mi) away from Beyrouth (

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 ...

) the capital of

. Its elevation is 630 meters (2067.03 ft - 688.968 yd) above sea level. Mais al-Jabal surface stretches for 1924 hectares (19.24 km² - 7.42664 mi²).

History

In 1596, it was named as a village, ''Mis'', in the Ottoman ''

nahiya A nāḥiyah ( , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiyeh, 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 divisi ...

'' (subdistrict) 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 ...

under the ''

liwa' A sanjak or sancak (, , "flag, banner") was an administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans also sometimes called the sanjak a liva (, ) from the name's calque in Arabic and Persian. Banners were a common organization of nomad ...

'' (district) of

Safad Safed (), also known as Tzfat (), is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of up to , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and in Israel. Safed has been identified with (), a fortified town in the Upper Gal ...

, with a population of 75 households and 11 bachelors, all Muslim. The villagers paid a fixed tax-rate of 25% on agricultural products, such as

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...

, summer crops, olive trees, vegetable and fruit garden or orchard, goats, beehives; in addition to occasional revenues, a press for olive oil or grape syrup and a winter pastures; a total of 12,860

akçe The ''akçe'' or ''akça'' (anglicized as ''akche'', ''akcheh'' or ''aqcha''; ; , , in Europe known as '' asper'') was a silver coin mainly known for being the chief monetary unit of the Ottoman Empire. It was also used in other states includi ...

.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 181 In 1881, the PEF's ''Survey of Western Palestine'' (SWP) found here: "ancient remains; one olive-press and two

sarcophagi 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 σάρξ ' meaning "flesh", and φ� ...

on the east side." They further described it: "A large village in two parts, containing about 700

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 ...

, on low ridge, surrounded by figs, olives, and arable land. There is a birket near the village, and three good springs to the north, besides

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."

Modern era

On October 1, 2024, the IDF claimed that since the onset of the Israel–Hezbollah conflict in October 2023 and leading up to the October 2024 ground operation, it has destroyed 91 Hezbollah targets in Mais al-Jabal, including 13 lookout posts and various weapons, with

tunnels A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

measuring nearly 12 meters deep and located just 30 meters from the Blue Line. On April 4, 2025, in a mass funeral ceremony, a civilian and 51

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 ...

fighters killed during the conflict where buried in the 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 99.58% of registered voters in Mais al-Jabal. 98.33% of the voters were Shiite Muslims.

Shrine

The village holds a

Shia 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 ...

shrine for the prophet's companion Abu Dharr. Another Shia shrine to Abu Dharr is located in

Sarepta Sarepta (near modern Sarafand, Lebanon) was a Phoenician city on the Mediterranean coast between Sidon and Tyre, also known biblically as Zarephath. It became a bishopric, which faded, and remains a double (Latin and Maronite) Catholic titula ...

. The village also contains a husayniyya.

Educational Establishments

References

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

* http://yameis.org/
Meiss Ej Jabal
Localiban *Survey of Western Palestine, Map 2:
IAAWikimedia commons
{{Marjayoun District Populated places in Marjayoun District Shia Muslim communities in Lebanon