At-Taybah, Tayibe or Taibeh is a municipality in the
Marjayoun District in south
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 Tayibe means "The good, sweet, or wholesome" (about water).
Archaeological site
By the village is a
Heavy Neolithic
Heavy Neolithic (alternatively, Gigantolithic) is a style of large stone and flint tools (or industry) associated primarily with the Qaraoun culture in the Beqaa Valley, Lebanon, dating to the Epipaleolithic or early Pre-Pottery Neolithic at ...
archaeological site of the
Qaraoun culture
The Qaraoun culture is a culture of the Lebanese Stone Age around Qaraoun in the Beqaa Valley. The Gigantolithic or Heavy Neolithic flint tool industry of this culture was recognized as a particular Neolithic variant of the Lebanese highland ...
.
The site was discovered by
Louis Dubertret and materials studied by
Jacques Cauvin. Heavy Neolithic materials recovered resembled those from
Qaraoun.
[
]
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 ...
found here a village with 800 Metualis. He further noted: "Its principal mosque
A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard.
Originally, mosques were si ...
, now in ruins, is built of superb blocks, apparently ancient. It contains in the interior several monolithic column
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...
s."
In 1881, the PEF's ''Survey of Western Palestine'' (SWP) noted here: "There are several 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� ...
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 in the village ; some caves near." They further described it as: "A large well-built village, built of stone, containing about 600 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 ...
and 400 unniMoslems. The Caimacam has a good house here. There are some figs and olives round the village and arable land; water is supplied from a spring and two birkets."
Modern era
On August 5, during the 2006 Lebanon War
The 2006 Lebanon War was a 34-day armed conflict in Lebanon, fought between Hezbollah and Israel. The war started on 12 July 2006, and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the morning on 14 August 2006, thoug ...
, Israeli war-planes killed 3 civilians, aged 2 to 48 years of age. The IDF offered no explanations to the strike.
On 11 August 2024, two Hezbollah fighters were killed by an Israeli airstrike in the village. On 6 April 2025, funerals were held in Taybeh for 32 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 and a lebanese soldier killed during the war.
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 99.61% of registered voters in At-Taybah. 98.27% of the voters were Shiite Muslims.
See also
* Battle of Ayta ash-Shab
References
Bibliography
*
*
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External links
Taybeh (Marjaayoun)
Localiban
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 2:
IAA
Wikimedia commons
{{Archaeological sites in Lebanon
Archaeological sites in Lebanon
Heavy Neolithic sites
Populated places in the Israeli security zone 1985–2000
Neolithic settlements
Populated places in Marjayoun District
Shia Muslim communities in Lebanon