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
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...
) located about east of
Tyre, in the heart of what is known as "''
Jabal Amel
Jabal Amil (; also spelled Jabal Amel and historically known as Jabal Amila) is a cultural and geographic region in Southern Lebanon largely associated with its long-established, predominantly Twelver Shia Muslim inhabitants. Its precise boundari ...
''" or the mountain of "Amel". "''Jabal Amel''" designates the plateau situated on either side of the Litani river, a region strongly associated with its long-established Twelver Shia community.
Etymology
The name "Tibnîn" is derived from a personal name.
History
Prehistory
In 1966,
Lorraine Copeland and Peter J. Wescombe published the discovery of prehistoric artifacts from two sites in Tibnin:
Acheulean
Acheulean (; also Acheulian and Mode II), from the French after the type site of Saint-Acheul, is an archaeological industry of stone tool manufacture characterized by the distinctive oval and pear-shaped "hand axes" associated with ''Homo ...
bifacial axes on the road from
Tyre, which are preserved at
The
American University of Beirut
The American University of Beirut (AUB; ) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its main campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, autonomous board of trustees and offers programs le ...
, dated to the
Lower Palaeolithic
The Lower Paleolithic (or Lower Palaeolithic) is the earliest subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. It spans the time from around 3.3 million years ago when the first evidence for stone tool production and use by hominins appears ...
; and
Stone Age
The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...
megaliths
A megalith is a large Rock (geology), stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. More than 35,000 megalithic structures have been identified across Europe, ranging ...
from the road between Tebnin and
Beit Yahum, records of them being preserved at the in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
.
Classical antiquity
Adolphe Chauvet wrote in 1891 that the village history dates back to the
Canaan
CanaanThe current scholarly edition of the Septuagint, Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX interprets. 2. ed. / recogn. et emendavit Robert Hanhart. Stuttgart : D ...
ites, but unfortunately did not cite a reference for this assertion.
Scholars have identified Tibnin as the town of Tafnis (תפניס) mentioned in the
Jerusalem Talmud
The Jerusalem Talmud (, often for short) or Palestinian Talmud, also known as the Talmud of the Land of Israel, is a collection of rabbinic notes on the second-century Jewish oral tradition known as the Mishnah. Naming this version of the Talm ...
as a northern border of the
kingdom of Judah
The Kingdom of Judah was an Israelites, Israelite kingdom of the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. Centered in the highlands to the west of the Dead Sea, the kingdom's capital was Jerusalem. It was ruled by the Davidic line for four centuries ...
.
Early Crusader period (1099–1187)
Frankish
Frankish may refer to:
* Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture
** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages, a group of Low Germanic languages also commonly referred to as "Frankish" varieties
* Francia, a post-Roman ...
chronicler Guillaume de Tyr (
William of Tyre
William of Tyre (; 29 September 1186) was a Middle Ages, medieval prelate and chronicler. As Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tyre, archbishop of Tyre, he is sometimes known as William II to distinguish him from his predecessor, William I of Tyr ...
) refers to the town as ''Tibénin'' (..''nomen priscum Tibénin''..).
Hugh of Fauquembergues, who participated in the
First Crusade
The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest ...
, built the castle of
Toron
Toron, now Tibnin or Tebnine in southern Lebanon, was a major Crusader castle, built in the Lebanon mountains on the road from Tyre to Damascus. The castle was the centre of the Lordship of Toron, a seigneury within the Kingdom of Jerusa ...
in 1106 and died in a skirmish near
Damascus
Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...
.
[Pringle (1998), p]
367
/ref> In early 1107, Izz al-Mulk, Sunni
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...
governor of Tyre, raided the village and massacred its inhabitants.[
King ]Baldwin I of Jerusalem
Baldwin I (1060s – 2 April 1118) was the first count of Edessa from 1098 to 1100 and king of Jerusalem from 1100 to his death in 1118. He was the youngest son of Eustace II, Count of Boulogne, and Ida of Lorraine and married a Norman noblew ...
elected one of his knights whose first name was "Onfroi" or "Henfred" to be the new lord of Tebnine. Humphrey I of Toron started the dynasty at Tebnine in 1107; most of what we know of the man comes from chroniclers of the era who never mention his origin or last name. He took the name of the castle that he was entrusted with and his offspring all carried the surname "de Toron". It is not hard to guess the identity of Humphrey, as chroniclers only mention two knights with that name who participated in the First Crusade: "Humfroy de Montcayeux" and "Humfroy fils de Raoul".
The locals enjoyed a rather stable and semiautonomous life under Frankish rule as noted by Ibn Jubair
Ibn Jubayr (1 September 1145 – 29 November 1217; ), also written Ibn Jubair, Ibn Jobair, and Ibn Djubayr, was an Arab geographer, traveller and poet from al-Andalus. His travel chronicle describes the pilgrimage he made to Mecca from 1183 to 11 ...
in 1185: "The Muslim population between Tibnine and the coast enjoyed considerable rights of self-administration and enjoyment of their own customs."
British historian Jonathan Riley-Smith
Jonathan Simon Christopher Riley-Smith (27 June 1938 – 13 September 2016) was a historian of the Crusades, and, between 1994 and 2005, Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Cambridge. He was a Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge.
Ea ...
mentions that the customs house below the castle levied no duty on merchants travelling with Ibn Jubair
Ibn Jubayr (1 September 1145 – 29 November 1217; ), also written Ibn Jubair, Ibn Jobair, and Ibn Djubayr, was an Arab geographer, traveller and poet from al-Andalus. His travel chronicle describes the pilgrimage he made to Mecca from 1183 to 11 ...
because they were travelling towards the port of Acre
The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...
, and hence concluded that King Baldwin III's officials were stationed there, even though the fortress was not in his royal domain,[Riley - Smith, 1973, pp]
28
65
168
171
cf. Ibn Jubayr
Ibn Jubayr (1 September 1145 – 29 November 1217; ), also written Ibn Jubair, Ibn Jobair, and Ibn Djubayr, was an Arab geographer, traveller and poet from al-Andalus. His travel chronicle describes the pilgrimage he made to Mecca from 1183 to 11 ...
, ''The Travels of Ibn Jubayr'', trans. R.J.C. Broadhurst. London: Jonathan Cape. p. 316 which meant that Tibnin was an important stop on the roads between Tyre, Damascus
Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...
and Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
. The fertile land of Tibnin made it one of the granaries of the Crusader kingdom, and under Humphrey III of Toron (died 1173), the lordship had its own coinage, minted of red copper and stamped "CASTRI TORONI".
Late Crusader period (1187–1266)
Saladin's conquest and aftermath
After the Battle of Hattin
The Battle of Hattin took place on 4 July 1187, between the Crusader states of the Levant and the forces of the Ayyubid sultan Saladin. It is also known as the Battle of the Horns of Hattin, due to the shape of the nearby extinct volcano of ...
in 1187, Saladin
Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, h ...
saw no threat of a Christian army in the foreseeable future and sent his nephew and most celebrated general, Al-Muzaffar Umar
Al-Muzaffar Taqi al-Din Umar () (died 1191) was the Ayyubid prince of Hama from 1179 to 1191 and a general of Saladin. He was the son of Saladin's brother Nur ad-Din Shahanshah, and brother of Farrukh Shah of Baalbek.
Biography Emir of Hama
After ...
, north to besiege the castle of Toron
Toron, now Tibnin or Tebnine in southern Lebanon, was a major Crusader castle, built in the Lebanon mountains on the road from Tyre to Damascus. The castle was the centre of the Lordship of Toron, a seigneury within the Kingdom of Jerusa ...
for three days. Toron's garrison was cut off, weak, and unprepared with no leader as its lord Humphrey of Toron was captured at Hattin. Soon the Frankish nobles conceded the surrender of the castle, and Saladin allowed them five days to make a safe passage to Tyre with their fortunes and families. Muslim prisoners were freed and many of the crusaders were taken hostage. Subsequently, Saladin asked his nephew to rebuild the castle and El-Seid tribesmen who were direct descendants of Muhammad and who were trusted confidantes to Saladin, allowed other tribesmen of Fawaz tribe, adepts of Sufism
Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism.
Practitioners of Sufism are r ...
to live in the Land of Tibnine.
Crusade of 1197
On 28 November 1197, while most of Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
expected the amalgamate of crusaders from the Duchy of Brabant
The Duchy of Brabant, a Imperial State, state of the Holy Roman Empire, was established in 1183. It developed from the Landgraviate of Brabant of 1085–1183, and formed the heart of the historic Low Countries. The Duchy comprised part of the Bu ...
, German forces, and knights of the king Amalric II of Jerusalem
Aimery of Lusignan (, , ''Amorí''; before 11551 April 1205), erroneously referred to as Amalric () in earlier scholarship, reigned as the first king of Cyprus from 1196 to his death in 1205. He also reigned as the king of Jerusalem as the hu ...
to head towards Jerusalem or Damascus, the crusaders laid siege to the castle of Tibnin to give Christian Tyre a breathing space. The siege was carried out with great energy and as the Christian forces managed to dig a small hole in the great walls of the castle, the Muslim garrison feared a fate like that of Maarat al-Numaan which was still fresh in the memory of Syrians, and offered to surrender. Despite the mild objections of the ruler of Tebnine (Husam El-Din Beshara),[Humphreys, 1977, p]
107
/ref> representatives of the families of Tebnin came down the hilly side of the castle to the Frankish camp and asked for safety (''Al-Aman'') in exchange for the liberation of 500 Christian slaves. Ibn al-Athir, the famous Arab historian, winks that a lot of the rumors circulating in Tebnine about what the crusaders would do if the castle was taken by assault, came from none other than other Frankish lords who were not very happy to see a successful campaign led by king Amalric II of Jerusalem
Aimery of Lusignan (, , ''Amorí''; before 11551 April 1205), erroneously referred to as Amalric () in earlier scholarship, reigned as the first king of Cyprus from 1196 to his death in 1205. He also reigned as the king of Jerusalem as the hu ...
, added to the fact that most of them had forged alliances with the sultan Al-Kamil
Al-Malik al-Kamil Nasir ad-Din Muhammad (; – 6 March 1238), titled Abu al-Maali (), was an Egyptian ruler and the fourth Ayyubid sultan of Egypt. During his tenure as sultan, the Ayyubids defeated the Fifth Crusade. He was known to the Franki ...
of Egypt and were in no hurry to see it obliterated over some revolting massacres committed in Tebnin. The Germans would hear of no surrender. Tebnine promised pillage and fortune as well as glory to the knights who will return it to hand of the Christians. Chronicler Ernoul describes how the crusaders refused the Muslim offer and admits that it was a mistake not to accept the honorable offer of surrender. Their arrogance made them parade the messengers in front of the secret dig that the crusaders were working under the wall of the castle. Tebnin's garrison was more resolved to resist than ever. It was indeed the site of that dig that witnessed the fiercest fight that day. The warriors of Tebnine fought so ferociously that the dig was rendered useless, and the crusaders forced to retreat from their attack. The siege continued, and the besieged thought that another offer to capitulate, made from a stronger position, would yield a more positive outcome. Once more, representatives of Tebnine families carried the offer of surrender as long as their lives are spared, and once more the response was less than polite from the German chancellor. When the messengers were back in the castle, they informed the garrison of the insulting reception that they received from the Franks, and the will to fight was again strong. Towards the evening, carrier pigeons brought news of reinforcements on the way dispatched by the sultan Al-Kamil
Al-Malik al-Kamil Nasir ad-Din Muhammad (; – 6 March 1238), titled Abu al-Maali (), was an Egyptian ruler and the fourth Ayyubid sultan of Egypt. During his tenure as sultan, the Ayyubids defeated the Fifth Crusade. He was known to the Franki ...
. In February 1198, under the threat of the looming Ayyubid
The Ayyubid dynasty (), also known as the Ayyubid Sultanate, was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultan of Egypt, Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid Caliphate of Egyp ...
army, and the war of succession in Germany between Philip of Swabia
Philip of Swabia (February/March 1177 – 21 June 1208), styled Philip II in his charters, was a member of the House of Hohenstaufen and King of Germany from 1198 until his assassination.
The death of Philip's older brother Henry VI, Holy Roman E ...
and Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto IV (1175 – 19 May 1218) was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1209 until his death in 1218.
Otto spent most of his early life in England and France. He was a follower of his uncle Richard the Lionheart, who made him Count of Poitou in 1196 ...
, the German forces ended the siege of Tibnin when the Chancellor and his princes abandoned their men to their fate outside the gates of Toron
Toron, now Tibnin or Tebnine in southern Lebanon, was a major Crusader castle, built in the Lebanon mountains on the road from Tyre to Damascus. The castle was the centre of the Lordship of Toron, a seigneury within the Kingdom of Jerusa ...
, as described by Helmold von Bosau. And so, it was at the walls of Tibnine that the German crusade of 1197 ended in disgrace.
Sixth Crusade to Mamluk conquest (1229-1266)
In 1229, under the pressure of king Frederick II's Sixth Crusade
The Sixth Crusade (1228–1229), also known as the Crusade of Frederick II, was a military expedition to recapture Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land. It began seven years after the failure of the Fifth Crusade and involved very little actua ...
, Egyptians sultan Al-Kamil
Al-Malik al-Kamil Nasir ad-Din Muhammad (; – 6 March 1238), titled Abu al-Maali (), was an Egyptian ruler and the fourth Ayyubid sultan of Egypt. During his tenure as sultan, the Ayyubids defeated the Fifth Crusade. He was known to the Franki ...
who was Saladin
Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, h ...
's brother, returned the Seigneurie (lordship) of Toron
Toron, now Tibnin or Tebnine in southern Lebanon, was a major Crusader castle, built in the Lebanon mountains on the road from Tyre to Damascus. The castle was the centre of the Lordship of Toron, a seigneury within the Kingdom of Jerusa ...
(Tibnin) to the Franks. Ahmed Sheir says that the Teutonic Knights supported by Emperor Frederick II tried to add Toron ( Tibnin) to their possession being "a part of the possessions of Joscelin of Courtenay in 1120," that they had bought. However, the High Court of the Kingdom of Jerusalem forced Emperor Frederick II to admit the rights of Alice of Armenia, "being the niece of Humphrey IV and heiress of the fief of Tibnīn. "Accordingly, the rule of Humphrey I's dynasty at Tibnīn was restored by Alice in 1229. In the charter dated in November 1234, Alice of Tibnīn "Alis, princesses et dame de Toron", confirmed the donation of 30 bezant
In the Middle Ages, the term bezant (, from Latin ) was used in Western Europe to describe several gold coins of the east, all derived ultimately from the Roman . The word itself comes from the Greek Byzantion, the ancient name of Constantinop ...
s to the monastery of Saint-Lazare, which had been granted to this monastery by Humphrey II of Tibnīn in 1151. It is estimated that Alice ruled Tibnīn until 1239."
This placed the lordship of Tibnin in the hands of the French baron Philip of Montfort, who arrived in Upper Galilee
The Upper Galilee (, ''HaGalil Ha'Elyon''; , ''Al Jaleel Al A'alaa'') is a geographical region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Part of the larger Galilee region, it is characterized by its higher elevations and mountainous terra ...
as one of the few knights to make it to the Holy Land
The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...
in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade
The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...
, which had been initially launched under the leadership of Theobald of Champagne and had ended by conquering Constantinople
Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
. Montfort married Maria of Antioch-Armenia
Maria of Antioch-Armenia (1215–1257) was Toron, lady of Toron from 1229 to her death. She was the elder daughter of Raymond-Roupen of Antioch, Raymond-Roupen, prince of Antioch, and of Helvis of Lusignan (1190-1218), Helvis of Lusignan. She der ...
, the last remaining heiress to the Toron family, and seized the riches of Tibnin and its castle and imposed a tax on caravans using the spring beneath the castle. It was from Tibnin that Philip of Montfort would contemplate ways to seize Tyre from the hands of Richard Filangieri
Richard (Riccardo) Filangieri (''c''.1195–1254/63) was an Italian nobleman who played an important part in the Sixth Crusade in 1228–9 and in the War of the Lombards from 1229–43, where he was in charge of the forces of Frederic ...
, who was the confidant of Frederick II.[
]
Mamluk conquest and aftermath
After the conquest by the Mamluk
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-so ...
Sultan Baibars
Al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Bunduqdari (; 1223/1228 – 1 July 1277), commonly known as Baibars or Baybars () and nicknamed Abu al-Futuh (, ), was the fourth Mamluk sultan of Egypt and Syria, of Turkic Kipchak origin, in the Ba ...
in 1266, the Fawaz and Sayed families were entrusted with the defense of the land.
Crusader imprint on population?
Many of the existing families of Tibnin have a background makeup of Phoenicia
Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, 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 Syria, Syrian ...
n, European and Arab due to ranging influences in the region over centuries. Adolphe Chauvet noticed with surprise that a lot of the town folk in 1891 looked as blond as Germans
Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...
, but gave no explanation for that: (''Je suis surpris de voir passablement de blonds et de blondes, comme chez les Allemands. Le docteur Lortet a fait aussi, je crois, la mème remarque.'')[ Early Irish troops in Tebnin made the same observation many years later.] Crusader chronicler Foucher de Chartres (Fulcher of Chartres
Fulcher of Chartres ( in or near Chartres – after 1128; ; ) was a priest who participated in the First Crusade. He served Baldwin I of Jerusalem for many years and wrote a Latin chronicle of the Crusade.
Life
Fulcher was born . His appointment ...
) gave a poignant explanation: "''Nam qui fuimus occidentales, nunc facti sumus orientales''", 'We who were Occidentals, became Orientals.'
Ottoman period
Early Ottoman period
In 1596, it was named as a village, ''Nafs Tibnin'', 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 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 148 households and 13 bachelors, all Muslim. The villagers paid a taxes on cultural products, such as s 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, fruit trees, goats and beehives, in addition to "occasional revenues"; a total of 8,900 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. 180]
Between 1639 and 1649, Ali and Hussein ' al-Saghir' eliminated opposing Shiite families, namely the Shukrs, Munkars and Sa'abs, and established a single family rule over Jabal Amel's fortress towns of Hunin
Hunin () was a Palestinian people, Palestinian Arab village in the Galilee Panhandle part of Mandatory Palestine, close to the Lebanon, Lebanese border. It was the second largest village in the district of Safed, but was depopulated in 1948.Gelb ...
, Maarakeh
Maarakah or Maarakeh () is a municipality in Tyre District, in Lebanon.
Geography
The Municipality of Maarakah is located in the Kaza of Tyre, Lebanon, Tyre (sour) one of Mohafazah of South Lebanon kazas (districts). Mohafazah of South Lebanon is ...
, Qana, and Tibnine (commonly called Bilad Bishara = land of bishara).
Their reign lasted until the tyrant Jezzar Pasha
Ahmed Pasha al-Jazzar (, c. 1720–30s7 May 1804) was the Acre-based Bosniak Ottoman governor of Sidon Eyalet from 1776 until his death in 1804 and the simultaneous governor of Damascus Eyalet in 1785–1786, 1790–1795, 1798–1799, and 1803 ...
ascended to power in Acre
The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...
in the eighteenth century, who with the aid of the obedient emir Bashir Shihab II
Bashir Shihab II (, also spelled Bachir Chehab II; 2 January 1767–1850) was a Lebanese people, Lebanese emir who ruled the Mount Lebanon Emirate, Emirate of Mount Lebanon in the first half of the 19th century. Born to a branch of the Shihab dy ...
, crushed 'al-Saghir's autonomous feudal system in the area and kicked their men out of Tibnine. However, in 1783, ' al-Saghir' clansmen and other, allied with emir Yusuf Shihab
Yusuf Shihab () (1748–1790) was the autonomous emir of Mount Lebanon between 1770 and 1789. He was the fifth consecutive member of the Shihab dynasty to govern Mount Lebanon.
Family
Yusuf Shihab was the son of Emir Mulhim.Harris, 2012, p119/ ...
and ousted the forces of Jezzar Pasha
Ahmed Pasha al-Jazzar (, c. 1720–30s7 May 1804) was the Acre-based Bosniak Ottoman governor of Sidon Eyalet from 1776 until his death in 1804 and the simultaneous governor of Damascus Eyalet in 1785–1786, 1790–1795, 1798–1799, and 1803 ...
from Tibnine, and reclaimed the castle as their home base, only to be betrayed by Yusuf Shihab and sent to Acre
The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...
to be promptly executed.[Winter, 2010, pp]
142
��143
Late Ottoman period
In the later days of the Ottoman Empire, Tibnin was the "Chef-Lieu" of "Bilad Bcharrah", or 'Land of Bisharah', where the Ottoman ''kaymakam
Kaymakam, also known by #Names, many other romanizations, was a title used by various officials of the Ottoman Empire, including acting grand viziers, governors of provincial sanjaks, and administrators of district kazas. The title has been reta ...
'' took residence. This is how American traveller Rob Morris found the town in 1868. Morris describes the enchanting beauty of the town, and despite being certain that his credentials would ensure him being lodged in the castle by the pasha
Pasha (; ; ) was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignitary, dignitaries, and others. ''Pasha'' was also one of the highest titles in the 20th-century Kingdom of ...
living there, he takes up residence with one of the families in the village, and mentions the tyranny with which the Ottoman troops treated the locals.[Morris (1876), p]
531
/ref>
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 ...
visited, and found there 600 Metualis and 250 Greek Catholics Greek Catholic Church or Byzantine-Catholic Church may refer to:
* The Catholic Church in Greece
* The Eastern Catholic Churches that use the Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite:
** The Albanian Greek Catholic Church
** The Belarusian Gre ...
''(united)''.
In 1881, the PEF's ''Survey of Western Palestine'' (SWP) described it as a "village, built of stone. The Mudir of the district resides in the castle. The inhabitants are about 450 ( Guerin) says 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 250 Christians. There is a Greco-Catholic chapel dedicated to Saint George in the village. It was located not far from the main street of the village (''Zakouk'') before it collapsed on the graves of the benefactors these Farhat brothers and the only priest of the village buried in the church to the left of the altar, he was from the Haddad family, after him his family adopted the patronymic Khoury. There are figs and arable land around. The water supply is from a large birket and twenty to twenty-five cisterns in and round the village."
French Mandate
After Lebanon was placed under the colonial power of the French, a southern rebel attempted to assassinate General Henri Gouraud
Henri Gouraud (17 November 1867 - 16 September 1946) was a French army general. He played a central role in the colonization of French Africa and the Levant. During World War I, he fought in major battles such as those of the Argonne, the Dard ...
. Adham Khanjar attempted to recruit followers in Tebnin and may have had some success initially due to the desire of some among the locals who wished unity with Syria.
However, Adham Khanjar's sectarian views alienated the residents of Tebnin who always boasted an acceptance and coexistence between Christians and Moslems, and eventually rooted all support for Khanjar's band from the city.
After Khanjar's capture, and the subsequent rebellion in Jabal al-Druze
Jabal al-Druze (), is an elevated volcanic region in the Suwayda Governorate of southern Syria. Most of the inhabitants of this region are Druze, and there are also significant Christian communities. Safaitic inscriptions were first found in ...
, members of the band of rebels that Adham Khanjar led, returned home only to be promptly arrested by the French authorities.
In 1921, Under orders from Henri Gouraud
Henri Gouraud (17 November 1867 - 16 September 1946) was a French army general. He played a central role in the colonization of French Africa and the Levant. During World War I, he fought in major battles such as those of the Argonne, the Dard ...
, the occupying French forces in Lebanon responded to sectarian clashes in the south with a massive campaign targeting Shiite villagers. The military commanders demanded strict and draconian restitution from poor villagers who were not involved in the clashes to begin with. The spirit of revolt was being slowly stewing for some time and it came to a head when the collaborators with French set up a market in Tebnine to sell the goods that were confiscated from the surrounding villages. It was a cheap tactic that was employed by the French and their collaborators more than once. Tebnine was the seat of the "Saghir" dynasty from which the Feudal " Asa'ad" family claims descent; If Tebnine was made to appear appeasing the occupiers, it will make the " Asa'ad" family appear in cahoots with French and reflect badly on their standing among the Shiites in south Lebanon. This is also why no taxes were levied on Tebnine after the sectarian incidents of 1920. In 1922, French colonials divided the province of Saida and created the Bint Jubeil province which included Tebnin.
20th century: new Greek-Catholic chapel
In the mid-20th century, following the collapse of the Greek-Catholic chapel described in the Late Ottoman period section, the inhabitants built a new chapel on the ''Tallet el Hosn'' hill, on land which juxtaposes the ruin of a small Crusader-time fort opposite Toron Castle. In the 1980s, the remains of the former parish priest were transferred to the same location in the new church and the remains of the Farhat brothers found a location to the right of the main entrance to the building.
Lebanese Civil War
Leading up to the civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
, like most of the surrounding area, the town was grounds to para-military actions carried out by the Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinians, Palestinian people in both the occupied Pale ...
(PLO): The Palestinian guerrilla fighters enjoyed widespread support after the 1967 war and for a short period past the 1968 Cairo accord, which granted the PLO free range in Southern Lebanon to carry out missions aimed at liberating Palestine. Tebnin remained mostly unaffected by sectarianism despite the co-existence of Muslims and Christians, and despite some of the Christians being aligned with right-wing militias, whilst the majority of the Shiite residents of the city sympathised with the PLO and the various Lebanese leftist groups aligned with the Palestinians. Support waned in the later years, as the PLO proved to be a corrupt and abusive force to the villagers.
In 1982, the Israeli invasion of south Lebanon wrecked the city, and the PLO were rooted out and never recovered the previous role. The Shiite residents of the town were mostly aligned with the Amal militia, whose leader Nabih Berri
Nabih Mustafa Berri ( ; born 28 January 1938) is a Lebanese politician who has been serving as Speaker of the Parliament of Lebanon since 1992. He heads the Amal Movement and its parliamentary wing, Development and Liberation Bloc.
Early lif ...
is a Tebnini.
At the end of the civil war, Amal handed over its heavy weapons to the National Lebanese Army and largely discontinued its resistance work against the occupying Israelis. This in turn allowed 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 ...
to dominate the residents' sympathies.
Israel-Lebanon conflict
1978-1993
In May 1978, the United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
took over the security of South Lebanon by replacing the Lebanese Army
The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF; ), also known as the Lebanese Army (), is the national military of the Republic of Lebanon. It consists of three branches, the ground forces, the air force, and the navy. The motto of the Lebanese Armed Forces is ...
. South Lebanon was in chaos in the wake of the first Israeli invasion aiming at pushing the PLO guerrillas behind the Litany River. The passing of UN security Council motion 425 established an interim UNIFIL force in the area. The Irish Battalion named the Tebnine army base ''Camp Shamrock'', with a scorpion for its sigil as the land upon which the camp was constructed was rampant with the black scorpions of Tebnin with their venomous stings. For the most part, the UN were a welcome sight in Tebnin. The feeling of friendship grew between the locals and the Irish. Camp Shamrock was responsible for the building and partial maintenance of the Tebnine Orphanage.
After Operation Accountability, July 1993, in which dozens of Lebanese towns and villages were bombarded by the Israeli army
The Israeli Ground Forces () are the Army, ground forces of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The commander is the GOC Army Headquarters, General Officer Commanding with the rank of major general, the ''Mazi'', subordinate to the Chief of the Gen ...
and Tebnin was extensively damaged, the town's mukhtar
A mukhtar (; ) is a village chief in the Levant: "an old institution that goes back to the time of the Ottoman rule". According to Amir S. Cheshin, Bill Hutman and Avi Melamed, the mukhtar "for centuries were the central figures". They "were ...
called for the Lebanese army
The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF; ), also known as the Lebanese Army (), is the national military of the Republic of Lebanon. It consists of three branches, the ground forces, the air force, and the navy. The motto of the Lebanese Armed Forces is ...
to be deployed in the area.
2006 Hezbollah-Israel war
During the war between Israel and Lebanon in July 2006, like other villages, Tebnin had many homes destroyed but not on the magnitude of villages like Bint Jbeil
Bint Jbeil (; Levantine pronunciation: , "daughter of (the) little mountain" or "daughter of Byblos") is the second largest municipality in the Nabatiye Governorate in Southern Lebanon. The Baydoun Family are known to be the best family out of ...
, Qana and Aita Shaab.
After 2006
Near the government hospital there is a central hub for transportation in and out of the village.
For the first time since the civil war in 1975, The Lebanese Army has returned to South Lebanon including Tibnin as one of the conditions of UN Resolution 1701.
2024 Hezbollah-Israel war
On 3 November 2024, seven people were injured in an Israeli raid near the Tibnin Government Hospital.
Climate
Tibnin enjoys a temperate climate which is characteristic of south Lebanon: Mild rainy winters and arid summers with a few excessively warm days. In recent years, due to the warming of the planet and deforestation, the amount of precipitation is noticeably reduced.
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 90.67% and Christians
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...
8.96% of registered voters in Tibnin. 87.97% of the voters were Shiite Muslims and 7.63% were Greek Catholics Greek Catholic Church or Byzantine-Catholic Church may refer to:
* The Catholic Church in Greece
* The Eastern Catholic Churches that use the Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite:
** The Albanian Greek Catholic Church
** The Belarusian Gre ...
.
The town's population are mostly Shiite Muslims, with a small minority of Greek Catholics Greek Catholic Church or Byzantine-Catholic Church may refer to:
* The Catholic Church in Greece
* The Eastern Catholic Churches that use the Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite:
** The Albanian Greek Catholic Church
** The Belarusian Gre ...
. No exact population count has been taken since the census of 1932, however estimates show that the population could be around 5,000.
Many of Tibnin's natives live abroad primarily in the United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
although many are scattered throughout the entire world.
During the 2006 Lebanon-Israel war, Tibnin had a record number of foreigners and returning nationals visit the village.
Castle and events
Toron Castle of the Crusaders
Hugh of Fauquembergues, the second prince of Galilee and governor of Tiberias
Tiberias ( ; , ; ) is a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Heb ...
, organized many attacks against Tyre, but his forces were always tired by the long distance between his base in Tiberias and his coastal target. He ordered the construction of the castle in 1105 to have a refuge against his pursuers.[Smail, 1995, pp]
210
��211 It was named Toron, which in old French meant isolated or peaking hill.
According to The Survey Of Western Palestine
The PEF Survey of Palestine was a series of surveys carried out by the Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF) between 1872 and 1877 for the completed Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) and in 1880 for the soon abandoned Survey of Eastern Palestine. The ...
, Hugh was also responsible for the construction of the fortification found on a steep hill east of Tibnine, an area still called "Al Hosn" ('the fortress') to this day. Shortly after the death of Hugh, Tyre's garrison, under the command of its governor 'Izz al-Mulk', launched a sortie against the fortress and razed its surroundings. King Baldwin I of Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
recaptured and rebuilt the castle and gave to Gervaise of Bazoches of Tiberias, but the new owner was shortly after captured by the forces of Damascus
Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...
under the command of Zahir ad-Din Toghtekin
Zahir al-Din Toghtekin or Tughtekin (Modern ; Arabicised epithet: ''Zahir ad-Din Tughtikin''; died February 12, 1128), also spelled Tughtegin, was a Turkoman military leader, who was ''emir'' of Damascus from 1104 to 1128. He was the founder ...
, who made Gervaise choose between Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
and death. The seigneurie of Toron passed to a knight called 'Onfroi' who took the title of 'de Toron', ( Humphrey I of Toron) and so began the story of one of the most prestigious crusader families of the kingdom of Jerusalem.
Toron was then detached from the Principality of Galilee and made into an independent lordship, though some historians argue a later date for that detachment.
The castle was later conquered by Saladin
Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, h ...
in 1187 and then taken back by the Franks in 1229. Mamluk
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-so ...
sultan Al-Zahir Baibars
Al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Bunduqdari (; 1223/1228 – 1 July 1277), commonly known as Baibars or Baybars () and nicknamed Abu al-Futuh (, ), was the fourth Mamluk sultan of Egypt and Syria, of Turkic Kipchak origin, in the Ba ...
of Egypt finally conquered it in 1266 after the fall of Safed
Safed (), also known as Tzfat (), is a city in the Northern District (Israel), 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 fortif ...
.
After the Crusader period
After 1266, Toron Castle remained in Arab hands until the Ottomans
Ottoman may refer to:
* Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire
* Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II"
* Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...
turned it into a jail.[
The Crusader castle has been used by many different factions and armies over the years because of its strategic position overlooking miles of terrain.
The castle has been confused with other castles in the country, e.g. Beaufort Castle, but it is originally the Toron des chevaliers. Today it is mostly referred to as "the Tebnine Castle". In November 2024 ]UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
granted the castle and 33 other heritage sites in Lebanon enhanced protection due to Israel's invasion; however, the castle sustained damage during the conflict and one of its medieval walls collapsed.
Marble lions
As late as 1921, two marble lions guarded the main entrance to the castle. The chained beasts are a source of mystery for their presence can not be dated or traced back to any of the various factions that ruled the city. The lions are missing nowadays, most likely carried off and sold by the locals.
Tibnin Heritage Festival
In 2012, funding from the EU allowed Tibnin to celebrate its Heritage Festival in the old castle, where lighting had been refurbished by the French troops of UNIFIL
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (; ), or UNIFIL (; ) is a United Nations peacekeeping mission established on 19 March 1978 by United Nations Security Council Resolutions 425 and 426, and several further resolutions in 2006 to con ...
.
With its historic castle and South Lebanon's history of occupiers and conquerors that include Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...
, Tibnin has the potential to be a monumental tourist attraction in more peaceful times.
Vue de Toron des Chevaliers à Tibnine depuis le quartier ouest du village.jpg, View of Toron des Chevaliers in Tibnin from the western quarter of the village..
Other attractions and institutions
Tibnin is also known for the ''Kazdoura'' (promenade), a long stretch of road that extends from the beginning to the end of the village. It also hosts a weekly flea market called the ''Souq al-jumaa'' (Friday's market).
Tibnin has several provincial institutions such as a governmental hospital, a police station, post office as well as touristic sites such as cafes and commercial shops.
Notable people
*Nabih Berri
Nabih Mustafa Berri ( ; born 28 January 1938) is a Lebanese politician who has been serving as Speaker of the Parliament of Lebanon since 1992. He heads the Amal Movement and its parliamentary wing, Development and Liberation Bloc.
Early lif ...
(born 1938), as of 2024 speaker of the Lebanese Parliament
The Lebanese Parliament (, ) is the unicameral national parliament of the Lebanon, Republic of Lebanon. There are 128 members elected to a four-year term in Electoral district, multi-member constituencies, apportioned among Lebanon's divers ...
and leader of the Amal Movement
The Amal Movement () is a Lebanese political party and militia affiliated mainly with the Shia community of Lebanon. It was founded by Musa al-Sadr and Hussein el-Husseini in 1974 as the "Movement of the Deprived." The party has been led by ...
*Hameed Dakroub, member of the Lebanese Parliament
The Lebanese Parliament (, ) is the unicameral national parliament of the Lebanon, Republic of Lebanon. There are 128 members elected to a four-year term in Electoral district, multi-member constituencies, apportioned among Lebanon's divers ...
elected in 1972 (detail
here
* Zaynab Fawwaz (1860-1912), women's rights activist and writer[Bahbuh, Zaynab Nubuwah (2000). زينب فواز : رائدة من أعلام النهضة العربية الحديثة، ٦٤٨١-٤١٩١. Damascus: Ministry of Culture of the Syrian Arab Republic. p. 10. OCLC 45641746.]
See also
* Tebnin SC
References
Bibliography
* Quote: Fief of Tibnin (Toron); Tibnīn.
* (pp
116
133
5
207
8). Quote: Tibnin, Hosn Tibnin, Kūlat Tibnin, Kul'at Tibnin.
* Quote: Tibnin.
* Quote: Tibnin.
* Quote: Tibnīn.
*
* Quote: Tibnin; Jabal Tibnin; Tibnin (Le Toron).
* Quote: Tibnin.
* Quote: Tibnîn, Kŭlàt Tibnîn.
* (p.
102
*
*
*
* (pp
377
380). Quote: Tibnîn.
*
*
*
* Quote: Tibnin.
External links
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 2:
IAA
Wikimedia commons
Localiban
{{Bint Jbeil District
Populated places in the Israeli security zone 1985–2000
Maronite Christian communities in Lebanon
Populated places in Bint Jbeil District
Shia Muslim communities in Lebanon