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Shaqra, Bint Jbeil

Coordinates: 33°11′30″N 35°27′46″E / 33.19167°N 35.46278°E / 33.19167; 35.46278
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Shaqra
شقرا
Village
Shaqra in winter
Shaqra in winter
Map showing the location of Shaqra within Lebanon
Map showing the location of Shaqra within Lebanon
Shaqra
Location within Lebanon
Coordinates: 33°11′30″N 35°27′46″E / 33.19167°N 35.46278°E / 33.19167; 35.46278
Grid position193/288 PAL (village)
198/289 PAL (castle)
Country Lebanon
GovernorateNabatieh
DistrictBint Jbeil
Government
 • mukhtarSubhi Haidar khalaf
Elevation
[1]
620 m (2,030 ft)
Population
[2]
 • Total12,000
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)
Dialing code(+961) 07
Websitehttp://chaqradubay.org/

Shaqra (also spelt Chaqra, Chakra or even Chacra[3] in French spellings; Arabic: شقرا [ALA-LC: Shaqrā]), officially Chaqra and Doubay (Arabic: شقرا ودوبيه Shaqra wa Dubay), is a local authority in southern Lebanon, 116 km from Beirut; located in the Bint Jbeil District.[1] It consists of two parts: the village Chaqra; while Doubay (or Qal'at ad-Dubba), located about 4 km west of the village, is a castle dating at least to the Crusader era. Shaqra's inhabitants are called the Shaqrawis (French spelling: Chaqraouis).

Geography

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The town is bounded to the northeast by Houla, to the east by Mais al-Jabal, to the southeast by Muhaibib, to the north by Majdel Selem, to the west by Safad El Battikh and Baraashit. It is located 6.8 km from the Golan Heights and the southern border of Lebanon.

Transport

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To get there, you have to take the national 3 which goes from Beirut to Tyre, then the road to Bint-Jbeil.

Demographics

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In 2014 Muslims made up 99,61% of registered voters in Shaqra. 98,57% of the voters were Shiite Muslims.[4]

There are 6,000 inhabitants in winter and more than double in summer.

Naming

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  • Shaqra: means blonde.[5]
  • Kulat ed Dubbeh: means "The bear's castle".[6]

History

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Shaqra

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In 1596, it was named as a village, Saqra, in the Ottoman nahiya (subdistrict) of Tibnin under the Liwa Safad. It had a population of 58 households and 3 bachelors, all Muslim. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on agricultural products, such as wheat (6,760 akçe), barley (560 akçe), olive trees (1,500 akçe), goats and beehives (520 akçe), in addition to occasional revenues (300 akçe); an olive oil press/press for grape syrup (12 akçe), a water mill (60 akçe); a total of 9,712 akçe.[7][8]

In 1875 Victor Guérin noted: "This village is located on a plateau growing with wheat, or dotted with olive trees. It has 300 inhabitants, all Métu'alis. The mosque, facing from west to east, seems to have replaced an old church, from which it borrowed a number of beautiful ashlars []. Two (artificial) pools, now very poorly maintained, and a dozen cisterns also attest to the existence in this place of a village prior to the Arab invasion".[9]

12th century Greek inscription in Shaqra, copied by Kitchener.[10][11]

In 1877, H.H. Kitchener visited the area. After describing the castle, he continues: "To the west of the castle is the village of Shakra, where I obtained a copy of an inscription. The sheikh of the village was extremely rude, and threw stones against the inscription when I attempted to copy it. I therefore left without doing so, and reported the matter to the governor, who immediately put the sheikh in prison. The next time I went to the village there was no opposition to my copying the inscription, I therefore had the sheikh set at liberty."[12]

In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described the village (which it called Shakra) as being "built of stone, containing about 200 Metawileh, on high-level plain, surrounded by olives and arable land; there is a mosque in the village; two birkets and several cisterns give the water supply."[13] They further added that there were: "Several ruined modern buildings and remains of ancient ruins; several lintels and cisterns; Greek inscription on capital of column built into wall of modern house to the south-west of the mosque: [ ] There probably once stood an early Christian church here."[10]

Doubay or Qal'at ad-Dubba

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Plan of castle[14] Note the room with a semi-circular end, facing the main court-yard. Enlart took this to be a Crusader chapel. Due to the orientation Pringle disagreed, instead thinking it was post-Crusaders.[15]
Castle of Chaqra and Doubiye

The castle of Shaqra and Doubiye, also called Qalaat Doubal, Kulat ed Dubbeh, and Qal'at Ad-Dubba,[16] is located in a valley about 4 km East of Chaqra.

According to Pringle, "Although largely rebuilt in Mamluk or Ottoman times, it incorporates a tower (8.5 by 10,3 m) and other structures which betray a Frankish origin,"[17]

In 1875 Victor Guérin noted "the remains of a small fortress of Muslim work and called Kala't Doubey. Surrounded by a moat now half filled and planted with tobacco, it was built with fairly coarsely carved blocks. Several of the square towers that flank it are still inhabited at this time by some families of Métualis, who settled in the middle of its ruins and contain their herds.[18]

In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described the castle (which it called Kulat ed Dubbeh):

There are here the foundations of a Crusading castle, on which a Saracenic tower has been erected. The castle was of small size, and surrounded by a moat. Situated on a steep and narrow spur running into the great Wady Selukieh, it protected the northern road that led up that valley, and also made a connecting link between Hunin and Tibnin. It was probably built at the same time as the latter fortress by Hugues de Saint Omer, Prince of Tiberias, about the year 1104 A.D. The special plan gives the general plan and arrangements of the castle, which was rebuilt by the Saracens to act both as a khan and a castle. The masonry is small but good and regular, the arches are all pointed, and the work appears to be of the same date as the Khans at Minia and Jubb Yusef, along the Damascus road. Some large drafted stones built into the walls show the Crusading origin of the castle, and bear a striking resemblance to the remains of that date at Tibnin.

There is a rock-cut birkeh near, and between eight and ten rock-cut cisterns for water. There are also six sarcophagi cut in the rock.

The castle has a romantic and beautiful appearance, as it is not visible till quite close, on account of the high ground all round.[19]

Economy

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olive trees in Shaqra in spring

The village lives on small trade, agriculture and a strong poultry economy.

Administration

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The village is administered by a mayor assisted by municipal councillors.

Shaqra is divided into two parts:

  • Shaqra as such which is the upper part and which is inhabited;
  • Doubiye, which is located in the valley, uninhabited and housing Doubiye Castle, which was built on the ruins of a Roman-era building, and said to be renamed after a French Crusade commander.

References

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  1. ^ a b Chaqra - Doubay, localiban
  2. ^ معلومات عامة عن البلدة, موقع بلدية شقرا و دوبيه
  3. ^ L'Argus de l'économie libanaise (in French). 1974. p. 18.
  4. ^ https://lub-anan.com/المحافظات/النبطية/بنت-جبيل/شقرا/المذاهب/
  5. ^ Palmer, 1881, p. 32
  6. ^ Palmer, 1881, p. 28
  7. ^ Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 179
  8. ^ Note that Rhode, 1979, p. 6 Archived 2019-04-20 at the Wayback Machine writes that the register that Hütteroth and Abdulfattah studied was not from 1595/6, but from 1548/9
  9. ^ Guérin, 1880, p. 381. "De là je me dirige vers l'est et, après avoir franchi successivement plusieurs collines que séparent des ravins plus ou moins profonds, j'arrive, à dix heures vingt-cinq minutes, à Chakra. Ce village est situé sur un plateau cultivé en blé, ou parsemé d'oliviers. Il compte 300 habitants, tous Métu'alis. La mosquée, orientée de l'ouest à l'est, semble avoir remplacé une ancienne église, dont elle a emprunté un certain nombre de belles pierres de taille et quelques futs mutilés de colonnes monolithes. Deux piscines, aujourd'hui fort mal entretenues, et une dizaine de citernes attestent également l'existence en cet endroit d'un village antérieur à l'invasion arabe."
  10. ^ a b Conder and Kitchener, 1881, p. 138
  11. ^ Conder, 1894, p.201 "At Shakra, with the Jerusalem cross, is by a deacon, in honour of Holy Procopius, and seems clearly to be of the twelfth century"
  12. ^ Kitchener, 1877, pp. 168-169
  13. ^ Conder and Kitchener, 1881, p. 90
  14. ^ Conder and Kitchener, 1881, p. 122
  15. ^ Pringle, 1998, pp.161- 162
  16. ^ Pringle, 1997, 79
  17. ^ Pringle, 1998, p. 161
  18. ^ Guérin, 1880, p. 382: "A midi quatre minutes, je parviens sur une plate-forme rocheuse longue et étroite, qui se rattache vers le sud à des hauteurs voisines, mais qui s'avance vers le nord comme une sorte de promontoire au-dessus du confluent de deux oued, l'Oued es-Selouki à l'ouest et l'Oued el-Djemal à l'est. Sur cette plate-forme je remarque une piscine et plusieurs citernes pratiquées dans le roc et, à l'extrémité septentrionale de cette espèce de promontoire, les restes d'une petite forteresse de fabrique musulmane et appelée Kala't Doubey. Entourée d'un fossé aujourd'hui à moitié comblé et planté de tabac, elle a été bâtie avec des blocs assez grossièrement taillés. Plusieurs des tours carrées qui la flanquent sont encore habitées en ce moment par quelques familles de Métualis, qui se sont installées au milieu de ses ruines et y renferment leurs troupeaux."
  19. ^ Conder and Kitchener, 1881, p. 123

Bibliography

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