Baraachit

Baraachit (Arabic: برعشيت‎), also spelt Brashit,[1] is a rural town located in the Nabatiye Governorate, in the Bint Jbeil District of southern Lebanon, ca. 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) southeast of Tibnine and about 80 kilometres (50 mi) from Beirut.[2] The village sits on an elevation of 710 metres (2,330 ft) above sea level. The town has a mixed population of Shi'a and Christians.

Baraachit

برعشيت
City
Pastoral view of Baraachit
Baraachit
Location within Lebanon
Coordinates: 33°10′34″N 35°26′36″E
Grid position191/286 PAL
Country Lebanon
GovernorateNabatieh Governorate
DistrictBint Jbeil District
Elevation
980 m (3,220 ft)
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)
Dialing code+961 (07)

History

The village once marked the northernmost extent of Jewish settlement upon their return from Babylonia in the 4th century BCE, and is mentioned in the 3rd century Mosaic of Rehob.[3][4][5] By 64 BCE, the region had come under the control of the Roman empire.[6] The area was also known since ancient times as Jabal 'Amilah, and later as Jabal 'Amil (Jabal Amel), an area that shoulders the Galilee and overlooks Palestine, with a predominant Shi'ite population.[7]

In 1596, the village ‘’Bra’sit’’ was named in the Ottoman nahiya (subdistrict) of Tibnin under the liwa' (district) of Safad, with a population of 45 households and 7 bachelors, all Muslim. The villagers paid taxes on agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, olive trees, fruit trees, goats and beehives, in addition to "occasional revenues" and a fixed sum; a total of 13,370 akçe.[8][9]

South lebanon map

In 1875, Victor Guérin visited, and found here “a cistern partly cut in the rock, and partly constructed, seems ancient.”[10] He found 400 Metawileh and 60 Greek Orthodox.[11]

In 1881, British explorers, C. R. Conder and H. H. Kitchener, surveyed parts of southern Lebanon, mentioning ten villages in the Belad Besharah region, among which is listed Ber'ashit (sic): "A large village, containing about 500 Metawileh and 200 Christians. It is situated on the side of a hill, and surrounded by figs, olives, and arable cultivation. There is a good spring and several cisterns in the village."[12]

The current Bint Jbeil province was created in 1922 by French colonials.[13]

Climate

Baraachit enjoys a temperate climate which is characteristic of south Lebanon: Mild rainy winters and arid summers with a few excessively warm days.

References
  1. A proper noun used to designate a place, according to Palmer 1881, p. 19
  2. Baraachit, Lebanon – General Facts
  3. Abel 1933, p. 309 (s.v. Meraḥseth).
  4. Frankel & Finkelstein 1983, p. 44.
  5. Klein & Hildesheimer 1965, pp. 58, 126.
  6. The World Book Encyclopedia, vol. 1, Chicago 1982, p. 151; The World Book Encyclopedia, vol. 12, Chicago 2002, p. 172; Jūrj Marʻī Ḥaddād, Baalbak, North and South Lebanon: Description, History and Tourist Guide, Damascus 1956, p. 10
  7. Carole H. Dagher, Bring Down the Walls: Lebanon's Post-War Challenge, New York 2000, p. 32 ISBN 978-0-312-29336-9
  8. Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 179
  9. Note that Rhode, 1979, p. 6 writes that the register that Hütteroth and Abdulfattah studied was not from 1595/6, but from 1548/9
  10. Guérin, 1880, p. 377, as given in Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I; p. 114
  11. Guérin, 1880, p. 377
  12. Conder and Kitchener, 1881, p.94
  13. Ahmad Rida, Memoirs of History (مذكرات للتاريخ), Dar An-Nahar: Beirut 2009, pp. 138, 179, 180, 183, 227.

Bibliography
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