Debel, Bint Jbeil

Debel
دبل
Municipality
Map showing the location of Debel/Dbel within Lebanon
Map showing the location of Debel/Dbel within Lebanon
Debel
Location within Lebanon
Coordinates: 33°07′15″N 35°22′4″E / 33.12083°N 35.36778°E / 33.12083; 35.36778
Grid position184/280 PAL
Country Lebanon
GovernorateNabatieh
DistrictBint Jbeil
Highest elevation
650 m (2,130 ft)
Lowest elevation
560 m (1,840 ft)
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)
Dialing code+961
Not to be confused with Debaal.

Debel (also spelled Dibil, Arabic: دبل)[1] is a municipality located in the caza of Bint Jbeil in the Nabatiye Governorate in Lebanon. It is about 87 km from Beirut. [2]

Geography

Debel occupies several hills with elevation ranging from 560 to 650 meters above sea level. The main agricultural products of Debel are olives and tobacco.

History

In 1596, it was named as a village, ‘“Dibil” in the Ottoman nahiya (subdistrict) of Tibnin under the liwa' (district) of Safad, with a population of 12 households and 6 bachelors, all Christians. The villagers paid a fixed tax-rate of 25% on agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, summer crops, fruit trees, goats and beehives, in addition to "occasional revenues”; a total of 1,530 akçe.[3][4]

In 1852, Edward Robinson noted the village ("Dibl") on his travels in the region.[5]

Ernest Renan visited the area during his mission to Lebanon and described what he found in his book Mission de Phénicie (1865-1874). At Dibl he found Greek Inscriptions.[6]

In 1875, Victor Guérin visited, and described it as a village with 400 Maronite inhabitants. He also found here several inscriptions in Greek.[7] He further noted: "At this village there are some rock-cut tombs, in one of which there is an inscription. Many well-dressed stones are used, and turn up in digging. On one of these was a fragmentary inscription. Under some of the houses of the village there is a large piece of tesselated pavement of very good design. The colours are red, black, and white. There are some sarcophagi and some broken pillars. This was probably an early Christian site."[8]

In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Dibl: "A village, built of stone, containing about 500 Christians (Guerin says 400 Maronites) ; there is a Maronite chapel. It is situated on hill-side, with grapes, figs, olives, mulberries, and arable land. The water supply is from many good springs in the wady to the north-west of village, and cisterns and birket near the village."[9]

On 2 October 2024, an Israeli airstrike on the town killed three people, a couple and their son.[10] On 15 October 2024, a house in the settlement was subjected to artillery fire and an airstrike, resulting in the wounding of one girl but causing no deaths.[11]

Demographics

In 2014 Christians made up 99.59% of registered voters in Debel. 92.36% of the voters were Maronite Catholics.[12]

References

  1. ^ from a personal name, according to Palmer, 1881, p. 71
  2. ^ "Debel, Lebanon - Facts and information on Debel - Lebanon.Places-in-the-world.com". lebanon.places-in-the-world.com. Retrieved 2024-08-01.
  3. ^ Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 184
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ Robinson and Smith, 1856, p. 62
  6. ^ Renan, 1864, pp. 674-5
  7. ^ Guérin, 1880, p. 115
  8. ^ Guérin, 1880, pp. 115-116; as translated by Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, pp. 221-222
  9. ^ Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 201
  10. ^ Ward, Euan (2 October 2024). "Israel's Lebanon Invasion Leaves Christian Village Uprooted". New York Times. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  11. ^ "Nineteen Lebanese killed in Israeli airstrike". Arab News. 2024-10-15. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
  12. ^ https://lub-anan.com/المحافظات/النبطية/بنت-جبيل/دبل/المذاهب/

Bibliography