Shamaa شمع | |
|---|---|
Municipality | |
 | |
  Shamaa | |
| Coordinates:33°08′44″N35°12′29″E / 33.14556°N 35.20806°E /33.14556; 35.20806 | |
| Grid position | 169/283PAL |
| Country |  Lebanon |
| Governorate | South Governorate |
| District | Tyre District |
| Area | |
• Total | 414 ha (1,023 acres) |
| Elevation | 380 m (1,250 ft) |
| Population (2015) | |
• Total | 301 |
| [1] | |
| Time zone | EET |
Shamaa (Arabic:شمع) is avillage andmunicipality in theTyre District ofLebanon'sSouth Governorate, about 25 kilometres southeast ofTyre and some 99 kilometres south ofBeirut.[2]
It is especially known for its historical castle on astrategic hill overlooking thecoastal plain of Tyre andNaqoura.[3]
TheUnited Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) Sector Westheadquarters, led by the contingent of theItalian army, are based on a neighbouring hill.[4]
According toE. H. Palmer,Kŭlảt Shemả, means: "The castle of Shemả.Shemả means wax, but is probably connected with the nameShimeon."[5]
While the transliteration of the Arabic word forcastle of would more precisely beQala'at, it has also been spelledKalat.[6]
Shamaa is also transliterated as Chama or Shama, and - more closely to the Arabic original pronunciation - Shama'a. It draws its name from a grave in a shrine on the main hill which is attributed by local tradition toSaint Peter, known in Arabic as Shamoun al-Safa (also transliterated Chamoun or Shimon al-Safa, fromSimeon andCephas (from the AramaicKepha, or rock/stone). According to thisShia belief, Saint Peter was also anancestor to the 12th and last ShiaImam Mahdi.[7] Hence, thousands of Shiite pilgrims visit the memorial every year.[8]
Due to its strategic location near theLadder of Tyre andvis-à-vis the often-besiegedmetropolis of Tyre, it is quite conceivable that the hill had hosted settlements going far back in history, perhaps - chronologically - inprehistoric times, the EarlyPhoenician period, the time ofEgyptian rule, theNeo-Assyrian,Neo-Babylonian,Achaemenid-Persian, andHellenistic periods.
The preserved remains of a Roman-Byzantine village at the closeby archaeological site ofErmet Tell seem to support the local tradition which states that the hill was used as a mausoleum in the first century CE. Evidently, the hill was inhabited during the Byzantine rule over theLevant (395–640), as is obvious from amosaic which has been discovered on the top of the hill.[3]
It is unclear what happened to the settlement in Shamaa after the area was conquered by the bearers ofIslam in 640. During the half a millennium of earlyMuslim rule, the area was first governed by theRashiduncaliphs, then byMuawiyah and theUmayyad dynasty he founded, then by theAbbasid Caliphate, theIsmaili ShiaFatimid Caliphate, and theSeljuk Empire.
The exact date of the construction of theMaqam Shamoun Al Safa is unknown, but itsminaret was reportedly built in the late 11th century, around the 1090s, shortly before the arrival of theCrusaders.[9]
In 1116, during the aftermath of theFirst Crusade, a Frankish army built a fortress over the Byzantine site in order to block access to the heavily fortified Tyre,[10] which was the last city in the region held by Islamic rulers. It was eventually taken over by the Christian warriors in 1124, after a siege of almost six months had led to the negotiated surrender of Tyre by the Seljuk military leaderToghtekin.[11] The fortress of Shamaa, which was part of theKingdom of Jerusalem, became known asScandelion Castle, named after the neighbouring coastal area ofIskandarounah, which itself was named afterAlexander the Great.[10]
It is unclear whether Scandelion Castle was - like many of Tyre's buildings - damaged in the1202 earthquake and whether it remained under the control of theLordship of Tyre, whenJohn of Montfort entered a treaty in 1270 with Mamluk sultanBaibars and transferredsovereignty over some villages in the coastal plain to him.[12] It is likewise unclear what happened to Shamaa Castle after the Crusaders surrendered Tyre in 1291 to the Mamluk Sultanate's army ofAl-Ashraf Khalil, who had all fortifications of the city demolished to prevent the Franks from re-entrenching in the future.[13] Like Tyre, Shamaa was subsequently governed fromAcre and thus became part of Palestine,[14] but also "sank into obscurity."[15]
Although theOttoman Empire conquered theLevant in 1516,Jabal Amel (modern-daySouth Lebanon) remained mostly untouched until the end of the 16th century. In the 1596tax-records it was named as a village,Sam'a, in the Ottomannahiya (subdistrict) ofTibnin under theLiwa of Safad, with a population of 21 households, all Muslim. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on agricultural products, such aswheat,barley, fruit trees, goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues; a total of 1,920akçe.[16][17]
While the French historianErnest Renan assumed that major construction of the castle took place in the 16th century,[6] modernhistoriography assumes that it was not until the mid-18th century that Shamaa experienced a major revival. At that time,SheikhNasif al-Nassar of the ShiiteAli al-Saghir dynasty, which dominated Jabal Amel for altogether almost three centuries, establishedde factoautonomy over the area and the castle became the property of his family.[3] During this early period, thecitadel underwent extensive renovation and was used for military and residential purposes.[8] It also included anolive press, whose foundations are still visible today.[3]
This boom period ended, however, already after three decades in 1781, when al-Nassar was killed in a power struggle with the Ottoman governor of Sidon,Ahmad Pasha al-Jazzar, who had the Shiite population decimated in brutal purges. Thus, the Shiite autonomy in Jabal Amel ended for a quarter century.[18] According to Arab sources, Jazzar Pasha had his senior commanderSalim Pasha al-Kabir demolish Shamaa Castle,[9] like many other fortifications of al-Nassar.[19]
Barely a century later, in 1875, FrenchexplorerVictor Guérin noted:
"This castle, which is said to date only fromDhaher el-A'mer, is currently in ruins. Built on a high plateau, from where we enjoy a very wide view, it is surrounded by an enclosure that flank from distance to distance semicirculartowers, built, like the enclosure itself, with regular parts, but of dimensions mediocre, except for the lowercourse, which, arranged in an embankment, generally consist of larger blocks of ancient appearance. The interior was divided into two parts: one to the north, where thepasha resided, and the other to the south, which contained about sixty private dwellings. These are, for the most part, half overturned. The same is true of theserais or chateau proper, some rooms of which are currently used ascattlestables. Thedivan room was adorned with several monolithiccolumns of graygranite, raised to some ancient monument. Near there, anoualy still standing with its whitedome and itsminaret is dedicated toNebyChema'oun es-Safa. A beautifulcistern adjoins it. SomeMétualis families have taken up residence in the midst of these ruins.[20]
In 1881, thePEF'sSurvey of Western Palestine (SWP) describedKulat Shema as "A modern-built castle, situated on a very high conical and conspicuous hill seen from a distance, and is occupied by about forty Moslems. The ground around is covered with brushwood, and is uncultivated. There are tencisterns for water.[21] They further noted: "ASaracenic castle, also said to have been built byDhahr el 'Amr. The walls and flanking towers are now falling to ruin. The place is occupied by about thirty Mohammedans ; it is situated on a very high conical and conspicuous hill, and was no doubt at one time a strong place."[22]
When the Frenchphysician,botanist,zoologist andEgyptologistLouis Lortet visited Shamaa around the same time, he could not find any information about the history of the fortress,[6] and likewise it remained obscure until the violent end of the 20th century.
During the1982 Lebanon War and the subsequentoccupation by Israel the castle of Chamaa apparently became a military base for theIsrael Defense Forces (IDF), which were accused of wrecking the internal structures of the fort.[9] In late 1997, attacks byAmal andHezbollahguerillas on Israeli forces and units of the pro-IsraeliSouth Lebanon Army (SLA) militia in Chamaa were reported.[23] Hence, it may be argued that Chamaa Castle, likeBeaufort Castle in Southeastern Lebanon, is one of the few medieval castles that still has had strategic importance in modern wars, at least until the Israeli withdrawal in 2000.
During Israel's invasion in the July2006 Lebanon War, 21 civilians from the village ofMarwahin, mostly children, were killed just outside of Chamaa in anIsraeli Navy strike followed by a helicopter attack on their convoy while they were attempting to evacuate under Israeli orders.[24] UNIFIL medical teams reportedly came under fire during their rescue mission.[25]
In another assault, the citadel of Chamaa was partly destroyed, including its main tower.[8] While the shrine of Shamoun was rehabilitated with support from theSheikhdom ofQatar, the renovation of the castle began only in 2014, funded by theItalian government.[26]
In July 2007, aFrench UNIFIL soldier was killed near Chamaa when anunexploded ordnance from the 2006 war blew up as he was trying to clear it.[27]
It is not clear in which year UNIFIL established the Sector West HQ in Chamaa, about 10 kilometres north of theBlue Line. According to Italian military analysts, by 2015 theItalian Armed Forces deployed at their West Sector headquartersTen. Millevoi in Chamaa a contingent of "approximately 1100 men and women, together with the contingents of other 11 nations for a total military [of] 3500".[28]
The mayor of Shamaa municipality has been Abdel-Qader Safieddine.[8] Safieddine is also the most common name on theepitaphs of the cemetery next to the mausoleum of Shamoun Al Safa.
In response toIsrael's invasion of Lebanon in 2024,UNESCO granted enhanced protection to 34 cultural properties in Lebanon including the citadel of Shamaa to safeguard againstdamage.[29][30] During the invasion, 71-year-old Israeli archaeologistZeev (Zhabo) Erlich [he] and an Israeli soldier were killed in clashes with Hezbollah fighters. Among the wounded was chief of staff of theGolani Brigade, Col.Yoav Yarom [he].[31][32][33] On December 31, 2024, the first joint Lebanese army and theUNIFIL patrol entered the town.[34]
In 2014Muslims made up 99.16% of registered voters in Shamaa. 94.97% of the voters wereShiite Muslims.[35]
{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help){{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)
