Borj Rahal | |
Native Name: | برج رحال |
Settlement Type: | Town |
Pushpin Map: | Lebanon |
Subdivision Type: | Country |
Subdivision Name: | Lebanon |
Subdivision Type1: | Governorate |
Subdivision Name1: | South Governorate |
Subdivision Type2: | District |
Subdivision Name2: | Tyre |
Unit Pref: | Imperial |
Population As Of: | 2015 |
Population Footnotes: | [1] |
Population Total: | 2625 |
Timezone: | GMT +3 |
Coordinates: | 33.3097°N 35.2825°W |
Grid Position: | 107/153 L |
Borj Rahal (Arabic: برج رحال ) is a town in the Tyre District in South Lebanon.
According to E. H. Palmer in 1881, the name Burj Rahhal means "the traveller’s tower".[2]
In the 1860s, Ernest Renan found here seven singular constructions in a row, three being open, the rest closed. He was also informed that to the north-east of these, there were seven more hidden under grounds. The locals call them the Tombs of the Tyrian Kings, Kubur el Moluk.[3]
In 1875, Victor Guérin found here a village with 400 Metawileh inhabitants.[4] "Here are seen good cut stones lying here and there, taken from an ancient fort."[5]
He further noted: "Ten minutes to the west of the village I observed three good subterranean magazines contiguous and parallel. Partly cut in the rock and partly constructed of cut stones, they measure ten metres in length by a breadth not greater than a metre and a half. They are covered within by a stony cement, in which are inserted fragments of pottery, and arc surmounted by great inclined slabs forming a triangular roof. These are covered over by a layer of earth, so as to form a platform. Several other similar caves are adjoining them, but they are at the present moment closed. Formerly they probably served as oil and wine- cellars, or stores for corn. The place is called Kh. Mahatma."[5]
In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it as: "A large village built of stone, containing 150 Metawileh, on a ridge, surrounded by figs, olives, and arable land. There is a good spring and well near."[6] They further noted: "A few more minutes to the west, Guérin found a ruin called Kh. Kerry el Meserta, where he observed the uprights of grooved oil-presses, broken sarcophagi, mill stones, numerous little cubes of mosaic scattered about, and a great cistern extending under a platform. At twenty minutes' march west-south-west of El Meserta, he observed a hillock with the remains of a ruined village called Kh. Halua. Not far from this place, to the east-north-east, he found a platform surrounded by a wall of large stones, having a great cistern hollowed in the middle. It is called Bir el Mellaha."[7]
. Victor Guérin. Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine. 3: Galilee, pt. 2. 1880. L'Imprimerie Nationale. Paris. French.
. Edward Henry Palmer. 1881. The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
. Ernest Renan. Mission de Phénicie. 1864. Imprimerie impériale . Paris. French.