Chihine Explained

Chihine
Other Name:Shihin
Native Name:شيحين
Native Name Lang:ar
Pushpin Map:Lebanon
Pushpin Map Alt:Map showing the location of Chihine within Lebanon
Pushpin Map Caption:Location within Lebanon
Coordinates:33.1261°N 35.2561°W
Grid Position:174/281 PAL
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:
Subdivision Type1:Governorate
Subdivision Name1:South Lebanon Governorate
Subdivision Type2:District
Subdivision Name2:Tyre District
Elevation M:480
Population Density Km2:auto
Timezone1:EET
Utc Offset1:+2
Timezone1 Dst:EEST
Utc Offset1 Dst:+3
Postal Code Type:Postal code
Area Code Type:Dialing code
Area Code:+9617

Chihine (Arabic: شيحين) is a municipality in Southern Lebanon, located in Tyre District, Governorate of South Lebanon.

Name

According to E. H. Palmer, the name comes from a personal name.[1]

History

In 1875 Victor Guérin found here 200 Metawileh inhabitants.[2] He also noted: "that the hill on which the village stands is surrounded by an enclosure constructed of great blocks regularly cut and of varying dimensions. Here and there are standing, unbroken, pieces of this thick wall. On the highest point of the hill may be remarked the remains of a fortress built with stones of the same dressing, the interior of which has been transformed into private houses, themselves half demolished. Near here the site of an ancient tower is still to be made out. Here are also broken sarcophagi, cisterns, a press cut in the rock, and a great basin to hold rain-water."[3]

In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it: "A stone and mud village, containing 150 Metawileh, with traces of ruins [..], situated on ridge of hills, with figs, olives and arable land. Here is a large birket and twelve cisterns for water."[4]

They further noted: "Some large well-dressed stones and foundations of ancient buildings ; one column and broken sculptured stone ; probably an ancient place of importance."[5]

During Operation Accountability, July 1993, Chihine was one of the villages devastated by Israeli artillery. On 19 August, nineteen days after the cease fire was established, eight Israeli soldiers were killed in a Hizbollah ambush close to the village.[6]

Bibliography

. 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.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Palmer, 1881, p. 54
  2. Guérin, 1880, p. 130
  3. Guérin, 1880, p. 130; as cited in Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 192
  4. Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 151
  5. Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 192
  6. Middle East International No 457, 28 August 1993, Publishers Lord Mayhew, Dennis Walters MP; Editor Michael Adams; Gerald Butt pp.4-5