Ain-Ebel

Ain Ebel, present & past - Economical issues (Arabic)

The location:

Ain-Ebel is located on the far end of South Lebanon 10 km from the borders with Israel and about 30km East of the Mediterranean Sea shore.

Ain-Ebel is part of what was known as "Bled Bchara" and in the beginning of the 20th century it was called "the Paris of Bled Bchara".

The name "Bled Bchara" is as old as the first days of Christianity and it means "the land of the annunciation". Some historians like to refer to as the first safe heaven for Jesus' Apostles. This same part of South Lebanon had different names in history it was the hinterland of Tyre the Great Sour of the Phoenicians, it was the "land of Ashtar" which was the female god for the Kanenean, "the Galilee of the Nations" as referred to in the Bible, it was part of what is named actually as "Jabal Amel".

The name:

Ain comes from "Ohn" the god of fertility for the Amory people who lived in the Lebanese mountains and were the shepherds of the mountains in opposition to the Kaneneans who cultivated the land and lived in the valley and the plains. Their god "Ohn" is the one who gives the water from the heart of the land (the fountain) and is different from "Baal" the Kanenean god of fertility who gives the water from the sky (the rain), that's why we call the fountain in our language "Ain".

Ebel comes from Abel the son of Adam in the Judeo-Aramaic mythology who was a shepherd him self and the symbol (god) of  the shepherds.

The surrounding area of Ain-Ebel is full of historic names and signs or remains as old as the civilization it self.

The new Ain-Ebel:

The new Ain-Ebel that we know now was built on the remains of the old "Kherbet Ain-Ebel" at the end of the 16th century around 1594 by Christian immigrants coming from North Lebanon.

The main families of Ain-Ebel have been settled in during the 17th century. First Ain-Ebel was an agricultural society, the new immigrants were expert in growing and maintaining the land and the trees. The area were they first settle was deserted since the time of the Mamlouk 200 years ago and "Mazraet Ain-Ebel" was one of the first settlements in that region.

The first priest: 

The importance of the first priest of Ain-Ebel (Abdel Massih Ettawil) is that he was one of the first graduate from the famous Maronite School of Rome (Italy) and that he wrote his biography in the introduction of the first ever printed (Shhimy) (the Maronite book of prayers) in Rome with a Syriac character where he mentioned that he became the first priest of Ain-Ebel on 1630 and stayed there until 1645 the year the new Patriarch "Yousseph el Akoury" sent him to Rome were he asked the Pope the permission to print the book.

( to be continued )