Borj Rahal

Borj Rahal (Arabic: برج رحال‎) is a village in the Tyre District in South Lebanon.

Borj Rahal

برج رحال
Village
Borj Rahal
Coordinates: 33°18′35″N 35°16′57″E
Grid position107/153 L
Country Lebanon
GovernorateSouth Governorate
DistrictTyre
Time zoneGMT +3

Name

According to E. H. Palmer in 1881, the name Burj Rahhal means "the traveller’s tower".[1]

History

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 are seven more hidden under ground. The locals call them the Tombs of the Tyrian Kings, Kubur el Moluk.[2]

In 1875, Victor Guérin found here a village with 400 Metawileh inhabitants.[3] "Here are seen good cut stones lying here and there, taken from an ancient fort."[4]

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."[4]

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."[5] 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."[6]

References
  1. Palmer, 1881, p. 4
  2. Renan, 1864, pp. 643-644; as given in Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 58
  3. Guérin, 1880, p. 248, as given in Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 48
  4. Guérin, 1880, p. 248, as given in Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 58
  5. Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 48
  6. Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 58

Bibliography
  • Conder, C.R.; Kitchener, H.H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. 1. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
  • Guérin, V. (1880). Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine (in French). 3: Galilee, pt. 2. Paris: L'Imprimerie Nationale.
  • Palmer, E.H. (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.
  • Renan, E. (1864). Mission de Phénicie (in French). Paris: Imprimerie impériale.
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