Chamaa

Byzantine mosaic inside the castle

The preserved remains of a Roman-Byzantine village at the close by archaeological site of Ermet 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 the Levant (395–640), as is obvious from a mosaic which has been discovered on the top of the hill.[2]

With regard to its strategic location near the Ladder of Tyre and vis-à-vis the often-besieged metropolis of Tyre it is quite conceivable though that the hill had already hosted settlements in Hellenistic, Achaemenid-Persian, Neo-Babylonian, Neo-Assyrian, Egyptian, Early Phoenician, or even Pre-Historic ages.

It is unclear what happened to the settlement in Chamaa after the area was conquered by the bearers of Islam in 640. During the half a millennium of early Muslim rule the area was first governed by the Rashidun ruler Muawiyah, followed by the Umayyad Caliphate, the Abbasid Caliphate, the Ismaili Shia Fatimid Caliphate, and the Seljuk Empire.

The exact date of the construction of the Shamoun al-Safa shrine is unknown, but its minaret was reportedly built in the late 11th century, shortly before the arrival of the crusaders.[8]

Overlooking Tyre

In 1116, during the aftermath of the First Crusade, a Frankish army constructed a fortress over the Byzantine site in order to block access to heavily fortified Tyre,[9] 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 negotiatied surrender of Tyre by the Seljuk military leader Toghtekin.[10] The fortress of Chamaa, which was thus part of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, also became known as Scandelion Castle, named after the neighbouring coastal area of Iskandarounah which in turn was named after Alexander the Great.[9]

It is unclear whether Chamaa Castle was - like many of Tyre's buildings - damaged in the 1202 Syria earthquake and whether it remained under the control of the Lordship of Tyre, when John of Montfort entered a treaty in 1270 with Mamluk Sultan Baibars and transferred souvereignity over some villages in the coastal plain to him.[11] It is likewise unclear what happened to Chamaa Castle after the Crusaders surrendered Tyre in 1291 to the Mamluk Sultanate's army of Al-Ashraf Khalil, who had all fortifications of the city demolished to prevent the Franks from re-entrenching.[12] Like Tyre, Chamaa was subsequently governed from Acre and thus became part of Palestine,[13] but also "sank into obsurity."[14]

Ground plan, published by French scholar Louis Lortet in 1884

"Kalat Schemma" - illustration by Dutch painter Charles William Meredith van de Velde, who travelled the region in 1851

Although the Ottoman Empire conquered the Levant in 1516, Jabal Amel (modern-day South Lebanon) remained mostly untouched until the end of the 16th century. In the 1596 tax-records it was named as a village, Sam'a, in the Ottoman nahiya (subdistrict) of Tibnin under Liwa of Safad, with a population of 21 households, all Muslim. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, fruit trees, goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues; a total of 1,920 akçe.[15][16]

When the Ottoman leadership at the Sublime Porte appointed the Druze leader Fakhreddine II of the Maan family to administer the area at the beginning of the 17th century,[17] the Emir encouraged many Metwali - the discriminated Shia Muslims of what is now Lebanon - to settle to the East of Tyre to secure the road to Damascus. He thus also laid the foundation of modern Chamaa demographics as a predominantly Shiite place.[18]

Illustration of the castle seen from the Northwestern side by Lortet, 1884

The Eastern side, 2019

While the French historian Ernest Renan assumed that major construction of the castle took place in the 16th century,[5] modern historiography assumes that it was not until the mid-18th century that Chamaa experienced a major revival. At that time, Sheikh Nasif al-Nassar of the Shiite [[[El Assaad Family|Ali al-Saghir]]] dynasty, which dominated Jabal Amel for altogether almost three centuries, established de-facto autonomy over the area and the castle became the property of his family.[2] During this early period, the citadel underwent extensive renovation and was used for military and residential purposes.[7] It also included an olive press, whose foundations are still visible today.[2]

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.[17] According to Arab sources, Jazzar Pasha had his senior commander Salim Pasha al-Kabir demolish Chamaa castle,[8] like many other fortifications of Al-Nassar as well.[19]

Barely a century later, in 1875, French explorer Victor Guérin noted:

"This castle, which is said to date only from Dhaher 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 semicircular towers, built, like the enclosure itself, with regular parts, but of dimensions mediocre, except for the lower course, 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 the pasha 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 the serais or chateau proper, some rooms of which are currently used as cattle stables. The divan room was adorned with several monolithic columns of gray granite, raised to some ancient monument. Near there, an oualy still standing with its white dome and its minaret is dedicated to Neby Chema'oun es-Safa. A beautiful cistern adjoins it. Some Métualis families have taken up residence in the midst of these ruins.[20]

"Kulat Shema" on the 1877 map of the PEF Survey of Palestine

A courtyard in Chamaa, illustration by Lortet

In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Kulat 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 ten cisterns for water.[21] They further noted: "A Saracenic castle, also said to have been built by Dhahr 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 French physician, botanist, zoologist and Egyptologist Louis Lortet visited Chamaa around the same time, he could not find any information about the history of the fortress,[5] and likewise it remained obscure until the violent end of the 20th century:

Plaque for an Italian project that rehabilitated the main square in order to provide better access to the shrine and the castle

During the 1982 Lebanon War with Israel and the subsequent occupation by Israel the castle of Chamaa apparently became a military base for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which were accused of wrecking the internal structures of the fort.[8] The Daily Star reported:

"In order to allow tanks in, they removed its historical main gate, which some say is now the famous gate of the Israeli coastal town of Akka."[23]

In late 1997, attacks by Amal and Hezbollah guerillas on Israeli forces and units of the collaborationist milita South Lebanon Army (SLA) in Chamaa were reported.[24] Hence, it may be argued that Chamaa Castle - like Beaufort 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 wihdrawal in 2000.

During Israel's invasion in the July 2006 Lebanon War, 21 civilians from the village of Marwahin, mostly children, were killed just outside of Chamaa in an Israeli Navy strike followed by a helicopter attack on their convoy while they were attempting to evacuate under Israeli orders.[25] UNIFIL medical teams reportedly came under fire during their rescue mission.[26]

In another assault, the citadel of Chamaa was partly destroyed, including its main tower.[7] While the shrine of Shamoun was rehabilitated with support from the Sheikhdom of Qatar, the renovation of the castle began only in 2014, funded by the Italian government.[23]

In July 2007, a French UNIFIL soldier was killed near Chamaa when an unexploded 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 the Blue Line. According to Italian military analysts, by 2015 the Italian Armed Forces deployed at their West Sector headquarters Ten. Millevoi in Chamaa a contingent of "approximately 1100 men and women, together with the contingents of other 11 nations for a total military 3500".[28]

The mayor of Chamaa municipality has been Abdel-Qader Safieddine.[7] Safieddine is also the most common name on the epitaphs of the cemetery next to the mausoleum of Shamoun Al Safa.

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  Shiite cemetery at the entrance side, most epitaphs bear the family name "Safieddine"
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  View towards the Sea with the UNIFIL base in the background
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  View towards the North
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  Info sign

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  Northwestern tower
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  Ruins of the northern flank
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  Entrance to the northwestern tower, looking North
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  Embrasures in the northwestern tower
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  The northwestern tower with the shrine's minaret (right)
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  One of the two southeastern towers
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  The two southeastern towers
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  Backside of one of the two southeastern towers
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  Embrasure in one of the two southeastern towers
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  Modern ruins inside the castle's courtyard
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  The northeastern side from below
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  The northeastern corner
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  More ruins at the northeastern side
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  Eastern side, looking southwards
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  Centre of the eastern side

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  Ruins in the northwestern part of the courtyard
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  Ruins in the northeastern part of the courtyard
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  Overgrown ruins of the southeasternmost tower
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  Embrasure in the northwestern tower