Naqoura

Naqoura (Arabic: الناقورة‎, Enn Nâqoura, Naqoura, An Nāqūrah) is a small city in southern Lebanon. Since March 23, 1978, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has been headquartered in Naqoura.

Naqoura

الناقورة
Naqoura
Location within Lebanon
Coordinates: 33°07′12″N 35°08′03″E
Grid position163/281 PAL
Country Lebanon
GovernorateSouth Governorate
DistrictTyre District
Highest elevation
60 m (200 ft)
Time zone+2
 • Summer (DST)+3

Name

According to E. H. Palmer, the name means "the horn" or "the trumpet". This name rises apparently from a misconception on the part of the Arab-speaking inhabitants, as the name, [..] Tyre means in Arabic a horn or trumpet; therefore Ras Sur (the headland or ladder of Tyre') is rendered by Nakura, the synonym for Sur. The word is also connected with [..] to peck or perforate."[1]

History
UN troops in Naqoura

In 1875, during the late Ottoman era, Victor Guérin described it: "The village stands upon a hill, on the south of which is a deep way, through which flows a spring called 'Ain Nakurah, which waters plantations of fig-trees and olives mixed with palms. The village contains 400 Metawileh. The houses are modern, but some of the materials appear ancient by their regularity and dimensions. There must, therefore, have been an older village here, the name of which was probably similar, if not identical."[2] According to Guérin, the place is associated with the historic Ladder of the Tyrians (Scala Tyriorum).[3]

In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it: "A village, built of stone, containing about 250 Moslems, situated on low hills by sea-coast. Gardens of olives, palms, pomegranates, figs, and arable land ; brushwood to the east. Two springs with plentiful supply of water."[4]

References
  1. Palmer, 1881, p. 53
  2. Guérin, 1880, pp. 169-170; as translated in Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 151
  3. Guérin (1880), pp. 167–168
  4. Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 151

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.
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