View source for Hermel

{{Other uses|Hermel, Syria}}
{{Infobox settlement
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|official_name          = Hermel
|other_name             =
|native_name            =الهرمل <!-- for cities whose native name is not in English -->
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|subdivision_name       = {{Flag|Lebanon}}
|subdivision_type1      = [[Governorates of Lebanon|Governorate]]
|subdivision_name1      = [[Baalbek-Hermel Governorate]]
|subdivision_type2      = [[Districts of Lebanon|District]]
|subdivision_name2      = [[Hermel District]]
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|population_total               = 22250<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.localiban.org/spip.php?article3698|title=Hermel|website=Localiban|access-date=2016-08-11|archive-date=2017-09-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909143852/http://www.localiban.org/spip.php?article3698|url-status=dead}}</ref>
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|coordinates            = {{coord|34|23|29|N|36|23|45|E|region:LB|display=inline,title}}
|elevation_footnotes    =  <!--for references: use <ref> </ref> tags-->
|elevation_m            = 780
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[[File:Shepherd Neolithic flint tools.jpg|thumb| [[File:Hermel Pyramid.jpg|thumb|150x150px]]Shepherd Neolithic flint tools discovered at Kamouh el Hermel. 1. End scraper on a flake. 2. Transverse scraper and awl on a thin flake. 3. Borer on a flake blade. 4. Burin with a wide working edge on a heavy flake. All in matt brown flint.]]
'''Hermel''' ({{langx|ar|الهرمل}}) is a town in [[Baalbek-Hermel Governorate]], [[Lebanon]]. It is the capital of [[Hermel District]]. Hermel is home to a Lebanese [[Red Cross]] First Aid Center.<ref>[http://www.dm.net.lb/redcross/our_centers.html Our Centers<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060212084701/http://www.dm.net.lb/redcross/our_centers.html |date=2006-02-12 }}</ref> Hermel's inhabitants are predominantly [[Lebanese Shia Muslims|Shia Muslim]]s.<ref>{{Citation|title=Car bomb blasts Lebanese town near Syria border|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/16/car-bomb-blasts-lebanese-town-hermel-syria|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=2014-01-16}}</ref>
There is an ancient [[pyramid]] known as [[Kamouh el Hermel]] (Pyramid or Needle of Hermel) located about {{convert|6|km|mi}} south of the town that is a popular attraction for local tourists.<ref name="Doyle2012">{{cite book|author=Paul Doyle|title=Lebanon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tzsRk0hvb_MC&pg=PA215|access-date=26 September 2012|date=1 March 2012|publisher=Bradt Travel Guides|isbn=978-1-84162-370-2|pages=215–}}</ref>
==History==
In 1519 and 1545, the town was under the administration of the ''[[nahiyah]]'' ("subdistrict") of ''Manasef'', and [[Defter|tax records]] indicate it had 50 households, all Muslims. The town's population swelled after the  Hamade family and their associated Shia clans left [[Mount Lebanon]] to settle in Hermel and its surroundings, which were already part of the Hamade's [[iltizam|tax-concessions]] since 1668.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Winter |first1=Stefan |title=The Shiites of Lebanon under Ottoman Rule, 1516–1788 |date=11 March 2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781139486811 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KGeuAeFFJCEC}}</ref>
==Archaeology==
===Hermel plains===
The Hermel plains are an area of low hills around Hermel, through which runs the [[Orontes river|Orontes]] river and several [[wadi]]s, which drain into the [[Homs]] basin. The area dominates the north of the [[Beqaa Valley]] and reaches north to the border with [[Syria]].  A [[curious]] and unpublished [[archaeological industry]] exists from finds of stone tools in this area.  It consists of generally small tools whose typology is limited. It was termed the [[Shepherd Neolithic]] industry by [[Henri Fleisch]].<ref name="CopelandWescombe1965">{{cite book|author1=Lorraine Copeland|author1-link= Lorraine Copeland|author2=P. Wescombe|author2-link= Peter Wescombe|title=Inventory of Stone-Age sites in Lebanon, p. 43 & 45|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6YsRRwAACAAJ|access-date=21 July 2011|year=1965|publisher=Imprimerie Catholique}}{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
===Hermel I (Mrah Abbas)===
Hermel I or Mrah Abbas was discovered by Shiat Ali el Karar w beit hmede and is {{convert|5|km|mi}} north northeast of Hermel, {{convert|1|km|mi}} before reaching [[Mrah Abbas]], next to the road. It is located on an uncultivated sloping plain leading down {{convert|2|km|mi}} from the [[Orontes river|Orontes]]. The garden revealed the remains of ten [[dolmen]]s, most of which were built on a larger foundation than the covered chamber. Some were perhaps not covered by [[tumuli]] and a few were evidently not built to have cap-stones on top.<ref name="CopelandWescombe1966">{{cite book|author1=L. Copeland|author2=P. Wescombe|title=Inventory of Stone-Age Sites in Lebanon: North, South and East-Central Lebanon, p. 32-33|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qhPRQwAACAAJ|access-date=3 March 2011|year=1966|publisher=Impr. Catholique}}</ref>
===Hermel II (Jisr el Aassi)===
Hermel II or Jisr el Aassi is {{convert|2|km|mi}} east of Hermel I near the gorge through which the Orontes river flows. It was found by P. Billaux and mentioned by Maurice Tallon in 1958 who made a lengthy description of the largest tumulus in 1959.<ref name="Tallon"/> The [[Lithic technology|lithic]] industry at the site was discussed by [[Henri Fleisch]] in 1966.<ref>Fleisch, Henri.  Notes de Préhistoire Libanaise: 1) Ard es Saoude. 2) La Bekaa Nord. 3) Un polissoir en plein air. BSPF, vol. 63, 1966.</ref> Several dolmens were found around the village of [[Choueighir]], around {{convert|1|km|mi}} north of the bridge over the Orontes, in and around the village extending about {{convert|2|km|mi}} to the north along the track next to the river. Some of the dolmen are inclined inwards forming a [[pyramid]] shape. There is a large tumulus north of the village that is composed of massive blocks where [[pottery]] was found and dated to the [[Early Bronze Age]] III by Tallon.<ref name="Tallon"/> Henri Fleisch found a collection of [[Shepherd Neolithic]] flints around these dolmen.<ref name="CopelandWescombe1966"/>
===Hermel III (Choueighir)===
Hermel III or Choueighir is a village on the left (western) bank of the Orontes and an archaeological site was found by P. Billaux {{convert|2|km|mi}} to the north of it. [[Flint]] material was described to be of the Shepherd Neolithic type and similar to that of [[Maakne]] and [[el Qaa]] by Henri Fleisch in 1966, it is held in the [[Museum of Lebanese Prehistory]].<ref name="CopelandWescombe1966"/>
===Hermel IV (Wadi el Joz)===
Hermel IV or Wadi el Joz is a collection of [[megalith]]s that are {{convert|1.5|km|mi}} east of [[Hermel Attika]], southeast of Hermel on dry terraces that slope towards the channel of the Orontes. It was found by Mohammed Hamadé, surveyed by P. Billaux and published by Maurice Tallon in 1959.<ref name="Tallon">Tallon, Maurice., Tumulus et Mégalithes du Hermel et de la Beqa Nord. MUSJ, vol. 31, fasc. 3, p. 91, 1959.</ref> A number of tumuli were discovered in this area which covered chambers on rectangular foundation platforms. They were usually orientated east to west with some remnants of walls constructed of megalithic stones. Maurice Tallon made collections of flint and pottery from the area dating to various periods. These included an incised [[sherd]] and a [[tang (tools)|tanged]] scraper from the very earliest [[Neolithic]] times, an Early Bronze Age flat scraper along with later [[Middle Bronze Age]] and [[Iron Age]] material.<ref name="CopelandWescombe1966"/>
==References==
{{Portal|Lebanon|History|Asia}}
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{Archaeological sites in Lebanon}}
{{Shepherd Neolithic sites}}
{{Middle Eastern megaliths}}
{{Hermel District}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Lebanon]]
[[Category:Archaeological type sites]]
[[Category:Beqaa Valley]]
[[Category:Great Rift Valley]]
[[Category:Megalithic monuments in the Middle East]]
[[Category:Populated places in Hermel District]]
[[Category:Shepherd Neolithic sites]]
[[Category:Shia Muslim communities in Lebanon]]