Zgharta Zawie Online Magazine

Zawieh Caza - Zgharta

Zgharta - Zawie Online Magazine

Karmsaddeh - Qarheen

Karmsaddeh, whose name means the land of herbs, is an old village situated at an altitude of 650 m. Many archeological remains more than 2000 years have been found in its outskirts.

Qarheen is a deserted village situated in the circumscription of Karmsaddeh. It contains many archeological remains which prove that it has been inhabited since early times, mainly by Maronites as shown by the inscription on a copper vase found in the monastery of St. Antonios Qozhaya. According to this inscription, the vase was offered to the monastery by Father Gerges, parish priest of Qarheen, in 1000 A.D.

It is probable that the inhabitants of Qarheen fled it in the 13^th century when the Mamluks attacked Gebbet Besharreh. In Qarheen, there are still remains of three old churches dedicated to St. George, St. Rouhana and the Virgin Mary. Near the ruined church of St. George, the inhabitants of Karmsaddeh built a small church in which they celebrate the feast of St. George on the 23^rd of April.

Demography:In the 16^th century, Karmsaddeh counted 32 adult Christian males. In 1849, there were 146 males in Karmsaddeh living in 28 houses. In 1906 it counted 250 adult males and in the Lebanese census of 1932 it counted 68 houses. In 1998 it counted 1255 registered persons, many are emigrants and some of these emigrants left the country and didn't report back, their names are still on the official records. (List of these emigrants below right in yellow)

The graph below shows the evolution of the number of regidtered persons in the official records. In the last decade this number dropped down mainly because of the removal in 1998 of many registers relevant to emigrants that were born before 1898.

Administration: The first municipality dates of the year 1966and was formed of the following members: President: Khalil Al-Khoury, Members: Antoine Toubia, Joseph Khoury, Nabih Sassine, Elvira Lattouf, Edmond Abboud, George Antoun.

In 1998, a municipal council elections took place. Of the 14 candidates, 9 were elected and the council was formed of the foolowing members: Salim Boutros Khoury (President), Mansour Mansour (Vice President), Joseph Ibrahim, George Jabbour, Youssef Sassine, Hanna Souki, Emile Elias, Najib Jabbour, Salim Jabbour.

The elected Mukhtar: Antonios Ne'emtallah Souki.

Education: Two schools were inaugurated in Karmsaddeh by the mid 19^th century: the village school and the Archdiocese school (Mar Yaacoub). In the first one (and more ancient) teaching was done by priests (Mikhaiil Semann, Youssef Abboud, Mikhaiil Al-Shami, Gerges Toubia…) and some civilian teachers (Gerges Lattouf, Najib Antoun, Antonios Germanos, Gerges Sarkis). During the French Mendate, the school had the following teachers: Shehadeh Khoury Hanna, Albert Sahyoun from Kfarfou, Hanna Gerges Ibrahim…

The Archdiocese school (Mar Yaacoub), founded in 1885, became famous in Lebanon. Some of the scholars and politicians were graduated from this school. The annual tuition fee was 1200 Turkish piasters. In the early 20^th century, bishop Arida (later elected Patriatch) turned it into a clerical school. In 1919, Father Gibraiil Sereeli was appointed the Principal till 1925 when he was replaced by Father Antoun Abed till 1933. Antoun Abed, now Archbishop of Tripoli appointed Father George Younis from Hmeis as Principal.

The names below are for emigrants, born after 1898, that left the country in the first half of the 20th century and didn't report back In the first column are the numbers of official citizens records.

Record

Numb.

100

101

103

104

106

107

109

112

113

114

115

Name

Badra

Boutros

Antoine

Malakeh

Michel

Abdelmasih

Michel

Catherine

Sonia

Elisabeth

Antoine

Hanneh

Yaacoub

Filomene

Emelyne

Saiid

Hileneh

Jirji

Genevieve

Boutros

Hanneh

Laeticia

John

Emilia

Joseph

Gerges

Antoun

Layla

Mouna

Mary

Nawal

Elias

Saydeh

Layla

Noura

Jean

Micheline

Youssef

Sarah

Angelina

Nohra

Habib

Mantoura

Afif

Marzouka

Josephine

Hanneh

Wardh

Yashou'

Ne'emtallah

America

Hanna

Najla

Mikhaiil

Najibeh

Hanneh

Maria

Jamileh

Catherine

Zmorrod

Diab

Seisbane

Hanneh

Aziz

Youssef

Genevieve

Amineh

Antoun

Jeann d'Arc

Mary

Yvonne

Layla

Michel

Marcel

Lucien

Daniel

Lina

Lucien

Patrick

Jean

Rose

Mary Liliane

Jirji

Hanna

Sarkis

Shehab

Alice

Badi'a

Hanna

Antoun

Zarifeh

Genevieve

Juan Antonio

Angel Alberto

Lucia Theresa

Maria Agnes

Juan Antonio

Maria Theresa

Antonio Adolfo

Lucia

Hanneh

Foley

Asia

Tannous

Youssef

Andre

Martha

Daoud

Boulos

Mary

Victoria

Jenny

Jamil

Robert

Hanna

Hileneh

Lattouf Jamil

Gerges

Hanneh

Youssef

Gerges

Father's Name

Jirji

Elias

Hanna

Bakhos

Youssef

Rashid

Elias

Boulos

Boutros

Boulos

Roufa'il

Boulos

Hanna

Youssef

Hanna

Alphonse

Elias

Yaacoub

Barbar

Hanna

Boutros

Hamad

Shaibane

Elias

Assaf

Albert

Bakhos

Ibrahim

Youssef

Habib

Narsis

Habib

Daniel

Mikhaiil

Joseph

Jean

Tannous

Boutros

Tannous

Boutros

Tannous

Jirji

Hanna

Massoud

Antonios

Angel Alberto

Juan Antonio

Angel Alberto

Juan Antonio

Nasim

Tannous

Hanna

Mikhaiil

Youssef

Farah

Mikhaiil

Hanna Mikhaiil

Louis

Tannous

Hanna

Marshal

Family

Toubiah

Abboud

Toubiah

Sukar

Toubiah

Khanjian

Toubiah

Nouhra

Toubiah

Odolafe

Toubiah

Beshara

Lattouf

Sassine

Antoun

Youssef

Mer'eb

Toubiah

Harrouk

Mer'eb

Manoukian

Mer'eb

Lattouf

Nahhas

Lattouf

Sarkis

Saba

Abi Sarkis

Dib

Jabbour

Khoury

Jabbour

Akkari

Abboud

Tannous

Abboud

Antoun

Sarkis

Lucy

Abboud

Gerges

Khoury

Jabbour

Lucy

Lattouf

Date of Birth

1910

1911

1914

1918

1920

1906

1908

1909

1911

1914

1922

1905

1907

1913

1916

1918

1920

1922

1924

1898

1915

1925

1928

1930

1933

1937

1939

1942

1944

1946

1947

1948

1951

1953

1954

1955

1960

1914

1916

1917

1919

1921

1923

1925

1927

1929

1931

1917

1919

1921

1922

1924

1926

1928

1930

1931

1904

1918

1925

1907

1911

1909

1911

1913

1915

1911

1929

1957

1910

1918

1927

1931

1936

1939

1943

1948

1949

1974

1911

1934

1961

1921

1934

1912

1914

1927

1920

1926

1948

1957

1924

1933

1936

1960

1961

1962

1965

1966

1907

1918

1907

1937

1898

1911

1914

1916

1920

1921

1926

1907

1918

1911

1899

1909

1906