Category: ANJAR

ANJAR, LEBANON: “HAOUSH MOUSA”

Published on by jacquelinemhadelLeave a comment

Anjar (Arabic: عنجر‎ / ALA-LC: ‘Anjar; Armenian: Անճար, meaning “unresolved or running river”), also known as Haoush Mousa (Arabic: حوش موسى‎ / Ḥawsh Mūsá), is a town of Lebanon located in the Bekaa Valley. The population is 2,400, consisting almost entirely of Armenians.(wiki)

ImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImage

The town’s establishment is normally attributed to the Umayyadcaliphal-Walid I at the beginning of the 8th century as a palace-city. However, historian Jere L. Bacharach claims it was al-Walid’s son, Al-Abbas, who was responsible for Anjar’s founding circa 714 CE. He cites the Byzantine Greek chronicler Theofanes the Confessor who recorded that al-Abbas built the town. The actual construction was undertaken by laborers from Anatolia and Coptic artisans from Egypt.[2]

After being abandoned in later years, Anjar was resettled in 1939 with several thousand Armenian refugees from the Musa Dagh area of Turkey. Its neighborhoods are named after the six villages of Musa Dagh: Haji Hababli, Kabusia, Vakif, Khodr Bek, Yoghun Oluk and Bitias. The Syrian Army chose it as one of its main military bases in the Beqaa Valley and the headquarters of its intelligence services. (wiki)

31JUL13. Anjar, Lebanon.