Amioun

Infobox City Lebanon
official_name = Amioun
native_name = أميون




region = North-Lebanon
district = Koura District
lat_deg = 34.3003
lat_min = 18
lat_sec = 0
lat_hem = N
lon_deg = 35.8075
lon_min = 48
lon_sec = 0
lon_hem = E
mapx = 34.3
mapy = 35.8

Amioun in _ar. أميون and other scripts of the name, are most probably transliterated from the original "Amyūn". It is the capital town of the predominantly Greek Orthodox area Koura District (i.e. χωρια, villages in Greek) in the North of Lebanon.

Name

The name is not strictly Semitic (Ammun = “the tough & firm fortress”), the Aramaic alternative ("`Am `Yuwn", the "Greek People") is also not the basic original, even though it was used in certain dialects for some time.

According to the historian Condor, this “Amia”, none other than present-day "Amioun", may be considered one of the oldest towns in the interior of Lebanon. (See Condor, "Tell El Amarna tablets", 2nd ed. London 1894).

People and Religion

Its 14,000 registered inhabitants (statistics 2006 though only a small number, around 4,000, are year-round residents are traditional followers of the Antiochian Greek Orthodox Church.

Geographical Parameters

Situated on the South-Eastern periphery of the vast Koura plain, at an altitude of 298-330m, it is 78 km far from the capital Beirut, 17 km far from the second capital Tripoli and 42 km away from the Cedars.

The town was built on two large hills along the Beirut-Cedars main highway, including approximately 1400 houses.

Amioun is covering a surface of 1137 hectares, it is the center of district El-Koura.

Geographical symbol: 32111

X-158 Y-262

Notable residents

Jacques Nasser, former Ford CEO, was born in Amioun.

Nassim Taleb, New York essayist and philosopher, has deep family roots there, and lives there part of the year.

Dr Halim Nassim Abi Chahine.

Dr George N. Atiyeh

History

With the advent of Christianity, the places of worship of local gods in Amioun were transformed into churches whose bells signalled the triumph of the faith - whereas "Father Lamens" in his book “The Monuments of Lebanon”, mentioned a number of towns, “Amia” is one (p.76).
* Saint George Cathedral: erected over a former temple at the highest populated spot of the town, as mentioned in a circular written by instructor of history in the official Lebanese schools Choukrallah Al-Nabbout". (Fig. 1)

* Saint John "al-sheer" church: Elevated on a rocky cliff over a number of vaults in the southeastern facade of the cliff. A Triple scene of a Crusaders church (1099-1100) panoramic over the 28 man-made crypts in the facade whose carbon-dating suggests 15000-24000 years of age. (Fig. 2 & 3)

The town of Amioun, is known being a site for the Battle of Amioun, a historical clash in 694 A.D. between the Byzantine troops, under the leadership of Murik and Murikian, and some followers of the Monothelite doctrine, as mentioned in the article below by "Chedid Al-Azar". During the 20-th century, major changes touched local population, which was based on agriculture, mainly olive, olive oil and soap production, and modify it into the highest educated society in LebanonFact|date=January 2008. This resulted in a huge percentage, almost 30%, of highly educated people, mainly in the medical domain. Now hundreds of physicians display vital positions in the motherland and abroad.

Chedid Al Azar, Researcher in historical and political studies, writes:Fact|date=January 2008

"The town of Amyun (Amioun), in the history of our land is associated with the history of the land, irrespective of the boundaries and borders amidst the historical and geographical, environment of the land."

"Needless to say that written history in general and in particular to our land did not concern itself enough to uncover such historical facts and realities which contradict. The interest and piracies of certain contemporary dominant powers and nations, when they tend to ignore and obliterate the rights of basic historical civilizations and peoples of such civilizations, existing, or in case seized to exist but only as outspoken fossils and testimonies of such civilizations."

Location & historical scene

"Our town Amyun, is located on a cliffy elongated rocky shield or fortress."Amidst a hilly plain of olive trees and vineyards, two thousand years old, a central town in the El-Koura district, south of Tripoli, on the main road from Chekka, to the main cedar forest of Lebanon. Inhabited at least as early as the 2nd millennium B.C. was a main artery of internal commerce with her eminent sister Jbeil, mainly at the time of the Canaanites domination of Egypt, for 250 years, during the middle kingdom. In the rocky cliffy shield of Amyun, several men-made caverns and wickets in the rocky cliff are still on the scene belonging undoubtedly to the Stone Age.'

Moral & spiritual image & commitments

"As a community, Amyuns demographic growth in population remained very slow in her long history. In moral perspective, classical Amyun, is known for loyalty, integrity, devotion, identity and sense of honor, with some retreat in the last hundred years, only the real natives are still classical in the sense of morality which had given much in the past to the glory and immunity of this town. Magnanimity and ardor, of the past still recalled but not verily observed through the lapsed century."

"The last memorable expression and image of the moral picture conveyed through certain vivid minds of the late nineteenth century, about civil practice and political engagement in amyun, was when the family of "Al-Azar", dominated the scene, being delegated to the management of the al koura district, since the 16th century."

"It must not be revealing to mention, that Amyun, is the site of several old churches and cathedral, the oldest being St. George Cathedral, it has even preceded Christianity as a place of worship of local gods. Another very old church hall, the St. Mauriqueaus (Maurikios) of the fourth century, of the Byzantine era, ample amounts of gold has been excavated from within that church; the last was few years before the French mandate was terminated. The third of the old church halls in addition to few minor ones, the church of St. Yuhanna (St. John), from the crusades era."

"Although we are not trying to deal in warfare, a unique battle we shall mention for the impact it has left, this is the battle of south east Amyun, in the year 694, precipitated by mountain dwellers of Maronite Christian faith, as a revenge against the army of Justenian 2 of Byzantium, for the destruction of a monastery sheltering 350, monks adherents of Marūn, in northern Syria, near Apamea (Afamiyaħ), 350 km from Amyun. The battle was fought by a group of Marūn adherents who had sought refuge formerly in the mountains facing Amyun, from the east and made a surprise attack, under the leadership of "Yuhanna Marūn", against a contingent of the Byzantine army, which was defeated and the Marūn adherents returned back to their mountainous sites, to stay in a state of isolation, which marked and stamped the history of the Maronites as dwellers of the mountains of Lebanon, by isolationism, that persisted among the mountainous adherents up to our present days and had touched their performances and deliberations in modern Lebanon.

St. Marūn’s community of being & faith, an integral segment of our historical community.

"Moreover, the adherents of Marūn, were not reluctant but vigilant to resist the Byzantine, as foreign aliens, added, to their persisting disagreement in certain Christian beliefs they conceal behind an Endeavour of freedom which did influence their decision after the tragic experience of the monastery and the battle of Amioun, 694, that precipitated isolationism."

"The decision led to profess the Roman Catholic faith, by 1180, and join the Vatican, by the 18th century; such Endeavour for freedom could not be effected for dissociation and extraction, for purposes against the land and community of the faith of Marūn as an integral part of our historical community." "... Thus, in ignoring certain lines of conduct of their “Marūn”, the maronites have dissociated themselves, from certain loyalty to their community and faith they belong to, in favor of not forgetting the tragic memory of the past."

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Additional info

Additional pictures:

http://www.fooledbyrandomness.com/amioun.htm

Additional references:

http://www.amioun.org/ Official site

Additional geographical information:

http://www.fallingrain.com/world/LE/3/Amioun.html

External links

* http://www.lebweb.com/site/lebanon-amioun-42222
* http://www.lebanonatlas.com/lebanonmajorcities/North/Amioun/index.htmSee also
List of cities in Lebanon

WikiProject Lebanon
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