Sheiks Chemor

Chemor (in Arabic الشمرّ pronounced "Ach-Chmorr") An ancient well known family. Being from the Yamanis, the Chemors left Akoura in the 17th century after the victory of the Qaysi party headed by Hachem (known as Hachem Al Ajami) over the Yamani party headed by Malik Bin Abi Al Ghaith. And based on the History of Doueihy, some members of this family left to Jeita in Keserwan where Cheikh Sleiman Chemor was known to be a great landlord as it appeared from the papers found at Cheikh Saleh Rcheid El Khazen’s.Other family members left to the Tripoli suburbs, so they inhabited Aradat and Kfarhata and they ruled then this territory.In 1654, and still according to the History of Doueihy, Abdallah Bin Chemor Al Akoury was killed by the followers of the Hamadi Cheikhs after they were assigned rulers of Jebbet Becharri by the governor of Tripoli, Mouhammad Bacha Al Koubary.When the aggression of the Hamadis increased, the governor of Tripoli decided to launch a military campaign of two battalions against the Shiite renegades, one of them headed by Cheikh Daher El Daher and Cheikh Youssef Chemor. The campaign met its goals but one of the military campaign leaders, Bechara Karam, was ambushed and killed in Meghayri, south of Akoura.The Chemors were related by marriage to the Hashemites of Akoura.

The Ghassanids are the largest tribe in the Arabic peninsula. During the 2nd century CE they emigrated from Yemen after the Marib dam break to Syria in search of water sources. They established themselves near the “Ghassan spring” where they took their name. The Ghassanids tribe was Christians and allies to the Byzantines. Abou Choummar Jabla was one of the first Ghassanid kings around 500 AD. His son was the most prominent King of all the Ghassanids and he was named “the Great Protector” because he defended the Christians against the barbarians with the help and the benediction of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian II. His kingdom included the regions of Houran, Mount Hermon, the Golan, the Jordan valley and Damascus. In 635 AD, the Ghassanid kingdom disappeared after the Islam conquered the area. The Choummar (from Abou Choummar Jabla) had to flee to Lebanon; their first stay was in the Christian Maronite region of Akoura (Byblos district) were geological and historical safety were provided.

The Sheikhs Chemor inhabited the whole rich agricultural region of Akoura since 1211 AD; they were wealthy and they were respected. The Sheikhs Chemor ruled the Zawiya from 1641 to 1747 and took Kfarhata near Zgharta as their hometown. During this period, many troubles occurred between the Sheikhs Chemor and the Sheikhs Daher which led one of the Chemors to escape from the village and took refuge in a small over sighted village in the uphill of Jbeil, Beit Habbak from where a big ramification of the Chemor family took place (Gharios, Hobeika…)

Kfarhata is still today the hometown of the Sheikhs Chemor. The Chemor family is nowadays spread all over the world and in Lebanon, a great part of the family lives.