Yanouh
Encyclopedia
Yanouh is a village in Jbeil district
, Lebanon
, located 1200m above sea level. Yanouh stands on the slopes of Joubbat El Mnaitra, five miles east of Kartaba, on the right bank high up in the ravine carved out by the Adonis River, now known as Nahr Ibrahim. Yanouh, once a Phoenicia
n center, is half-way between Byblos
(Jbeil) and Heliopolis
, around 20 km as the crow flies from the Mediterranean sea
. Its Phoenician temple is a monument to the same religion as that of Apheca
, but the later Roman temple was dedicated to Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt and daughter of the god Jupiter
.
Yanouh is known for its 2nd century CE Roman temple
, its Byzantine
basilica and medieval chapel. In 750 AD, at the time of the fifth Maronite patriarch, John Maron II, then installed in Yanouh, the Roman temple was converted into a church consecrated to Saint Georges "the Blue". Between 750 and 1277, twenty-three successors of Patriarch John Maroun resided there; under the Crusades
, the number of Yanouh's inhabitants had risen to 3500, while the churches numbered more than thirty-five. Yanouh is also notable for its Hellenistic cult building containing the earliest Aramaic
inscription found in Lebanon
.
and a lower urban quarter extending towards the south of the site. Surrounding the hill are a number of rectangular underground tombs with walls built of carefully hewn parallelepiped
blocks. From the 12th to the 4th century BCE the site witnessed significant agricultural and domestic development as manifested by archaeological artifacts found on site. Remnants of sandstone building from the second half of the 2nd century BCE were uncovered along with an Aramaic inscription belonging to the same Hellenistic period. The inscription is notable for being the earliest known Aramaic
writing to be found on Lebanese
soil; it mentions a “House of God” and was dated to around 110-109 BCE.
Yanouh became an important Roman site and saw the construction of a great temple dedicated to Diana
, the Roman goddess of the hunt and daughter of Jupiter
, with annexes and a smaller temple.
In the Byzantine
Period, between the 4th and 7th centuries CE, the portico of the Great Temple was torn down. A Christian basilica
with columns was built towards the end of the 5th century. During the first half of the 7th century a fire destroyed much of the buildings and reconstruction and rearrangement immediately followed; the basilica with columns was replaced by one with pillars.
The whole site was transformed into a monastery and the Christians of Yanouh enjoyed quiet and prosperity even under Umayyad
rule.
Under the harsh Abbasid
domination, between the 8th and 9th centuries, the site was totally abandoned, only to be repopulated under the Crusaders
between the 10th and 13th centuries where inhabitants numbered 3500. During this time a chapel was built to the north of the Great Roman temple, which was itself turned into a church; the basilica was reshaped with access from the south side and thirty-five chapels were added to form a monastery complex. During this period, more land was cleared for agriculture and village dwellings appeared on the tell.
The whole site became a monastery named The Virgin of Ianosh (Anoch) and became with Patriarch Yuhanna in 938 the patriarchal seat of the Maronite Church
until the mid-13th century. Between 1215 and 1246, two papal bulls mentioned the seat of the patriarchs as being the Church of the Virgin of Ianosh.
In 1276, under Mameluke
persecution, the Maronite Patriarchate moved from Yanouh to Saint Ilige in the village of Mayfouq. In the 15th century Yanouh and its surroundings were occupied by Shiites. In 1534 war waged between Kaisites and Yamanites in Joubbat El Mneitra and a great many inhabitants left. The monastery and village of Yanouh were deserted once again and the area described by Patriarch Estephan El Douaihy
as a desert.
Jbeil District
Byblos /Jbeil is a district in the Mount Lebanon Governorate , Lebanon, to the northeast of the Lebanon's capital Beirut...
, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, located 1200m above sea level. Yanouh stands on the slopes of Joubbat El Mnaitra, five miles east of Kartaba, on the right bank high up in the ravine carved out by the Adonis River, now known as Nahr Ibrahim. Yanouh, once a Phoenicia
Phoenicia
Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...
n center, is half-way between Byblos
Byblos
Byblos is the Greek name of the Phoenician city Gebal . It is a Mediterranean city in the Mount Lebanon Governorate of present-day Lebanon under the current Arabic name of Jubayl and was also referred to as Gibelet during the Crusades...
(Jbeil) and Heliopolis
Baalbek
Baalbek is a town in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon, altitude , situated east of the Litani River. It is famous for its exquisitely detailed yet monumentally scaled temple ruins of the Roman period, when Baalbek, then known as Heliopolis, was one of the largest sanctuaries in the Empire...
, around 20 km as the crow flies from the Mediterranean sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
. Its Phoenician temple is a monument to the same religion as that of Apheca
Apheca
Apheca, known today in Arabic as Afqa or Afka, "source", is located in the mountains of Lebanon, about 20 kilometres from the ancient city of Jebail, which still stands just east of the town of Qartaba...
, but the later Roman temple was dedicated to Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt and daughter of the god Jupiter
Jupiter (mythology)
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Jupiter or Jove is the king of the gods, and the god of the sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon....
.
Yanouh is known for its 2nd century CE Roman temple
Roman temple
Ancient Roman temples are among the most visible archaeological remains of Roman culture, and are a significant source for Roman architecture. Their construction and maintenance was a major part of ancient Roman religion. The main room housed the cult image of the deity to whom the temple was...
, its Byzantine
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
basilica and medieval chapel. In 750 AD, at the time of the fifth Maronite patriarch, John Maron II, then installed in Yanouh, the Roman temple was converted into a church consecrated to Saint Georges "the Blue". Between 750 and 1277, twenty-three successors of Patriarch John Maroun resided there; under the Crusades
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
, the number of Yanouh's inhabitants had risen to 3500, while the churches numbered more than thirty-five. Yanouh is also notable for its Hellenistic cult building containing the earliest Aramaic
Aramaic language
Aramaic is a group of languages belonging to the Afroasiatic language phylum. The name of the language is based on the name of Aram, an ancient region in central Syria. Within this family, Aramaic belongs to the Semitic family, and more specifically, is a part of the Northwest Semitic subfamily,...
inscription found in Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
.
History
The first Tell el Kharayeb (“Hill of Ruins”) remains in Yanouh date back to the third millennium BCE; these include a town of about 150 metres (492.1 ft) in diameter, surrounded by a defensive wallDefensive wall
A defensive wall is a fortification used to protect a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements...
and a lower urban quarter extending towards the south of the site. Surrounding the hill are a number of rectangular underground tombs with walls built of carefully hewn parallelepiped
Parallelepiped
In geometry, a parallelepiped is a three-dimensional figure formed by six parallelograms. By analogy, it relates to a parallelogram just as a cube relates to a square. In Euclidean geometry, its definition encompasses all four concepts...
blocks. From the 12th to the 4th century BCE the site witnessed significant agricultural and domestic development as manifested by archaeological artifacts found on site. Remnants of sandstone building from the second half of the 2nd century BCE were uncovered along with an Aramaic inscription belonging to the same Hellenistic period. The inscription is notable for being the earliest known Aramaic
Aramaic language
Aramaic is a group of languages belonging to the Afroasiatic language phylum. The name of the language is based on the name of Aram, an ancient region in central Syria. Within this family, Aramaic belongs to the Semitic family, and more specifically, is a part of the Northwest Semitic subfamily,...
writing to be found on Lebanese
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
soil; it mentions a “House of God” and was dated to around 110-109 BCE.
Yanouh became an important Roman site and saw the construction of a great temple dedicated to Diana
Diana (mythology)
In Roman mythology, Diana was the goddess of the hunt and moon and birthing, being associated with wild animals and woodland, and having the power to talk to and control animals. She was equated with the Greek goddess Artemis, though she had an independent origin in Italy...
, the Roman goddess of the hunt and daughter of Jupiter
Jupiter (mythology)
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Jupiter or Jove is the king of the gods, and the god of the sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon....
, with annexes and a smaller temple.
In the Byzantine
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
Period, between the 4th and 7th centuries CE, the portico of the Great Temple was torn down. A Christian basilica
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
with columns was built towards the end of the 5th century. During the first half of the 7th century a fire destroyed much of the buildings and reconstruction and rearrangement immediately followed; the basilica with columns was replaced by one with pillars.
The whole site was transformed into a monastery and the Christians of Yanouh enjoyed quiet and prosperity even under Umayyad
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the four major Arab caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. It was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty, whose name derives from Umayya ibn Abd Shams, the great-grandfather of the first Umayyad caliph. Although the Umayyad family originally came from the...
rule.
Under the harsh Abbasid
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate or, more simply, the Abbasids , was the third of the Islamic caliphates. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphate from all but the al-Andalus region....
domination, between the 8th and 9th centuries, the site was totally abandoned, only to be repopulated under the Crusaders
Crusaders
The Crusaders are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Christchurch that competes in the Super Rugby competition. They are the most successful team in Super Rugby history with seven titles...
between the 10th and 13th centuries where inhabitants numbered 3500. During this time a chapel was built to the north of the Great Roman temple, which was itself turned into a church; the basilica was reshaped with access from the south side and thirty-five chapels were added to form a monastery complex. During this period, more land was cleared for agriculture and village dwellings appeared on the tell.
The whole site became a monastery named The Virgin of Ianosh (Anoch) and became with Patriarch Yuhanna in 938 the patriarchal seat of the Maronite Church
Maronite Church
The Syriac Maronite Church of Antioch is an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See of Rome . It traces its heritage back to the community founded by Maron, a 4th-century Syriac monk venerated as a saint. The first Maronite Patriarch, John Maron, was elected in the late 7th...
until the mid-13th century. Between 1215 and 1246, two papal bulls mentioned the seat of the patriarchs as being the Church of the Virgin of Ianosh.
In 1276, under Mameluke
Mameluke
Mameluke was an American Thoroughbred race horse. Bred and raced by Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, he was out of the mare, Schwester, and was sired by the 1936 Epsom Derby winner, Mahmoud who became the Leading sire in North America in 1946 and the Leading broodmare sire in North America in...
persecution, the Maronite Patriarchate moved from Yanouh to Saint Ilige in the village of Mayfouq. In the 15th century Yanouh and its surroundings were occupied by Shiites. In 1534 war waged between Kaisites and Yamanites in Joubbat El Mneitra and a great many inhabitants left. The monastery and village of Yanouh were deserted once again and the area described by Patriarch Estephan El Douaihy
Estephan El Douaihy
Patriarch Estephan II Boutros El Douaihy was born in Ehden, Lebanon on August 2, 1630. He was the Patriarch of the Maronite Church from 1670 to 1704...
as a desert.