Hermel

Hermel الهرمل
Hermel Location in Lebanon
Coordinates: 34°23′29″N 36°23′45″E / 34.39139°N 36.39583°E / 34.39139; 36.39583Coordinates: 34°23′29″N 36°23′45″E / 34.39139°N 36.39583°E / 34.39139; 36.39583
Country	Lebanon
Governorate	Beqaa Governorate
District	Hermel District
Area
• Total	52.7 sq mi (136.4 km2)
Elevation	2,560 ft (780 m)
Population
• Total	22,250[1]
• Density	1,700/sq mi (660/km2)
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	+3 (UTC)

Shepherd Neolithic flint tools discovered at Kamouh el Hermel. 1. End scraper on a flake. 2. Transverse scraper and awl on a thin flake. 3. Borer on a flake blade. 4. Burin with a wide working edge on a heavy flake. All in matt brown flint.

Hermel (Arabic: الهرمل‎‎) is a town in Beqaa Governorate, Lebanon. It is the capital of the Hermel District. Hermel is home to a Lebanese Red Cross First Aid Center.^[2] Hermel's inhabitants are predominantly Shia Muslims.^[3]

There is an ancient pyramid known as Kamouh el Hermel (Pyramid or Needle of Hermel) located about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) south of the town that is a popular attraction for local tourists.^[4]

Archaeology

Hermel plains

The Hermel plains are an area of low hills around Hermel, through which runs the Orontes river and several wadis, which drain into the Homs basin. The area dominates the north of the Beqaa Valley and reaches north to the border with Syria. A curious and unpublished archaeological industry exists from finds of stone tools in this area. It consists of generally small tools whose typology is limited. It was termed the Shepherd Neolithic industry by Henri Fleisch.^[5]

Hermel I (Mrah Abbas)

Hermel I or Mrah Abbas was discovered by P. Billaux and Maurice Tallon and is 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) north northeast of Hermel, 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) before reaching Mrah Abbas, next to the road. It is located on an uncultivated sloping plain leading down 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from the Orontes. The garden revealed the remains of ten dolmens, most of which were built on a larger foundation than the covered chamber. Some were perhaps not covered by tumuli and a few were evidently not built to have cap-stones on top.^[6]

Hermel II (Jisr el Aassi)

Hermel II or Jisr el Aassi is 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) east of Hermel I near the gorge through which the Orontes river flows. It was found by P. Billaux and mentioned by Maurice Tallon in 1958 who made a lenghy description of the largest tumulus in 1959.^[7] The lithic industry at the site was discussed by Henri Fleisch in 1966.^[8] Several dolmens were found around the village of Choueighir, around 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) north of the bridge over the Orontes, in and around the village extending about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) to the north along the track next to the river. Some of the dolmen are inclined inwards forming a pyramid shape. There is a large tumulus north of the village that is composed of massive blocks where pottery was found and dated to the Early Bronze Age III by Tallon.^[7] Henri Fleisch found a collection of Shepherd Neolithic flints around these dolmen.^[6]

Hermel III (Choueighir)

Hermel III or Choueighir is a village on the left (western) bank of the Orontes and an archaeological site was found by P. Billaux 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) to the north of it. Flint material was described to be of the Shepherd Neolithic type and similar to that of Maakne and el Qaa by Henri Fleisch in 1966, it is held in the Museum of Lebanese Prehistory.^[6]

Hermel IV (Wadi el Joz)

Hermel IV or Wadi el Joz is a collection of megaliths that are 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) east of Hermel Attika, southeast of Hermel on dry terraces that slope towards the channel of the Orontes. It was found by Mohammed Hamadé, surveyed by P. Billaux and published by Maurice Tallon in 1959.^[7] A number of tumuli were discovered in this area which covered chambers on rectangular foundation platforms. They were usually orientated east to west with some remnants of walls constructed of megalithic stones. Maurice Tallon made collectins of flint and pottery from the area dating to various periods. These included an incised sherd and a tanged scraper from the very earliest Neolithic times, an Early Bronze Age flat scraper along with later Middle Bronze Age and Iron Age material.^[6]

References

Archaeological sites in Lebanon
Aadloun Aaiha Aammiq Aaqbe Ain Aata Ain Choaab Ain Harcha Akbiyeh Akkar plain foothills Al-Bireh Amioun Amlaq Qatih Anjar, Lebanon Antelias cave Apheca Ard Saouda Ard Tlaili Arqa Baalbek Baidar ech Chamout Batroumine Batroun Bechamoun Beirut Beit Mery Berytus (Roman Beirut) Bustan Birke Byblos Canalizations of Zenobia Dahr El Ahmar Dakoue Deir El Aachayer Deir el Ahmar Deir Mar Maroun Dekwaneh Douris (Baalbek) Elaea (Lebanon) Flaoui Fadous Sud Hebbariye Hadeth south Haret ech Cheikh Hashbai Heliopolis in Phoenicia Hermel plains Iaat Jabal es Saaïdé Jbaa Jdeideh Jebel Aabeby Jeita Grotto Joub Jannine Jieh Kafr Zabad Kamid al lawz Kamouh el Hermel Karak Nuh Kaukaba Kefraya Kafr Tebnit Kfar Qouq Kfarhata Khallet Michte Khirbet El-Knese Kouachra megalith field Ksar Akil Labweh Lake Qaraoun (Ain Jaouze) Libbaya Lion Tower Majdal Anjar Mansourieh Maronite mummies Mayrouba Mdoukha (Jebel Kassir) Moukhtara Mtaileb Nabi Zair Nachcharini Nahle, Lebanon Neba'a Faour Nebi Safa Niha Bekaa Phoenician port of Beirut Plain of Zgharta Qaa Qal'at Bustra Qalaat Tannour Qaraoun Qasr el Banat Ras Baalbek I Ras Beirut Ras El Kelb Rashaya Roman Forum of Berytus Roman hippodrome of Berytus Sands of Beirut Saraain El Faouqa Shheem Sidon Sin el Fil Sarepta Stone of the Pregnant Woman Tahun ben Aissa Taire Tayibe Tell Aalaq Tell Ablah Tell Addus Tell Ahle Tell Ain Cerif Tell Ain el Meten Tell Ain Ghessali Tell Ain Nfaikh Tell Ain Saouda Tell Ain Sofar Tell Ayoub Tell Bar Elias Tell Beshara Tell Bir Dakoue Tell Deir Tell Delhamieh Tell Derzenoun Tell Dibbine Tell el-Burak Tell El Ghassil Tell El Hadeth Tell Fadous Tell Hazzine Tell Hoch Rafqa Tell Karmita Tell Khardane Tell Kirri Tell Jezireh Tell Jisr Tell Kabb Elias Tell Majdaloun Tell Masoud Tell Mekhada Tell Meouchi Tell Mureibit Tell Murtafa Tell Nahariyah Tell Neba'a Chaate Tell Neba'a Litani Tell Qasr Labwe Tell Rasm El Hadeth Tell Rayak Tell Saatiya Tell Safiyeh Tell Saoudhi Tell Serhan Tell Shaikh Hassan al Rai Tell Shamsine Tell Sultan Yakoub Tell Taalabaya Tell Wardeen Tell Zenoub Tell Zeitoun Temnin el-Foka Temple of Bacchus Temple of Eshmun Temple of Jupiter Tlail megaliths Toron Tripolis (region of Phoenicia) Tyre Necropolis Tyre, Lebanon Wadi Boura Wadi Koura Wadi Yaroun Yammoune Yanta Ain W Zain Zahlé

Shepherd Neolithic sites in Lebanon
Douris, Lebanon Hermel I Hermel II Kamouh el Hermel Maqne I Qaa Qalaat Tannour Rayak North Riha Station Saraain El Faouqa Wadi Boura

Middle Eastern megaliths
Lebanon	Sands of Beirut Hermel Kouachra Tlail Wadi Boura
Syria	Stone circles, lines and tombs near the Monastery of Saint Moses the Abyssinian
Saudi Arabia	Hejaz Tihamah
Israel	Atlit Yam Dan (ancient city)
Jordan	Johfiyeh Amman
Turkey	Göbekli Tepe
Egypt	Nabta Playa
Iran	Kharg island
Iraq	Barda Balka
General articles	Standing stone Dolmen Henge Menhir Stone circle Stone row Concentric stone circle Recumbent stone circle Chambered cairn Harrespil Photographs of stone circles European megaliths