Arbet Kozhaya
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| Arbet Kozhaya | |
| Partial view of Arbet Kozhaya | |
| Administration | |
|---|---|
| Country | Lebanon |
| Governorate | North Governorate |
| District | Zgharta District |
| President | Badwi Jibrail Mansour |
| Vice President | Charbel Hanna Touma Boulos |
| Mukhtar | Antoine M. Bou Daher |
| Council Members | Joseph Elias Bechara Michel Elias Ghassibeh Mehsen Saadeh Mansour Elias Edmond Sleiman Antoun Badwi Yousuf Mourad Elias Yousuf Raymond Milad Yousuf |
| Geography | |
| Area | 2 km² |
| Elevation | 1000 m |
Arbet Kozhaya, also known as Arbet Qozhaya or Arabet Kozhaya, is one of the fifty-six towns and villages, which make up the Zgharta District (Zgharta Zawie) in northern Lebanon.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Origins of the Name
The name of the village is called after the Monastery of Kozhaya, also known as the Monastery of Saint Anthony the Great (Mar Antonios al-Kabir). The monastery is some 950 metres above sea level in the Valley of Kozhaya. The word Arbet (Aarbet) means inclined, since the village is on an inclined plane overlooking Kozhaya.
The name Kozhaya is Syriac in origin and which means “the treasure of life”, with “treasure” representing Christ, who the monks of the Monastery abandon worldly goods for and follow a life dedicated to prayer and spirituality; and “ life “referring to the abundance of water endowing nature with life in the valley.
[edit] Statistics
The Kozhaya Valley and the nearby Qannoubine Valley are part of the Qadisha Valley, known also as the Holy Valley. The village lies between 900 and 1050 metres above sea level and occupies some 2 million square metres of which some 500,000 square metres is inhabited with 700,000 square metres under cultivation. It is some 5 Kilometres from Ehden, 25 Kilometres from Zgharta, 30 Kilometres from the Cedars and 85 Kilometres from Beirut.
The village church is St Elias Church and the Saint’s Feast day is celebrated on the 20th of July. It has a hotel called “ Hotel Le Tournant”, two small food shops and a medical centre built by the Fayez Mouawad Foundation. There is also a volley court built in the beginning of 1990’s by the late Francis Antoun. Freshwater is supplied to the village by two springs one being called Al-Fas´in.
The village has not had a school since the 1980’s. The first school opened in the mid 19th Century whose teachers were priests and the monks from the Monastery of St Anthony the Great. During the period, 1936 –1950, teachers included Kabalan Morcos El Douaihy, Tannous Bakhos, Raphael Khoury and Farid Attieh. The present generation of school children go to nearby schools at Al-Koura with technical college students going to local colleges in the region. Those attending university live away during term time.
[edit] Population Statistics
This article uses a study undertaken by Joseph El Homsy, who comes from village. He undertook the study of the village in 2003, based on data for 2001/2002. The study shows that the village population was recorded at 294 persons of whom 52.10 % were male and 46.90% were female. The average age was 32 years, with almost half the population were under the age of 45.
Other sites show that in 1849,there were 179 males and that there were 31 houses. In 1988 there were 1031 persons registered and in 1998 there were 977 persons registered. The official 2005 General Election registry for the village showed there were 720 registered voters (355 women and 365 men), which included those living away but registered.
Of the recorded 82 households in the study 32 households lived between the village and elsewhere in Lebanon and 50 households lived permanently there. The study also showed that there were 44 families who immigrated up to 2002 and their destinations were: Australia 16; Canada 11; Venezuela 8; USA 4; France 3; Brazil 2.
[edit] Municipal Council
The village elects a municipal council returning nine members and an elected Mukhtar. The current Council’s members, elected in 2004 for a term of six years, are,Badwi Jibrail Mansour (President), Charbel Hanna Touma Boulos (Vice President), Joseph Elias Bechara, Michel Elias Ghassibeh, Mehsen Saadeh Mansour, Elias Edmond Sleiman, Antoun Badwi Yousuf, Mourad Elias Yousuf, Raymond Milad Yousuf. The elected Mukhtar is Antoine M. Bou Daher.
In 1998 the Council members, elected for a term of six years,included Michel S. Raffoul (President), Joseph Shehadeh (Vice President), Antoine Francis, Michel Ghassibeh, Mehsen Saadeh Mansour, Antoun Badwi Yousuf, Beshara Za'it. The elected Mukhtar was Antoine M. Bou Daher.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
Prose contains specific citations in source text which may be viewed in edit mode.
- ^ The village name is spelt as either Arbet Kozhaya or Arbet Qozhaya, depending on way the Arabic name is translated. For this article we will keep to former spelling
