Deir El Aachayer

Deir El Aachayer ديرالعشاير.
Village
Country	Lebanon
Governorate	Beqaa Governorate
District	Rashaya District
Area
• Total	9.9 sq mi (26 km2)
Population (2010)
• Total	500

Deir El Aachayer Temple

Shown within Lebanon
Location	near Rashaya
Region	Bekaa Valley
Coordinates	33°35′21″N 36°01′09″E / 33.589181°N 36.019169°E / 33.589181; 36.019169
Length	30 metres (98 ft)
History
Builder	Romans
Material	Stone
Cultures	Greek, Roman
Site notes
Condition	Ruins
Public access	Yes

Deir El Aachayer (Arabic: ديرالعشاير.‎‎) is a village north of Rashaya, in the Rashaya District and south of the Beqaa Governorate in Lebanon.^[1]

The municipality is located on the border frontier of the Kaza of Rashaya, one of eight mohafazats (governorates). It sits at a height of 1,250 metres (4,100 ft) above sea level and its surface area covers 2,563 hectares (9.90 sq mi) hectares. The registered population of the village is around 500, predominantly Druze.^[2] Actual residents may number only around 250, distributed among about 90 households. The village has a municipal council made up of nine members, and a town mayor. Residents rely on farming as a main source of income, especially grapes, fruit and wheat. Residents also raise and herd sheep and cows, which have been a good source of milk. Farmers in the village have had difficulty selling their products in modern times.^[3]

Deir El Aachayer has a number of local springs, including Ain Halalweh, Ain Shayeb, Ain Rouk, Ain Dibb. The village was once known by the name Deir Mar Sema’an, owing to the Monastery of Saint Simon, known locally as Al Borj, said to have been built by the Romans for preaching, religious ceremonies and practices by disciples of Saint Simon the Baptist. The monastery having been a stronghold for the students, enabling them to expand their teaching in Syria.^[4]

Roman temple

The village is near toa the remains of a substantial Greco-Roman style temple dedicated to unknown deities, with 30 metres (98 ft) long foundations and columns re-used in local construction.^[5] A Greek inscription was found noting that a bench was installed "in the year 242, under Beeliabos, also called Diototos, son of Abedanos, high priest of the gods of Kiboreia". Julien Alquot argued that the bench had liturgical uses as a mobile throne.^[6] The era of the gods of Kiboreia is not certain, as is their location which is not conclusively to be identified with Deir El Aachayer, but was possibly the Roman sanctuary or the name of a settlement in the area. It has been suggested that the name Kiboreia was formed from the Aramaic word kbr, meaning a "place of great abundance".^[7]

References

External links

• Megalithic Portal Entry about Roman Temple in Deir El Achayer
• Discover Lebanon Map Source for Deir El Aachayer
• Republic of Lebanon Government Portal for Information and Forms
• Deir El Aachayer, Localiban

Rashaya District, Beqaa Governorate
Capital: Rashaya
Towns and villages	Ain Arab Ain Ata Ain Harcha Akabeh Ayha Ayta el Fekhar Bakifa Bakka Beit Lahia Bireh Daher el Ahmar Deir El Aachayer Helwa Hoch Kaukaba Kfar Danis Kfarfouk Kfarmechki Kherbet Rouha Majdel Balhiss Mdoukha Mhaydseh Nebi Safa Rashaya Al-Rafid Tannoura Yanta

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