Maarakeh
village in South Governorate, Lebanon
Maarakeh (Levantine Arabic: معركة, romanized: Maʿrakeh), or Maarakah, is a municipality in Tyre District, in Lebanon.
Geography
The Municipality of Maarakeh is located in the Kaza of Tyre (sour) one of Mohafazah of South Lebanon kazas (districts). Mohafazah of South Lebanon is one of the eight mohafazats (governorates) of Lebanon. It is 90 kilometers (55.9 mi) away from Beyrouth (Beirut) the capital of Lebanon. Its elevation is 270 meters (1) (886 ft - 295 yd) above sea level. Maarakeh surface stretches for 2000 hectares (20 km² - 7.7 mi²)(2).
Etymology
E. H. Palmer wrote that the name Mảrakeh meant "The battle field".
History
In 1596, it was named as a village, al-Ma'raka, in the Ottoman nahiya (subdistrict) of Tibnin under the liwa' (district) of Safad, with a population of 119 households and 3 bachelors, all Muslim. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, olive trees, fruit trees, cotton, goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues; a total of 13,350 akçe.
In 1875 Victor Guérin found that it had 700 Metawileh inhabitants.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Maarakeh” is village in South Governorate, Lebanon. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Maarakeh, village and South, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “village in South Governorate, Lebanon” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q12244094. Authority coordinates are 33.273, 35.310. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2000, 1596 and 1875.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Maarakeh”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Maarakeh primary sources, Maarakeh archive and Maarakeh research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Maarakeh”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Maarakeh” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.