Aynata

{{see also|Beth-Anath}}

Israeli archaeologist Yohanan Aharoni identified Aynata as ancient En-hazor, and says it appears in the topographical lists of Thutmose III.Freedman, et al., 2000, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=qRtUqxkB7wkC&pg=PA407 407]

In 1854, Charles William Meredith van de Velde proposed that Aynata was Beth-Anath.Van de Velde, 1854, I, p. [https://archive.org/details/narrativeajourn00veldgoog/page/n199/mode/1up 170] W.M. Thomson repeated this claim in 1859,Thomson, 1859, p. [https://archive.org/stream/landandbookorbi05thomgoog#page/n325/mode/1up 315] and Victor Guérin came to the same conclusion in 1880.Guérin, 1880, p. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongogr00gugoog#page/n414/mode/1up 374] The same view was held by historical geographer Georg Kampffmeyer (1892).Kampffmeyer (1892), pp. pp. 38, 42, 61, 64, 85, 87

Foundations and columns of a ruined temple complex in the woods near the village were recorded by William McClure Thomson, who thought them to have once been called Kubrikha. He remarked that "the whole neighborhood is crowded with ancient but deserted sites."

In 1596, it was named as a village, ‘’Aynata’’ in the Ottoman nahiya (subdistrict) of Tibnin under the liwa' (district) of Safad, with a population of 111 households and 22 bachelors, all Muslim. The villagers paid taxes on agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, vineyards, fruit trees, goats and beehives, in addition to "occasional revenues" and a fixed sum; a total of 10,560 akçe.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 179Note that Rhode, 1979, p. [https://www.academia.edu/2026845/The_Administration_and_Population_of_the_Sancak_of_Safed_in_the_Sixteenth_Century 6] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420031504/https://www.academia.edu/2026845/The_Administration_and_Population_of_the_Sancak_of_Safed_in_the_Sixteenth_Century |date=2019-04-20 }} writes that the register that Hütteroth and Abdulfattah studied was not from 1595/6, but from 1548/9

In 1875, Victor Guérin found a village with 400 Metualis.

In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it: "A village, built of stone, containing about 500 Metawileh. There is a Moslem school in the village; extensive vineyards and a few olives in the wady. Water supplied from birket and many cisterns.”Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp01conduoft#page/200/mode/1up 200]

Aynata is the family home of Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, a prominent twelver Shia cleric.

During the 2006 Lebanon War, on July 19, an Israeli missile killed 4 civilians in the village.HRW, 2007, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=8P9-VqpNRv4C&pg=PA105 105]-106 On July 24, Israel shelled two houses in the village; killing all inside both houses. One house had 4 Hezbollah fighters, the other house had 8 civilians, aged between 16 and 77.HRW, 2007, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=8P9-VqpNRv4C&pg=PA112 112]-113

Aaynata has a population of around 5,000 (dropping to 1,300 in the winter) and is 120 kilometers (74.568 mi) away from Beirut and sits 740 meters above sea level. The area borders Bent Jbayl, Aitaroun, and Yaroun.[http://www.localiban.org/article3473.html Aaynata] Localiban It was occupied by Israel and most residents emigrated to Beirut's southern suburbs. Israel pulled out of the area in 2000 and it has seen housing construction since that time. Tobacco and olives are grown in the area.

In 2024, during the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, the Israeli army attacked two vehicles. Hezbollah soldiers were traveling in one of the vehicles and in the other four family members of the journalist Samir Ayoub who were also killed in the attack.{{Cite web |title=Guerre entre Israël et le Hamas : quatre membres de la famille d'un journaliste libanais tués dans une frappe israélienne |url=https://www.ladepeche.fr/2023/11/05/guerre-entre-israel-et-le-hamas-quatre-membres-de-la-famille-dun-journaliste-libanais-tues-dans-une-frappe-israelienne-11562360.php |access-date=2024-04-02 |website=ladepeche.fr |language=fr}}

On 22 february 2025, hezbollah held a mass funeral for 35 of its fighters who where killed in action.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQo7ckUZoCw

• Mousa Yousuf Khanafer^*
• Amir Ibrahim Fadlallah
• Jamil Mahmoud an-Nimr
• Ali Muhammad as-Sayyid Ali
• Mahir Muhammad Sayf ad-Din
• Zayd Mahmoud Haydar^*
• Muhammad Dheeb Khanafer
• Kazem Ali Khanafer
• Ammar Habib Qawsan
• Nazim Abdan-Nabi Nasrallah
• Marwan Husayn Samhat^*
• Muhammad Hassan Samhat
• Hassan Ismail Mustafa
• Shakir Najib Ghanam

{{cite news | url = http://www.ainatha.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=8&pos=0 | title = شهداء عيناثا الابرار (The noble martyrs of Aynatha) | publisher = Municipality of Aynata | access-date = Dec 28, 2011 | archive-date = April 26, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120426085511/http://www.ainatha.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=8&pos=0 | url-status = dead }}

:^* The body of the fighter was captured by IDF and removed to Israel but was returned to Lebanon in the prisoner exchanges in 2007-08.

In 2014 Muslims made up 99.21% of registered voters in Aynata. 97.47% of the voters were Shiite Muslims. https://lub-anan.com/المحافظات/النبطية/بنت-جبيل/عيناتا/المذاهب/

{{Reflist|25em}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book|last1=Conder|first1=C.R.|author-link1=Claude Reignier Conder|last2=Kitchener|first2=H.H.|author-link2=Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener|year=1881|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp01conduoft|title=The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology|location=London|publisher=Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund|volume=1}}
• {{cite book|editor1= Freedman, DN|editor-link1= David Noel Freedman|editor2= Astrid B Beck|editor3= Allen C Myers|title= Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=qRtUqxkB7wkC|year= 2000|publisher= Amsterdam University Press|isbn= 9053565035}}
• {{cite book|last=Guérin|first=V.|author-link=Victor Guérin|title=Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine|url=https://archive.org/details/descriptiongogr00gugoog|volume=3: Galilee, pt. 2|year=1880|publisher=L'Imprimerie Nationale|location=Paris|language=fr}}
• {{cite book|author= HRW|author-link= Human Rights Watch|title= Why They Died: Civilian Casualties in Lebanon During the 2006 War|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=8P9-VqpNRv4C|year= 2007|publisher= Human Rights Watch}}
• {{cite book

|last1=Hütteroth |first1=W.-D.|author-link1=Wolf-Dieter Hütteroth

|last2=Abdulfattah|first2=K. |author-link2=Kamal Abdulfattah

|title=Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wqULAAAAIAAJ |year=1977 |publisher=Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft |isbn=3-920405-41-2 }}

• {{cite book |last=Kampffmeyer|first=G.|author-link= :de:Georg Kampffmeyer|title=Alte Namen im heutigen Palästina und Syrien |pages= 38, 42, 61, 64, 85, 87|publisher=Breitkopf & Härtel|location=Leipzig|language=de |oclc=786490264 |year=1892}}
• {{cite book

|last=Palmer|first=E.H.|author-link=Edward Henry Palmer

|year=1881|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp00conduoft|title=The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer|publisher=Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund}}

• {{cite book |last=Rhode |first=H. |author-link=Harold Rhode |date=1979 |url=https://www.academia.edu/2026845 |title=Administration and Population of the Sancak of Safed in the Sixteenth Century |publisher=Columbia University |access-date=2017-12-04 |archive-date=2019-04-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420031504/https://www.academia.edu/2026845/The_Administration_and_Population_of_the_Sancak_of_Safed_in_the_Sixteenth_Century |url-status=dead }}
• {{cite book|last=Thomson|first=W.M.|author-link=William McClure Thomson|title=The Land and the Book: Or, Biblical Illustrations Drawn from the Manners and Customs, the Scenes and Scenery, of the Holy Land|url=https://archive.org/details/landandbookorbi05thomgoog|edition=1|volume=1|publisher=Harper & brothers|location=New York|year=1859}}
• {{cite book |last=Velde, van de |first=C.W.M. |authorlink=Charles William Meredith van de Velde |title=Narrative of a journey through Syria and Palestine in 1851 and 1852 |url=https://archive.org/details/narrativeajourn00veldgoog |volume=1 |year=1854 |publisher=William Blackwood and son }}

{{refend}}

• Survey of Western Palestine, Map 4: [http://www.iaa-archives.org.il/zoom/zoom.aspx?folder_id=93&type_id=6&id=8367 IAA], [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Survey_of_Western_Palestine_1880.04.jpg Wikimedia commons]
• [http://www.localiban.org/article3473.html Aaynata (Bent Jbeil)], Localiban; [https://archive.today/20160623122518/http://www.localiban.org/article3473.html Archived]

{{Bint Jbeil District}}

Category:Populated places in the Israeli security zone 1985–2000

Category:Populated places in Bint Jbeil District

Category:Shia Muslim communities in Lebanon