Karak Nuh

The town was an important religious site during the Middle Ages, drawing devotion from the local rural village communities. The town was known as al-Karak during the time of the Ayyubid dynasty and changed to Karak Nuh under the Mamluks.[http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/karak-nuh-SIM_3907 Sourdel, D., " Karak Nūḥ." Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Brill Online , 2012. Reference. 3 October 2012]

In medieval period, the Shia muhaddith Ahmad bin Tariq bin Sinan (b. 1132) was born in the town. In the mid-13th century, the settlement to the north of Karak Nuh, Bḥaouchiyya, was inhabited by Tanukhid emirs from Mount Lebanon who practiced the Shia faith.{{cite book |last1=Yunini |first1=Qutb ad-Din |title=Dhayl mir'at al zaman}}

Karak Nuh gradually became known as a center of learning for Shia Islam and the administrative centre of the southern Beqaa. Under the Mamluks Karak Nuh served as the administrative center of southern Beqaa. Damascene historian Shams al-Din ibn Tulun (1475–1546), who visited the town noted that "its people were famous for their Shia faith".{{fact|date=October 2024}}

A Safavid sheikh, Ali al-Karaki, and various dignitaries were born in the town. In 1533–1548, the town was the second largest in the Beqaa valley after Baalbek, comprising 590 households, all Muslims.{{cite book |last1=Khalife |first1=Issam |title=The Districts of Lebanon in The 16th Century |date=2004 |page=125 |url=https://archive.org/details/20200107_20200107_1108/page/n125/ |language=Arabic}} The town was largely devastated in strife between the Yunus Harfush and Fakhreddine in 1623 and as a result was abandoned for several decades,{{cite book |last1=Ḥamādah |first1=Saʻdūn |title=The History of Shiites in Lebanon, Volume one |date=2008 |location=Dar Al Khayal |isbn=9789781025488 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sMJ2QgAACAAJ |language=Arabic}} with many of its inhabitants moving to Jabal Amel.{{fact|date=October 2024}}

A major earthquake damaged the town's distinguishing minaret in 1705, which required repair by the 'Alwan family.

In 1838, Eli Smith noted el-Kerak's population being Metawileh and Catholics.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/143/mode/1up 143]

According to tradition mentioned by al-Mukaddasi and Al-Dimashqi, the tomb of Noah existed in the tenth century and can still be seen. The stone tomb measures around {{convert|104.8|ft|m}} long, {{convert|8.7|ft|m}} wide and {{convert|3.2|ft|m}} high and is covered in a worn green cloth. It is housed in a room measuring {{convert|10.1|ft|m}} by {{convert|8.1|ft|m}}.Le Strange, 1890, p. [https://archive.org/stream/palestineundermo00lestuoft#page/480/mode/1up 480]{{cite book|author=Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland|title=Journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vEozAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA323|year=1871|page=323}}Ḥaddād, 1956, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=qQscAAAAMAAJ x] There is a chapel next to the cenotaph building where several inscriptions (decrees) dating to the fourteenth century were found.Sourdel-Thomine, Janine, 'Inscriptions arabes de Karak Nuh', Bulletin d'Etudes Orientates, 13: 71-84, (1949–51) There is also a courtyard outside the building with a prayer niche. The size of the monument possibly derives from tales of ancient giants, but is more realistically suggested to be a section of an ancient aqueduct that has been converted to serve as a shrine.Burton, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=P4Q5vZHDETQC&pg=PA40 40] ff

A Roman inscription in Latin dating to the year 84 CE was found in the basement of a house to the south west of the tomb that called for the long life of the "man with many names".

Near to the town is the Ayn al-Garr spring and Massyas lake and marshes that are considered to be the source of the Litani river.Lipiński, 2000, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=rrMKKtiBBI4C&pg=PA307 307] ff

• Muhammad al-Harfushi (d. 1649), cloth-maker, Arabic grammarian and poet from Karak Nuh who was persecuted for his Shia faith in Damascus and then moved to Iran where he received an official state post
• Husayn al-Mujtahid al-Karaki, Shia scholar and maternal descendant of Muhaqqiq al-Karaki, served as Shaykh al-Islām of Qazvin and Ardabil

{{Portal|Lebanon|History|Asia}}

• Tomb of Noah
• Al-Nabi Shayth
• List of burial places of Abrahamic figures

{{reflist|25em}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book|author=Burton, R. F.|author-link=Richard Francis Burton|title=A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights Entertainments, Vol. 7 of 10: The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P4Q5vZHDETQC&pg=PA40|publisher=Forgotten Books|isbn=978-1-4400-4321-5}}
• {{cite book|author=Ḥaddād, Jūrj Marʻī |title=Baalbak, North & South Lebanon: Description, history and touristic guide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qQscAAAAMAAJ|year=1956|publisher=Printed by el-Hashimieh Press}}
• {{cite book|title=Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500|url=https://archive.org/details/palestineundermo00lestuoft|first=G.|last= Le Strange|author-link= Guy Le Strange|year=1890|publisher=Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund}}
• {{cite book|author=Lipiński, E.|author-link=Edward Lipiński (orientalist)|title=The Aramaeans: Their Ancient History, Culture, Religion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rrMKKtiBBI4C&pg=PA307|year=2000|publisher=Peeters Publishers|isbn=978-90-429-0859-8|page=307}}
• {{cite book|last1=Robinson|first1=E.|authorlink1=Edward Robinson (scholar)|last2=Smith|first2=E.|authorlink2=Eli Smith|year=1841|url=https://archive.org/details/biblicalresearch03robiuoft |title=Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838| location=Boston|publisher=Crocker & Brewster|volume=3}}
• {{cite book|author=Winter, S.|author-link=Stefan Winter (historian)|title=The Shiites of Lebanon under Ottoman Rule, 1516-1788|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KGeuAeFFJCEC&pg=PA43|year=2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-76584-8}}

{{refend}}

• [https://www.flickr.com/photos/11228123@N03/2831246461/ Photo of the inside of the Tomb of Noah on Flickr]
• [http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2011/03/tombs-of-noah.html Tomb of Noah (with photos) on the blog of John Sanidopoulos]
• [http://s199.photobucket.com/albums/aa260/webdivac/?action=view¤t=NoahTombinKarakNouh.jpg&newest=1 Photo of Karak Nuh, minaret and the outside of the Tomb of Noah on Photobucket]

{{Zahle District}}

{{Archaeological sites in Lebanon}}

Category:Populated places in Zahlé District

Category:Archaeological sites in Lebanon

Category:Maronite Christian communities in Lebanon

Category:Melkite Christian communities in Lebanon

Category:Shia Muslim communities in Lebanon

Category:Tourist attractions in Lebanon

Category:Roman sites in Lebanon

Category:Tomb of Noah