Qaa
{{for-multi|the pharaoh|Qa'a|other uses}}
{{Infobox settlement
| official_name = Qaa
| other_name = El Qaa, Al Qaa
| native_name = {{lang|ar|القاع}}
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| pushpin_map = Lebanon
| pushpin_label_position = bottom
| pushpin_mapsize = 250
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Lebanon
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{LBN}}
| subdivision_type1 = Governorate
| subdivision_name1 = Baalbek-Hermel
| subdivision_type2 = District
| subdivision_name2 = Baalbek
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| government_type = Municipality
| leader_title = Mayor
| leader_name = Bachir Matar
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| area_total_km2 = 12.91
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| population_as_of = 2010
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| population_total = 500
| population_density_km2 = 930{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}}
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| timezone = EET
| utc_offset = +2
| timezone_DST = +3
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| coordinates = {{coord|34|20|37|N|36|28|32|E|region:LB|display=inline,title}}
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| elevation_m = 657
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{{Infobox ancient site
| name = Qaa
| native_name =
| alternate_name = El Qaa
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| map_size = 200
| location = Beqaa Valley, Lebanon
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| epochs = Shepherd Neolithic
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| archaeologists = M. Billaux, Henri Fleisch
| condition = ruins
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| public_access = Yes
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File:Shepherd Neolithic flint tools.jpg
Qaa ({{langx|ar|القاع}}), El Qaa, Al Qaa, Qaa Baalbek or Masharih al-Qaa is a town in Baalbek-Hermel Governorate, Lebanon.{{cite book|author1=L. Copeland|author2=P. Wescombe|title=Inventory of Stone-Age Sites in Lebanon: North, South and East-Central Lebanon, p. 49|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qhPRQwAACAAJ|access-date=29 August 2011|year=1966|publisher=Impr. Catholique}} A 2010 report stated that population of the settlement was 500, all Lebanese Maronite Christians.
History
In 1838, Eli Smith noted Qaa's population as being predominantly Catholic Christian.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/144/mode/1up 144]
On 28 June 1978, unidentified militiamen killed 26 villagers from Qaa and three other villages. The murders were believed to be connected to the killing of 34 people, including Tony Franjieh, on 13 June. The gunmen were reported to have had lists of names from which they selected their victims.{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/06/29/archives/lebanese-christians-are-slain-by-gunmen-22-dead-are-reported-found.html | title=Lebanese Christians Are Slain by Gunmen | newspaper=The New York Times | date=29 June 1978 }}
The Syrian army invaded Lebanon at 4 a.m. on 1 September 2012 and kidnapped a farmer from the town as part of escalating incursions during the Syrian civil war. The invasion lasted for 40 minutes before the unit withdrew. A house in Qaa had previously been hit by a shell fired by the Syrian army.{{cite news|url=http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2012/Sep-01/186381-syrian-army-crosses-into-lebanon-snatches-farmer.ashx#axzz25GqruVRr|title=Syrian army crosses into Lebanon, snatches farmer|publisher=The Daily Star (Lebanon)}}
On the 27 June 2016, at least five people in Qaa were killed and 13 others wounded in an attack by four suicide bombers during the Syrian Civil war spillover into Lebanon.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-36637378|title=Lebanon: Christian village hit by multiple suicide attacks|date=27 June 2016|publisher=BBC News}}{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-lebanon-idUSKCN0ZD09C|title=Suicide bombers strike Lebanese village, kill five|newspaper=U.S. |date=27 June 2016|via=Reuters}}{{cite news|url=http://www.newsweek.com/isis-lebanon-courage-christian-town-frontlines-jihad-629409|title=ISIS in Lebanon: The courage of a Christian town on the frontline of Jihad|date=28 June 2016|publisher=Newsweek|author=Andrew Doran}}
Archaeology
Along with Maqne I, Qaa is a type site of the Shepherd Neolithic industry. The site is located {{convert|5|mi|km|0}} north west of the town, north of a path leading from Qaa to Hermel. It was discovered by M. Billaux and the materials recovered were documented by Henri Fleisch in 1966.Fleisch, Henri., Notes de Préhistoire Libanaise : 1) Ard es Saoude. 2) La Bekaa Nord. 3) Un polissoir en plein air. BSPF, vol. 63, 1966. The area was lightly cultivated with a thin soil covering the conglomerates. The flints were divided into three groups of a reddish brown, light brown and one that was mostly chocolate and grey colored with a radiant "desert shine".
The Shepherd Neolithic industry can be defined firstly by being small and thick in size, with flakes commonly ranging from {{convert|2.5|to|4|cm|in}}, the thickness distinguishing them from geometric microliths. Their second characteristic is the limited number of forms that the tools take, apart from cores being transverse racloirs on small flakes, strong-pointed borers, denticulated or notched thick, short blades and end-scrapers. It was thirdly characterized by a lack of known typology, with only occasional use of Levallois technique. It was determined to be definitely later than the Mesolithic but without any usual forms from the Upper Paleolithic or pottery Neolithic. Henri Fleisch tentatively suggested the industry to be Epipaleolithic and suggested it may have been used by nomadic shepherds. The Shepherd Neolithic has largely been ignored and understudied following the outbreak of the Lebanese civil war.
See also
References
{{reflist}}
Bibliography
{{refbegin}}
- {{cite book|last1=Robinson|first1=E.|author-link1=Edward Robinson (scholar)|last2=Smith|first2=E.|author-link2=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}}
{{refend}}
External links
- [http://www.localiban.org/article4049.html Qaa Baalbek], Localiban
- [http://almashriq.hiof.no/ddc/projects/mot/photobase/images/MT8/JPEG0527.html Image of the landscape of Qaa including massive stone block]
{{Baalbek District}}
{{Archaeological sites in Lebanon}}
Category:Populated places in Baalbek District
Category:Archaeological sites in Lebanon
Category:Shepherd Neolithic sites