Sarafand, Lebanon

Sarafand (Arabic: الصرفند) is a village in southern Lebanon located 10 km south of Sidon overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

Sarafand
الصرفند
Town
Glassmaking in Sarafand
Glassmaking in Sarafand
Sarafand is located in Lebanon
Sarafand
Sarafand
Location in Lebanon
Coordinates: 33°27′06″N 35°17′27″E
Country Lebanon
GovernorateSouth Governorate
DistrictSidon District
Government
 • TypeMayor–council
Elevation
[1]
70 m (230 ft)
Population
 (2004)
10,965
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)
Dialing code00961 (7) Landline

Its name conserves that of the Phoenician site of Sarepta, just north of Sarafand.[2]

Sarepta and Sarafand in the 1862 Carte du Liban

History

In 1875 Victor Guérin noted that the village had 400 Métualis inhabitants.[3]

In mid-April 1980 Israeli commandos, arriving by sea, raided Sarafand killing twenty Lebanese and Palestinians, mostly civilians. During the first three weeks of April the Israelis carried out similar, but smaller, raids along the coast road between Sidon and Tyre, killing thirteen people.[4]

On 7 June 1982, on the second day of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon an IDF brigade was ambushed as it pushed through Sarafand. Two Israeli soldiers were killed and one seriously wounded.[5]

References
  1. Sarafand, Localiban
  2. Nicolas Carayon (2012–2013), "Les ports phéniciens du Liban" (PDF), Archaeology& History in the Lebanon Issue
  3. Guérin, 1880, p. 482: "A sept heures, j'examine, en me dirigeant vers l'est-sud-est, quatre anciens tombeaux pratiqués dans le roc, sur les pentes de la colline que couronne le village de Sarfend. Un peu plus loin, vers le sud, on remarque une antique carrière et une grande caverne, qui, au dire des habitants du pays, est très étendue; actuellement l'entrée en est obstruée par d'énormes blocs tombés de la voûte. On l'appelle Merharet ei-Haloueh. De là, je monte à Sarfend. Ce village a une population de 400 Métualis. Il a hérité, mais en le modifiant un peu, du nom de Sarepta, ville à laquelle il parait avoir succédé, mais sur un autre emplacement, quand celle-ci a été détruite. Redescendant bientôt vers le sud, je rencontre, un kilomètre plus loin, d'autres tombeaux creusés dans le roc et divers débris de sarcophages."
  4. Middle East International No 125, 23 May 1980; Helena Cobban p.4
  5. Schiff, Ze’ev and Ya’ari, Ehud (1985) Israel’s Lebanon War. George Allen and Unwin Ltd, ISBN 0-04-923078-6 pp.138-139

Bibliography
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