Sin el Fil


Sin el-Fil is a suburb east of Beirut in the Matn District of the Mount Lebanon Governorate, Lebanon.

Overview

Etymology

The name literally means 'ivory': "tooth" of "the elephant". Being geographically closer to the ancient city of Antioch and far remote from natural elephant habitat, it is believed that the town name may have been a derogation of Saint Theophilus of Antioch.

Geography

With a rich red soil and moderate precipitation the agricultural land of Sin el Fil in the early 20th century sprawled into a densely populated suburb. The natural landscape of the late century was dominated by stone pine. The Beirut River runs west of Sin el Fil and separates the town from the capital, Beirut.

Demographics

Family names from this village are: Abdullah, Amhaz, Antoun, El-Choufani, Ayoub, Bachoura, Barakat, Bazzi, Berberian, Chadessi, Chaoul, Chidiac, El-Hage, El-Hakem, Farah, Hamdan, Hennessi, Hijazi, Karam, Kahalé, Khoury, Lahood, Mannah, Mansour, Massaad, Saad, Saliba, Sahyoun, Saadi, Salem, Zwein,

Archaeology

Collections of archaeological material from this limestone "hogsback" were made from the gullies to the south of the main road on the slopes of forested hills. The recovery areas were described as "ravines sinueuses" by Raoul Describes after making a collection in 1921. Other Jesuits who made collections from the area included Godefroy Zumoffen in 1908, Paul Bovier-Lapierre and Auguste Bergy as well as Mouterde, Gigues, Lorraine Copeland and Peter Wescombe. E. Passemard suggested that two of the trihedral pieces collected by Paul Bovier-Lapierre were Chalossian. Describes published some of the material as Acheulean but the bulk of the material was very mixed including many indeterminate Neolithic pieces including Trihedral Neolithic and Heavy Neolithic forms. There was also a Roman occupation on the flat fields above the slopes. Some archaeological material from Sin el Fil is in the National Museum of Beirut and the Museum of Lebanese Prehistory.

Twin towns – sister cities