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Shhiim (Chehim)

شحيم
Shown within Lebanon
Location	Lebanon
Region	Mount Lebanon Governorate, Chouf District
Coordinates	33°37′28″N 35°29′06″E / 33.6244°N 35.4850°E / 33.6244; 35.4850
Type	City, town
Part of	Iqlim El-Kharrub
Area	8.54 km²
Height	500–900 metres
History
Cultures	Roman
Associated with	Hamdan, Hajjar, Abdallah, Khatib, Chaaban, Fawaz, Dahrouj, Hajj-Chehade, Younes, Mrad, Daher, Oueidat, Moallem, Saab, El-Halabi, Trawi
Site notes
Condition	Developing town

Shhiim (Arabic: شحيم) (IPA: ʃħiːm) alternatively written as Shheem or Chhim/Chehim is a town in Lebanon which is located 40 kilometres south-east of Beirut.

The largest Sunni Muslim town in the Chouf region, Shhiim has a population of approximately 49,000. Situated on four mountains, the town is often regarded as the capital of the Iqlim el-Kharrub, which is the coastal part of the Chouf.

The town is notable for a very well-preserved archaeological site located there, including a Roman sanctuary, a Christian basilica, residential structures, and oil presses.

Geography

Shhiim is often confused within size due to many parts of it having different names; some more familiar parts of Shhiim include Marj-Ali, Sahle, Jabal Swed, Chamis and Jirid.

Politics and services

Politics in the area is dominated by the Future Movement and the Progressive Socialist Party, with two MPs from Shhiim taking on a role for each respective party.

Shhiim contains 11 schools, 8 of which are public. It also has two hospitals, one public and one private.

History

Shhiim contains mosques and is mostly inhabited by Sunni Muslims. It is the site of one of many Temples of the Beqaa Valley.

In the era of prosperity in the 2nd century AD, the villagers of Shleem decided to erect a Roman temple on the southern end of the settlement. A small edifice built in the Corinthian style probably matched their rising ambitions. We do not know what deity was worshiped there, but its long-standing cult ended with the arrival of Christianity. The temple was abandoned, and a church was built opposite it at the end of the 5th century.

Weather

Shhiim has warm, dry and humid summers, with cold and wet winters.

Archaeological site

The archaeological site lies on a slope of a hill on the outskirts of the city. It is a Roman-Byzantine village with a Roman temple towering above the rest of the ancient architecture. The temple faces east and has a small porch. There is a carving of the sun god Helios on one of the doorframes. Another carving portrays the image of a priest with outstretched arms.

Haroutune Kalayan reconstructed the temple in the 1970s, and in the 1990s, Renata Ortali Tarazi from the Directorate General of Antiquities of Lebanon (DGA) undertook the task of site preservation. She started a three-way cooperation with the Institut français du Proche-Orient (IFPO), represented by Lévon Nordiguian, and the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw (PCMA UW).

The settlement was founded at the turn of the eras, although the oldest finds date to the Bronze Age. Parts of the village are remarkably well preserved. Apart from the Roman temple, archaeologists discovered houses clustered along narrow streets, oil presses, and a Christian basilica with mosaics, dated to AD 498. A necropolis surrounded the settlement. The village ceased to function in the 7th century.

Multicolored mosaics covering the whole floor of the basilica are among the most spectacular discoveries made on the site. Most of them depict geometrical patterns, but floral and figural motifs also occur; birds and vessels appear on the surfaces between columns. In the central part of the presbytery, there is a mosaic with a lioness, and in the west aisle, a panel with two antelopes. The iconography of these mosaics bears many similarities to other Byzantine churches in the province of Phoenicia, e.g., in Zahrani and Ghiné.

Footnotes

1. Waliszewski, Tomasz; Wicenciak, Urszula (2015-11-01). "Chhim, Lebanon: A Roman and Late Antique Village in the Sidon Hinterland". Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies. 3 (4): 372–395. doi:10.5325/jeasmedarcherstu.3.4.0372. ISSN 2166-3548.
2. Shehadi M. Berbary (1960). The guide to Lebanon. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
3. ^ George Taylor (1967). The Roman temples of Lebanon: a pictorial guide. Dar el-Machreq Publishers. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
4. Waliszewski T. and Ortali-Tarazi R., 2000 ans d’Historie au cœur d’un village antique du Liban. Catalogue de l'exposition Palais de Beiteddine 7 septembre 2002 - 7 janvier 2003.
5. "Chhîm".
6. ^ Waliszewski, T. and Kowalski, S. P. (1997). Chhim-Jiyeh excavations 1996. Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean, 8.
7. Waliszewski, T. and Wicenciak, U. (2015). Chhim, Lebanon: a Roman and Late Antique village in the Sidon hinterland. Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology & Heritage Studies, 3(4).

References

• Waliszewski, T. and Wicenciak, U. (2015). Chhim, Lebanon: a Roman and Late Antique village in the Sidon hinterland. Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology & Heritage Studies, 3(4).
• Waliszewski T. and Ortali-Tarazi R., 2000 ans d’Historie au cœur d’un village antique du Liban. Catalogue de l'exposition Palais de Beiteddine 7 septembre 2002 - 7 janvier 2003.
• Waliszewski, T. and Kowalski, S. P. (1997). Chhim-Jiyeh excavations 1996. Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean, 8.

External links

• Shhiim, Localiban
• Chhîm, PCMA UW

v t e Chouf District, Mount Lebanon Governorate
Capital: Beitedine
Towns and villages	Ain Qani Ain W Zain Ain Zhalta Ainbal Ammatour Baadarâne Baakleen Bakaata Barja Barouk Batloun Beitedine Beykoun El Bireh Bourjein et Marjiyat Boutmeh Brih Bsaba Dahr El Maghara Damour Daraya Deir el Qamar Dibbiyeh El Foûâra Haret Jandal Gharife Jahlieh Jdaideh Jieh Joun Kahlouniye Kfarfakoud Kfar Nabrakh Mazraat el-Chouf Mazraat el Daher Maasser Moukhtara Mtolleh Na'ameh Niha Rmeileh Serjbel Shheem Symkanieh Zaarourieh
Notable landmarks	Beiteddine Palace Fakhredine Palace Deir el Qamar Synagogue Fakhredine Mosque Al Shouf Cedar Nature Reserve

v t e Roman archaeological sites in Lebanon
Roman Berytus (actual Beirut)	Berytus Roman Forum of Berytus Berytus Roman Baths Cisterns of Berytus Baths Berytus Cardo Decumanus Berytus Colonnaded street Byzantine mosaics Roman hippodrome of Berytus Roman Law school of Berytus
Roman Phoenicia (actual Lebanon)	Heliopolis Temple of Bacchus Temple of Jupiter (Baalbek) Temples of Mount Hermon Temples of the Beqaa Valley Aaqbe temple Afqa Ain Aata temple Ain Harcha roman temple Amioun Monastery Arca Caesarea Augusti Pagus Bakka temple Batroumine Bziza temple Canalizations of Zenobia Dakoue temple Mansourieh Roman aqueduct Hebbariye temple Iaat column Kafr Zabad temples Khirbet El-Knese roman temples Labweh Roman temple Libbaya roman temple Monastery of Qozhaya Monastery of Saint Maron Nahle roman temple Nebi Safa temple Niha Hosn Niha Qalaat Faqra Qal'at Bustra temple Castra Chbib Castra El Banat Saraain El Faouqa Schleem roman temple Colonia Aurelia Pia "Sidon" Temnin el-Foka nymphaeum Tripolis in Phoenicia Tyrus Tyre Necropolis Roman temple to Venus in Yammoune
Related	Roman Lebanon Phoenice (Roman province) Palaestina Secunda Phoenice Libanensis Stone of the Pregnant Woman Ulpianus Marcus Valerius Probus Eudokia of Heliopolis Saint Barbara of Heliopolis Coele-Syria List of Christian cathedrals in Lebanon Christianity in Lebanon Catholic Church in Lebanon Saint George Greek Orthodox Cathedral 2nd century in Lebanon 3rd century in Lebanon 4th century in Lebanon 5th century in Lebanon 6th century in Lebanon 551 Beirut earthquake
UNESCO World Heritage Sites Proposed Category:Roman sites in Lebanon

v t e Archaeological sites in Lebanon

Aadloun Aaiha Aammiq Aaqbe Ain Aata Ain Choaab Ain Harcha Akbiyeh Akkar plain foothills Al-Bireh Amioun Amlaq Qatih Anjar, Lebanon Antelias cave Apheca Ard Saouda Ard Tlaili Arqa Augusti Pagus Baalbek Baidar ech Chamout Batroumine Batroun Bechamoun Beirut Beit Mery Belat temple Berytus (Roman Beirut) Bustan Birke Byblos Canalizations of Zenobia Dahr El Ahmar Dakoue Deir El Aachayer Deir Al-Ahmar Deir Mar Maroun Dekwaneh Douris (Baalbek) Elaea (Lebanon) Flaoui Fadous Sud Hebbariye Hadeth south Haret ech Cheikh Hashbai Heliopolis in Phoenicia Hermel plains Iaat Jabal es Saaïdé Jbaa Jdeideh Jebel Aabeby Jeita Grotto Joub Jannine Jieh Kafr Zabad Kamid el-Loz Kamouh el Hermel Karak Nuh Kaukaba Kefraya Kafr Tebnit Kfar Qouq Kfarhata Khallet Michte Kharayeb Khirbet El-Knese Kouachra megalith field Ksar Akil Labweh Lake Qaraoun (Ain Jaouze) Libbaya Lion Tower Majdal Anjar Mansourieh Maronite mummies Mayrouba Mdoukha (Jebel Kassir) Moukhtara Mtaileb Nabi Zair Nachcharini Nahle, Lebanon Neba'a Faour Nebi Safa Hosn Niha Phoenician port of Beirut Plain of Zgharta Qaa Qal'at Bustra Qalaat Tannour Qaraoun Qasr el Banat Ras Baalbek I Ras Beirut Ras El Kelb Rashaya Roman Forum of Berytus Roman hippodrome of Berytus Roman temple of Bziza Sands of Beirut Saraain El Faouqa Shheem Sidon Sin el Fil Sarepta Stone of the Pregnant Woman Tahun ben Aissa Taire Tayibe Tell Aalaq Tell Ablah Tell Addus Tell Ahle Tell Ain Cerif Tell Ain el Meten Tell Ain Ghessali Tell Ain Nfaikh Tell Ain Saouda Tell Ain Sofar Tell Ayoub Tell Bar Elias Tell Beshara Tell Bir Dakoue Tell Deir Tell Delhamieh Tell Derzenoun Tell Dibbine Tell el-Burak Tell El Ghassil Tell El Hadeth Tell Fadous Tell Hazzine Tell Hoch Rafqa Tell Karmita Tell Khardane Tell Kirri Tell Jezireh Tell Jisr Tell Kabb Elias Tell Majdaloun Tell Masoud Tell Mekhada Tell Meouchi Tell Mureibit Tell Murtafa Tell Nahariyah Tell Neba'a Chaate Tell Neba'a Litani Tell Qasr Labwe Tell Rasm El Hadeth Tell Rayak Tell Saatiya Tell Safiyeh Tell Saoudhi Tell Serhan Tell Shaikh Hassan al Rai Tell Shamsine Tell Sultan Yakoub Tell Taalabaya Tell Wardeen Tell Zenoub Tell Zeitoun Temnin el-Foka Temple of Bacchus Temple of Eshmun Temple of Jupiter Temple of the Obelisks Toron Tripolis (region of Phoenicia) Tyre Necropolis Tyre Umm al-Amad Wadi Koura Wadi Yaroun Yammoune Yanta Ain W Zain Zahlé

• Populated places in Chouf District
• Sunni Muslim communities in Lebanon
• Archaeological sites in Lebanon
• Ancient Roman temples
• Roman sites in Lebanon
• Tourist attractions in Lebanon