Hardine

Hardine, Lebanon was founded by the Hittites around 1250 BC. The name Hardine is a Canaanite word meaning the place that evokes fear. In the Syriac language Hardine translates to pious, witness of justice, and ardent in faith, or "Hor Din", meaning "the judge’s supervision”.

Hardine is a village of the upper Batroun region, in northern Lebanon, its boundaries reach Batroun, Becharry and Koura.?Hardine is surrounded by thick forest and rocky mountain terraces.?The rocky tile is said to be one of the most beautiful in Mount Lebanon. There are also many caverns and caves used by ancient peoples, and rocky Temples that are believed to have been used for Pagan worship.

In the 9th century BC, King Solomon of Israel, to aid in the logging of Cedar trees (Cedrus libani) to Jerusalem, to build a Temple to honor the Lord, conscripted work crews from throughout Israel, 30,000 Hebrew soldiers and citizens in all to help the loggers of Hardine. He sent them to Lebanon in shifts of 10,000 men per month. They worked in Lebanon for one month, and then spent two months at home (5:13 King). Hardine became one of the leading lumber camps in the Cedar trade.?Thus the 3 major rivers of the region still carry Hebrew appellations:

• The Abraham river (Arabic: nahr Ibrahim) The river emerges from a huge cavern, the?Afqa Grotto, before it drops steeply through a series of falls and passes through a sheer gorge through the mountains.?It passes through the town of Nahr Ibrahim before emptying into the?Mediterranean Sea.?A river with mythological connections, it was revered in ancient times and its valley contains the remains of numerous temples and shrines. It is named after Abraham the common patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, the founding father of the covenant of the pieces, the special relationship between the Hebrews and God.
• The Kadisha river (Arabic: nahr Kadisha) a river running from the Kadisha grotto, halfway between Besharri and the Cedars of God, along the Kadisha Valley (known as the valley of death), carving out deep gorges. to the Mediterranean Sea at Tripoli. The name originate from an ancient Jewish prayer sequence regularly recited in the Synagogue service, including thanksgiving and praise and concluding with a prayer for universal peace, the Kadish is usualy recited for the dead.
• The Al-Caleb river (Arabic: nahr al-Kalb, traditionally mistaken for meaning Dog River) is a river running from a spring in Jeita near the Jeita Grotto to the Mediterranean Sea at Dbayeh. Caleb the son of Jephunneh was one of the 12 spies when the Israelites spied out the land at the beginning of the Exodus from Egypt. He and Joshua gave a positive report and wanted to go in, but because of the giants the other 10 convinced the people not to enter, hence they wandered 40 years in the desert. (Deuteronomy 14:14) Thus Hebron became the portion of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, as it still is, because he was loyal to YHWH, the God of Israel.

In Hardine, there is a Temple to the God Mercury with 30 majestic pillars built in the rare Ionic style. This Temple, also known as the Roman Palace of Hardine as well as Qasr Niha, or Qasr Hardine, goes back to the time of Emperor Hadrian Augustus (117-137 AD).

In 270 AD, a Roman official imprisoned his daughter in Hardine for converting to Christianity. She then converted many in Hardine to the Christian faith. Hardine became distinguished by being the first Christian village in the Mountains of Lebanon.

For the next 200 years, Christianity flourished, especially the Maronite Order. Hardine became known as a rock of faith and religion; 30 Churches and Monasteries were erected throughout the years. Its cells inside the rocks are equipped with basics and can be used by anyone seeking isolation from the outside world.

In 1302 AD, the Arab armies of Damascus, Tripoli and Egypt invaded the mountains of Lebanon and were severely beaten by the Lebanese.?Benjamin, the commander (Mouquadam) of Hardine, was instrumental in rallying the 34,000 troops that defeated the Arabs.

After the departure of the Crusaders, the Maronites came under attack from the Mamlouks. They suffered much humiliation, while their Churches were set fire, their villages plundered, and their vineyards destroyed. Northern Lebanon was devastated.?After this, many Lebanese fled the country.?Over 100,000 Maronites settled in Cyprus. Others settled in Sicily, Malta, Italy, France and England.

In 1860, the Ottoman, Druze, and Muslims massacred over 20,000 Maronite Christians. Britain and France intervened and pressured the Turks into establishing a new Christian-dominated administration for Lebanon which lasted until World War I. Emigration to the United States began in 1886. The largest population of Hardine immigrants is in Wilkes-Barre City in Pennsylvania, USA. Hardine lost 12 of its citizens on the Titanic on the night of April 15, 1912.

Hardine is the hometown of one of Lebanon’s four Saints, Saint Nimatullah Hardini (1808-58) who was canonized by Roman Catholic Pope John Paul II in 2004…

Food for thought!