Lubayn

Lubayn (Arabic: لبين‎; also spelled Lubbein) is a village in the al-Suwayda Governorate in southwestern Syria. It is situated in the southern part of the Lejah plateau, northwest of the city of al-Suwayda. Lubayn had a population of 1,730 in the 2004 census.[1] Its inhabitants are Druze.

Lubayn لبين Lubbein
Village
Lubayn Location in Syria
Coordinates: 32°55′9″N 36°23′43″E
Grid position	280/258
Country	Syria
Governorate	as-Suwayda
District	Shahba
Subdistrict	Ariqah
Population  (2004)[1]
• Total	1,730
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)

History

There are Byzantine-era (4th-6th centuries CE) ruins in Lubayn.[2]

In 1596 it appeared in the Ottoman tax registers as Libbin and was part of the nahiya of Bani Abdullah in the Sanjak Hauran. It had an entirely Muslim population consisting of 20 households and 7 bachelors. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 40% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, goats and beehives; the taxes totalled 3,200 akçe.[3]

The modern-day village was established by Druze from the Murshid family sometime between 1867 and 1883.[4]

References

1. General Census of Population and Housing 2004. Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Al-Suwayda Governorate. (in Arabic)
2. Pleket, H. W.; Stroud, R. S.; Strubbe, H. M., eds. (1991). Supplementum epigraphicum Graecum, Volume 41. Gieben. p. 529.
3. Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 215
4. Firro, 1992, p. 175

Bibliography

• Firro, Kais (1992). A History of the Druzes. 1. BRILL. ISBN 9004094377.
• Hütteroth, Wolf-Dieter; Abdulfattah, Kamal (1977). Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century. Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. ISBN 3-920405-41-2.

External links

• Map of the town, Google Maps
• Ezra-map, 20M