‘Aqura as a dependency of Ba’albek in the early XVIIIth century

Tannus al-Shidqyaq’s Akhbar al-A’yaan fi Jabal Lubnan has the following quote about ‘Aqura in or around the year 1700:

“fa-tawajjaha ila dimashq wa-iltamassa min wazriha mashyakhata al-qaryati al-madhkurati fa-an’ama ‘alayhi biha li-annaha kaanat hina’idhin tabi’atan walayati Ba’albik”.

This translates as:

“And he took the direction of Damascus and sought from its minister the leadership of the aforementioned village (al-‘Aqura); so he (the minister) bestowed it upon him because it was a dependency of the wilayah (sic) of Ba’albek at that time,”. 

That ‘Aqura was part of the kaza/district of Baalbek (in the sanjak of Damascus, itself in the Ottoman Eyalet of Damascus) rather than the sanjak of Tripoli (itself part of the Eyalet of Tripoli) in the early eighteenth century is significant in so many ways.

First, it puts the migration of ‘Aqura families originating from Damascus, like the Jarmanus/Germanos, in perspective. Second, it establishes the continued relevance into the eighteenth century of the ancient route from Ba’albek to ‘Aqura via Yammuneh.

One would think that any village west of the Mount Lebanon ridge line would fall within the sanjak of Tripoli, but ‘Aqura seems to have been an exception. This is another instance of the specificity of this village within the Maronite homeland in Northern Mount Lebanon.