ABOUT MACHGHARA

Origin

The name comes from the secret of its water and its springs, from "as-Shaghour", sacrament
of bounty and generosity, according to students of the history of Lebanese names, this having
a Syriac root.
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Geography

Machghara, lying on the southern edge of the green Bekaa valley, is a charming town on the
western slopes of our beloved Bekaa valley on its southern limits, thus being almost within the
frontiers of Southwest Bekaa, caught within the numerous folds of the mountain stretching
from Dahr Al-Baidar in the north to Tawmat Niha south-east of Jezzine.
Only one hour's walk from Machghara flows the River Litani... dividing the Western Bekaa
from the Eastern Bekaa... and providing an astounding scene of natural beauty as it surges
through a deep and narrow ravine...by the Cavern of Pigeons... Machghara abounds with
springs whose waters are piercing cold.
During the war of 1914-1918 the inhabitants felt the need to channel water to irrigate a stretch
of their land known as the Plain to the east of the town. The late Jacob Abu-Samra Trabulsi
undertook to make a canal starting from a dam on a water-course in the valley and continue it
round the mountain to the fields in question. But there was an obstacle in the form of a rocky
hillock at least thirty yards across. However, there was no choice but to chip a way through
and the workmen started digging. Soon they were amazed to discover under their told an
ancient canal, which they followed as fast as the rocky spur, which the canal actually passed,
leaving them no more to do than remove the earth...On the east side of the mountain, facing
the town is a construction called Nabi (Prophet) Noon. On a summit above it to the south is
another old building, which however is still in a state of ruin, believed by some to be the
original site of the prophet Noon, or alternatively one of the heathen "high places" alluded
to in the Bible... In the plain of Machghara are a number of dwellings and tombs carved out
of the rock, but there is no writing to indicate who the inhabitants were of who was buried there...
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The industry of Machghara

How tanning began in Machghara and what development it attained are questions dealt with by Mr. Elias Habboush:
He says there was a certain Fares Dib Habboush who worked in a tannery in Egypt until he mastered the craft. He came back to Lebanon and tried first to get a tannery going in Saghbine, but did not make a success of it. He then tried again in Ain Taneet and in Sidon with the same result. He finally came to Machghara, which was ideally suited because of the climate and the water, which were just right for tanning, particularly for making leather for the soles of shoes. In 1869 Fares Dib Habboush began building his tannery, at a time when it is said there was no tanning done at all either in Lebnaon or in Syria. Mr. Habboush goes on to say that in the 1930's the Salamouni family brought machines for their
tannery, becoming the first in Machghara to use them.
These machines revolutionized the industry and gave it a new impetus...Mr. Amer Albert Karam for his part tells us that the leather-trade is long established in Machghara, dating back to well before independence. When armies of many nations occupied Machghara, all the tanneries had a share in supplying them with footware. Shaker Nassif owned the biggest tannery in Machghara and it was he who had founded the leather industry.