Selaa
Municipality in South Governorate, Lebanon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Selaa, Silaa, (Arabic: سلعا) is a municipality in the Tyre District in Southern Lebanon.
Selaa
سلعا Silaa | |
|---|---|
Municipality | |
  Selaa | |
| Coordinates: 33°15′15″N 35°22′48″E | |
| Grid position | 185/295 PAL |
| Country |  Lebanon |
| Governorate | South Governorate |
| District | Tyre |
| Elevation | 1,440 ft (440 m) |
| Time zone | GMT +3 |
Etymology
According to E. H. Palmer, Silảh comes from "the crevasse".[1]
History
In 1875, Victor Guérin found here 250 Metuali inhabitants.[2] He further noted: "Here I found an ancient press, the lid of a sarcophagus with acroteria, and a broken sarcophagus, at one of whose ends is a projection resembling an altar. Near it is a great grave with room for two bodies, with a partition wall left in the rock; and beside this an enormous detached block, hollowed out for two bodies, and resting on a surface purposely planed.'[3]
Close to Silah, Guérin also found the ruins of a small village, completely destroyed, known as Kh. Fenian.[4]
In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it as: "a village, built of stone and of good materials, containing about 200 [..] Metawileh, on hill, with figs, olives, and arable land. Water from cisterns and a spring near."[5] They further noted that it had a perennial spring, built up with masonry,[6] and that it was "an ancient site; there is a terraced hill; there are six sarcophagi and two olive-presses near the village."[4]
Demographics
In 2014 Muslims made up 99.65% of registered voters in Selaa. 98.56% of the voters were Shiite Muslims.[7]