Kahale

Kahale (Arabic الكحالة) is a mountain village in the district of Aley located 200 to 700 meters above sea level, 13 km from Beirut. Population estimated at 13,000 residents all of which are Maronite Catholics.

Bounderies

It is bounded on the following order:

• North: Araya
• South: Bsous, Wadi Shahrour
• East: Jamhour
• West: Aley

Religion

The village has three churches:

• Mar Elias ( مار الياس )
• Our Lady ( السيدة)
• Mar Antonios ( مار انطونيوس)

Geography

Latitude: 33°49'18.64"N, Longtitude: 35°35'14.55"E, 200 to 700m above sea level and a land size of approximately 1,945,580 square meters based on a research in 1940.

Weather

Kahale belongs to a mediteranean weather, with an average of rain 886ml/year and an average temperature not exceeding 18,3 degree celcius and humidity of 65%

Population

in 1767 kahale had 591 residents in 1997 it had about 3000 (Voters) as for 2005 an estimation would be 13000 residents

Families (alphabtical order)

• Abi Khalil (ابي خليل)
• Ashkar (الاشقر)
• Bejjani (بجاني)
• Feghaly (فغالي)
• Moukarzel (مكرزل)
• Rizkallah (رزق الله)
• Zeinaty (زيناتي)
• Zoghbi (زغبي)

Roots

Syriac, Aramaic and is made up of the following parts, Kah: Verb meaning breathe or respired (breathed) Al or El: Name of the Caananite God El, who was considered father of the God's and of mankind. E: Ending denoting that the God El is the speakers God, as in my God El. These parts translate into El Breathed or Breath of El. Considering the locale and geography of the Kahale this name is suited well. A valley extends from the Sh'har (Sh'7ar) west side of the Kahale into the Rjoum, eastern side of the Kahale. In this valley the winds accelerate as if being sped along by some external supernatural will, the will of the ancient God El.

Special Thanks

kahale.net would like to thank Rev. Charbel Abi Khalil for the valuable information found in his book "History of Kahale " which we recommend as an Excellent reference to acquire.