Adonis Diaries

Posts Tagged ‘Tyr district

Who is Peter, Jesus disciple? Where is this town of Shame3 in Lebanon?

Posted on February 23, 2012

And what if Peter was not crucified in Rome, upside down, as the Church of Rome found it convenient as a credible story?

This is another alternative story, a hometown story.

Apparently, the Muslim Shia sect in Lebanon consider Peter (Simon), Jesus disciple, as a prophet and a close cousin to Mary (the Virgin) 

The Virgin Mary was his aunt from both her mother and father sides. Simon, Peter…is also known as Shimon Safa in the town of Shama3 (Shamaa) near the city of Tyr. Safa means the lean stone in Arabic, Kifa in Syriac, and Peter in Greek.

Peter was born around 10 BC and lived in the town of 7amoul or (Hamoun) near the village of Naqoura in South Lebanon.  Peter’s father was Hamoun Bin 3aama in the town still known as Hamoul where he is buried.

Hamoun had two sisters: Hanneh (Hanna) and Elizabeth. Hanneh married Omran and gave birth to Mary. The mother of Peter is the sister of Omran.

In the year 64, Peter fled Rome after Niro escalated his persecution of the Christian, and settled in Babylon by the River Euphrates for a while.

He wrote a letter to the community of Karkisia by the Euphrates River.  Peter travelled to Palestine and when the Jewish revolt (66 to 70 AC) started persecuting the Christian, Peter fled to Northern Galilee (Tyr district) in 67, but the Jews followed him and killed him by a blow on the head. Peter was 77 year-old.

The community of his ancestors in Hamoul buried him there by his mother in the town of Shama3, which is short for Shimon.  

The upper story is one thousand year old, but the lower one is pretty ancient.

Thousand of Muslims make the pilgrimage to Peter’s tomb every year, especially during the celebration of the 40 days of Hussain martyrdom.

An inscription on the two-story tomb reads: “Peace on the prophet of God, peace on you Shimon Safa, peace on you and on the prophet of God…”

People in that region have a saying: “O Shimon Safa, your secret has not disappeared”

Shimon and his brother Andrew were fishermen and threw the net in Lake Tiberiad (Tabaraya).  Before Tiberias, they learned the profession of fishing in the Mediterranean Sea, in current south Lebanon.

Most of Jesus disciples were close cousins and close relatives from the district of Tyr (Lebanon):  This should come as no surprise for normal people.  

As Jesus was standing trial, all the disciples huddled in a remote house and dared not step out for a week.  The disciples were scared, but mostly ashamed for following this “insane cousin of them” who kept his silence and refused to defend himself.  

An insane cousin who ended up crucified like common criminals, between two confirmed criminals.

An insane cousin who had no one to support him after a “King” entrance to Jerusalem a week ago, with a large following, a walking Rabbi, and mounted on a donkey!

An insane cousin who was warned several times Not to advance toward Jerusalem (his first visit in his entire life). The Jews in Jerusalem were very worried, especially with the rumors that Jesus wanted to “galvanize” the Jews against the Roman occupation. The Jewish clerics had an autonomous control and vested with many privileges by the Roman Consul.

An insane cousin they had high expectation to becoming an important personality and honoring the extended family back in Upper Galilee in the district of Tyr (current south Lebanon). Tyr was the administrative and judicial capital of that region , from Haifa all the way to the Lake of Tiberias, during the Seleucid Empire and after the Roman occupied this land.

An insane cousin who acted as a meek prisoner, and worse, insisted to be the Son of God, the expected Messiah.

People are suckers for stories.

When a person likes a story, the story takes a life of its own.  

What if the story is loved by 2 billion people (Christians and Muslims)?

The story goes that attitudes changed after Jesus re-appeared to the disciples…and Peter was not crucified in Rome, upside down, as the Church of Rome found it convenient as a credible story…

Note 1: This post was inspired by an article by Hala Homsi in the daily Al Nahar. The reference is author Ali Dawood Jaber “Shimon Safa: the in-between Christianity and Islam

Note 2: We owe it to the Muslim Shia communities in South Lebanon and Jabal Amel to have maintained the “hometown stories” of Jesus, Mary, Peter, Jacob, Omran, Hanneh… where they were born, raised and buried.

Note 3: Once the disciples of Jesus were pressured to leave Jerusalem, where they were huddled for many years and behaved according to the strict daily customs of the Jews of Jerusalem, their first phase was to visit their hometowns in Upper Galilee, before venturing far away.

 

 

Was Jesus Jewish by any long shot?

The Jews of Jerusalem never acknowledged that Jesus was a Jew.

Jesus never proclaimed that he was Jew.

The mother of Jesus was from the town of Qana, the district of Tyr then and now, as was all of her family.

The Temple they patronized was the Great Temple of the Carmel and it is there they celebrated their religious events.

The town of Bethlehem was the one in Galilee and not the one close to Jerusalem that was a tiny military garrison.

When Jesus ascended toward Jerusalem, it was his first visit to the city, where he would be persecuted and executed.

Kamal Nader shared this link on April 3, 2015
Edmond Melhem shared a photo to Kamal Nader‘s timeline.
'Jesus was Syrian</p><br /><br />
<p>By Dr. Edmond Melhem</p><br /><br />
<p>Was Jesus really a Jew as some scholars refer to him? According to Antun Sa´adeh, Jesus was not a Jew, but he was Syrian and a product of his Syrian social environment. Sa´adeh clearly states: </p><br /><br />
<p>Jesus was not Jewish and he had no Jewish fathers; as claimed by the composer of the Instigatory [Al-Qarawi], who denigrated him. Jesus was Syrian, who used to address people in Aramaic. </p><br /><br />
<p>In his book, Life of Jesus, Renan, asserts that “the real mother-tongue of Jesus was the Syrian dialect mingled with Hebrew, which was then spoken in Palestine”.  By the Syrian dialect Renan meant Aramaic, which was the spoken language in Palestine, particularly in the Galilee, during the lifetime of Jesus.  The Dutch Roman Catholic scholar Edward Schillebeeckx was certain about the Aramaic hypothesis when he wrote: “On historical grounds it is quite certain that he [Jesus] conveyed his message in Aramaic”.  Günther Bornekamm offers a similar view that “Jesus’ mother tongue is the Aramaic of Galilee.”</p><br /><br />
<p>According to Abraham Mitrie Rihbani (1870 – 1945) , Syria was the original home of Jesus. In The Syrian Christ, published in 1916 and reprinted 17 times between 1916 and 1937, Rihbani conducts us “into the inner chambers of Syrian life”, describing the social habits of Syria and the cultural milieu in which Jesus lived. At the start of his journey, however, he asserts, like many, that Jesus, as the embodiment of the Holy Spirit and as a preacher of God: the Father, and His heavenly kingdom, is a man without a country or nationality. He states: </p><br /><br />
<p>As a prophet and seer Jesus belongs to all races and ages. Wherever the minds of men respond to simple truth, wherever the hearts of men thrill with pure love, wherever a temple of religion is dedicated to the worship of God and the service of man, there is Jesus’ country and there his friends.  </p><br /><br />
<p>Before he presents a charming account of Jesus’ life and his characteristics as well as his teachings, Rihbani emphasizes that his modest purpose in publishing his book is “to remind the reader that, whatever else Jesus was, as regards his modes of thought and life and his method of teaching, he was a Syrian of the Syrians”. Rihbani adds: </p><br /><br />
<p>According to authentic history Jesus never saw any other country than Palestine. There he was born; there he grew up to manhood, taught his Gospel, and died for it.</p><br /><br />
<p>It is most natural, then, that gospel truths should have come down to the succeeding generations – and the nations of the West-cast in Oriental moulds of thought, and intimately intermingled with the simple domestic and social habits of Syria. The gold of the Gospel carries with it the sand and dust of its original home. </p><br /><br />
<p>In search of Jesus’ identity, scholars may provide rival answers and a multiplicity of dazzling images of Jesus. Nevertheless, the fact remains that the Jesus of history, the real Jesus, was born in Palestine; there he grew up, walked and taught. He never identified himself as a Jew and never designated himself the Son of David, but the Son of God. Sa´adeh asserts that Jesus himself refused to be called “Son of David” as the Jews wished. He adds:<br /><br /><br />
Jesus rejected all attempts to regard him a Jew related to David, in accordance with the Jewish tradition. It is not right to say the Messiah was Jewish. He is the son of the Syrian environment.'
Al-Zawba’ah by Edmond Melhem

Jesus was Syrian

Was Jesus really a Jew as some scholars refer to him?

According to Antun Sa´adeh, Jesus was not a Jew, but he was Syrian, a product of his Syrian social environment. Sa´adeh clearly states:

Jesus was not Jewish and he had no Jewish fathers; as claimed by the composer of the Instigatory [Al-Qarawi], who denigrated him. Jesus was Syrian, who used to address people in Aramaic.

(Antun Saadeh is the founder and leader of the Syrian National Social Party, established in 1931. Saadeh was executed by firing squadby the Lebanese government in 1949 after a quick trial that didn’t last 24 hours.)

In his book, Life of Jesus, Renan, asserts that “the real mother-tongue of Jesus was the Syrian dialect mingled with Hebrew, which was then spoken in Palestine”.

By the Syrian dialect Renan meant Aramaic, which was the spoken language in Palestine, particularly in the Galilee, during the lifetime of Jesus.

The Dutch Roman Catholic scholar Edward Schillebeeckx was certain about the Aramaic hypothesis when he wrote: “On historical grounds it is quite certain that he [Jesus] conveyed his message in Aramaic”.

Günther Bornekamm offers a similar view that “Jesus’ mother tongue is the Aramaic of Galilee.” (Galilee was within Tyr district jurisdiction and Herod was denied taking Jesus to court and Jesus lived all his life in the district of Tyr)

According to Abraham Mitrie Rihbani (1870 – 1945) , Syria was the original home of Jesus.

In The Syrian Christ, published in 1916 and reprinted 17 times between 1916 and 1937, Rihbani conducts us “into the inner chambers of Syrian life”, describing the social habits of Syria and the cultural milieu in which Jesus lived.

Jesus was as the embodiment of the Holy Spirit and as a preacher of God: the Father, and His heavenly kingdom, is a man without a country or nationality. Abraham Mitrie Rihbani states:

As a prophet and seer Jesus belongs to all races and ages. Wherever the minds of men respond to simple truth, wherever the hearts of men thrill with pure love, wherever a temple of religion is dedicated to the worship of God and the service of man, there is Jesus’ country and there his friends.

Before he presents a charming account of Jesus’ life and his characteristics as well as his teachings, Rihbani emphasizes that his modest purpose in publishing his book is “to remind the reader that, whatever else Jesus was, as regards his modes of thought and life and his method of teaching, he was a Syrian of the Syrians”. Rihbani adds:

According to authentic history Jesus never saw any other country than Palestine. There he was born; there he grew up to manhood, taught his Gospel, and died for it.

It is most natural, then, that gospel truths should have come down to the succeeding generations – and the nations of the West-cast in Oriental moulds of thought, and intimately intermingled with the simple domestic and social habits of Syria.

The gold of the Gospel carries with it the sand and dust of its original home.

In search of Jesus’ identity, scholars may provide rival answers and a multiplicity of dazzling images of Jesus.

Nevertheless, the fact remains that the Jesus of history, the real Jesus, was born in Palestine; there he grew up, walked and taught.

He never identified himself as a Jew and never designated himself the Son of David, but the Son of God.

Sa´adeh asserts that Jesus himself refused to be called “Son of David” as the Jews wished. He adds:
Jesus rejected all attempts to regard him a Jew related to David, in accordance with the Jewish tradition. It is not right to say the Messiah was Jewish. He is the son of the Syrian environment.

Read: https://adonis49.wordpress.com/2009/03/18/the-virgin-mary-is-from-the-town-of-qana-in-lebanon-book-review/#comment-1492


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