View source for Place:Qaa

{{for multi|the pharaoh|Qa'a|other uses}}
{{Infobox settlement
<!--See the Table at Infobox Settlement for all fields and descriptions of usage-->
<!-- Basic info  ---------------->| official_name      = Qaa
| other_name         = El Qaa, Al Qaa
| native_name        = {{lang|ar|القاع}}<!-- for cities whose native name is not in English -->
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| pushpin_mapsize    = 250
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Lebanon
<!-- Location ------------------>| subdivision_type   = [[Earth:List of sovereign states|Country]]
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| subdivision_type1  = Governorate
| subdivision_name1  = Baalbek-Hermel
| subdivision_type2  = District
| subdivision_name2  = Baalbek
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| subdivision_name4  = <!-- Politics ----------------->
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| leader_title       = Mayor
| leader_name        = Bachir Matar
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| established_date3  = <!-- Area    --------------------->
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| area_total_km2     = 12.91 <!-- ALL fields dealing with a measurements are subject to automatic unit conversion-->
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| area_blank1_sq_mi  = <!-- Population   ----------------------->
| population_as_of   = 2010
| population_footnotes = <ref name="2010 R">{{cite web |date=Feb 2010 |title=The Forgotten Turks: Turkmens of Lebanon |url=http://www.orsam.org.tr/en/enUploads/Article/Files/2010110_sayi11_eng_web.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303181832/http://www.orsam.org.tr/en/enUploads/Article/Files/2010110_sayi11_eng_web.pdf |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |access-date=May 8, 2015 |publisher=Centre for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies |language=en}}</ref>
| population_note    = 
| population_total   = 500
| population_density_km2 = 930{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}}
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| population_density_blank1_sq_mi = <!-- General information  --------------->
| timezone           = [[Eastern European Time|EET]]
| utc_offset         = +2
| timezone_DST       = +3
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| coordinates        = {{coord|34|20|37|N|36|28|32|E|region:LB|display=inline,title}}
| elevation_footnotes = <!--for references: use <ref> </ref> tags-->
| elevation_m        = 657
| elevation_ft       = <!-- Area/postal codes & others -------->
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{{Infobox ancient site
|name = Qaa
|native_name = 
|alternate_name = El Qaa
|image = 
|alt = 
|caption = 
|map_type =
|map_alt = 
|map_size = 200
|location =Beqaa Valley, [[Place:Lebanon|Lebanon]]
|region = 
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|type = 
|part_of = Type site
|length =
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|height =
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|material =
|built = 
|abandoned = 
|epochs = Shepherd Neolithic
|cultures =
|dependency_of = 
|occupants =
|event = 
|excavations =
|archaeologists = M. Billaux, Henri Fleisch
|condition = ruins
|ownership = 
|management = 
|public_access = Yes
|website = 
|notes = 
}}
[[File:Shepherd Neolithic flint tools.jpg|thumb|Shepherd Neolithic flint tools discovered at Kamouh el Hermel. 1. End scraper on a flake. 2. Transverse scraper and awl on a thin flake. 3. Borer on a flake blade. 4. Burin with a wide working edge on a heavy flake. All in matt brown flint.]]
'''Qaa''' ({{lang-ar|القاع}}), '''El Qaa''', '''Al Qaa, Qaa Baalbek''' or '''Masharih al-Qaa''' is a town in Baalbek-Hermel Governorate, [[Place:Lebanon|Lebanon]].<ref name="CopelandWescombe1966">{{cite book|author1=L. Copeland|author2=P. Wescombe|title=Inventory of Stone-Age Sites in Lebanon: North, South and East-Central Lebanon, p. 49|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qhPRQwAACAAJ|access-date=29 August 2011|year=1966|publisher=Impr. Catholique}}</ref> A 2010 report stated that population of the settlement was 500, all Lebanese Maronites

==History==
In 1838, Eli Smith noted Qaa's population as being predominantly  [[Organization:Catholic Church|Catholic Christian]].<ref>Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/144/mode/1up 144]</ref>

On June 28, 1978, unidentified militiamen killed twenty-six villagers from Qaa and three other villages. The murders were believed to be connected to the killing of thirty-four people, including Tony Franjieh, on 13 June. The gunmen were reported to have had lists of names from which they selected their victims.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/06/29/archives/lebanese-christians-are-slain-by-gunmen-22-dead-are-reported-found.html | title=Lebanese Christians Are Slain by Gunmen | newspaper=The New York Times | date=29 June 1978 }}</ref>

The Syrian army invaded [[Place:Lebanon|Lebanon]] at 4 a.m. on 1 September 2012 and kidnapped a farmer from the town as part of escalating incursions during the Syrian civil war. The invasion lasted for forty minutes before the unit withdrew. A house in Qaa had previously been hit by a [[Engineering:Shell (projectile)|shell]] fired by the Syrian army.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2012/Sep-01/186381-syrian-army-crosses-into-lebanon-snatches-farmer.ashx#axzz25GqruVRr|title=Syrian army crosses into Lebanon, snatches farmer|publisher=The Daily Star (Lebanon)}}</ref>

On the 27 June 2016, at least five people in Qaa were killed and thirteen others wounded in an attack by four suicide bombers during the Syrian Civil war spillover into Lebanon.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-36637378|title=Lebanon: Christian village hit by multiple suicide attacks|date=27 June 2016|publisher=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-lebanon-idUSKCN0ZD09C|title=Suicide bombers strike Lebanese village, kill five|newspaper=U.S. |date=27 June 2016|via={{wipe|Reuters}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.newsweek.com/isis-lebanon-courage-christian-town-frontlines-jihad-629409|title=ISIS in Lebanon: The courage of a Christian town on the frontline of Jihad|date=28 June 2016|publisher=Newsweek|author=Andrew Doran}}</ref>

==Archaeology==
Along with Maqne I, Qaa is a type site of the Shepherd Neolithic [[Social:Industry (archaeology)|industry]]. The site is located {{convert|5|mi|km|0}} north west of the town, north of a path leading from Qaa to [[Place:Hermel|Hermel]]. It was discovered by M. Billaux and the materials recovered were documented by Henri Fleisch in 1966.<ref>Fleisch, Henri., Notes de Préhistoire Libanaise : 1) Ard es Saoude. 2) La Bekaa Nord. 3) Un polissoir en plein air. BSPF, vol. 63, 1966.</ref> The area was lightly cultivated with a thin soil covering the [[Earth:Conglomerate (geology)|conglomerates]]. The flints were divided into three groups of a reddish brown, light brown and one that was mostly chocolate and grey colored with a radiant ''"desert shine"''.<ref name="CopelandWescombe1966"/>

The Shepherd Neolithic industry can be defined firstly by being small and thick in size, with [[Engineering:Lithic flake|flake]]s commonly ranging from {{convert|2.5|cm|in|1}} to {{convert|4|cm|in}}, the thickness distinguishing them from geometric [[Engineering:Microlith|microlith]]s. Their second characteristic is the limited number of forms that the tools take, apart from cores being transverse [[Engineering:Racloir|racloir]]s on small flakes, strong-pointed borers, denticulated or notched thick, short blades and end-scrapers. It was thirdly characterized by a lack of known [[Social:Typology (archaeology)|typology]], with only occasional use of [[Biology:Levallois technique|Levallois technique]]. It was determined to be definitely later than the Mesolithic but without any usual forms from the [[Earth:Upper Paleolithic|Upper Paleolithic]] or pottery [[History:Neolithic|Neolithic]]. Henri Fleisch tentatively suggested the industry to be Epipaleolithic and suggested it may have been used by [[Social:Nomadic pastoralism|nomadic shepherds]].<ref name="CopelandWescombe1966"/> The Shepherd Neolithic has largely been ignored and understudied following the outbreak of the Lebanese civil war.

==See also==
*Qaa massacre
*Al-Qaa airstrike
*2016 Qaa bombings

==References==
{{reflist}}
==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book|last1=Robinson|first1=E.|last2=Smith|first2=E.|author-link2=Eli Smith|year=1841|url=https://archive.org/details/biblicalresearch03robiuoft |title=Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838|  location=Boston|publisher=Crocker & Brewster|volume=3}} 
{{refend}}
==External links==
*[http://www.localiban.org/article4049.html  Qaa Baalbek],  Localiban 
*[http://almashriq.hiof.no/ddc/projects/mot/photobase/images/MT8/JPEG0527.html Image of the landscape of Qaa including massive stone block]
{{Archaeological sites in Lebanon}}

[[Category:Archaeological sites in Lebanon]]
[[Category:Shepherd Neolithic sites]]
[[Category:Archaeological type sites]]

{{Sourceattribution|Qaa}}