1- Historical View :( A- Origin,  B- Evolution,  C- Nowadays )

A-  Mazraat Yachouh (MY);  

    Origin of the name & of the families

The origin of the word “Yeshûa” is Hebrew: “Houchaa”, i.e. salvation and deliverance. “Houshaa” comes from “Yasha” which means to save, to deliver. Thus,  Christ was named “Yasouh” or Jesus. As to “Mazraat”, it is an Arabic word that means a farmland or a ranch.

The history of MY goes back to 1250, when a man called “Gibrael Yachouh” came from “Haklet El Hajj Ali” (the field of El Hajj Ali), known today as El Mradieh, in Ftouh Keserwan. He became the owner of a land and turned it into a farm, later called after him; Mazraat Yachouh, the farmland of Yachouh.

Then came to MY Youssef El Mallah, a salt seller (as his family name means in Arabic), from Jej, Byblos. He married one of Yachouh’s daughters. The father gave them a piece of land to cultivate and grow.

A while later, came to MY Antoine El MouKayer (Moukayer is the person who paints ships with asphalt) from El Menieh, Tripoli. He married the second daughter. He too was given a land to grow.

As time went by, the three families grew in number and they were divided into other families; from Yachouh’s, there were Doumit, Moufawad, Khalil and Nassif. From Moukayer’s, were Menhem, Hebbou, El Badawy, Bou Matar and Tannous. And from Mallah’s, there were Nakhleh and Salloum. As to Zakka and Massoud families, they both came from Beit Chebab, a village close to MY. The family of Hakim came from Feytroun in Keserwan during the World War I. And the family of Diban came from Mazraat Kfardhebian, also situated in Keserwan.

Some of these families stayed in MY, others went to the Coast, such as the families Sejaan to Dbayeh and AKaybeh, Charaf, Moussa, Bamo to Zalka, Semaan, ZaKKour, Daher, Khallouf and others to Chiyah and Hadath, Mallah to Antelias and Jal El Dib… some others even left the country to go to Africa and to America, especially to Brazil and Argentina.

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B- Mazraat Yachouh : Its Evolution Through History  

Through the years, MY has enormously changed:

Its inhabitants used to live on its hills for fear of the persecutors

and the oppressors. The ancient Church of Mazraat Yachouh, situated in the North of the village, was probably the first center of congregation.

           Years went by. Then the road of Beirut- Beit Chebab, known as the Sultanic Road, was built to make the course of the packers possible. The road passed by MY in a region called Aiin El Mir and all the way through a valley that bound MY and Kornet El Hamra. The lands alongside became the new center of the village; not only did they offer places to live, but they also were cultivated because of the good soil and the abundance of springs in that region. Lands were covered by gardens of black berries and olive trees.

Today we can still see traces of that road and the houses once built nearby.

At the beginnings of the twentieth century, new and modern roads were paved, roads that still are good for transportation. People then did not only leave their houses to build new ones alongside the new road they also gave up agriculture. MY, which once was a land filled with berries, olives, almonds, grapes and pine, was turned into a land full of buildings. The amazing thing is that agriculture, by one way or another, was turned into industry, although there were three factories; one for silk, one for lime and one for bells. Only the last one remained. A lot more plants dealing with modern industries were built. They are concentrated in the “Industrial Region” of Aiin El Mir away from the residential area.

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C-  Mazraat Yachouh; Nowadays  

The number of the inhabitants of MY grew amazingly through the years. In the eighties, the original inhabitants formed only 26% of the residents. The reasons are multiple: the location of MY close to the capital, its moderate climate during both winter and summer. Furthermore MY seemed to be a safe refuge during the war. A lot of people headed for MY  in order to protect their families.

The “small” village was therefore progressing. It witnessed a revolution in industry and construction. The number of factories has gone up through the years in the Industrial Region of Aiin El Mir, as well as the number of commercial establishments in the core of the village through the interior road to Beit Chebab and to Zakrit- Nehr El Kelb not counting the ever- increasing numbers of banks and other commercial establishments along with the numbers of new residents in the region called “Elissar”, especially alongside the main road, Antelias- Bikfaya, that links Beirut with Zahle in the Bekaa.

Nonetheless, MY is suffering from this fast evolution, with all its positive aspects, because scarcely were there directive plans to embrace it and embody the residential buildings and the commercial and industrial establishments.

The persons in charge are trying today to find new and effective answers to the problem, such as to renovate the infrastructure, in order to keep MY close to progress.

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