HISTORY OF THE DIALECT

The Armenians of Anjar, a town in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, were originally inhabitants of six villages located near Musaler (also known as Musa Dagh, meaning Mount Moussa), in the Sanjak of Alexandretta-Iskandaroun, now part of Samandagh district in the Hatay province of Turkey (Southern Turkey). They spoke a dialect called Kistinik, meaning, the language of Christians. The Armenians of Musaler are known for their glorious battle against the Turkish troops. During the Armenian Genocide in 1915, they climbed the mountain (Mount Moussa) to fight from its height. When they couldn’t resist any longer, they were rescued by French ships which carried them to Port Said (Egypt). They stayed there for four years and returned to their homeland in 1919. Later on, they were forced to leave their lands again.

The Franco -Turkish Treaty of Paris in 1939 resulted with the annexation of the Sanjak to Turkey. Hence, the Armenian locals were forced to abandon their homeland which was built after decades of hard work. The deportation started on July 14, 1939. The women, children, and the elderly rode trucks and buses to Ras al-Bassit, a cape located between Kessab and Latakia (Syria). Some of the men decided to continue the long and dangerous journey on foot in order to accompany the domestic animals. After staying forty-five days on the Bassit seashore, the deportees and their goods were sent to Tripoli by ship, and then to Riyaq by train. From Riyaq, they were transported aboard trucks to their final destination: the rocky and thorny town of Anjar (aka Haouch Moussa), in Lebanon’s Bekaa valley an inhospitable milieu at that time. The exodus of the Musadaghians was completed on September 14, 1939.