Our Olive Lands — Kfeir
Zaman · Kfeir ez-Zeit · South Lebanon
Our Olive Lands
23 family olive groves in four lots around Kfeir, in the Hasbaya district, on the western slopes of Mount Hermon.
Harvest 2027
The oil from each lot is analysed by an independent laboratory. The results will appear here as soon as the reports are issued.
| Parameter | Lot 1 | Lot 2 | Lot 3 | Lot 4 | Extra virgin limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free acidity (% oleic acid) | Pending | Pending | Pending | Pending | ≤ 0.80 |
| Peroxide value (meq O2/kg) | Pending | Pending | Pending | Pending | ≤ 20 |
| K232 (UV absorbance) | Pending | Pending | Pending | Pending | ≤ 2.50 |
| K270 (UV absorbance) | Pending | Pending | Pending | Pending | ≤ 0.22 |
| ΔK | Pending | Pending | Pending | Pending | ≤ 0.01 |
| Total polyphenols (mg/kg) | Pending | Pending | Pending | Pending | — |
| Sensory: median of defects | Pending | Pending | Pending | Pending | 0 |
| Sensory: median of fruitiness | Pending | Pending | Pending | Pending | > 0 |
Limits: International Olive Council trade standard for extra virgin olive oil.
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Lot 1
Sraj Groves
Five groves on the open hills west of Kfeir. Hrouf el Ghezlen was planted in 2001 and the Sraj groves in 2017, mostly with Younani olives of Greek origin and with native Baladi at Ra2abeh. The Sraj came into the family in 1968, when Nicolas AbouJamra bought the estate of Atallah AbouJamra.
The pin marks the general area of Lot 1; it is indicative only.
Sraj el Taweel السراج الكبير (also called Sraj el Kbeer)
The largest grove of the Sraj area: long, even rows of Younani trees, planted in 2017 on open, level ground.
- Area
- 5,870 m²
- Olive trees
- 149
- Variety
- Younani (Greek-origin)
- Planted
- 2017
- Altitude
- ≈ 763 m
- Slope faces
- Flat ground
Sraj el Sgheer السراج الصغير
A small grove sheltered by tall pines, with a wide view east to Mount Hermon. Known in the family as half a day's harvest.
- Area
- 1,399 m²
- Olive trees
- 48
- Variety
- Younani (Greek-origin)
- Planted
- 2017
- Altitude
- ≈ 791 m
- Slope faces
- South-east
Ra2abeh الرقبة
Baladi trees, Lebanon's own variety, on high open ground looking out over the hills of Hasbaya.
- Area
- 5,465 m²
- Olive trees
- 88
- Variety
- Baladi (native Lebanese)
- Planted
- 2017
- Altitude
- ≈ 789 m
- Slope faces
- Flat ground
Hrouf el Ghezlen حروف الغزلان
The name translates as “the edges of the gazelles”. Ordered rows on red earth, the northernmost of the family's groves.
- Area
- 5,366 m²
- Olive trees
- 149
- Variety
- Younani (Greek-origin)
- Planted
- 2001
- Altitude
- ≈ 763 m
- Slope faces
- North-north-west
Birket Mimes دوار البركة
A hillside of young trees above the valley, facing the morning sun. Its first harvest with the lot is expected this season.
- Area
- 2,410 m²
- Olive trees
- 64
- Variety
- Not recorded
- Altitude
- ≈ 771 m
- Slope faces
- East
Lot 2
Ghabere Groves
Five groves on the west- and north-facing slopes above the village, with native Baladi trees and, at the two Ghabere plots, the Souri variety. Birket el Raheb is among the oldest family holdings, gathered by Mansour AbouJamra in the early twentieth century.
The pin marks the general area of Lot 2; it is indicative only.
Birket el Raheb بركة الراهب (in old deeds: Deir el Raheb, Jal el Birkeh)
“The monk's pool”. Mansour AbouJamra gathered this land from his co-heirs in the early twentieth century; deeds from 1903, 1910 and 1940 trace it, and in the family division of the 1940s its olive trees passed to his son Nicolas.
- Area
- 2,942 m²
- Olive trees
- 41
- Variety
- Baladi (native Lebanese)
- Altitude
- ≈ 927 m
- Slope faces
- North-west
Ftayhat الفتيحات
The second-largest plot of the family's lands: a broad hillside of Baladi trees, medium to large, facing west.
- Area
- 10,154 m²
- Olive trees
- 76
- Variety
- Baladi (native Lebanese)
- Altitude
- ≈ 861 m
- Slope faces
- West-north-west
Kebwetha كبواثة
A west-facing grove of Baladi trees recorded in a family deed of 1968.
- Area
- 2,860 m²
- Olive trees
- 58
- Variety
- Baladi (native Lebanese)
- Altitude
- ≈ 810 m
- Slope faces
- West-north-west
Ghabere el Ta7ta الغبيري التحتا (the lower Ghabere)
The lower of the two Ghabere groves, planted with large trees of the Souri variety.
- Area
- 1,883 m²
- Olive trees
- 28
- Variety
- Souri (named after Tyre)
- Altitude
- ≈ 927 m
- Slope faces
- North-north-west
Ghabere el Faw2a الغبيري الفوقا (the upper Ghabere)
The upper Ghabere grove, the highest land of this lot at close to 1,000 metres, with Souri trees facing north.
- Area
- 2,226 m²
- Olive trees
- 30
- Variety
- Souri (named after Tyre)
- Altitude
- ≈ 984 m
- Slope faces
- North
Lot 3
Hamra Groves
The oldest of our lots. Eight small plots close to the village, most of them facing south, with deeds reaching back to 1901. Several came through Kater's family, the Estephan AbouRizk, and this lot holds the family's oldest trees, including the thousand-year-old olive of Toun.
The pin marks the general area of Lot 3; it is indicative only.
Shkeim شخيم
A south-facing grove of Baladi trees close to the village. It appears in a 1939 deed in the names of Nicolas and his siblings Zikye and Georges.
- Area
- 1,848 m²
- Olive trees
- 27
- Variety
- Baladi (native Lebanese)
- Altitude
- ≈ 951 m
- Slope faces
- South-south-west
Sahm el Hamra سهم الحمرة
Recorded in the land list of Sleiman (Solomon) Estephan, Kater's brother. Two great old trees stand here by long custom: the harvest of one goes to the Druze waqf, the other to the Orthodox waqf.
- Area
- 1,487 m²
- Olive trees
- 27
- Variety
- Baladi (native Lebanese), young trees
- Altitude
- ≈ 967 m
- Slope faces
- South-south-west
Hamra الحمرة (in old deeds: Haql el Shajara)
Land that came through Kater's family, the heirs of Nemer Estephan. In 1950 Kater exchanged a single olive tree here with a neighbour and was paid the difference, an old Kfeir way of settling shares in trees.
- Area
- 3,063 m²
- Olive trees
- 50
- Variety
- Baladi (native Lebanese)
- Altitude
- ≈ 939 m
- Slope faces
- South-south-west
Jal el Shajara جل الشجرة (Tahet el Tari2, below the road)
A narrow terrace below the road, also from Kater's side of the family, holding nine broad old Baladi trees.
- Area
- 383 m²
- Olive trees
- 9
- Variety
- Baladi (native Lebanese), medium to large
- Altitude
- ≈ 913 m
- Slope faces
- South-south-west
Kessaret 3assaf (in old deeds: Ka3b el Sha7el, War beit Sakr)
Bought by Mansour AbouJamra in 1901, when it was a vineyard. Today it holds old olive trees and is the highest of all the family's lands, at about 1,100 metres.
- Area
- 4,800 m²
- Olive trees
- 27
- Variety
- Baladi (native Lebanese), old trees
- Altitude
- ≈ 1,096 m
- Slope faces
- West-south-west
Wara beit Menhal (in the Ahmar 3ayno area)
The family's plot in the Ahmar 3ayno area, listed among the lands of Sleiman Estephan. Its boundaries were re-surveyed in 2024 at 1,811 m².
- Area
- 1,800 m²
- Olive trees
- 23
- Variety
- Baladi (native Lebanese)
- Altitude
- ≈ 1,044 m
- Slope faces
- South-west
Toun جل التون
The smallest plot, and home to the family's oldest tree. Its trunk measures 4.95 metres around, and the family estimates its age at about a thousand years.
- Area
- 196 m²
- Olive trees
- 5
- Variety
- Baladi (native Lebanese), medium to large
- Altitude
- ≈ 888 m
- Slope faces
- South-west
Khalwet (in old deeds: Qat' el Kroum, Khalwet el Maghariq)
A north-facing grove of old Baladi trees on the southern edge of the family's lands.
- Area
- 1,814 m²
- Olive trees
- 42
- Variety
- Baladi (native Lebanese), old trees
- Altitude
- ≈ 880 m
- Slope faces
- North-north-east
Lot 4
Sarja Groves
Four plots in the Sarja area on the lower north-west slopes, together with Shahaleet near Ein el Jnaineh. Mostly native Baladi trees, from young plantings at Mataeem to tall, wide-crowned trees at Malakeh.
The pin marks the general area of Lot 4; it is indicative only.
Sarja حقل سرجل (Haql Sarjal)
The great field of this lot and the family's largest grove, by both area and number of trees, sloping gently north-west.
- Area
- 13,101 m²
- Olive trees
- 160
- Variety
- Baladi (native Lebanese)
- Altitude
- ≈ 715 m
- Slope faces
- North-west
Qasimet Ezzedine (in the Sarja area)
A plot in the Sarja area, its edge banked with field stones cleared from the ground.
- Area
- 2,152 m²
- Olive trees
- 25
- Variety
- Baladi (native Lebanese)
- Altitude
- ≈ 702 m
- Slope faces
- North-west
Malakeh (Sarja, Raghbet Malakeh)
A west-facing plot of the Sarja area with tall, wide-crowned Baladi trees.
- Area
- 3,995 m²
- Olive trees
- 43
- Variety
- Baladi (native Lebanese)
- Altitude
- ≈ 732 m
- Slope faces
- West-north-west
Mataeem (Sarja Mataeem)
The lowest of the family's lands, at about 690 metres, planted with sixty small Baladi trees.
- Area
- 2,493 m²
- Olive trees
- 60
- Variety
- Baladi (native Lebanese), young trees
- Altitude
- ≈ 690 m
- Slope faces
- North-west
Shahaleet (Ein el Jnaineh)
A south-facing grove at Ein el Jnaineh, closer to the village than the rest of this lot.
- Area
- 1,200 m²
- Olive trees
- 20
- Variety
- Baladi (native Lebanese), medium to large
- Altitude
- ≈ 839 m
- Slope faces
- South-south-west
Our family heritage & Kfeir ez-Zeit
Kfeir sits at about 900 metres on the western slopes of Mount Hermon (Jabal el-Sheikh). Its name comes from the Syriac kafra, “village”, and for generations it was known as Kfeir ez-Zeit — Kfeir of the oil — for the quality of its olive oil and the groves that cover its hills. Summers are mild; winters bring snow to the mountain above. By old custom, neighbours here sign each other's land deeds to witness the boundaries.
The AbouJamra family's olive lands in Kfeir can be traced through deeds going back to the 1890s. Mansour AbouJamra built up the family's lands in the early twentieth century, buying a vineyard at Kessaret 3assaf in 1901 and gathering Birket el Raheb from his co-heirs. His son Nicolas and Nicolas's wife Kater carried them on, and in 1968 Nicolas bought the estate of Atallah AbouJamra, which brought the Sraj groves into the family.
Kater's own story is part of this land too. Orphaned young with her brother Solomon and sister Lucia, she was supported by Solomon, who emigrated to the United States and sent money home. Kater stayed in Kfeir, where she and Nicolas raised their children Issam, Fawzi, Mansour and Abla. Several plots of Lot 3, among them Hamra and Jal el Shajara, came to the family through her side.
The lands still carry that history. Their names are the old names of Kfeir's hillsides, written in deeds that neighbours signed for one another as witnesses; some trees were shared, exchanged or set aside for the village's religious endowments; and the oldest olive, at Toun, is by the family's estimate about a thousand years old. Zaman oil comes from these same groves, harvested each autumn, in the village that has long been called Kfeir ez-Zeit.
Areas and tree counts are from the family land register. Altitude and slope are approximate, taken from the plot centre on satellite elevation data. Map pins show each lot's general area only. Grove photographs from recent seasons; family photographs from the AbouJamra family archive. Photographs of the remaining groves will be added.