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History and Archaeology at Byblos

February 4, 2011 By admin

Originally called Gebal by the Phoenicians, Byblos, on the coast of Lebanon, is believed to date back to around 5000BC and was possibly the earliest Phoenician city.  The name Byblos comes about because the Greeks named the city after the Egyptian papyrus (bublos) which was exported from the city.  The present day city is called Jubayl, an Arabic derivation of the original name, Gebal.

Located on the coast north of Beirut, the port of Byblos holds many attractions for both archaeologists and tourists with a thirst for history. 

Although the remains of some Neolithic buildings have been found, the first signs of Byblos becoming a town do not appear until the 3rd millennium BC when the Phoenician civilisation began to develop.  Ancient Egyptian literature describes wood being imported from Byblos and early Egyptian artefacts have been found at there.

Archaeological evidence dating to around 1200BC shows an alphabetic script of 22 characters being used, for example on the sarcophagus of King Ahiram.  An important monument from this time is the temple of Resheph (a war god.) 

By the Persian period (538 – 332BC) Byblos was one of four Phoenician city-states, the others being Sidon, Tyre and Arwad.

 

By the time of the arrival of Alexander the Great in 332BC, coinage was in use and there is evidence of extensive trade with other Mediterranean nations.  It was during the Greco-Roman period that the city became a centre for the cult of Adonis.  There are also the remains of a small theatre dating to around the 3rd century AD and with the rise of Christianity, Byblos became the seat of a Bishop and the town began to grow rapidly.

The city became a strategic military base during the crusades and the ruins of the crusader castle form and impressive visitor attraction at its centre. 

This rich history means that Byblos can boast many historic sites to visit and has the status of being a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  From Roman ruins to medieval city walls, bronze-age tombs to the fortifications of the Crusaders, visitors are never far from fantastic historical sites.

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History and Archaeology of Tyre

February 1, 2011 By admin

 Another important historic port is Tyre on the coast of present day Lebanon.   In the 5th century BC, the Greek historian, Herodotus visited the city and declared it to be one of the oldest in the world.  In the Bronze-Age, Tyre had been known for the export of the purple dye for which the Phoenicians were famous.   Tyre had been the base from which navigators had explored the Mediterranean going on to found centres such as Cadiz and Carthage, thus establishing the Phoenicians as a major player in bronze-age maritime commerce.
Built on and around a natural harbour, Tyre eventually succumbed to Alexander the Great in 332BC.  The Greeks held Tyre until 64BC when it gave way to Rome and a Roman city of some consequence began to be constructed on the site.  During the early Christian Period , Tyre was the seat of a Byzantine province which incorporated no less than 14  bishoprics, including that of nearby Byblos.  This continued until the Arabs conquered the area in 636 AD.  Tyre was to continue under Arabian rule until the time of the Crusades.  It was re-taken by the European Crusaders in 1124, with the help of the Venetians.  The conquering crusaders set about fortifying the city and it remained a Christian strong-hold until it was almost entirely destroyed by the Mamluks in 1294.  Prior to this the Christians had built 18 churches, a castle and had reconstructed the cathedral on the site of the original Byzantine basilica.  The city was all but abandoned after the destruction in 1294 and not populated again until it was partly re-built in the 18th century and , despite a more recent population increase, today’s Tyre is home to only around 60,000 people.
For those with an interest in history and archaeology, modern Tyre is certainly worth visiting.  In the present town, the visible remains include parts of the Roman city and the medieval structures left by the Crusaders.   These sites can be split into two quite distinct areas:
1. The Promontory which is the site of the archipelago.  Here can be found the ruins of the Roman palaestra, thermae and arena as well as the remains of the 12th century cathedral built by the Venetians and parts of the walls and castle built during the Crusades.
2. The mainland where the necropolis of El Bass can be found close to the triumphal arch from the 2nd century AD.  More Roman ruins are here, in particular the aqueduct and hippodrome which is one of the largest known examples from the Roman world.
The volume and grandeur of the ruin in Tyre show what a high status city it must have once been in its strategic position on the coast of the Mediterranean.

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Lebanon History under Arab Rule

January 28, 2011 By admin

By 636AD the Arabs had gained control of much of the eastern Mediterranean as well as their base in the Arabian Peninsula.  It was Caliph Abu Bakr who brought Islam to the area we now know as Lebanon, in fact it is around this time that the name Lebanon was adopted for the area.  Feelings of nationalism, however, left the indigenous Lebanese keen to preserve their autonomy and whilst the coastal area fell to the conquering Arabs, the inhabitants of the more mountainous region managed to preserve their Lebanese identity and Christian religion, at least in the short term. 

From then on a series of Arab dynasties ruled the region for the next 900 years, starting with the Umayyads (660 – 750AD).  Muawiyah, their founder was governor of Syria and Lebanon and set about protecting the Arab Empire from threats by the Marada people who lived in the Lebanese mountains and were loyal to the Byzantine Empire.   In 667AD Muawiyah entered into an agreement with Constantine IV to pay an annual tribute to keep the Marada at bay. 

The Abbasids (750 -1258) replaced the Umayyads in 750AD adopting a much harsher regime in Lebanon which they saw as a country already conquered and fully assimilated into the Arab world.  This led to revolts and an abortive rebellion by the mountain peoples in 759AD.    By the end of the tenth century, the Amir (Prince) of Tyre proclaimed Lebanon an independent state but this was to be short lived falling to the Fatimids, an Egyptian Arab sect.

The Crusades (1095 – 1291) had an impact on Lebanon.  After the capture of Jerusalem, the Crusaders turned their attention to the Lebanese coast and although they didn’t establish a permanent presence, their impact can be seen in the many castles and churches which they left behind.

After the departure of the crusaders, the Mamluks (1282 – 1516) controlled the area.  During this time, better relationships with Europe were built due to the trade in luxury goods from the Middle East.  Beirut became a centre for this trade and, despite religious conflict between different Lebanese communities, the country flourished and saw an increase in prosperity and intellectual pursuits such as science and literature.

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Lebanon History under Ottoman Rule

January 22, 2011 By admin

From 1516 to 1916 Lebanon fell under the control of the Ottoman Empire.  Sultan Salim I defeated the Mamluks in 1516 after destroying Mamluk resistance at Marj Dabaq.  Salim, however, was impressed by the Lebanese ruler, Amir Fakhr ad Din I and decided to grant the Amirs semi-autonomous status as part of what became known as Greater Syria – an area which also included present day Syria, Jordan and Israel.

Ottoman rule can be divided into two periods relating to two family dynasties, the Maans and the Shihabs.

The Maan family had arrived in Lebanon in 1120 to help defend against the crusaders.  After settling on the slopes of the Lebanon Mountains they adopted the Druze religion, a form of Islam.  The family came to come to prominence with Fakhr ad Din I, who was allowed by the Ottoman authorities to manage his own army, and reached a peak with Fakhr ad Din II (1570 – 1635.)  He worked towards achieving total independence for Lebanon and enhanced military and economic development.  He was tolerant of different religions and was suspected by some of having been a Christian.  After a stay in Italy whilst negotiating an agreement with Ferdinand I, Duke of Tuscany, he became keen on Italian culture and brought Italian engineers and architects to Lebanon to build forts and work on irrigation systems.  Such was his success that Lebanon expanded its territory under Fakhr ad Din’s rule, gaining control of Palestine.  However, his success came at a price and he was defeated at Kutshuk, and was executed in Damascus in 1635.

None of the subsequent Maan rulers were of as much significance and the Shihabs succeeded in 1697.  The most prominent of the Shihabs was Bashir II.  After deciding to break from the Ottoman Empire, Bashir allied himself with Mohammed Ali, founder of modern Egypt. 

Despite periods of civil and religious unrest, mainly between the Christians and the followers of the Druze religion, Lebanon was to remain under direct Ottoman rule until the end of WWI and during the latter half of the nineteenth century became an intellectual centre with the founding of the American University of Beirut in 1866, and the French St. Joseph’s University following in 1875.

     
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Ancient History of Lebanon

January 20, 2011 By admin

The area which is now Lebanon has a very long history of habitation, due to its enviable position on the Mediterranean and its fertile topography and warm climate. 

There is substantial evidence that early humans were fashioning flint tools in the region as far back as 50,000 years ago (the Palaeolithic period) and it is logical, due to Lebanon’s position, to presume that we had lived and passed through it during waves of migration from Africa into Europe and Asia at times prior to that.

Evidence for early farming settlements in Lebanon exists and dates to around 9000BC.  The remains of these villages have been found near to the coast at Byblos and archaeological evidence from them provides some of the earliest clues to the origins of the domestication of plants and animals.

Moving into recorded history, the first references (around 4000BC,) to the region call it Canaan.  The Canaanites traded commodities such as cedar wood, wine and olive oil to other tribes around the eastern Mediterranean until they were conquered by the Egyptians in around 1800BC.  By 1200BC, however, they had recovered their independence and were a thriving bronze-age nation and part of the Phoenician Empire.  Cities such Byblos and Tyre were amongst the largest in the known world at that time and were seats of great power, again with the advantageous coastal position contributing to the establishment of lucrative trade routes.

This boom in population and prosperity was to continue until around 875BC when the more war-like Assyrians invaded in search of new territories and eventually destroyed Byblos and Tyre.   In 585BC it was the turn of the Babylonians to occupy Phoenicia and when the cities rebelled, Tyre was destroyed yet again.

The Babylonian occupation was short-lived and gave way to the Persians in 538BC.  This would seem to have been a more convivial arrangement for a time as the Phoenicians supported Persia in their war against the Greeks in the 5th century BC.  This relationship was to come to an end a century later when the Phoenicians revolted against the heavy taxes imposed by the Persians.

In 332BC the Phoenicians put up little resistance to Alexander the Great and once again Tyre was besieged.  The conquest left a long lasting Greek influence on the area as the Phoenicians were adaptable and absorbed some of the more beneficial aspects of Greek commerce and culture into their own.

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