Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0214/02147.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 25KB | 435 lines

$Unique_ID{COW02147}
$Pretitle{224}
$Title{Lebanon
Chapter 1A.   Historical Setting}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Afaf Sabeh McGowan}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{lebanon
lebanese
syria
empire
arab
rule
century
ad
al
din}
$Date{1987}
$Log{Temple of Jupiter*0214701.scf
Figure 2.*0214702.scf
Roman Temple*0214703.scf
}
Country:     Lebanon
Book:        Lebanon, A Country Study
Author:      Afaf Sabeh McGowan
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1987

Chapter 1A.   Historical Setting

[See Temple of Jupiter: Temple of Jupiter, built by the Romans in Baalbek.]

     Like other areas of the Middle East, Lebanon has a heritage almost as old
as the earliest evidence of mankind. Its geographic position as a crossroads
linking the Mediterranean Basin with the great Asian hinterland has conferred
on it a cosmopolitan character and a multicultural legacy.

     At different periods of its history, Lebanon has come under the
domination of foreign rulers, including Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians,
Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Ottomans, and French. Although often conquered, the
Lebanese take pride in their rebellions against despotic and repressive
rulers. Moreover, despite foreign domination, Lebanon's mountainous terrain
has provided it with a certain protective isolation, enabling it to survive
with an identity all its own.

     Its proximity to the sea has ensured that throughout its history Lebanon
has held an important position as a trading center. This tradition of commerce
began with the Phoenicians and continued through many centuries, remaining
almost unaffected by foreign rule and the worst periods of internal strife.

     Lebanon has an Arab culture colored by Western influences. Although
Lebanon traditionally considered itself the only Christian country in the Arab
world, by the 1970s the Muslim population was greater than that of the
Christians, a situation that led to sectarian unrest and struggles for
political and economic power.

Ancient Times

The Phoenicians

[See Figure 2.: Phoenician colonization and trade routes.]

     The area now known as Lebanon first appeared in recorded history around
3000 B.C. as a group of coastal cities and a heavily forested hinterland. It
was inhabited by the Canaanites, a Semitic people, whom the Greeks called
"Phoenicians" because of the purple (phoinikies) dye they sold. These early
inhabitants referred to themselves as "men of Sidon" or the like, according to
their city of origin, and called the country "Lebanon." Because of the nature
of the country and its location, the Phoenicians turned to the sea, where they
engaged in trade and navigation.

     Each of the coastal cities was an independent kingdom noted for the
special activities of its inhabitants. Tyre and Sidon were important maritime
and trade centers; Gubla (later known as Byblos and now as Jubayl) and Berytus
(present-day Beirut) were trade and religious centers. Gubla was the first
Phoenician city to trade actively with Egypt and the pharaohs of the Old
Kingdom (2686-2181 B.C.), exporting cedar, olive oil, and wine, while
importing gold and other products from the Nile Valley.

     Before the end of the seventeenth century B.C., Lebanese-Egyptian
relations were interrupted when the Hyksos, a nomadic Semitic people,
conquered Egypt. After about three decades of Hyksos rule (1600-1570 B.C.),
Ahmose I (1570-45 B.C.), a Theban prince, launched the Egyptian liberation
war. Opposition to the Hyksos increased, reaching a peak during the reign of
the pharaoh Thutmose III (1490-36 B.C.), who invaded Syria, put an end to
Hyksos domination, and incorporated Lebanon into the Egyptian Empire.

     Toward the end of the fourteenth century B.C., the Egyptian Empire
weakened, and Lebanon was able to regain its independence by the beginning of
the twelfth century B.C. The subsequent three centuries were a period of
prosperity and freedom from foreign control during which the earlier
Phoenician invention of the alphabet facilitated communications and trade. The
Phoenicians also excelled not only in producing textiles but also in carving
ivory, in working with metal, and above all in making glass. Masters of the
art of navigation, they founded colonies wherever they went in the
Mediterranean Sea (specifically in Cyprus, Rhodes, Crete, and Carthage) and
established trade routes to Europe and western Asia (see fig. 2). Furthermore,
their ships circumnavigated Africa a thousand years before those of the
Portuguese. These colonies and trade routes flourished until the invasion of
the coastal areas by the Assyrians.

Assyrian Rule

     Assyrian rule (875-608 B.C.) deprived the Phoenician cities of their
independence and prosperity and brought repeated, unsuccessful rebellions. In
the middle of the eighth century B.C., Tyre and Byblos rebelled, but the
Assyrian ruler, Tiglath-Pileser, subdued the rebels and imposed heavy
tributes. Oppression continued unabated, and Tyre rebelled again, this time
against Sargon II (722-05 B.C.), who successfully besieged the city in 721
B.C. and punished its population. During the seventh century B.C., Sidon
rebelled and was completely destroyed by Esarhaddon (681-68 B.C.), and its
inhabitants were enslaved. Esarhaddon built a new city on Sidon's ruins. By
the end of the seventh century B.C., the Assyrian Empire, weakened by the
successive revolts, had been destroyed by Babylonia, a new Mesopotamian power.

Babylonian Rule and the Persian Empire

     Revolts in the Phoenician cities became more frequent under Babylonian
rule (685-36 B.C.). Tyre rebelled again and for thirteen years resisted a
siege by the troops of Nebuchadnezzar (587-74 B.C.). After this long siege,
the city capitulated; its king was dethroned, and its citizens were enslaved.

     The Achaemenids ended Babylonian rule when Cyrus, founder of the Persian
Empire, captured Babylon in 539-38 B.C. and Phoenicia and its neighbors passed
into Persian hands. Cambyses (529-22 B.C.), Cyrus's son and successor,
continued his father's policy of conquest and in 529 B.C. became suzerain of
Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt. The Phoenician navy supported Persia during the
Greco-Persian War (490-49 B.C.). But when the Phoenicians were overburdened
with heavy tributes imposed by the successors of Darius I (521-485 B.C.),
revolts and rebellions resumed in the Lebanese coastal cities.

Rule of Alexander the Great

     The Persian Empire eventually fell to Alexander the Great, king of
Macedonia. He attacked Asia Minor, defeated the Persian troops in 333 B.C.,
and advanced toward the Lebanese coast. Initially the Phoenician cities made
no attempt to resist, and they recognized his suzerainty. However, when
Alexander tried to offer a sacrifice to Melkurt, Tyre's god, the city
resisted. Alexander besieged Tyre in retaliation in early 332 B.C. After six
months of resistance, the city fell, and its people were sold into slavery.
Despite his early death in 323 B.C., Alexander's conquest of the eastern
Mediterranean Basin left a Greek imprint on the area. The Phoenicians, being a
cosmopolitan people amenable to outside influences, adopted aspects of Greek
civilization with ease.

The Seleucid Dynasty

[See Roman Temple: Roman temple in the mountain village of Bayt Miri. Courtesy
Lebanese Information and Research Center (Magnin).]

     After Alexander's death, his empire was divided among his Macedonian
generals. The eastern part--Phoenicia, Asia Minor, northern Syria, and
Mesopotamia--fell to Seleucus I, founder of the Seleucid dynasty. The southern
part of Syria and Egypt fell to Ptolemy, and the European part, including
Macedonia, to Antigonus I. This settlement, however, failed to bring peace
because Seleucus I and Ptolemy clashed repeatedly in the course of their
ambitious efforts to share in Phoenician prosperity. A final victory of the
Seleucids ended a forty-year period of conflict.

     The last century of Seleucid rule was marked by disorder and dynastic
struggles. These ended in 64 B.C., when t