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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Lebanon
Index
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., LebaneseEgyptian 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.
Data as of December 1987
Figure 2. Phoenician Colonization and Trade Routes
A Roman temple in the mountain village of Bayt Miri
Courtesy Lebanese Information and Research Center
The Phoenicians
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., LebaneseEgyptian 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.
Data as of December 1987
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