Portal:Lebanon

The Lebanon Portal

A view of Byblos, Lebanon

Lebanon, officially the Lebanese Republic, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west; Cyprus lies a short distance from the coastline. Lebanon has a population of more than five million and an area of 10,452 square kilometres (4,036 sq mi). Beirut is the country's capital and largest city.

Human habitation in Lebanon dates to 5000 BC. From 3200 to 539 BC, it was part of Phoenicia, a maritime civilization that spanned the Mediterranean Basin. In 64 BC, the region became part of the Roman Empire and the subsequent Byzantine Empire. After the seventh century, it came under the rule of different Arab Islamic caliphates, including the Rashidun, Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates. The 11th century saw the establishment of Christian Crusader states, which fell to the Ayyubids and the Mamluks. Lebanon came under Ottoman rule in the early 16th century. Under Ottoman sultan Abdulmejid I, the first Lebanese proto-state, the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate, was established as a home for Maronite Christians, as part of the Tanzimat reforms.

Lebanon is a developing country, ranked 102nd on the Human Development Index. It has been classified as a lower-middle-income country. The Lebanese liquidity crisis, coupled with nationwide corruption and disasters such as the 2020 Beirut explosion, precipitated the collapse of Lebanon's currency and fomented political instability, widespread resource shortages, and high unemployment and poverty. The World Bank has defined Lebanon's economic crisis as one of the world's worst since the 19th century. Despite the country's small size, Lebanese culture is renowned both in the Arab world and globally, powered primarily by the large and influential Lebanese diaspora. Lebanon is a founding member of the United Nations and the Arab League, and a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, and the Group of 77. (Full article...)

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Engraving of a portrait of Fakhr al-Din by Giovanni Mariti, 1787

Fakhr al-Din Ma'n (Arabic: فَخْر ٱلدِّين مَعْن, romanized: Fakhr al-Dīn Maʿn; 6 August 1572 – 13 April 1635), commonly known as Fakhr al-Din II or Fakhreddine II (Arabic: فخر الدين الثاني, romanized: Fakhr al-Dīn al-Thānī), was the paramount Druze emir of Mount Lebanon from the Ma'n dynasty, an Ottoman governor of Sidon-Beirut and Safed, and the strongman over much of the Levant from the 1620s to 1633. For uniting modern Lebanon's constituent parts and communities, especially the Druze and the Maronites, under a single authority for the first time in history, he is generally regarded as the country's founder. Although he ruled in the name of the Ottomans, he acted with considerable autonomy and developed close ties with European powers in defiance of the Ottoman imperial government.

Fakhr al-Din succeeded his father as the emir of the Chouf mountains in 1591. He was appointed over the sanjaks (districts) of Sidon-Beirut in 1593 and Safed in 1602. Despite joining the rebellion of Ali Janbulad in 1606, Fakhr al-Din remained in his post and the Ottomans recognized his takeover of the Keserwan mountains from his rival Yusuf Sayfa. Seven years later, an imperial campaign was launched against him for allying with Tuscany and garrisoning the strategic fortresses of Shaqif Arnun and Subayba. He escaped and became an exile in Tuscany and Sicily. Upon his return in 1618, he resumed control of his former domains and within three years took over northern Mount Lebanon, which was predominantly Maronite.

After Fakhr al-Din routed the governor of Damascus at the Battle of Anjar in 1623, he extended his control to the Beqaa Valley, the stronghold of his rivals, the Harfush dynasty. Fakhr al-Din proceeded to capture fortresses across central Syria, gained practical control of Tripoli and its eyalet, and acquired tax farms as far north as Latakia. Although he frequently attained government favor by timely forwarding of tax revenue, bribing officials, and using opportunities of mutual interest to eliminate local rivals, his outsized power and autonomy were considered a rebellion by the imperial government. A near-contemporary historian remarked that "the only thing left for him to do was to claim the Sultanate". He surrendered to the Ottomans during a siege of his Chouf hideout in 1633 and was executed in Constantinople two years later. In 1697 Fakhr al-Din's grandnephew was awarded a tax farm spanning southern Mount Lebanon. It was gradually expanded by the Ma'ns' marital relatives, the Shihabs, in 1711, and was a precursor to the Lebanese Republic. (Full article...)

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Did you know (auto-generated) - load new batch

... that Gigarta, a settlement mentioned by Strabo and Pliny the Elder, is believed to have been located on the slopes of Mount Lebanon, although its exact location remains under debate?
... that al-Shaykh Badr was the hometown of Salih al-Ali, who led the Alawite revolt against the French in Syria?
... that Lebanese actress Cynthya Karam volunteers as a clown doctor in children's hospitals?
... that Baabda residents collectively purchased the Seraglio of Baabda for 1,000 gold Ottoman liras in the late 19th century to gift to the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate government?
... that the European population of the rare Lebanese wild apple is mainly concentrated in a single national park, 58 percent of which was burnt by extreme wildfires in 2023?
... that the cedar tree on the Lebanese flag is mentioned 103 times in the Bible?

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The sarcophagus at the Louvre, 2022

The sarcophagus of Eshmunazar II is a 6th-century BC sarcophagus unearthed in 1855 in the grounds of an ancient necropolis southeast of the city of Sidon, in modern-day Lebanon, that contained the body of Eshmunazar II (Phoenician: 𐤀𐤔𐤌𐤍𐤏𐤆𐤓 ʾšmnʿzr, r. c. 539 – c. 525 BC), Phoenician King of Sidon. One of only three Ancient Egyptian sarcophagi found outside Egypt – the other two belonged to Eshmunazar's father King Tabnit and to a woman, possibly Eshmunazar's mother Queen Amoashtart – it was likely carved in Egypt from local amphibolite, and captured as booty by the Sidonians during their participation in Cambyses II's conquest of Egypt in 525 BC. The sarcophagus has two sets of Phoenician inscriptions, one on its lid and a partial copy of it on the sarcophagus trough, around the curvature of the head. The lid inscription was of great significance upon its discovery, as it was the first Phoenician language inscription to be discovered in Phoenicia proper and the most detailed Phoenician text ever found anywhere up to that point, and is today the second longest extant Phoenician inscription, after the Karatepe bilingual.

The sarcophagus was discovered by Alphonse Durighello, a diplomatic agent in Sidon engaged by Aimé Péretié, the chancellor of the French consulate in Beirut. The sarcophagus was sold to Honoré de Luynes, a wealthy French nobleman and scholar, and was subsequently removed to the Louvre after the resolution of a legal dispute over its ownership.

More than a dozen scholars across Europe and the United States rushed to translate the sarcophagus inscriptions after its discovery, many noting the similarities between the Phoenician language and Hebrew. The translation allowed scholars to identify the king buried inside, his lineage, and his construction feats. The inscription warns against disturbing Eshmunazar II's place of repose. It also recounts that the "Lord of Kings", the Achaemenid king, granted Eshmunazar II the territories of Dor, Joppa, and Dagon in recognition for his services. (Full article...)

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General images

The following are images from various Lebanon-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Map showing power balance in Lebanon, 1976:
Dark Green – controlled by Syria;
Purple – controlled by Maronite groups;
Light Green – controlled by Palestinian militias (from History of Lebanon)
Image 2Fairuz playing guitar (from Culture of Lebanon)
Image 3A building in Ghazieh, near Sidon, bombed by the Israeli Air Force (IAF), 20 July 2006 (from History of Lebanon)
Image 4Aftermath of the 4 August 2020 Beirut explosion (from History of Lebanon)
Image 5An array of Lebanese cuisine. (from Culture of Lebanon)
Image 6Map showing power balance in Lebanon, 1983: Green – controlled by Syria, purple – controlled by Christian groups, yellow – controlled by Israel, blue – controlled by the United Nations (from History of Lebanon)
Image 7Bashir Shihab II (from History of Lebanon)
Image 8A map of Mount Lebanon c. AD 1180 (from History of Lebanon)
Image 9Anti-Syrian protesters heading to Martyrs' Square in Beirut on foot and in vehicles, 13 March 2005 (from History of Lebanon)
Image 10Protesters in Beirut. Mohammad Al-Amin Mosque, 20 October 2019 (from History of Lebanon)
Image 11Lebanon Parliament 2018 (from Politics of Lebanon)
Image 12Portrait of Elie Hobeika (from History of Lebanon)
Image 13Beiteddine Palace, venue of the Beiteddine Festival (from Culture of Lebanon)
Image 14Sidewalk Cafes are a trademark of the BCD (from Culture of Lebanon)
Image 15Khalil Gibran (April 1913) (from Culture of Lebanon)
Image 16Christian Church and Druze Khalwa in Shuf Mountains: Historically; the Druzes and the Christians in the Shuf Mountains lived in complete harmony. (from History of Lebanon)
Image 17The Green Line that separated West and East Beirut, 1982 (from History of Lebanon)
Image 18City of Zahlé at the eastern edge of the Mount Lebanon Range in eastern Lebanon (from Culture of Lebanon)
Image 19Rue Maarad is a main street in the central district (from Culture of Lebanon)
Image 20Aftermath of the October 2024 Bachoura airstrike in central Beirut (from History of Lebanon)
Image 21Palm trees at the seafront in Corniche Beirut (from Culture of Lebanon)
Image 22The funeral of the assassinated Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri (from History of Lebanon)
Image 23Portrait of Fakhreddine while he was in Tuscany, stating "Faccardino grand emir dei Drusi" translated as "Fakhreddine: great emir of the Druze" (from History of Lebanon)
Image 24Gibran Khalil Gibran Garden and surroundings in Beirut Central District, Majidiye, Beirut (from Culture of Lebanon)
Image 25Map of the Shebaa farms (from History of Lebanon)
Image 26The Grand Serail, also known as the Government Palace, is the headquarters of the prime minister of Lebanon (from Politics of Lebanon)
Image 27Flag as drawn and approved by the members of the Lebanese parliament during the declaration of independence in 1943 (from History of Lebanon)
Image 28A selection of Lebanese dishes from Cafe Nouf Restaurant in London (from Culture of Lebanon)
Image 29Aerial photo of Beirut, Lebanon's capital (from Culture of Lebanon)
Image 30Fakhreddine II (from History of Lebanon)
Image 31Beirut in 1950 (from History of Lebanon)
Image 32Csontváry Kosztka, Tivadar - Pilgrimage to the Cedars of Lebanon (from Culture of Lebanon)