Lebanon yesterday and today - A bird’s-eye view
of the nation, and the special features that distinguish
it from other countries.
- A condensed history
- The modern country
(by George Asseily and James Lawday)
Lebanon
and the Lebanese
A land of milk and honey? A land of war and peace?
A land of hard work and leisure? Yes indeed, Lebanon
is all these and of course much more. Lebanon, sometimes
described as the Riviera of the Middle East, is one
of the jewels of the region and a Mediterranean playground,
albeit now scarred by the conflicts of recent decades.
Situated at the extreme east of the Mediterranean,
and sandwiched between Syria and Israel, Lebanon is
a very small country – smaller than Wales. The
east of the country is bordered by Syria and the range
of mountains known as Anti Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley,
a valley with its own mystery of wine and drugs, of
warlords and freedom fighters, of remains of ancient
civilizations and famous music festivals. The capital
of Lebanon, Beirut, is situated on a promontory of
land protruding into the Mediterranean about midway
along its coastline. The highest mountains of Lebanon
remain snow covered for most of the year and make
a dramatic backdrop for the city of Beirut.
The Lebanese International Community
Go to any corner of the world and there will always
be a close-knit Lebanese community. These communities
will inevitably include successful entrepreneurs and
businessmen who in their brief time in their adopted
country almost invariably left some mark. It is suggested
that there are more Lebanese living overseas than
actually live in their own country. However the majority
of these will not forget their roots and hope one
day to return to their homeland.
Why is Lebanon special, as indeed it is? Perhaps the
combination of its people resourceful, hard working,
hedonistic, perspicacious and aggressive, and the
country’s geography; dramatic and yet gently
interesting, make Lebanon what it is. Maybe its long
history of culture, trade and conflict dating back
to the beginning of time, have formed the country
into the modern Lebanon of the second millennium.
Lebanon has had a disproportionate influence on regional
and world affairs. It is situated at the start of
the Silk Route, which led to the fabulous riches of
the Far East. Today as the most eastern country on
the Mediterranean it still offers an overland route
from Europe and America to the Middle East.
The famous Cedars of Lebanon, immortalized on its
national flag, have for thousands of years been the
source of timber in the ancient world. In a region
where few major sources of timber existed, Lebanon
became an important exporter of this essential commodity
and evidence of this durable timber remains to this
day as far afield as the temples and palaces of the
Pharaohs. Sadly, now only a handful of these magnificent
trees are still standing.
Lebanon has had few other natural resources to support
its population: neither oil nor gas, nor any of the
other natural minerals which have provided the wealth
of so many of its Arab neighbors. Indeed Lebanon is
not a wealthy country. Its real resource has, however,
been its people and their way of life. It is this
entrepreneurial spirit that – coupled –
with its outstanding East-West strategic location
– made Beirut the logical location for international
companies to establish a regional office in the 1950s
and 1960s. Transport and communications were good
and so was the quality of life. But the turbulence
in the country in the 1970s and 1980s combined with
the globalization of modern communications have led
to the departure of most major international corporations.
Lebanon is very European in its outlook. For example,
the business week is Monday to Friday, unlike the
rest of the Middle East, and working hours tend to
be similar to Europe. Most Lebanese, in addition to
their very smart and classical Arabic, speak English
and French. Western dress is the norm for both business
and leisure.
Lebanon therefore relies on its human natural resources.
Lebanon is about the Lebanese who are the main industry
and export. Whether as bankers, as businessmen, as
traders, importers and exporters, the Lebanese community
around the world will ensure its survival. Services
are what Lebanon offers to the world and any visitor
can soon experience such services within minutes of
arriving at Beirut Airport. Industry in Lebanon consists
of small and medium sized institutions involved mostly
in textiles, leather, ceramics, building materials,
pharmaceuticals and jewellery – as well as food
industries. The most noteworthy exports are the excellent
wines that are made locally. The industry with the
greatest potential for growth is tourism.
A Brief History of Lebanon
The first significant settlers established settlements
along the coast of Lebanon, with Byblos and Tyre being
the most important, and Beirut and Sidon. These city-states
became the hubs of the Canaanite civilization. The
Egyptian Pharaohs swept through and invaded around
1500 BC and with their gradual demise the Canaanites
reformed as a merchant trading civilization. By 1,000
BC their influence had spread widely and they came
to be known as the Phoenicians.
For about four centuries the Phoenicians developed
their trading, exploration and colonization throughout
the Mediterranean Sea, spreading their culture and
goods. Their skills of navigation and seamanship became
legendary and their influence spread, from Carthage
and Utica in North Africa to Cadiz in Spain. There
are even suggestions that they may have reached as
far west as Cornwall in the UK and as far east as
India, possibly circumnavigating the African continent.
Perhaps as a result of this trading and travelling
they developed an alphabet to replace the complicated
cuneiform and hieroglyphic scripts they had inherited.
This new simplified form of recording events became
the basis for the Greek script and subsequently, via
Latin, for all European written languages.
The Phoenicians were also significant manufacturers.
Metalwork, textile and glass products became major
exports for the country as well as for home consumption,
with products from Sidon being particularly famous.
However it was the Phoenicians’ discovery of
a purple dye, which they extracted from a seashell,
that really made their fortunes. We will all recall
the pictures of the purple robes, which were worn
by royalty and senior figures in Rome and Athens.
Sadly, there are few traces of this civilization left
today. A few artifacts and remains (of temple and
jetty) have been found at Byblos and Tyre and there
have been some significant finds – Phoenician
walls – during the reconstruction of the new
city centre of Beirut. However, the bulk of our knowledge
of the Phoenicians comes from writers at that time,
Home and Herodotus, with further insights from the
Bible.
The advent of the Assyrians in the 8th century BC,
taking control of some of the city states, including
Byblos and Tyre, saw the Phoenician regional dominance
of trade come to an end. For about three hundred years
this decline continued with the Assyrians being replaced
by Babylonians. A revival of their fortunes occurred
when the Persians arrived around 6th century BC, with
Phoenicia becoming the most prosperous region in the
Persian Empire. This lasted for another two hundred
years until Alexander the Great swept through the
region in 333 BC.
Alexander’s army conquered the city-states of
Phoenicia. All of them, except Tyre submitted immediately
to the Greeks. After a siege lasting several months
Tyre also submitted, but not without massive damage
to the city and loss of life of its population. The
Greeks rebuilt the city as a Macedonian fortress.
The culture of Phoenicia now declined, being replaced
by Greek laws, customs and its religion. On the death
of Alexander in 323 BC, the Greek’s conquests
were divided up amongst three generals, with Palestine,
Egypt and Phoenicia coming under the rule of Ptolemy
I. Much fighting amongst the generals and their followers
ensued for the next hundred years until in 200 BC
the Seleucids ousted the followers of Ptolemy from
Phoenicia. Greek civilization remained dominant in
the region for many years, but was no match for the
military might of the Roman Empire.
In 64 BC the Roman armies conquered Phoenicia following
a three-year campaign. The country, together with
Palestine, became part of the regional province of
Syria. Beirut became an important capital and the
Romans extended and rebuilt the local temple in the
religious centre of Baalbek. Roman Gods replaced the
Greek and Phoenician pantheon. The Phoenician developed
closer ties with Syria and adopted their language.
In AD 329 the Emperor Constantine established Christianity
as the new religion of the Roman Empire and the capital
re-named was moved from Rome to Byzantium, Constantinople.
The form Christianity should take was a subject which
occupied much thought during this time. In AD 451
the Council of Chalcedon tried to define the future
from of Christianity, which was generally adopted.
Controversy continued until in the 7th century a group
of Syrian Christians broke away from generally adopted
Church and formed the Maronites, the dominant Christian
sect in Lebanon today.
The first seven centuries after Christ were fairly
quiet in the region. However turmoil arrived in the
7th century, when the followers of the Prophet Mohammed
started to conquer the region, driving out the Romans/Byzantines
and converting the people to Islam. Shortly afterwards,
the Umayyad Caliphate made their capital in Damascus
and in the 8th century the Abbasids switched the seat
of the Islamic Caliphate to Baghdad. By the end of
the 10th century the Fatimid, Shiite Muslims, swept
across from Egypt to take control of Lebanon, Syria
and Palestine. In 1016 the Fatimid Caliph, Al Hakim,
declared himself to be the earthly reincarnation of
God, which received little support except from small
band of followers in the Syria who broke away from
the main religious beliefs to follow Al Hakim. This
group based themselves in the Mount Lebanon region,
south of Beirut, and subsequently became known as
the Druze, another significant religious force in
Lebanon today.
Gradually the Fatimid in Egypt began to loose control,
until at the end of the 11th century tribal leaders
from Persia who were supporters of the Caliph in Baghdad
restored Sunni Islam. They ruled first from Aleppo
and then divided the region into two with centers
in Aleppo and Damascus. This fragment region was ill
equipped to defend itself so that by end of the 11th
century the Crusaders swept through the country from
the North on their way to liberate Jerusalem. The
Maronites gratefully welcomed the Christian armies,
even recognizing Rome as the head of their church,
and saw them as saviors who would return Christian
rule to the area. The Muslims - Druze, Shiite and
Sunni - threw in their lot with the remnants of the
Islamic forces from Aleppo and Damascus.
By the middle of the 12th century the Muslim forces
had once again taken of the region. Ruling from the
Fatimid court of Egypt, Salah ud-Din (Saladin) went
on to regain the land lost to the Crusaders, so that
by the end of the 13th century the last of the Crusaders
were finally driven away. His slave soldiers, who
ruled the region for another three hundred years and
became known as the Mamelukes, overthrew Salah ud-Din’s
Ayyubid dynasty in the mid 13th century.
Ottoman conquerors from Constantinople arrived in
the Mount Lebanon region in the early 16th century.
One of their local governors, Fakhreddine, (Fakhr
ud-Din) an ambitious and talented man, unified the
area known as Lebanon. He over-extended himself with
attempts to rule the surrounding countries so that
his Ottoman superiors finally captured and executed
him, replacing him with another local leader. The
Shihab family, who retained the land under an agreement
with the Ottomans, then ruled the central area of
the country. A Sunni Muslim family, they cultivated
the Druze in the Chouf mountains and looked also for
support from the Maronites. By the end of 18th century
the Christian Maronites had persuaded the Shihab family
to convert to Christianity, whilst maintaining good
relationships with the Ottoman masters in Constantinople
and the governors of coastal towns of Lebanon.
The demise of the Shihabs towards the middle of the
19th century was followed by a brief period of instability
until the Ottomans decided to divide the area between
the Druze and the Maronites. In the 1850s and 1860s
hostility between the two groups grew, with fighting
and massacres, so that the French, defenders of Christianity,
finally intervened, restoring order and introducing
a new system of government by the Ottomans. A period
of stability followed with country becoming the academic
and cultural centre of the Ottoman world .In 1920
the League of Nations awarded France control of Syria
and the Mount Lebanon region. Under pressure from
the Maronites the French extended control of the area
to include all the coastal cities and the Bekaa valley
to the East, to from Greater Lebanon. However, growing
Arab nationalism and the increase of the Sunni population
caused difficulties for the French and their allies
until in 1932, the constitution witch had been drawn
up in 1926 was suspended, with a promise of independence.
Following a period of unrest in the 1940s, Lebanon
was finally guaranteed independence from France in
1943, with an unwritten agreement that the country
would be ruled by a Maronite president, a Sunni prime
minister and the speaker of the parliament a Shiite
Muslim. This system of government continues of this
day.
The division of Palestine in 1948 was to be the start
of a long-lasting dispute with its southern neighbor.
The first Palestinian refugees crossed the border
soon after the division as enthusiastic Israelis occupied
more land. In the 1950s ties with Syria were finally
broken, increasing the financial difficulties in Lebanon.
Arab nationalism in the region, with Nasser in Egypt
forming a United Arab republic with Syria on one hand
together with a pro-western Maronite president Chamoun,
increase the plight of Lebanese people. In 1958 Chamoun
requested military help from the United States of
America who sent 15,000 marines to quell the disturbances
between Maronites and Sunnis. Two subsequent presidents
tried to reform the country and in some way succeeded,
although their efforts and reforms concentrated on
the wealthy coastal inhabitants, ignoring the plight
of people in the mountains. This was the 1960s when
Lebanon became famous as an international playground. Memorials
A unique site in Lebanon is located on the road from
Beirut to Tripoli at Jounieh. At some point the road
goes through a tunnel under a bluff of rock, which
extends to the sea. On the North side of this tunnel
is a small river called the Dog River or Nahr al Kalb.
This steep rock face has always presented a natural
barrier to forces making their way south to Beirut.
Whilst waiting to cross armies have left memorials
to their adventures carved in stone – military
graffiti?
These memorials are located in the cliff face and
date back to Ramses II of Egypt. They are in various
scripts including Greek, Latin, Arabic, French and
English apart from earlier inscriptions. Modern records
of British and French armies can be seen and also
the more recent forces in the civil war.
