Lebanon (/ˈlɛbənɒn,-nən/ⓘLEB-ə-non, -nən; Arabic: لُبْنَان, romanized: Lubnān, local pronunciation:[lɪbˈneːn]), officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. It is bordered by Syria to the north and east, by Israel to the south, and by the Mediterranean Sea to the west; Cyprus lies a short distance away from the country's coastline. Lebanon is located at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian hinterlands. Lebanon has a population of more than five million people and covers an area of 10,452 square kilometres (4,036 sq mi). Beirut is the country's capital and largest city.
The earliest evidence of human civilization in Lebanon dates back to 5000 BCE. From 3200 to 539 BC, what was to become Lebanon was part of Phoenicia, a maritime empire that stretched the Mediterranean Basin. In 64 BC, the region of Lebanon became part of the Roman Empire, which soon became a major center for Christianity under the aegis of the Byzantine Empire. After the 7th century, the region came under the rule of different caliphates, including the Rashidun, Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates. The 11th century saw the beginning of the Crusades and the establishment of Crusader states, which later fell to the Ayyubids and the Mamluks, and eventually to the Ottomans. Under Ottoman ruler Abdulmejid I, the first Lebanese proto-state was established in the form of the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate, created in the 19th century as a home for Maronite Christians under the Ottoman Tanzimat period.
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Gold dinar minted in Aleppo in the name of Salih ibn Mirdas and recognizing the suzerainty of Fatimid caliph az-Zahir, 1028/29 CE
Abu Ali Salih ibn Mirdas (Arabic: ابو علي صالح بن مرداس, romanized: Abū ʿAlī Ṣāliḥ ibn Mirdās), also known by his laqab (honorific epithet) Asad al-Dawla ('Lion of the State'), was the founder of the Mirdasid dynasty and emir of Aleppo from 1025 until his death in May 1029. At its peak, his emirate (principality) encompassed much of the western Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia), northern Syria and several central Syrian towns. With occasional interruption, Salih's descendants ruled Aleppo for the next five decades.
Salih launched his career in 1008, when he seized the Euphrates river fortress of al-Rahba. In 1012, he was imprisoned and tortured by the emir of Aleppo, Mansur ibn Lu'lu'. Two years later he escaped, capturing Mansur in battle and releasing him for numerous concessions, including half of Aleppo's revenues. This cemented Salih as the paramount emir of his tribe, the Banu Kilab, many of whose chieftains had died in Mansur's dungeons. With his Bedouin warriors, Salih captured a string of fortresses along the Euphrates, including Manbij and Raqqa, by 1022. He later formed an alliance with the Banu Kalb and Banu Tayy tribes and supported their struggle against the Fatimids of Egypt. During this tribal rebellion, Salih annexed the central Syrian towns of Homs, Baalbek and Sidon, before conquering Fatimid-held Aleppo in 1025, bringing "to success the plan which guided his [Banu Kilab] forebears for a century", according to historian Thierry Bianquis.
Salih established a well-organized administration over his Aleppo-based domains. Militarily, he relied on the Banu Kilab, while entrusting fiscal administration to his local Christian vizier, policing to the aḥdāth (urban militia) under Salim ibn Mustafad, and judicial matters to a Shia Muslimqāḍī (head judge). His rule was officially tolerated by the Fatimids, to whom he paid formal allegiance. His alliance with the Banu Tayy ultimately drew him into conflict with the Fatimid general, Anushtakin al-Dizbari, whose forces killed Salih in battle near Lake Tiberias. Salih was succeeded by his sons Nasr and Thimal. (Full article...)
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The McMahon–Hussein letter of 24 October 1915. George Antonius—who had been the first to publish the correspondence in full—described this letter as "by far the most important in the whole correspondence, and may perhaps be regarded as the most important international document in the history of the Arab national movement... is still invoked as the main piece of evidence on which the Arabs accuse Great Britain of having broken faith with them."
Following the publication of the November 1917 Balfour Declaration (a letter written by British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour to Baron Rothschild, a wealthy and prominent leader in the British Jewish community), which promised a national home for the Jews in Palestine, and the subsequent leaking of the secret 1916 Sykes–Picot Agreement in which Britain and France proposed to split and occupy parts of the territory, the Sharif and other Arab leaders considered the agreements made in the McMahon–Hussein Correspondence violated. Hussein refused to ratify the 1919 Treaty of Versailles and, in response to a 1921 British proposal to sign a treaty accepting the Mandate system, stated that he could not be expected to "affix his name to a document assigning Palestine to the Zionists and Syria to foreigners". A further British attempt to reach a treaty failed in 1923–24, with negotiations suspended in March 1924; within six months, the British withdrew their support in favour of their central Arabian ally Ibn Saud, who proceeded to conquer Hussein's kingdom. (Full article...)
Image 14Portrait 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 15Aftermath of the 4 August 2020 Beirut explosion (from History of Lebanon)
Image 18Map 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 19Sidewalk Cafes are a trademark of the BCD (from Culture of Lebanon)
Image 20Map 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)
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