The Middle East is the cradle of mankind. Knowledge related to agriculture, animal taming, the wheel, the creation of writing (cuneiform and hieroglyphs), irrigation, the first codes and great contributions to architecture came from that area. C. 3000 BC, the coast of Levant – Lebanon, Syria and Palestine – was inhabited by Canaanites, a people with Semite origin. First references to Lebanon by its name date back from the third millennium. Canaanites came from Arabic Peninsula through Bekaa as Bedouins once did. Greeks later called them Phoenicians (phoinix), which refers to the red-purple color from textiles, the most important product of Phoenicians. Cities were founded near the coast and the Phoenicians were known as excellent traders. Each city was socially, politically and economically independent – the so-called city-states. Byblos and Arwad (north), Sidon and Tyre (south) were the most famous cities. Alternatively, Tyre and Sidon had the power over the other cities. Due to its good location, Lebanon was always much desired. “History of Lebanon is at the same time a parade of conquerors and a parade of civilizations, that is, the slow formation of a mixture of expertise and wisdom rarely found in the world.” (Mansour Chalita, page 57, 1976). From the 17th to 13th century BC, Phoenicia maintained trade with Egypt. The city of Byblos exported wine, olive oil and wood and imported gold, papyrus and metals. In the 14th century BC, the Hittites came from the north and invaded Phoenicia. Later Arameans, Hebrews and Philistines went to Phoenicia. During this time the first texts in the Ugaritic alphabetic system were written. In 1200 BC, the Phoenicians had the power. The timeframe between 1200 and 900 BC was the Golden Age of Phoenicia, which comprised the important cities of Arwad, Tripoli, Jbail, Berytus, Sidon and Tyre. The Phoenicians founded colonies throughout the Mediterranean. The name of Carthage, founded in 814 BC, means “New City”. Living in the coast of the modern Lebanon, the Phoenicians became navigators and traders. They trade their products, mainly red-purple textiles and perfumes, with other peoples from the Mediterranean. They dedicated their lands to agriculture in platforms along the slopes of Mount Lebanon. The Phoenicians built roads and explored the woods, developed the technique to manufacture glass, base of its intense and relevant trade, and produced jewels and coins. However, the most important Phoenician contribution to mankind was the creation of the alphabet. The Phoenicians introduced the olive tree and its by-products through trade in Greece, North Africa, Italy and Iberian Peninsula. From Spain, they brought silver, iron, tin and lead; from Egypt, linen; from Arabia, lambs and goats. The Phoenician economy was firstly based in agriculture, fishing and foreign trade and then expanded to industry. They achieved excellence in manufacturing textiles (spinning and weaving were made at home) and purple dyeing.

Assyrians: 9th to 7th Century BC In the 9th century the Assyrians arrived in Phoenicia led by Ashurbanipal II from the area today known as Iraq and dominated it. The Assyrian control was hard and intense and the Phoenicians tried to resist to the expensive taxes. Nevertheless, when the control was too authoritarian, the Phoenicians rouse against the Assyrians. The first city to stand against the Assyrians was Tyre with the help of Egyptians, who were, however, defeated and consequently the king of Tyre had to take refuge in Cyprus. Sidon also rose and was defeated and destroyed in 675 BC. Babylonians: 7th to 6th Century BC The cities of Tyre, Sidon, Edon and Moab, Amon and Judah became allies to fight the Babylonians. The long years of Babylonian dominance made the Phoenicians lose their commercial supremacy, and consequently they were replaced by Greeks and Carthaginians (from Carthage, a former Phoenician colony) in the sea and by the Arameans traders in the land. Persians: 6th to 4th Century BC Cyrus, founder of the Persian Empire, conquered Babylonia. Therefore, Phoenicia became Persian territory. Darius I divided his empire in satrapies - the fifth satrapy comprised Phoenicia, Syria, Palestine and Cyprus. Sidon was chosen to be the capital city. The cities-states kept their autonomy, maintained their kings and currencies. As they had an excellent fleet, the Phoenicians helped the Persians in their military actions and participated in the war against Greeks in 480 BC. In 360 BC, the city of Sidon stood against the Persian dominance and, therefore, was destroyed. Greeks: 4th Century BC to 1st Century AD Darius III was defeated by Alexander of Macedonia in Issus, north of Syria. After invading Damascus, Alexander proceeded by the coast and the Phoenician cities opened their gates to him. Only the city of Tyre refused to be controlled. Alexander wanted to conquer Tyre howsoever and made Sidon, Byblos and Arwad help him. After resisting heroically for seven months, Tyre was invaded and its inhabitants were killed. After Alexander’s death, the Greeks lost their power over Phoenicia. His empire was divided between his captains Ptolemy and Seleucus. Seleucus received the area of Phoenicia and formed the kingdom of Seleucids. During this time, the Phoenicians collaborated so much with Greeks/Seleucids that the Greek became the second language and many traders moved to Attica. When the power of the Seleucids declined, the cities of Arwad, Tyre, Sidon, Byblos, Berytus and Tripoli gained back their independence and started to issue their own currencies, which had bilingual content and bore the effigy of the Seleucids. Romans: 1st Century BC to 4th Century AD Pompey conquered the Middle East in 63 BC and took Syria, Antioch, Palestine and Phoenicia, although major Phoenician cities maintained their governments and territories. In the mountains, which were uninhabited up to that time, Roman towns and temples were founded. Phoenicia Libanesia (Lebanon) was proclaimed by Theodosius II (401-405), who made Emesa its capital. It comprised Heliopolis (Baalbek), Damascus and Palmyra, and Phoenicia Prima (or Phoenicia Maritima), whose capital was Tyre and comprised Sidon, Berytus, Byblos, Acra and Arwad. The Phoenician language disappeared and was replaced by Aramaic (the language of the people), by Greek (the language of culture and trade) and by Latin (spoken by soldiers and civil servants). The Christianity originated in Palestine and quickly spread across Phoenicia. Jesus Christ went to Tyre and Sidon, and in Canaan of Galilee Christ made the miracle of changing water into wine. Byzantines: 4th to 7th Century AD Constantine (306-337) moved the capital of the Roman Empire to Byzantium and renamed it to Constantinople. Christianity intensified its presence in Phoenicia. In the 4th century, Berytus was considered a catholic city. The Phoenician gods (Melkart, Hadad, Ashtart and Afqah) were abandoned. Between 551 and 555 AD several earthquakes shook the Phoenician coast, including Berytus and Baalbek. Umayyads and Abbasids: 7th to 9th Century AD Two years after Mohamed’s death, his armies started the Muslim expansion. Led by Yazid Ibn Sufian and by Omar Ibn Al-Ass, the army had 23 thousand soldiers. They rapidly took Damascus (635), Hama, Beirut, Sidon, Tyre, Jerusalem (636), Aleppo, Homs, Baalbek (637) and Antioch (638). The Persians and Byzantines dominated the area, but were easily defeated by the Muslims. In 661, the Umayyad dynasty took the power and moved to Damascus, which was proclaimed the capital of the new empire. In the second half of the 7th century, the Maronites, who came from Aleppo in Syria, settled in the area of the Mountain, in Lebanon, which remained out of the reach of conquerors. Therefore, the Mountain became a refugee for oppressed and persecuted peoples from other areas regardless of their religion, race or ideas, a feature that would never disappear. In 750 the Abbasid dynasty took the power and moved the capital from Damascus to Baghdad. Due to political intolerance and to the high taxes imposed by this dynasty, there was an increase in the emigration of Christians, dissident Muslims (Shiites, Ishmaelites and Druses) and Persian and Arabic ethnic groups to Lebanon. These groups settled in the south of Lebanon and the Maronites stayed in the north. Lebanon became a mosaic of diverse ethnic and religious communities from this time. In the 9th century, the Abbasid dynasty started to lose its authority to local dynasties. Crusaders: 9th to 13th Century AD In the 11th century, the Islamic state and society began to show signs of inner weakness: The empire was divided into independent regional governments and its political and administrative structure built by Byzantium and by the Sasanian Iran started to collapse. Concerning religion, a great deal of people followed heretic sects. During the 11th century and the beginning of the 12th century the empire showed its weakness in several enemy attacks that came from different sides. In Europe, the Christians went to Sicily and Spain, conquering territories from Muslims in a wave of Christian reconquest that had its highest point with the arrival of Crusaders in the Near East. In 1096, in this time of weakness and division in the Muslim world, the Crusaders arrived in Levant. Their goal was the “holy war”, that is, to free the Palestine’s Holy Sites under the Turks from the hands of the Muslim unbelievers. In this time of frequent peregrinations to the Holy Land, Christian pilgrims were mistreated. Pilgrimages were done in groups or by subjects of all social classes and pilgrims were a constant link between West and East. Helped by the Maronite Christians that settled in Lebanese territory from the 7th century, the Crusaders controlled and occupied the Mediterranean coast from Antioch to Jerusalem, crossing Tripoli, Batron, Beirut, Sidon and Tyre. The Crusaders founded the District of Tripoli and feuds of Jebail (current Jbeil) and Batron that were supported by the Christian population in the north of Lebanon and protected by a net of fortresses, among which the most famous is ‘Hish al-Akrad’ (Crac des Chevaliers). In the countryside, the Crusaders did not have this good fortune, because they could not control Aleppo, Hamas, Baalbek and Damascus. After the Crusaders were defeated, the Lebanese, who were mostly Christians and helped them, endured the consequences. Tyre was protected by walls and could not be taken. Sidon surrendered and was destroyed. Beirut also surrendered. The Crusaders not only failed to achieve their goals, but also left behind the hate between Muslims and Christians. The wars that followed brought ruin and destruction. Philip Hitti in his book named ‘Lebanon in History’, states the following on Sidon: “In 1107, the city purchased immunity from the Crusaders that surrounded it. Taken by Baldwin I in 1111, dismantled by Saladin in 1187, conquered again by the Crusaders in 1197, retaken and destroyed by the Muslims in the same year, rebuilt by the Francs in 1228, destroyed again in 1249, taken and restored again by Louis IX in 1253, devastated by Mongols in 1260, the city was finally transferred to the hands of Muslims in 1291 under the rule of Al-ashraf, who destroyed Sidon.” In 1291, after several battles, the Crusaders were finally defeated and expelled by the Mameluke Sultan Qalaum.

Mamelukes: 14th Century The Mamelukes were Turk slaves that the Egypt government has bought and added to their armies. They ruled the Egypt and, after the Crusaders, the Middle East. In the 14th century, they were in their most powerful time. They ruled Syria, Lebanon and Palestine, which were then divided in six provinces. To avoid rebellions, the Mamelukes divided Lebanon among three of these provinces. The Mamelukes destroyed the Lebanese harbors, which almost ended the trade with Europe. The irresponsible way that the Mamelukes ruled led the empire to the anarchy worsened by plagues, drought and earthquakes and to the ruin of the society. The end of the dynasty was caused by foreign forces. The first was related to the economy and was caused by the arrival of the Portuguese in Eastern waters, when they created direct maritime routes between Europe and India. The Portuguese started to systematically destroy Muslim trade ships that sailed in the Indian Ocean. The second force was military. The relationship between Mameluke and Ottoman sultans worsened in the end of the 15th century. Between 1485 and 1490, both States initiated a war. The Mamelukes were defeated by the Ottoman army, which had more soldiers and used cannons and guns. Tartars: 15th century In the 15th century, Asia (from the middle to the west) was invaded by Tamerlane. It was a decadent time for Eastern kingdoms. Tamerlane destroyed Aleppo, Damascus and other Syrian cities. Despite the vandalism, the Mountain in Lebanon kept its economical, cultural and political independence and became a refuge from invaders.

ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL HYSTORY
CHALLITA, Mansour. Este é o Líbano. Associação Cultural Internacional Gibran, Rio de Janeiro, 1976.
LEWIS, Bernard. O Oriente Médio: Do advento do cristianismo aos dias de hoje. Translated by Ruy Jungmann. Rio de Janeiro, Jorge Zahar Ed., 1996.
ROUSSET, Paul. História das Cruzadas. Translated by Roberto Cortes de Lacerda. Rio de Janeiro, Zahar Ed., 1980.
SALEM, Jean. O Povo Libanês - Ensaio de Antropologia. Ed. Van Grei, São Paulo.


MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY HYSTORY
CHALLITA, Mansour. Este é o Líbano. Associação Cultural Internacional Gibran, Rio de Janeiro, 1976.
ISMAIL, Adel. Le Liban Histoire d’un Peuple. Al Makchouf, Berut, 1965.
LEWIS, Bernard. O Oriente Médio: Do advento do cristianismo aos dias de hoje. Translated by Ruy Jungmann. Rio de Janeiro, Jorge Zahar Ed., 1996.
MASSUD, RUBENS. Aspectos Libaneses. Natal, 1952. (original issue in Clube Zahlé)
ROUSSET, Paul. História das Cruzadas. Translated by Roberto Cortes de Lacerda. Rio de Janeiro, Zahar Ed., 1980.
SALEM, Jean. O Povo Libanês - Ensaio de Antropologia. Ed. Van Grei, São Paulo.


ZAHLE HYSTORY
Extract from the book, author of the manuscript: Bishop Gregory Atta – archbishop of Homs and Hama.


MELKITES
KHATLAB, Roberto. Os Melquitas. Ed. Eparquia Grego-Melquita Católica no Brasil - São Paulo, 1993.