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An Umayyad
site of Lebanon
Aanjar, 58 kilometers from Beirut, is completely
different from any other archaeological experience you'll
have in Lebanon. At other historical sites in the country,
different epochs and civilizations are superimposed one on
top of the other.
Aanjar is exclusively one period, the Umayyad.
Lebanon's other sites were founded millennia ago, but
Aanjar is a relative new-comer, going back to the early 8th
century A.D. Unlike Tyre and Byblos, which claim continuous
habitation since the day they were founded, Aanjar
flourished for only a few decades.
Other than a small Umayyad mosque in Baalbeck, we have
few other remnants from this important period of Arab
History.
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Aanjar also
stands unique as the only historic example of an inland
commercial center. The city benefited from its strategic
position on intersecting trade routes leading to Damascus,
Homs, Baalbeck and the south. This almost perfect
quadrilateral of ruins lies in the midst of the richest
agricultural land in Lebanon. It is only a short distance
from gushing springs and one of the important sources of the
Litani River. Today's name, Aanjar, comes from the Arabic
Ain Gerrha, "the source of Gerrha", the name of an ancient
city founded in this area during Hellenistic times. Aanjar
has a special beauty. The city's slender columns and fragile
arches stand in contrast to the massive bulk of the nearby
Anti-Lebanon mountains--an eerie background for Aanjar
extensive ruins and the memories of its short but energetic
moment in history.
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History, Aanjar's Masters, The Umayyads
The Umayyads, the first
hereditary dynasty of Islam, ruled from Damascus in the
first century after the Prophet Mohammed, from 660 to 750
A.D.
They are credited with the great Arab conquests that created
an Islamic empire stretching from the Indus Valley to
southern France.
Skilled in administration and planning, their empire
prospered for a 100 years. Defeat befell them when the
Abbasids--their rivals and their successors--took advantage
of the Umayyad's increasing decadence.
Some chronicles and literary documents inform us that it was
Walid I, son of Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, who built
the city--probably between 705
and 715 A.D.
Walid's son Ibrahim lost Aanjar when he was defeated by
his cousin Marwan II in a battle two kilometers form the
city. |
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Excavating
Aanjar
Just after Lebanon gained
independence in 1943, the country's General Directorate of
Antiquities began to investigate a strip of land in the
Beqaa valley sandwiched between the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon
mountains some 58 kilometers east of Beirut. This was Aanjar,
then a stretch of blend bareness with parched shrubbery and
stagnant swamps that covered the vast area of these
archaeological remains.
The site at first seemed painfully
modest, especially when compared with the rest of Lebanon's
archaeological wonders. What attracted the antiquities
experts to Aanjar was not such the ruins themselves as the
information they held. Beneath the impersonal grayness of
Aanjar, the experts suggested, lay the vestiges of the
eighth century Umayyad dynasty that ruled from Damascus and
held sway over an empire.
That idea was particularly interesting because Lebanon--that
unique crossroads of the ages--boasted ample archaeological
evidence of almost all stages of Arab history with the
exception of the Umayyad.
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Early in
the excavation engineers drained the swamps. Stands of
evergreen cypresses and eucalyptus trees were planted
and flourish today, giving these stately ruins a
park-like setting. To date, almost the entire site has
been excavated and some monuments have been restored.
Among the chief structures are the Palace I and the
Mosque in the south-east quarter, the residential area
in the southwest, the Palace II in the northwest and the
Palace III and public bath in the northeast. |
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VISITING
THE SITE |
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To sense
the vastness of the city, drive around the outside of
the fortified enclosures before entering the 114,000
square-meter site. The north-south walls run 370 meters
and the east-west sides extend 310 meters. The walls are
two meters thick and built from a core of mud and rubble
with an exterior facing facing of sizable blocks and an
interior facing of smaller layers of blocks. Against the
interior of the enclosures are three stairways built on
each side. They gave access to the top of the walls
where guards circulated and protected the town. Each
wall has an imposing gate, and towers (40 in all) are
sited on each stretch of wall. |
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The Umayyad's
hundred-year history is steeped in war and conquest.
Apparently their rulers felt that these wall and tower
defenses were a necessary feature of their architecture.
Nearly 60 inscriptions and graffiti from Umayyad times are
scattered on the city's surrounding walls. One of them,
dated 123 of the Hegira (741 A.D.), is located in the
western wall between the fourth and the fifth tower from the
southwest.
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Today visitors
enter through the northern gate of the site but as the main
points of interest are at the southern half of the city,
it's better to walk up the main street to the far end of the
site. You are walking along the 20-meter-wide Cardo Maximus (a Latin meaning a major street
running north and south) which is flanked by shops, some of
which have been reconstructed. |
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At the
half-way point of this commercial street a second major
street called Decumanus Maximus (running east to west)
cuts across it at right angles. It is also flanked by
shops. In all, 600 shops have been uncovered, giving
Aanjar the right to call itself a major Umayyad strip
mall.
The masonry work, of Byzantine origin, consists of
courses of cut stone alternating with courses of brick.
This technique, credited to the Byzantines reduced the
effects of earthquakes. The tidy division of the site
into four quarters is based on earlier Roman city
planning. At the city's crossroads you'll have your
first hint that the Umayyads were great recyclers.
Tetrapylons mark the four corners of the intersection.
This configuration, called a tetrastyle is
remarkably reminiscent of Roman architecture. One of the
tetrapylons has been reconstructed with its full quota
of four columns. Note the Greek inscriptions at the
bases and the Corinthian capitals with their
characteristic carved acanthus leaves-delightful to look
at but definitely not original to the Umayyads.
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A city
with 600 shops and an overwhelming concern for security
must have required a fair number of people. Keeping this
in mind, archaeologists looked for remains of an
extensive residential area and found it just beyond the
tetrastyle to the southwest. However, these residential
quarters received the least attention from
archaeologists and need further excavation.
Along both sides of the streets you'll see evenly
spaced column bases and mostly fallen columns that were
once part of an arcade that ran the length of the
street.
Enough of these have been reconstructed to allow your
imagination to finish the job.
The columns of the arcade are by no means homogeneous;
they differ in type and size and are crowned by varying
capitals. Most of them are Byzantine, more indication
that the Unayyads helped themselves to Byzantine and
other ruins scattered around the area. |
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On your
way to the arcaded palace ahead, notice the numerous
slabs of stone that cover the top of what was the city's
drainage and sewage system. These manholes are
convincing evidence of the city's well-planned
infrastructure.
The great or main palace itself was the first landmark
to emerge in 1949 when Aanjar was discovered. One wall
and several arcades of the southern half of the palace
have been reconstructed. As you stand in the
40-square-meter open courtyard, it is easy to picture
the palace towering around you all four sides. Just to
the north of the palace are the sparse remains of a
mosque measuring 45x32 meters. The mosque had two public
entrances and a private one for the caliph.
If you enjoy a good game of archaeological hide and
seek, the second palace is the place for you. It is
decorated with much finer and more intricate engravings,
rich in motifs borrowed from the Greco-Roman tradition.
Very little reconstruction has been done to this palace
so its floors and grounds are in their natural state.
With patience you will find stone carvings of delightful
owls, eagles, seashells and the famous acanthus leaves.
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More
evidence of the Umayyad dependence on the architectural
traditions of other cultures appears some 20 meters
north of this second palace. These Umayyad baths contain
the three classical sections of the Roman bath: the
vestiary where patrons changed clothing before their
bath and rested afterwards, and three rooms for cold,
warm and hot water. The size of the vestiary indicates
the bath was more than a source of phisical well-being
but also a center of social interaction. A second,
smaller, bath or similar design is marked on the map. |
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Aanjar
Today
Aanjar is open daily. Close to the ruins of Aanjar
are a number of restaurants which offer fresh trout plus a
full array of Lebanese and Armenian dishes. Some of the
restaurants are literally built over the trout ponds. Aanjar
has no hotels but lodging can be found in Chtaura 15
kilometers away.
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If you have
time...
Ain Gerrha. Aanjar's major spring is located 3
kilometers northeast of the ruins.
Majdal Aanjar. A Roman period temple sits on a
hilltop overlooking this village, which is one kilometer
from Aanjar.
The Mausoleum of El-Wali Zawur is the burial spot of
a religious personage from medieval times. Until the early
1980s fertility rites were held here.
Kfar Zabad. Roman temple ruins and a cave with
stalactites and stalagmites. Special equipment needed for
the cave.
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