Historical Sources on Lebanon and Syria
Resumo
In r/Lebanon, this announcement presents seven historical sources describing Mount Lebanon, Beirut, and Phoenician coastal cities as part of Syria, spanning classical writers through 20th-century encyclopedias. It invites civil discussion about how historical regional definitions relate to modern Lebanon.
Primary and secondary sources showing Lebanon as part of Syria (5th c. BC – 20th c. AD)
I am in no way attempting to claim the modern state of Lebanon nor am I desiring it's annexation. My desire is to prove that, for at least two and a half continuous millennia, Mount Lebanon and it's coast were an inseperable part of Syria. Let me know your thoughts (in a civil manner).
Proof:
1. Pg140 of the Voyage to the Orient (1845 AD): "We were before Beirut, one of the most populous towns on the coast of Syria, formerly Berytus, which became a Roman colony under Augustus"
2. Strabo, Geography 16.2.18 (20 AD, p. 317): "“Phoenicia is a narrow coast of Syria, and lies along the sea from Nahr el-Bared to Port Said"
3. Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 15.5.1 (93 AD): “Now Antiochus made war against Sidon and Tyre, which are cities of Syria…”
4. Al-Muqaddasi, Ahsan al-Taqasim (985 AD, p. 150): “Of the districts of Syria: Damascus, Jordan, Palestine, Homs… Beirut, Tripoli, Sidon, Tyre, and Acre are cities of the Syrian coast.”
5. Yaqut al-Hamawi, Muʿjam al-Buldan (1240 ad, vol. 4, p. 362): “Lebanon: a mountain of Syria, near Homs and Damascus.”
6. Catholic Encylopedia 1913 (written by Chaldean priest-historian Gabriel Oussani): "Syria, a country in Western Asia, which in modern times comprises all that region bounded on the north by the highlands of the Taurus, on the south by Egypt, on the east by Mesopotamia and the Arabia Desert, and on the west by the Mediterranean; thus including with its area the ancient ... Phœnicia, [and] the land of Canaan or Palestine"
7. Encylopaedia Britannica 1911: Syria, used of a north Euphratean district, and a word distinct from Assyria. Generally the ethnic term, Syrians, came to mean in antiquity the Semitic peoples domiciled outside the Mesopotamian and Arabian areas: which we include under it, retaining their distinctive status, ... Phoenicia, [and] Palestine. Taking Syria as the strip limited by the sea, the edge of the Harrat, the Taurus and the Sinaitic desert, we have a remarkably homogeneous geographical area with very obvious natural boundaries.
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Post Author: /u/Da_Seashell312
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