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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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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 |
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Aerial view of the site of Aanjar |
| 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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The Tetrapylon,
a monumental entrance
with four gates |
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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.
Early in the excavation engineers drained the swamps. Stands
of evergreen cypresses and eucalyptus trees were planted and
flourish |
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General view of the site
The public baths
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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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| V I S I T
I N G T H E S I T E
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The Cardo Maximus lined with shops |
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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 |
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has an imposing gate, and towers (40 in all)
are sited on each stretch of wall. 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.
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. |
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
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The Great Palace |
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.
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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Reconstructed façade
of the Great Palace
A façade of the Great Palace
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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 |
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find stone carvings of delightful owls, eagles,
seashells and the famous acanthus leaves.
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.
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.
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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