These Are The 11 Phoenician Cities And Towns That Still Exist Today In Lebanon
The Phoenician civilization grew throughout the Mediterranean sea through trading and not military. Their influence was quite visible on several continents.
They've even found traces of Phoenicians in America even before Christopher Columbus discovered it. According to a comprehensive study by Thomas Crawford Johnston in 1892, the Phoenicians were behind the civilizations of the Incas and the Aztecs.
All this was done operating from present-day Lebanon. Of course, such an influential civilization would leave its mark in its home thousands of years later.
In fact, there are 11 Phoenician cities and towns in Lebanon that have been continuously inhabited ever since:
#1 Sour (Tyre)
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Tyre , or Sour in Arabic, was one of the 2 leading city-states in Phoenicia. It was also the most important seaport for the Phoenicians . One of the very rare wars the Phoenicians had to undertake during their over 7000 years of civilization was to defend Tyre against the impressive forces of Alexander The Great .
Total Population: 174,000 people
#2 Sydon (Sidon)
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Sidon , or Saida in Arabic, was the other leading city-state in Phoenicia alongside Sur. It's the 3rd largest city in Lebanon
Total Population: 266,000
#3 Ampi (Anfeh)
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Anfeh is located in North Lebanon just 15 kilometers south of Tripoli . There are remains of at least 3,000 years of human occupation. There is also a Phoenician wall, a castle, and an impressive peninsula fortress .
Total Population: 6,500
#4 Amia (Amioun)
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Amioun is located on the top of an ancient hill dating back to before the 2nd millennium B.C, during which, the town was called Amia. Amioun derives its name from the Aramaic language, meaning "'am Yawan" "place of the Greeks".
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Today, the town's population is predominantly made up of Greek Orthodox. The majority of its residents actually live outside of Lebanon, particularly in Massachusetts, USA as well as Sydney and Melbourne, Australia. They visit during the summer.
Total Population: 10,658
#5 Aarqa
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Aarqa is a village northeast of Tripoli . There's archaeological evidence going back to the Neolithic Period (10,000 BC).
It has been mentioned in the Bible several times as well as in the Amarna letters of Egypt (2 nd millennium BC) and in Assyrian texts (1 st millennium BC).
During Roman times, Emperor Alexander Severus was born there in 208 BC.
#6 Baalbek
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Baalbek was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to the Ancient Roman ruins. There are signs of almost continual habitation for the last 8-9,000 years. Discover the hidden truth of Baalbek here .