Archaeological Virtual Tours: Aanjar

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 dates exclusively from one period, the Umayyad dynasty. Lebanon's other sites were founded millennia ago, but Aanjar is a relative newcomer, going back to the early 8th century A.D. Unlike Sour (Tyre) and Jbail (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 Baalbek, there are few other remnants from this important period of Arab history in Lebanon. 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, Baalbek, and the south. It lies in the midst of some 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 word Ain Gerrha, or “the source of Gerrha,” the name of an ancient city founded in this area by the Arab Itureans during Hellenistic times (333-64 B.C.).

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's extensive ruins and the memories of its short, but energetic, moment in history.