Anjar is 58km
far from
Beirut, in the Bekaa; this archaeological site is completely different from all
the others in the country. It's exclusively one period, The Umayyad.
Anjar
flourished for only a few decades, unlike the other ancient cities such as
Tyr and Byblos, which maintained continuous habitation since the day they were found.
Other than a small Umayyad mosque in Baalbeck, we have few other
miscellanies from this important period of Arab history. Anjar is almost
ideal parallelogram of ruins lies in the middle of some of the richest
agricultural land in
Lebanon. Very close to the important sources of the
Litany
River. Today's name, Anjar, comes
from the Arabic Ain Gerrha, ''the source of Gerrha''. This city has been
founded by Arabs during the Hellenistic times. Anjar has a special beauty.
This site deserves to be visited.
After the
Prophet Mohammed, The Umayyad was the first hereditary dynasty of Islam,
they, ruled from Damascus
in the first century, from 660 to 750 A.D. They are known for the great
Arab conquests that created the Islamic Empire stretch from the
Indus
Valley
to
Southern France. Known for the management and planning, that's why their empire prospered
for 100 years. Defeated by the Abbasids, those were their rivals and their
successors. based on 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 from
the city. Anjar is open daily.
Close to the
ruins of Anjar are a number of restaurants which offer fresh meals plus a
full collection of Lebanese and Armenian dishes. Anjar has no hotels but
accommodation can be found in Chtaura 15 kilometers away.
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