An
Umayyad site of Lebanon
 |
|
Gate to Anjar |
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 newcomer, 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.Oher than a small Umayyad mosque in Baalbeck, we
have few other remnants from this important period of Arab history.
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, Baalbeck and to the South.
This almost perfect quadrilateral of ruins 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 Ain Gerrha, ''the source of Gerrha'', the name of an ancient
city founded in this area by the Arab Ituraens 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's extensive ruins and the memories of its short, but
energetic moment in history.
History, Anjar'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 100 years. Defeat
befell them when the Abbasids - their rivals and their successors - took advantage of the
Umayyad's increasing decadence.
|
|
The
Tetrapylon, a monumental entrance with four gates |
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.
Excavating Anjar
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 bland 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 so much 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 swamp. Stands of evergreen cypresses an
eucalyptus trees were planted and flourish 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 southeast quarter, the residential area in the southwest, the Palace II in the
northwest and the Palace III and public bath in the northeast.
Visiting the site
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 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
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 the these walls 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 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
term 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
recycles. Tetrapylons mark the four corners of the intersection. This configuration,
called a tetrastyle is remarkably 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.
|
|
The
Cardo Maximus
lined with shops |
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 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
Umayyads helped themselves to Byzantine and other ruins scattered around the area.
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 on all four sides.
Just to the north of the palace are the sparse remains of a mosque measuring 45 x 32
meters. The mosque had two public entrances and a private one for the caliph.
|
|
The
Great Palace |
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 find stone carvings of delightful owls,
eagles. seashells and the famous acanthus leaves.
More evidence of the Umayyad's 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 center for social interaction.
|
|
Reconstructed
Facade
of the Great Palace |
Anjar 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. |
