LCM of 3 Numbers Calculator LCM of 4 Numbers Calculator LCM of 5 Numbers Calculator LCD Calculator How to find LCM LCM and HCF Questions Least Common Denominator Calculator Greatest Common Divisor Calculator HCF Calculator HCF of 3 Numbers Calculator HCF of 4 Numbers Calculator GCD Calculator Greatest Common Factor Calculator Least Common Multiple Calculator Common Factors Calculator

Anjar History

Umayyad Arcades, Anjar (by Fatema AlSulaiti, Copyright)
Umayyad Arcades, Anjar
Fatema AlSulaiti (Copyright)

The city of Anjar stands as the single Umayyad site in Lebanon, located near the Litani River and 58 km from the capital of Beirut. Anjar was founded during the Umayyad period under Caliph Walid ibn 'Abd al-Malak (r. 705-715 CE) and takes its name from the Arabic term 'ayn al-jaar, meaning water from the rock - a reference to the streams that flow from adjacent Lebanon and the anti-Lebanon mountain range.

Historical Overview

The city prospered over a relatively short period of 20-30 years, continuing under Walid's son, Caliph Ibrahim (r. 744 CE). It was in 744 CE that the Abbasids, expanding their power in a takeover of the Islamic caliphate, defeated Ibrahim and overran the city. The raid left Anjar devastated, ushering in a long period of disuse and abandonment.

The ruins of Anjar provide testimony to the Umayyad civilization, as they are precisely dated in inscriptions found throughout the enclosure. The site reveals a long period of early occupation by the Greeks and Romans reflected in early Christian buildings which date back to c. 395 CE.

Anjar was an inland commercial centre at the crossroads of two important routes.

Anjar was an inland commercial centre at the crossroads of two important routes: one which led from Beirut to Damascus and the other which crossed the Bekaa valley, leading from Homs to Tiberiade. It prospered as a trading city, as it was strategically situated at this crux between the north-south and east-west trade routes of the Arabian Peninsula.

The city of Anjar, while never built up to its fullest potential and, rather, abandoned by the Umayyads after a nascent 30 years, saw only a brief golden age. At its peak, Anjar housed more than 600 market arcades separated by columns in the typical Roman-style, as well as bathhouses, two palaces, and a mosque.

Arch, Anjar
Arch, Anjar
Fatema AlSulaiti (Copyright)

Vestiges of the city of Anjar constitute a unique example of 8th-century CE urban planning carried out at the beginning of the Islamic period. The nature of its ruins marks an evolution over time from a proto-Byzantine culture to the early development of Islamic art - evidenced through the presence of various construction techniques - and architectonic and decorative elements captured in its monuments.

Architectural Layout

Anjar is a fortified city surrounded by walls and 40 towers spread across a rectangular area of 385 x 350 metres. The city structure is dominated by gates flanked by porticos, and is divided into four equal quadrants by a north-south axis and a shorter east-west axis superposed above the main sewage collectors.

General View, Anjar
General View, Anjar
Fatema AlSulaiti (Copyright)

Public and private residential buildings are laid out according to a structured plan: the mosque and the palace of the Caliph in the southeast quarter occupies the highest elevated part of the site, while the small palaces (harems) and bathhouses are located in the northeast quarter, facilitating the proper evacuation of wastewater. Special service, craft areas, and living areas are distributed in the northwest and southwest quarters.
The ruins reveal spectacular vestiges of a monumental tetrapylon (four-way arch), as well as by the walls and colonnades of the Umayyad palace, three out of four levels of which have been preserved. These structures incorporate decorative or architectonic elements of the Roman era, but are also noteworthy for the exceptional embellishing techniques of contemporary decor within the construction.

Related World History Topics

  • Abd al-Rahman I History
  • Abd al-Rahman III History
  • Abraham, the Patriarch History
  • Abu Bakr History
  • Achaemenid Empire History
  • Achilles History
  • Acquarossa History
  • Aedile History
  • Aegean History
  • Aegina History
  • Aethelwulf of Wessex History
  • Agamemnon (Person) History
  • Agamemnon (Play) History
  • Agesilaus II History
  • Agni History
  • Agora History
  • Agrigento History
  • Agrippina the Younger History
  • Ahuitzotl History
  • Ahura Mazda History
  • Aihole History
  • Ajanta History
  • Akhenaten History
  • Akkad History
  • Alaric History
  • Albrecht Dürer History
  • Alcestis History
  • Alexander I of Scotland History
  • Alexander I the Philhellene History
  • Alexander II of Scotland History
  • Alexander III of Scotland History
  • Alexander Selkirk History
  • Alexandra David-Néel History
  • Alexios I Komnenos History
  • Ali ibn Abi Talib History
  • Alphabet History
  • Amarna Letters History
  • Amarna Period of Egypt History
  • Amastris History
  • Amazon Women History
  • Amber in Antiquity History
  • Amorite History
  • Amos History
  • Amun History
  • Anastasios I History
  • Anaxagoras History
  • Anaximander History
  • Ancient Armenia History
  • Ancient Celtic Pottery History
  • Ancient Celtic Sculpture History
  • Ancient Celts History
  • Ancient Chinese Art History
  • Ancient Chinese Philosophy History
  • Ancient Chinese Warfare History
  • Ancient Cyprus History
  • Ancient Egyptian Law History
  • Ancient Egyptian Literature History
  • Ancient Egyptian Mythology History
  • Ancient Egyptian Vizier History
  • Ancient Egyptian Writing History
  • Ancient Greek Comedy History
  • Ancient Greek Medicine History
  • Ancient Greek Tragedy History
  • Ancient Greek Warfare History
  • Ancient India History
  • Ancient Ireland History
  • Ancient Israelite Art History
  • Ancient Japan History
  • Ancient Korea History
  • Ancient Korean Coinage History
  • Ancient Olympic Games History
  • Ancient Persian Art and Architecture History
  • Ancient Persian Government History
  • Ancient Persian Governors History
  • Ancient Persian Mythology History
  • Ancient Persian Religion History
  • Ancient Persian Warfare History
  • Ancient Rome History
  • Ancient Timekeeping History
  • Ancient Volterra History
  • Andrea Mantegna History
  • Andrea Palladio History
  • Andromache History
  • Anglo-Powhatan Wars History
  • Animal Husbandry History
  • Anjar History
  • Ankhsenamun History
  • Anna Komnene History
  • Anne Bonny History
  • Antigone History
  • Antigonus I History
  • Antinomian Controversy History
  • Antinous History
  • Antioch History
  • Antiochia ad Cragum History
  • Antonine Plague History
  • Antonine Wall History
  • Antoninus Pius History
  • Anu History
  • Apis History
  • Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha  History
  • Aqueduct History
  • Arabia History
  • Archaeology History
  • Ardagh Chalice History
  • Ares History
  • Argula von Grumbach History
  • Ariadne History
  • Aristarchus of Samos History
  • Aristotle History
  • Arjuna History
  • Ark of the Covenant History
  • Armenian Mythology History
  • Arsacid Dynasty of Armenia History
  • Arsinoe II Philadelphus History
  • Artaphernes History
  • Artaxerxes II History
  • Artemis History
  • Aryan History
  • Asclepius History
  • Asherah History
  • Ashoka the Great History
  • Ashur History
  • Ashurbanipal History
  • Asia Minor History
  • Assyrian Warfare History
  • Astarte History
  • Asuka Period History
  • Atahualpa History
  • Atalanta History
  • Athena History
  • Atlantis History
  • Attila the Hun History
  • Augustine of Hippo History
  • Aulos History
  • Aurelian History
  • Aytap History
  • Aztec Sacrifice History
  • Aztec Warfare History
  • Azuchi-Momoyama Period History