Portal:Lebanon

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The Lebanon Portal

A view of Byblos, Lebanon

Lebanon (/ˈlɛbənɒn, -nən/ ^ⓘ LEB-ə-non, -⁠nən; Arabic: لُبْنَان, romanized: Lubnān, local pronunciation: [lɪbˈneːn]), officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia, bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west; Cyprus lies a short distance from the country's coastline. It is at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula. Lebanon has a population of more than five million and an area of 10,452 square kilometres (4,036 sq mi). Beirut is the country's capital and largest city.

Human habitation in Lebanon dates to 5000 BC. From 3200 to 539 BC, it was part of Phoenicia, a maritime empire that stretched the Mediterranean Basin. In 64 BC, the region became part of the Roman Empire, and later the Byzantine Empire. After the 7th century, it came under the rule of different caliphates, including the Rashidun, Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphate. The 11th century saw the establishment of Crusader states, which fell to the Ayyubids and the Mamluks, and eventually the Ottomans. Under Ottoman ruler Abdulmejid I, the first Lebanese proto-state, the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate, was established in the 19th century as a home for Maronite Christians, in the Tanzimat period.

Lebanon is a developing country, ranked 112th on the Human Development Index. It has been classified as an upper-middle-income state. The Lebanese liquidity crisis, coupled with nationwide corruption and disasters such as the 2020 Beirut explosion, precipitated the collapse of Lebanon's currency and fomented political instability, widespread resource shortages, and high unemployment and poverty. The World Bank has defined Lebanon's economic crisis as one of the world's worst since the 19th century. Despite the country's small size, Lebanese culture is renowned both in the Arab world and globally, powered primarily by the Lebanese diaspora. Lebanon is a founding member of the United Nations and of the Arab League, and is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, and the Group of 77. (Full article...)

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The school's exact location is uncertain, but it is thought to have lain just north of Nejmeh Square (pictured), next to the Saint George Greek Orthodox Cathedral.

The law school of Berytus (also known as the law school of Beirut) was a center for the study of Roman law in classical antiquity located in Berytus (modern-day Beirut, Lebanon). It flourished under the patronage of the Roman emperors and functioned as the Roman Empire's preeminent center of jurisprudence until its destruction in AD 551.

The law schools of the Roman Empire established organized repositories of imperial constitutions and institutionalized the study and practice of jurisprudence to relieve the busy imperial courts. The archiving of imperial constitutions facilitated the task of jurists in referring to legal precedents. The origins of the law school of Beirut are obscure, but probably it was under Augustus in the first century. The earliest written mention of the school dates to 238–239 AD, when its reputation had already been established. The school attracted young, affluent Roman citizens, and its professors made major contributions to the Codex of Justinian. The school achieved such wide recognition throughout the Empire that Beirut was known as the "Mother of Laws". Beirut was one of the few schools allowed to continue teaching jurisprudence when Byzantine emperor Justinian I shut down other provincial law schools.

The course of study at Beirut lasted for five years and consisted in the revision and analysis of classical legal texts and imperial constitutions, in addition to case discussions. Justinian took a personal interest in the teaching process, charging the bishop of Beirut, the governor of Phoenicia Maritima and the teachers with discipline maintenance in the school. (Full article...)

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1940 Mandatory Palestine v Lebanon football match Bodashtart Byzantine Empire Fakhr al-Din II Levantine Arabic Roman temple of Bziza Royal necropolis of Byblos Russian occupations of Beirut Salih ibn Mirdas Temple of Eshmun

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... that Lebanese LGBT rights activist Sandra Melhem, one of the foremost promoters of drag culture in Beirut, was given an award for her humanitarian relief work after the 2020 Beirut explosion?
... that the first day of filming of the psychological thriller Farah coincided with the beginning of the 2019 Lebanese protests?
... that Lebanese actress Takla Chamoun refused to cancel a play's performance after being informed that her mother had died?
... that people are robbing Lebanese banks to get their own money back?
... that code-switching in Lebanon is so common that "hi, كيفك؟ Ça va ?", which combines English, Levantine Arabic and French, is a typical greeting?
... that Albert Bahhuth fled the Lebanese Civil War and owned a Subway franchise before being named an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles?

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The Assaf dynasty (also called Banu Assaf) were a Sunni Muslim and ethnic Turkmen dynasty of chieftains based in the Keserwan region of Mount Lebanon in the 14th–16th centuries. They came to the area in 1306 after being assigned by the Bahri Mamluks to guard the coastal region between Beirut and Byblos and to check the power of the mostly Shia Muslim population at the time. During this period, they established their headquarters in Ghazir, which served as the Assafs' base throughout their rule.

Under the leadership of Emir Assaf, they were confirmed as the rulers of Keserwan by Sultan Selim I following the Ottoman conquest in 1516. Emir Assaf died two years later and was succeeded by his son Hasan, who was in turn killed by his brother Qa'itbay. The latter ruled Keserwan until his death without children in 1523, after which he was succeeded by Hasan's son Mansur. Mansur had a long reign and was accorded by the Ottomans numerous districts in Mount Lebanon and its environs as tax farms. He eliminated many of his Sunni rivals, and his local power relied on a Maronite Christian support base and his Maronite agents, namely members of the Hubaysh clan, who served as a check on the Shia Muslim sheikhs of Keserwan. At the peak of his power, Mansur's realm stretched from Beirut to Homs.

Mansur was dismissed in 1579 and replaced by his son Muhammad, who was imprisoned by the authorities in 1584 for alleged involvement in a looting raid against an Istanbul-bound caravan. He was restored to Keserwan in 1585 and was given tax collection authority over the rural districts of Tripoli Eyalet; this brought him into conflict with the Sayfa clan, the Assafs' erstwhile Turkmen clients, one of whose members, Yusuf Pasha Sayfa, was governor of Tripoli. The Assaf realm dissipated in 1591 when Muhammad was killed while attempting to collect taxes from the Sayfas in Akkar. Afterward, Yusuf Pasha Sayfa married Muhammad's widow and inherited the Assaf realm. (Full article...)

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General images

The following are images from various Lebanon-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1A building in Ghazieh, near Sidon, bombed by the Israeli Air Force (IAF), 20 July 2006 (from History of Lebanon)
Image 2Fakhreddine II (from History of Lebanon)
Image 3Flag as drawn and approved by the members of the Lebanese parliament during the declaration of independence in 1943 (from History of Lebanon)
Image 4The funeral of the assassinated Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri (from History of Lebanon)
Image 5Aerial photo of Beirut, Lebanon's capital (from Culture of Lebanon)
Image 6A map of Mount Lebanon c. AD 1180 (from History of Lebanon)
Image 7Khalil Gibran (April 1913) (from Culture of Lebanon)
Image 8Sidewalk Cafes are a trademark of the BCD (from Culture of Lebanon)
Image 9A selection of Lebanese dishes from Cafe Nouf Restaurant in London (from Culture of Lebanon)
Image 10Map showing power balance in Lebanon, 1976:
Dark Green – controlled by Syria;
Purple – controlled by Maronite groups;
Light Green – controlled by Palestinian militias (from History of Lebanon)
Image 11City of Zahlé at the eastern edge of the Mount Lebanon Range in eastern Lebanon (from Culture of Lebanon)
Image 12The Green Line that separated West and East Beirut, 1982 (from History of Lebanon)
Image 13An array of Lebanese cuisine. (from Culture of Lebanon)
Image 14Fairuz playing guitar (from Culture of Lebanon)
Image 15Palm trees at the seafront in Corniche Beirut (from Culture of Lebanon)
Image 16Beiteddine Palace, venue of the Beiteddine Festival (from Culture of Lebanon)
Image 17Rue Maarad is a main street in the central district (from Culture of Lebanon)
Image 18Csontváry Kosztka, Tivadar - Pilgrimage to the Cedars of Lebanon (from Culture of Lebanon)
Image 19Map of the Shebaa farms (from History of Lebanon)
Image 20Beirut in 1950 (from History of Lebanon)
Image 21Gibran Khalil Gibran Garden and surroundings in Beirut Central District, Majidiye, Beirut (from Culture of Lebanon)
Image 22Anti-Syrian protesters heading to Martyrs' Square in Beirut on foot and in vehicles, 13 March 2005 (from History of Lebanon)
Image 23The Grand Serail, also known as the Government Palace, is the headquarters of the prime minister of Lebanon (from Politics of Lebanon)
Image 24Protesters in Beirut. Mohammad Al-Amin Mosque, 20 October 2019 (from History of Lebanon)
Image 25Bashir Shihab II (from History of Lebanon)
Image 26Christian Church and Druze Khalwa in Shuf Mountains: Historically; the Druzes and the Christians in the Shuf Mountains lived in complete harmony. (from History of Lebanon)
Image 27Portrait of Fakhreddine while he was in Tuscany, stating "Faccardino grand emir dei Drusi" translated as "Fakhreddine: great emir of the Druze" (from History of Lebanon)
Image 28Lebanon Parliament 2018 (from Politics of Lebanon)
Image 29Portrait of Elie Hobeika (from History of Lebanon)
Image 30Aftermath of the 4 August 2020 Beirut explosion (from History of Lebanon)
Image 31Map showing power balance in Lebanon, 1983: Green – controlled by Syria, purple – controlled by Christian groups, yellow – controlled by Israel, blue – controlled by the United Nations (from History of Lebanon)