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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. Other 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: AANJAR'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.
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 AANJAR
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.
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.
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.
AANJAR 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.
Lebanese Ministry of Tourism
