Editing History of Lebanon (section)

==Ancient Near East==
{{further|Phoenicia|Canaan|Phoenicia under Assyrian rule}}
The earliest prehistoric cultures of Lebanon, such as the [[Qaraoun culture]] gave rise to the civilization of the [[Canaanite civilization|Canaanite period]], when the region was populated by ancient peoples, cultivating land and living in sophisticated societies during the 2nd millennium BC. Northern Canaanites are mentioned in the Bible as well as in other Semitic records from that period.

Canaanites were the creators of the oldest known 24-letter [[alphabet]], a shortening of earlier 30-letter alphabets such as [[Proto-Sinaitic script|Proto-Sinaitic]] and [[Ugaritic alphabet|Ugaritic]]. The Canaanite alphabet later developed into the [[Phoenician alphabet|Phoenician]] one (with sister alphabets of Hebrew, Aramaic and Moabite), influencing the entire Mediterranean region.

The coastal plain of [[Lebanon]] is the historic home of a string of coastal trading cities of Semitic culture, which the Greeks termed [[Phoenicia]], whose maritime culture flourished there for more than 1,000 years. Ancient ruins in [[Byblos]], Berytus ([[Beirut]]), [[Sidon]], [[Sarepta]] (Sarafand), and [[Tyre (Lebanon)|Tyre]] show a civilized nation, with urban centres and sophisticated arts.

Phoenicia was a cosmopolitan centre for many nations and cultures. Phoenician art, customs and religion reveal considerable [[Mesopotamia]]n and [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]] influence. The sarcophagi of Sidonian kings [[Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar II|Eshmunazzar II]] and [[Tabnit sarcophagus|Tabnit]] reveal that Phoenician royalty adopted Egyptian burial customs.

Phoenician traders exported spices from [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabia]], such as [[cinnamon]] and [[frankincense]], to the [[Ancient Greece|Greeks]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Histories, Book III|last=Herodotus|pages=§107}}</ref> This trade likely led to the transmission of the Phoenician alphabet to Greece. [[Herodotus]] attests that the Phoenicians <blockquote>"introduced into Greece upon their arrival a great variety of arts, among the rest that of writing, whereof the Greeks till then had, as I think, been ignorant."<ref name="The Histories, Book V">{{Cite book|title=The Histories, Book V|pages=§58}}</ref></blockquote>According to legend however, it is [[Cadmus]], Prince of [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]], who brought the alphabet with him to Greece in his search for his abducted sister [[Europa (consort of Zeus)|Europa]]. Cadmus ultimately settles in Greece and founds the city of [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]]. [[Ancient Greece|Ancient Greek history]] accepts the Phoenician origin of the Greek alphabet. According to [[Herodotus]], <blockquote>"[the Greeks] originally they shaped their letters exactly like all the other Phoenicians, but afterwards, in course of time, they changed by degrees their language, and together with it the form likewise of their characters."<ref name="The Histories, Book V"/></blockquote>Herodotus attests the persistence of traces of the Phoenician alphabet in Greece on [[tripod]]s in [[Delphi]] in what is now known as the 5th century BC.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Histories, Book V|last=Herodotus|pages=§58–61}}</ref>

The Phoenicians were equally reputed for their seafaring skills. They were allegedly the first to circumnavigate the African continent. Herodotus writes that Egyptian Pharaoh Necos, <blockquote>"[...] sent to sea a number of ships manned by Phoenicians, with orders to make for the Pillars of Hercules [the [[Strait of Gibraltar]]], and return to Egypt through them, and by the Mediterranean. The Phoenicians took their departure from Egypt by way of the Erythraean sea [the [[Red Sea]]], and so sailed into the southern ocean.

When autumn came, they went ashore, wherever they might happen to be, and having sown a tract of land with corn, waited until the grain was fit to cut. Having reaped it, they again set sail; and thus it came to pass that two whole years went by, and it was not till the third year that they doubled the Pillars of Hercules, and made good their voyage home. On their return, they declared — I for my part do not believe them, but perhaps others may - that in sailing round Libya [i.e., Africa] they had the sun upon their right hand. In this way was the extent of Libya first discovered."<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Histories, Book IV|last=Herodotus|pages=§42}}</ref></blockquote> The last phrase is usually regarded by modern historians as lending credibility to the Phoenician narrative, as they could not have otherwise known that the sun would be on their right hand side as they sailed southwards below the [[Equator]] line.

The Phoenicians founded [[List of Phoenician cities|various colonies]] in the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]]. The most famous of them are [[Carthage]] in today's [[Tunisia]], [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]] in today's [[Libya]], Gadir ([[Cádiz|Cadiz]]) and [[Barcelona]] in today's [[Spain]], [[Palermo]] in today's [[Italy]], [[Lisbon]] in today's [[Portugal]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-07-28 |title=Barcelona - Catalan, Mediterranean, Architecture {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Barcelona/History |access-date=2024-07-28 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-06-24 |title=Phoenicia {{!}} Definition, Location, History, Religion, & Language {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Phoenicia |access-date=2024-07-28 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Cartwright |first=Mark |title=Phoenician Colonization |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Phoenician_Colonization/ |access-date=2024-07-28 |website=World History Encyclopedia |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=List of Phoenician cities |date=2024-07-19 |work=Wikipedia |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_Phoenician_cities&oldid=1235546594 |access-date=2024-07-28 |language=en}}</ref>

Phoenicia maintained an uneasy tributary relationship with the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire|neo-Assyrian]] and [[Neo-Babylonian Empire|neo-Babylonian]] empires during the 9th to 6th centuries BC.