Editing Lebanon (section)

=== Antiquity ===
{{Main|History of ancient Lebanon}}[[File:Byblos_Libanon_2003.JPG|thumb|[[Byblos]] is believed to have been first occupied between 8800 and 7000 BC<ref name="PeltenburgWasse2004a">{{cite book |author=Garfinkel, Yosef |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6mKBAAAAMAAJ |title=Neolithic Revolution: New Perspectives on Southwest Asia in Light of Recent Discoveries on Cyprus |publisher=Oxbow Books |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-84217-132-5 |editor1=E. J. Peltenburg |chapter="Néolithique" and "Énéolithique" Byblos in Southern Levantine Context |access-date=18 January 2012 |editor2=Alexander Wasse |archive-date=16 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240216215004/https://books.google.com/books?id=6mKBAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> and continuously inhabited since 5000 BC,<ref name="byblos1">{{cite book |last1=Dumper |first1=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3SapTk5iGDkC&q=byblos+continually+inhabited&pg=PA104 |title=Cities of the Middle East and North Africa |last2=Stanley |first2=Bruce E. |last3=Abu-Lughod |first3=Janet L. |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2006 |isbn=1-57607-919-8 |page=104 |quote=Archaeological excavations at Byblos indicate that the site has been continually inhabited since at least 5000 B.C. |access-date=22 July 2009 |archive-date=23 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923091024/https://books.google.com/books?id=3SapTk5iGDkC&q=byblos+continually+inhabited&pg=PA104 |url-status=live }}</ref> making it among [[List of oldest continuously inhabited cities|the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world]].<ref name="Britannica">{{cite web |title=Byblos |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Byblos |access-date=14 March 2018 |website=Encyclopaedia Britannica |archive-date=18 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210618094126/https://www.britannica.com/place/Byblos |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=30 May 2017 |title=The world's 20 oldest cities |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/galleries/The-worlds-20-oldest-cities/1old-byblos/ |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/galleries/The-worlds-20-oldest-cities/1old-byblos/ |archive-date=10 January 2022 |access-date=14 March 2018 |newspaper=The Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}</ref> It is a [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Byblos |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/295 |access-date=14 March 2018 |website=UNESCO |archive-date=27 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627224245/http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/295 |url-status=live }}</ref>|left]]

The [[Natufian culture]] was the first to become sedentary at around 12000 BC.<ref>Lieberman D.E., [http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/paleo_0153-9345_1991_num_17_1_4538 Seasonality and gazelle hunting at Hayonim Cave : new evidence for "sedentism" during the Natufian], [[Paléorient]], 1991, volume 17, issue 17/1, pp. 47–57</ref> 

Evidence of early settlement in Lebanon was found in [[Byblos]], considered among the [[List of oldest continuously inhabited cities|oldest continuously inhabited cities]] in the world.<ref name="byblos" /> The evidence dates back to earlier than 5000 BC. Archaeologists discovered remnants of prehistoric huts with crushed limestone floors, primitive weapons, and [[Jar burial|burial jars]] left by the [[Neolithic]] and [[Chalcolithic]] fishing communities who lived on the shore of the [[Mediterranean Sea]] over 7,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://destinationlebanon.gov.lb/eng/Byblos/History.asp |title=Archaeological Virtual Tours: Byblos |publisher=Destinationlebanon.gov.lb |access-date=14 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080223164318/http://destinationlebanon.gov.lb/eng/Byblos/History.asp |archive-date = 23 February 2008}}</ref>

Lebanon was part of northern [[Canaan]], and consequently became the homeland of Canaanite descendants, the [[Phoenicia]]ns, a seafaring people based in the coastal strip of the northern [[Levant]] who spread across the Mediterranean in the first millennium BC.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/bl_lebanonphoenicians.htm |title=Lebanon in Ancient Times |publisher=About.com |date=13 April 2012 |access-date=17 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511150553/http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/bl_lebanonphoenicians.htm |archive-date=11 May 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> The most prominent Phoenician cities were [[Byblos]], [[Sidon]] and [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]]. According to the [[Bible]], King [[Hiram I|Hiram of Tyre]] collaborated closely with [[Solomon]], supplying cedar logs for [[Solomon's Temple]] and sending skilled workers.<ref name=":10">{{Cite book |last1=Najem |first1=Tom |title=Historical Dictionary of Lebanon |last2=Amore |first2=Roy C. |last3=Abu Khalil |first3=As'ad |last4=Najem |first4=Tom |date=2021 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-5381-2043-9 |edition=2nd |series=Historical Dictionaries of Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East |location=Lanham Boulder New York London |pages=2–8}}</ref> The [[Canaanite languages|Phoenicians]] are credited with the invention of the [[Phoenician alphabet|oldest verified alphabet]], which subsequently inspired the [[Greek alphabet]] and the [[Latin alphabet|Latin]] one thereafter.<ref>A Companion to the Ancient Greek Language, article by Roger D. Woodward (ed. Egbert J. Bakker, 2010, Wiley-Blackwell).</ref>

In the 9th century BC, [[Phoenician colonies]], including [[Carthage]] in present-day [[Tunisia]] and [[Cádiz]] in present-day [[Spain]], flourished throughout the Mediterranean. Subsequently, foreign powers, starting with the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]], imposed tribute and attacked non-compliant cities. The [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]] took control in the 6th century BC.<ref name=":10" /> In 539 BC, The cities of Phoenicia were then incorporated into the [[Achaemenid Empire]] by [[Cyrus the Great]].<ref name="books.google.nl">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L7fr8WGPS_gC&pg=PA8|title=Global Security Watch—Lebanon: A Reference Handbook: A Reference Handbook|access-date=25 December 2014|isbn=9780313365799|last1=Sorenson|first1=David S.|date=12 November 2009|publisher=Abc-Clio |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012124444/https://books.google.com/books?id=L7fr8WGPS_gC&pg=PA8|archive-date=12 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The Phoenician city-states were later incorporated into the empire of [[Alexander the Great]] following the [[Siege of Tyre (332 BC)|siege of Tyre in 332 BCE]].<ref name="books.google.nl" />[[File:PhoenicianTrade EN.svg|thumb|Map of [[Phoenicia]], trade routes and the Phoenician colony of [[History of Carthage|Carthage]]]]

In 64 BC, the Roman general [[Pompey]] had the region of Syria annexed into the [[Roman Republic]]. The area was then split into two [[Imperial province|Imperial Provinces]] under the [[Roman Empire]], [[Coele-Syria]] and [[Phoenice (Roman province)|Phoenice]], the latter which the land of present-day Lebanon was a part of.

The region that is now Lebanon, as with the rest of Syria and much of [[Anatolia]], became a major center of Christianity in the [[Roman Empire]] during the early spread of the faith. During the late 4th and early 5th century, a hermit named [[Maron]] established a monastic tradition focused on the importance of [[monotheism]] and [[asceticism]] near the Mediterranean mountain range known as [[Mount Lebanon]]. The monks who followed Maron spread his teachings among Lebanese in the region. These Christians became known as [[Maronites]] and moved into the mountains to avoid religious persecution by Roman authorities.<ref>{{cite book | title=From the Holy Mountain: A Journey Among the Christians of the Middle East | author=Dalrymple, William | year=1997 | publisher=Vintage Books (Random House) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jHGYvr7rkrsC | page=305 | isbn=9780307948922 | access-date=20 June 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905212200/https://books.google.com/books?id=jHGYvr7rkrsC | archive-date=5 September 2015 | url-status=live | df=dmy-all}}</ref> During the frequent [[Roman–Persian Wars]] that lasted for many centuries, the [[Sasanian Empire]] occupied what is now Lebanon from 619 till 629.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qFTHBoRvQbsC&pg=PA338|title=Colonialism|access-date=25 December 2014|isbn=9781576073353|last1=Page|first1=Melvin Eugene|last2=Sonnenburg|first2=Penny M.|year=2003|publisher=Abc-Clio |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012124706/https://books.google.com/books?id=qFTHBoRvQbsC&pg=PA338|archive-date=12 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>