Editing Beirut (section)

===Hellenistic period===
In 140{{nbsp}}BC, the Phoenician city was destroyed by [[Diodotus Tryphon]] during his conflict with [[Antiochus VII Sidetes]] for the throne of the [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic]] [[Seleucid Empire|Seleucid]] monarchy. Laodicea in Phoenicia was built upon the same site on a more conventional Hellenistic plan. Present-day Beirut overlies this ancient one, and little archaeology was carried out until after the [[Lebanese Civil War|civil war]] in 1991. The salvage excavations after 1993 have yielded new insights into the layout and history of this period of Beirut's history. Public architecture included several areas and buildings.<ref name="academia.edu">{{cite journal |url=https://www.academia.edu/238267 |title=The BCD Archaeology Project, 2000–2006 |last1=Curvers |last2=Stuart |date=2007 |journal=Bulletin d'Archéologie et d'Architecture Libanaises |volume=9 |pages=189–221 |access-date=6 February 2014 |archive-date=13 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211013165752/https://www.academia.edu/238267 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Mid-1st-century coins from Berytus bear the head of [[Tyche]], goddess of fortune;<ref name=GetzelCohen>{{citation |title=The Hellenistic Settlements in Syria, the Red Sea Basin, and North Africa |first=Getzel |last=Cohen |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-520-93102-2 |page=205 |quote=Berytos, being part of Phoenicia, was under Ptolemaic control until 200{{nbsp}}BC. After the battle of Panion, Phoenicia and southern Syria passed to the Seleucids. In the second century BC, Laodikeia issued both autonomous as well as quasi-autonomous coins. The autonomous bronze coins had a Tyche on the obverse. The reverse often had Poseidon or Astarte standing on the prow of a ship, the letters BH or ΛΑ and the monogram Φ, that is, the initials of Berytos/Laodikeia and Phoenicia, and, on a few coins, the Phoenician legend LL'DK' 'S BKN 'N or LL'DK' 'M BKN 'N, which has been read as "Of Laodikcia which is in Canaan" or "Of Laodikcia Mother in Canaan.'' The quasi-municipal coins{{mdash}}issued under Antiochos IV Epiphanes (175–164 BC) and continuing with Alexander I Balas (150–145 BC), Demetrios II Nikator (146–138 BC), and Alexander II Zabinas (128–123 BC){{mdash}}contained the king's head on the obverse, and on the reverse the name of the king in Greek, the city name in Phoenician (LL'DK' 'S BKN 'N or LL'DK' 'M BKN 'N), the Greek letters ΛΑ, and the monogram Φ. After {{c.|123}}{{nbsp}}BC the Phoenician "Of Laodikcia which is in Canaan" / "Of Laodikcia Mother in Canaan'' is no longer attested. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RqdPcxuNthcC&pg=PA205}}</ref> on the reverse, the city's symbol appears: a dolphin entwines an [[anchor]]. This symbol was later taken up by the early printer [[Aldus Manutius]] in 15th century [[Venice]]. After a state of civil war and decline the Seleucid Empire faced, King [[Tigranes the Great]] of the [[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|Kingdom of Armenia]] conquered Beirut and placed it under effective Armenian control. However, after the [[Battle of Tigranocerta]], Armenia forever lost their holdings in Syria and Beirut was conquered by Roman general [[Pompey the Great|Pompey]].