Mark Meek's Ideas: Beirut

So many of the cities that we have recently visited in the Mediterranean began as settlements of the Phoenicians. It is more likely that the Phoenicians were independent coastal city-states that cooperated, rather than a unified kingdom.

Beirut, the capital and largest city of Lebanon, is a very ancient city. I see it as replacing Tyre, which was destroyed by the forces of Alexander, as the primary Mediterranean port in the area. Beirut used to be called "The Paris of the Middle East".

Beirut originated as a city with the Phoenicians, but have been through the usual parade of conquerors over the centuries, the Persians, Greeks, Romans, Islamic caliphates, Ottomans, French and, finally, independence. The Phoenician port can still be seen in Beirut.

The Phoenicians lived from trading by way of the sea. They may have been the greatest seafaring nation that there ever was. The Phoenicians began many colonies in the Mediterranean area. Carthage, which would become a great rival of Rome and is now the city of Tunis, began as a Phoenician colony.

Generally, during Hellenistic times, the Phoenicians colonized the south coast of the Mediterranean and the Greeks the north coast. But Palermo, in Sicily, began as a Phoenician colony. We saw in the posting on this blog, "Malta Compared With Jerusalem", that Mdina began as a Phoenician colony.

The Phoenicians reached Lisbon. Some believe that they circumnavigated Africa by ship, others believe that they may have reached Britain.

That Phoenician tradition of journeying far away and doing business can still be seen today in the Lebanese acumen for business. As one example Mexico's Carlos Slim, who became the richest man in the world, was of Lebanese extraction. There are Lebanese people in business in many places in the world, South America and west Africa in particular.

There are Phoenicians in the Bible. Hiram, of Tyre, helped to build Solomon's Temple. (Freemasons believe that Solomon's Temple was designed by one Hiram Abiff, who was killed for refusing to divulge Masonic secrets). Jezebel, the wicked wife of King Ahab, was Phoenician.

But one of the finest examples of faith was by the Phoenician woman who met Jesus. Her daughter needed to be healed but Jesus was ministering only to his own people at that point, and told her so. But the woman persisted, answering Jesus' parable of dogs eating crumbs that fall from the table. Jesus was so impressed by her faith that he granted her request and healed her daughter. That is how God works, he is impressed by the faith in Him that we show, and may then grant things that he otherwise wouldn't have.

But what the Phoenicians are best remembered for is not their seafaring. They are the ones who developed the world's first alphabet. There are three basic original ways of writing, hieroglyphics, cunieform and, the alphabet. An alphabet is made up of letters that correspond to the verbal sounds that humans can make. The term "phoenetically" means "the way something sounds". Phoenetically, as a word, comes from "Phoenician".

The next time that you use your phone, remember that the word "phone" also comes from "Phoenician".

The Hebrew and Aramaic alphabets developed from the Phoenician idea. The Greeks developed the alphabet that is the forerunner of ours, the Latin alphabet. The word "alphabet" comes the first two Greek letters, alpha and beta.

Hieroglyphics and cunieform, the other two ways of writing other than by an alphabet, have never completely gone away. Hieroglyphic symbols are used as an international language, such as the symbols for male and female washrooms. On the highway, the symbol of a plate with a knife on one side and a fork on the other side is a hieroglyphic symbol for a restaurant. The symbol of a person in bed is the symbol for hotel and a of gas pump for fuel.

Cunieform means writing with a sharp stylus on clay and I see mathematical symbols, +, -, =, etc. as the modern form of cunieform.

But most languages today, Oriental languages like Chinese and Japanese being the exception, use alphabets, and the idea of an alphabet originated with the Phoenicians who lived in what is now Lebanon.

Nejmeh Square is the focal point of Beirut, and the following scenes begin there. The Grand Serail, which is nearby, is an Ottoman-era structure that is known as the Government Palace of Lebanon. There is also a prominent Ottoman-era mosque. We know by now, in our visits, that when you see a domed mosque built in the form of the Hagia Sophia, it is saying "The Ottomans were here". The first two of the following images, from Google Street View, are of the clock tower in the square. The last four are of the mosque.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >. After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.8966948,35.504761,3a,75y,335.58h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipM1XLO1xDRgtNbFvMUyzWSjSZGOlEeTBFLHtBTU!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipM1XLO1xDRgtNbFvMUyzWSjSZGOlEeTBFLHtBTU%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya240.35135-ro-0-fo100!7i2508!8i1254

You can see the influence that Paris has had. Notice how the streets come together at Nejmeh Square, with the clock tower in the central traffic circle, in the same way as around the Arc de Triomphe.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc_de_Triomphe#/media/File:Collier%27s_1921_Vol_4_Frontispiece_--_Paris.jpg

These views of Beirut, close to the sea, begin in the American University of Beirut, which has been there for over a century. The university may be abbreviated as AUB. The Corniche is the seaside promenade. The first three views, from Google Street View, are along the Corniche.