Anjar
ʿAnjar
Lebanon · Beqaa, Zahle
In brief
The planned city, founded during the reign of al-Walid I, demonstrates Umayyad urban planning. Excavations have uncovered the main streets, palaces, mosque, bathhouse and residential areas.
What was found?
- 1Great palace
With its rooms arranged around a courtyard, arches, and colonnaded sections, it illustrates Umayyad palace architecture. The combined use of stone and brick reflects the continuation of Byzantine building techniques.
- 2Mosque
It stands immediately beside the great palace. The direct connection between the palace and mosque shows that spaces for administration and worship were planned together.
- 3Bathhouse
It is one of the public buildings in the northeastern part of the city. Its location shows that water use and wastewater disposal were considered in the city plan.
- 4Monumental intersection structure
The tetrapylon at the intersection of the two main streets is one of the city's prominent monuments. It also exemplifies the reuse of Roman architectural elements in new buildings.
- 5City walls with forty towers
The city is surrounded by walls reinforced with forty towers. The main streets connecting opposite gates divide the settlement into regular sections.
What does it point to?
Ancar illustrates a planned Umayyad city at the intersection of trade routes, where administration, worship, and daily needs were organized together. It provides tangible evidence of the transmission of Roman and Byzantine architectural knowledge into early Islamic architecture.
What did it teach us?
- It showed that the Umayyads founded cities with regular streets, sewers, and neighborhoods divided by function.
- It revealed that older architectural elements and building techniques continued to be used in early Islamic buildings.
- It documented that the city, founded in the early 8th century, remained unfinished and was abandoned after 744.
Images
Record
- Culture
- Umayyad
- Team / historical
- Lübnan Eski Eserler Genel Müdürlüğü
- Coordinates
- 33.7319°, 35.9333°
Sources
Nearby excavations
- Kamid el-Loz / Kumidi 16 km
- Baalbek 39 km
- Byblos 51 km
- Tel Dan 60 km
- Tell el-Burak 63 km
- Tyre 86 km
- —
- —
- 12.000
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