Anjar

Anjar, also known as Hawsh Mousa, is a town in Lebanon, near the Syrian border, located in the Bekaa Valley. Its name means unresolved or running river. The population is 2,400, consisting almost entirely of Armenians, and the total area is about twenty square kilometers (7.7 square miles). Since 1984 the ruins of the Umayyad settlement of Anjar have been recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

The town's foundation is generally attributed to the Umayyad caliph al-Walid I, at the beginning of the 8th century, as a palace-city. Syriac graffiti found in the quarry from which the best stone was taken give the year 714. The Byzantine chronicler Theophanes the Confessor recorded that Walid's son, al-Abbas, began building the town in 709–10. Although earlier materials were re-used, much of the city is built on virgin soil.

The Umayyad ruins cover 114,000 square meters and are surrounded by large fortified stone walls over two meters thick and seven meters high. The rectangular city design of 370 m by 310 m is based on Roman city planning and architecture, with stonework borrowed from the Byzantines. Two large avenues, the Cardo maximum running north to south and the Decumanus Maximus running east to west, divide the city into four quadrants. They are decorated with colonnades, flanked by about 600 shops, and cross under a tetrapylon.

The main monuments include the partially rebuilt Grand Palace, 59 m by 70 m, with a central courtyard surrounded by a peristyle, and the Small Palace, 46 m by 47 m, noted for its ornamental fragments. A Mosque, 45 m by 32 m, lies between the two palaces, and there are thermal baths built on the Roman model.

After being abandoned in later years, Anjar was resettled in 1939 with several thousand Armenian refugees from the Musa Dagh area. Its neighborhoods are named after the six villages of Musa Dagh. During the civil war the Syrian Army made it one of its main bases in the Beqaa Valley. In November 2024 UNESCO gave Anjar enhanced protection to safeguard the archaeological site.

The town's foundation is generally attributed to the Umayyad caliph al-Walid I, at the beginning of the 8th century, as a palace-city. Syriac graffiti found in the quarry from which the best stone was extracted offer the year 714, and Byzantine and Syriac sources attribute the establishment of the town to Umayyad princes, with one Syriac chronicle mentioning Walid I by name, while the Byzantine chronicler Theophanes the Confessor recorded that it was Walid's son, al-Abbas, who started building the town in 709–10. Historian Jere L. Bacharach accepts Theophanes' date. Although earlier materials were re-used, much of the city is built on virgin soil.

After being abandoned in later years, Anjar was resettled in 1939 with several thousand Armenian refugees from the Musa Dagh area. Its neighborhoods are named after the six villages of Musa Dagh: Haji Habibli, Kebusiyeh, Vakif, Kheder Bek, Yoghunoluk and Bitias.

During the civil war, the Syrian Army chose Anjar as one of its main military bases in the Beqaa Valley and the headquarters of its intelligence services.

Following the civil war, Anjar started to rebuild economically. Many of its inhabitants emigrated to other countries, mainly to Europe, Canada, and the United States. Nevertheless, today Anjar is an example to many other entities in the region because of its low crime rate, reduced air pollution, and living standards. During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the village rapidly imposed strict measures and set an example for the rest of the country.

In November 2024, UNESCO gave Anjar enhanced protection to safeguard against damage to the archaeological site during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon.