Arch (Lebanon)

The city is mentioned in ancient Amarna writings , as well as in Assyrian documents under the name Irkata . In the Roman Empire, the city ​​was called Caesarea ( English Caesarea ) or Arch of Caesarea .

1350 BC e. Amarna letters , Irkat

The arch is one of the few city-states whose clay letter to the pharaoh of Ancient Egypt was preserved in the Amarna archive . Irkat is mentioned in the 68 letter of Rib-Addi , the king of Byblos , as a bastion against the invasion of the Habiru tribes. After the king of Irkata, Aduna , as well as Rib-Addi himself were killed, the brother of Rib-Addi , Ili-Rapih ( Ili-Rapih ) began to rule the Bible , and the city remained undefeated.

During the protracted siege of Bibl by the habir tribes, the elders of Irkat requested the help of the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten , who was in the city of Amarna .

The letter is entitled: “ From the city of Irkat to the King ”

This plate is from the city of Irkat. Tsar, our lord: a message from Irkata and its elders. We fall at the feet of our king seven times. Vladyka our sun-faced one: a message from Irkata. May the heart of our king rejoice that we protect Irkat for him .

The king, our lord, said: “The king commands:“ Protect Irkat! ”“ The sons of the traitor to the king want to harm us; Irkata is faithful to the king. Silver was given to Subari , as well as horses and chariots, so find out the opinion of Irkata. When we received a tablet from the king commanding us to attack the lands that the habira had taken from the king, they fought with us against the enemy of our lord, the man whom you set over us. We tell you the truth - we stand on the protection of the land. May the king, our lord, hear the words of his faithful servants .

Give your faithful servants so that our enemies will see this and eat the earth with envy. May the king’s breath turn upon us. We will keep the gates of the city constipated until the king’s breath reaches us. Cruel war against us - terrible! awful!

quote from plate No. 100, lines 1-44 (without abbreviations)

Hellenistic and Roman periods

After the death of Alexander the Great, Arch first belonged to the lagids , then to the seleucids . When Rome took possession of the western part of Asia, the Arch entered the vassal principality of a certain Soem ( English Sohaimos ), who died in 48 or 49 g. e. Then the city was included in the Roman province of Syria , then went to the king of Judea Agrippa II . Pliny the Elder mentions the city among the tetrarchies of Syria. It was during this period that the city began to be called Caesarea , and to distinguish from other cities with the same name, Lebanese Caesarea or the Arch of Caesarea .

During the reign of Emperor Septimius Severus, the city ​​entered the province of Phenicia and became known as the Phoenician Arch . During the reign of his son Caracalla, the city ​​became a colony , and in 208, Emperor Alexander Sever was born there.

Crusade Period

During the First Crusade, the Arch became an important strategic point on the way from Tripoli to Tartus and Homs . Raimund Toulouse unsuccessfully besieged her for three months in 1099. In 1108, the city was captured by his nephew Guillaume II Jordan and entered the county of Tripoli . In 1167 and 1171 he was attacked by the troops of Atabek Nur al-Din Zangi .

In 1265 or 1266 the city was finally conquered by the Muslim troops of Sultan Beybars . When in 1289, Sultan Kalaun al-Mansur conquered and demolished the city of Tripoli , the Arch lost its strategic importance and was subsequently mentioned only in church annals.

The Christian bishop of the Roman province of Phenicia, the suffragan of the Metropolitan of Tire, settled in the Phoenician Arch.

Among the bishops are known:

• Lucian ( born Lucianus ), who preached the postulates of the First Council of Nicaea at the synod in Antioch in 363
• Alexander ( born Alexander ), who participated in the First Council of Constantinople in 381;
• Reverend ( Eng. Reverentius ), who became Archbishop of Tire ;
• Marcellinus ( Eng. Marcellinus ), who took part in the Ephesus Cathedral in 431;
• Epiphanius ( born Epiphanius ), who participated in the synod in Antioch in 448;
• Heraclitus ( Heraclitus ), who participated in the Council of Chalcedon in 451 and signed the protest, which the bishops of the province of Phenicia sent in 458 to the Byzantine emperor Leo Thracian after the assassination of Patriarch Proteria of Alexandria .

Currently, the thrones of the Maronite and Latin churches are located in the city.

Throne of the Latin Church

In the nominally restored diocese from the 18th century, titular bishops served.

The position is currently not occupied. Bishops:

• Pedro del Cañizo Losa y Valera (1726.09.21 -?)
• Józef Krystofowicz (1809.03.28 - 1816.02.26)
• Francisco de Sales Crespo y Bautista (1861.12.23 - 1875.07.05)
• Pierre-Marie Le Berre, Congregation of the Holy Spirit (1877.09.07 - 1891.07.16)
• Claude Marie Dubuis (1892.12.16 - 1895.05.22)
• Alfredo Peri-Morosini (1904.03.28 - 1931.07.27)
• Jean-Edouard-Lucien Rupp (1954.10.28 - 1962.06.09), French auxiliary of the Eastern Syrian Church, later Bishop of the Archdiocese of Monaco (1962.06.09 - 1971.05.08), Permanent Representative of the Pope in Iraq (1971.05.08 - 1978) ; later titular bishop of Dionysiopolis ( English Dionysiopolis ) (1971.05.08 - 1983.01.28), permanent diplomatic representative of the Pope in Kuwait (1975-1978), permanent observer at the UN office in Geneva (1978-1980)
• Hugo Aufderbeck (1962.06.19 - 1981.01.17)

Throne of the Maronite Church

Established as the Throne of the titular bishop of Arch ( Italian: Arca dei Maroniti in Curiate Italian ). In 1931 he developed into the See of the titular archbishop of Arches in Armenia . In 1941 it was closed, but in 1950 it was again restored as the See of the titular bishop of Arches in Phenicia .

Bishops:

• Abdallah Nujaim (1950.07.25 - 1954.04.04)
• elected bishop of João Chedid from the monastic order of Mariamites (1956.05.04 - 1956.05.04), auxiliary of Brazil of the Eastern Syrian Church (1956.05.04 - 1971.11.29), later bishop of the Diocese of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lebanon in Sao Paulo ( Brazil ) (1971.11. 29 - 1988.02.27), archbishop in the same place (1988.02.27 - 1990.06.09)
• Roland Aboujaoudé (1975.07.12 - ...), retired auxilliary of the Maronite diocese of Antioch ( Lebanon )

• Canaan
• Amarna Archive