Arqa ( ar, عرقا; akk, 𒅕𒋡𒋫, translit=Irqata) is a Lebanese village near

Miniara Miniara ( ar, منياره) (also transliterated Minyara) is a village in Akkar Governorate, Lebanon, 9 kilometers east of the Mediterranean Sea, and 3 kilometers south of Halba. The population is between 7,000 and 10,000. History In 1838, Eli ...

Akkar Governorate french: Gouvernorat de l'Akkar , settlement_type = Governorate , image_skyline = Berkayl.jpg , image_caption = Berkayel, Akkar Governorate , image_flag = , image_seal = , image_shield ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

, 22 km northeast of Tripoli, near the coast. The town was a notable city-state during the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

. The city of ''Irqata'' sent 10,000 soldiers to the coalition against the

Assyria Assyria ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the ...

n king in the

Battle of Qarqar The Battle of Qarqar (or Ḳarḳar) was fought in 853 BC when the army of the Neo-Assyrian Empire led by Emperor Shalmaneser III encountered an allied army of eleven kings at Qarqar led by Hadadezer, called in Assyrian ''Adad-idir'' and possi ...

. The former bishopric became a double Catholic

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbis ...

(Latin and Maronite). The Roman Emperor

Alexander Severus Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander (1 October 208 – 21/22 March 235) was a Roman emperor, who reigned from 222 until 235. He was the last emperor from the Severan dynasty. He succeeded his slain cousin Elagabalus in 222. Alexander himself was ...

was born there. It is significant for the Tell Arqa, an archaeological site that goes back to

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

times, and during the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...

there was a strategically significant castle.

Names

It is mentioned in Antiquity in the Amarna letters of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

-(as ''Irqata''), as well as in

n documents. The Roman town was named Caesarea (of Lebanon/Phoenicia) or Arca Caesarea.

History

Early Bronze

In the Early Bronze IV, the Akkar Plain had three major sites in Tell Arqa, Tell Kazel and Tell Jamous. The cultural focus had been towards the south and southern Levant, but now changed with more influence from Inner Syria and the use of copper.

Middle Bronze

In the MB I the Akkar Plain still saw smaller settlements being added near Tell Arqa and the region reach its highest population density in MB II.

1350 BC Amarna letters ''Irqata''

Arqa has the distinction of being a city-state that wrote one of the 382 Amarna letters to the

Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...

of Ancient Egypt. The

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...

Irqata was the 3rd city of the Rib-Hadda letters, (68 letters), that were the last hold-outs against the (H)Apiru invasion. Sumur(u)-(

Zemar Sumur (Biblical Hebrew: ollective noun denoting the city inhabitants Egyptian: ''Smr''; Akkadian: ''Sumuru''; Assyrian: ''Simirra'') was a Phoenician city in what is now Syria. It was a major trade center. The city has also been referred to in ...

) was the 2nd hold-out city besides Rib-Hadda's Byblos, (named Gubla). Eventually, the king of Irqata, Aduna was killed along with other city kings, and also the 'mayor' of Gubla, Rib-Hadda. Rib-Hadda's brother,

Ili-Rapih Ili-Rapih was the follow-on mayor in Gubla-(modern Byblos), and the brother of Rib-Hadda, the ''former'' mayor of Gubla, (who was the prolific author of letters to pharaoh); Ili-Rapih is in the 1350-1335 BC Amarna letters correspondence, and wrot ...

, became the successor mayor of Gubla, and Gubla never fell to the Hapiru. During Rib-Hadda's lengthy opposition to the Habiru, even the city-state of Irqata and its elders, wrote to the Egyptian Pharaoh

Akhenaten Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Echnaton, Akhenaton, ( egy, ꜣḫ-n-jtn ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning "Effective for the Aten"), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth D ...

for assistance. (EA 100, EA for el Amarna). The letter is entitled: "The

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

of Irqata to the

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

". :This tablet-(i.e. tablet letter) is a tablet from Irqata. To the King, our Lord: Message from Irqata and its el rs. We fall at the feet of the king, our lord, 7 times and 7 times. To our lord, the Sun: Message from Irqata. May the heart of the king, (our) lord, know that we guard Irqata for him. :When the ig, our lord, sent D MUBi-ha-a, he said to , "Message of the king: "Guard Irqata"! " The sons of the traitor to the king seek our harm; Irqata see sloyalty to the king. As to silver_.html"_;"title="silver.html"_;"title="silver">silver_">silver.html"_;"title="silver">silver_having_been_given_to_Subaru_(region).html" ;"title="silver">silver_.html" ;"title="silver.html" ;"title="silver">silver ">silver.html" ;"title="silver">silver having been given to Subaru (region)">S[uaru al[ong with] horses and Chariot, cha[riots] , may you know the mind of Irqata. When a tablet from the king arrived (saying) to ra[id] the land that the Habiru, 'A[piru] had taken [from] the king,'they wa edwar with us against the enemy of our lord, the man whom you pla edover us. Truly—we are guarding the l nd May the king, our lord, heed the words of his loyal servants. :May he grant a gift to his servant(s) so our enemies will see this and eat dirt. May the breath of the king not depart from us. We shall keep the city gate barred until the breath of the king reaches us. Severe is the war against us—terribly! terribly! -EA 100, lines 1-44 (complete)

Hellenistic and Roman period

After the death of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

Arca came under the control first of the

Lagids The Ptolemaic dynasty (; grc, Πτολεμαῖοι, ''Ptolemaioi''), sometimes referred to as the Lagid dynasty (Λαγίδαι, ''Lagidae;'' after Ptolemy I's father, Lagus), was a Macedonian Greek royal dynasty which ruled the Ptolemaic K ...

then of the

Seleucids The Seleucid Empire (; grc, Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν, ''Basileía tōn Seleukidōn'') was a Greek state in West Asia that existed during the Hellenistic period from 312 BC to 63 BC. The Seleucid Empire was founded by the M ...

. When the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

gained control over this part of western Asia, they entrusted Arca as a client

tetrarchy The Tetrarchy was the system instituted by Roman emperor Diocletian in 293 AD to govern the ancient Roman Empire by dividing it between two emperors, the ''augusti'', and their juniors colleagues and designated successors, the '' caesares'' ...

or vassal principality to a certain Sohaimos, who died in AD 48 or 49. It was then incorporated in the

Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...

of Syria, but was soon entrusted to

Herod Agrippa II Herod Agrippa II (; AD 27/28 – or 100), officially named Marcus Julius Agrippa and sometimes shortened to Agrippa, was the last ruler from the Herodian dynasty, reigning over territories outside of Judea as a Roman client. Agrippa II fled ...

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...

counts it among the tetrarchies of Syria. It was at this time that its name was changed to Caesarea, distinguished from other cities of that name by being called Caesarea ad Libanum or Arca Caesarea. Under

Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary suc ...

(193–211) it was made part of the province of Syria Phoenicia and so became known as Arca in Phoenicia. Under his son

Caracalla Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus, 4 April 188 – 8 April 217), better known by his nickname "Caracalla" () was Roman emperor from 198 to 217. He was a member of the Severan dynasty, the elder son of Emperor S ...

(198–217) it became a '' colonia'' and in 208

was born at Arca during a stay of his parents there.

Crusades period

At the time of the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic r ...

, Arca became an important strategic point of control over the roads from Tripoli to

Tartus ) , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , imagesize = , image_caption = Tartus corniche Port of Tartus • Tartus beach and boulevard Cathedral of Our Lady of Tortosa • Al-Assad Stadium&n ...

and Homs. Raymond of Toulouse unsuccessfully besieged it for three months in 1099. In 1108, his nephew

William II Jordan William II Jordan ( ca, Guillem Jordà; oc, Guilhèm Jordan) (died 1109) was the count of Berga beginning in 1094, the count of Cerdanya beginning in 1095, and regent of the County of Tripoli beginning in 1105. He was the son of Count William I ...

conquered it and it became part of the

County of Tripoli The County of Tripoli (1102–1289) was the last of the Crusader states. It was founded in the Levant in the modern-day region of Tripoli, northern Lebanon and parts of western Syria which supported an indigenous population of Christians, ...

. It resisted an attack by

Nur ad-Din, atabeg of Aleppo Nūr al-Dīn Maḥmūd Zengī (; February 1118 – 15 May 1174), commonly known as Nur ad-Din (lit. "Light of the Faith" in Arabic), was a member of the Zengid dynasty, which ruled the Syrian province (''Shām'') of the Seljuk Empire. He reig ...

, in 1167 and another in 1171. It finally fell to Muslim forces of the Sultan Baibars in 1265 or 1266. When Tripoli itself fell in 1289 to the army of Sultan

Qalawun ( ar, قلاوون الصالحي, – November 10, 1290) was the seventh Bahri Mamluk sultan; he ruled Egypt from 1279 to 1290. He was called (, "Qalāwūn the Victorious"). Biography and rise to power Qalawun was a Kipchak, ancient Turki ...

and was razed to the ground, Arca lost its strategic importance and thereafter is mentioned only in ecclesiastical chronicles.

Later period

In 1838, Eli Smith noted the village, whose inhabitants were

Greek Orthodox The term Greek Orthodox Church ( Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also cal ...

, located west of

esh-Sheikh Mohammed Cheikh Mohammad ( ar, الشيخ محمد) is a village situated in Akkar Governorate, Lebanon. Situated 400 metres above sea level, in between two mountains, it overlooks the Akkar plains and sea. It is made up of approximately 450 houses, with ...

Ecclesiastical history

Arca in Phoenicia became the seat of a Christian bishop in the

Phoenicia Prima Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...

, a suffragan of the capital's metropolitan

see of Tyre The see of Tyre was one of the most ancient dioceses in Christianity. The existence of a Christian community there already in the time of Saint Paul is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. Seated at Tyre, which was the capital of the Roman provi ...

. Of its bishops, Lucianus professed the faith of the

First Council of Nicaea The First Council of Nicaea (; grc, Νίκαια ) was a council of Christian bishops convened in the Bithynian city of Nicaea (now İznik, Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325. This ecumenical council was the first effort ...

at a synod held in

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...

in 363, Alexander was at the

First Council of Constantinople The First Council of Constantinople ( la, Concilium Constantinopolitanum; grc-gre, Σύνοδος τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως) was a council of Christian bishops convened in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey) in AD 381 b ...

in 381, Reverentius became archbishop of Tyre, Marcellinus was a participant at the Council of Ephesus in 431, Epiphanius took part in a synod at Antioch in 448, and Heraclitus participated in the

Council of Chalcedon The Council of Chalcedon (; la, Concilium Chalcedonense), ''Synodos tēs Chalkēdonos'' was the fourth ecumenical council of the Christian Church. It was convoked by the Roman emperor Marcian. The council convened in the city of Chalcedon, Bi ...

in 451 and was a signatory of the letter that the bishops of the province of Syria Phoenicia sent in 458 to

Byzantine Emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Byzantine Empire, Eastern Roman Empire, to Fall of Constantinople, its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. On ...

Leo I the Thracian Leo I (; 401 – 18 January 474), also known as "the Thracian" ( la, Thrax; grc-gre, ο Θραξ),; grc-gre, Μακέλλης), referencing the murder of Aspar and his son. was Eastern Roman emperor from 457 to 474. He was a native of Dacia ...

to protest about the murder of

Proterius of Alexandria Hieromartyr Proterius of Alexandria (died 457) was Patriarch of Alexandria from 451 to 457. He had been appointed by the Council of Chalcedon to replace the deposed Dioscorus. History Proterius was elected by the Council of Chalcedon in 451 t ...

. No longer a residential bishopric, Arca in Phoenicia is today listed by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

as a

,''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), p. 837 in two traditions: Latin and Maronite (

Eastern Catholic The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (''sui iuris'') particular churches of ...

Antiochian Rite Antiochene Rite or Antiochian Rite refers to the family of liturgies originally used by the Patriarchate of Antioch. Liturgies in the Antiochene Rite The Antiochian Rite, or the Antiochian Rite family, consists of Apostolic Liturgies including ...

Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...

Latin titular see

The nominally restored diocese has had non-consecutive titular bishops as a Latin Catholic

titular bishopric A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

since the 18th century. It is vacant, having had the following incumbents, all of the lowest (episcopal) rank : * 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, Holy Ghost Fathers (C.S.Sp.) (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-Édouard-Lucien Rupp (1954.10.28 – 1962.06.09) as Auxiliary Bishop of France of the Eastern Rite (France) (1954.10.28 – 1962.06.09), later Exempt Bishop of the then diocese of Monaco (Monaco) (1962.06.09 – 1971.05.08), Apostolic Pro-Nuncio (papal diplomatic envoy) to

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

(1971.05.08 – 1978); later

Titular Archbishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Dionysiopolis (1971.05.08 – 1983.01.28), Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

(1975 – 1978), Permanent Observer to Office of the United Nations and Specialized Institutions in Geneva (UNOG) (1978 – 1980) * Hugo Aufderbeck (1962.06.19 – 1981.01.17)

Maronite titular see

Established as Titular Episcopal See of Arca (Arca dei Maroniti in Curiate Italian); promoted in 1933 as Titular Archiepiscopal See of Arca in Armenia, in 1941 suppressed, but restored in 1950 as Titular Episcopal See of Arca in Phoenicia. It has had the following incumbents, all of the lowest (episcopal) rank : * Abdallah Nujaim (1950.07.25 – 1954.04.04) *

Bishop-elect In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an Holy Orders, ordained Minister (Catholic Church), minister who holds the fullness of the Sacraments of the Catholic Church, sacrament of Holy orders in the Catholic Church, holy orders and is responsible ...

João Chedid, Mariamite Maronite Order (O.M.M., Aleppians) (1956.05.04 – 1956.05.04), as Auxiliary Bishop of Brazil of the Eastern Rite (Brazil) ( 956.04.211956.05.04 – 1971.11.29), later Bishop of Nossa Senhora do Líbano em São Paulo of the Maronites (Brazil) (1971.11.29 – 1988.02.27),

Archbishop-Bishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

of Nossa Senhora do Líbano em São Paulo of the Maronites (1988.02.27 – 1990.06.09) *

Roland Aboujaoudé Roland Aboujaoudé (7 September 1930 – 2 May 2019) was a Lebanese Catholic Maronite eparch of the Maronite Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch. Life Roland Aboujaoudé was born on 7 September 1930 in Jal-Edib, Lebanon. He was ordained priest o ...

(1975.07.12 – ...), Auxiliary Bishop emeritus of Antioch of the Maronites (Lebanon)

References

Bibliography

* Moran, William L. ''The Amarna Letters.'' Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987, 1992. (softcover, ) * * Jean-Paul Thalmann (2007) Agricultural practices and settlement patterns in the Akkar plain (Northern Lebanon) in the Late Early and Early Middle Bronze Ages. Pp. 219-232 in : MORANDI-BONACOSSI, D. (ed) Urban and Natural Landscapes of an Ancient Syrian Capital

Sources and external links

Aarqa
Localiban
Pictures of excavations of the city

{{Authority control Arqa Sunni Muslim communities in Lebanon Archaeological sites in Lebanon Amarna letters locations Amarna letters writers Phoenician cities Roman sites in Lebanon Coloniae (Roman) Castles and fortifications of the Knights Hospitaller