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( Beirut)
Coordinates 33°53'13?N 35°30'47?E? / ?33.88694, 35.51306 Beirut holds Lebanon's seat of government and plays a central role in the Lebanese economy with its Downtown, Hamra, Verdun, and Ashrafieh based corporate firms and banks. The city is also the focal point of the region's cultural life, renowned for its press, theaters and cultural activities. After the destructive Lebanese civil war, Beirut underwent major reconstruction,[2][3][4] and the redesigned historic city center, marina, pubs and nightlife districts have once again rendered it a popular tourist attraction. Beirut was listed as one of the top ten liveliest cities in the world by the lonely planet list of the top ten cities for 2009. Originally named Bêrut, "The Wells" by the Phoenicians,[5][6] Beirut's history goes back more than 5000 years.[7][8] Excavations in the downtown area have unearthed layers of Phoenician, Hellenistic, Roman, Arab and Ottoman remains.[9] The first historical reference to Beirut dates from the 14th century BC, when it is mentioned in the cuneiform[8] tablets of the "Amarna letters." Ammunira of Biruta[10] (Beirut) sent 3 letters to the pharaoh of Egypt.[11] Biruta is also referenced in the letters from Rib-Hadda of Byblos. The most ancient settlement was on an island in the river that progressively silted up. The city was known in antiquity as Berytus (see also List of traditional Greek place names); this name was taken in 1934 for the archaeological journal published by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at the American University of Beirut.[12] In 140 BC, the city was taken and destroyed by Diodotus Tryphon in his contest with Antiochus VII Sidetes for the throne of the Seleucid monarchy. Beirut was soon rebuilt on a more regularized Hellenistic plan, renamed Laodicea in Phoenicia (Greek ?a?d??e?a ? t?? F??????) or Laodicea in Canaan, in honor of a Seleucid Laodice. The modern city overlies the ancient one and little archaeology had been accomplished until after the end of the civil war in 1991; now large sites in the devastated city center have been opened to archaeological exploration. A dig in 1994 established that one of Beirut's modern streets, Souk Tawile, still follows the lines of an ancient Hellenistic/Roman one.
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