The Rediscovery of Amioun, Ancient Ammiya. Geography and Politics in Northern Lebanon during the Second Millennium

Abstract

Throughout the course of the 2nd and 1st millennia BCE the Lebanese area appears to have been politically fragmented, composed of many entities of variable size, the most powerful of which were those centred on the rich coastal cities but with many hinterland centres too. The region’s physical geography and its strategic position made the area fundamental for the control of land and sea routes and therefore attractive to all foreign powers. By means of texts, especially the Amarna letters, and new archaeological data it is possible to reconstruct how this territory was organized and how the prosperous coast and the rural highland were two political and social realities that were both opposite and complementary.