Lebanese Jews - Early History

Early History

In pre-Biblical times, the region between Gaza and Anatolia (essentially modern day Lebanon, Israel/Palestine, Jordan and Syria ) was a single cultural unit. Despite the lack of any central political authority, the region shared a common language family (Northwest Semitic languages, including Phoenician, Ancient Hebrew and Aramaic), religion and way of life. This included some of the world's first permanent settlements arranged around early agricultural communities and independent city states, many of which maintained a wide network of trade relations throughout the Mediterranean and beyond.

By the time of the Israelite Kingdoms, Lebanon and Israel (including present-day Jordan) could be recognized as distinct entities, although they remained close allies, experiencing the same fates with changing regional developments. During this period, parts of modern Lebanon were under the control of Jerusalem, and Jews lived as far north as Baal-Hermon on the slopes of Mount Hermon (sometimes identified with Hasbaya, which once again became an important center of Jewish life in the first half of the 20th century).

According to the Hebrew Bible, the territory of the Israelite tribes of Asher and Naphtali extended into present-day Lebanon as far as Sidon in the north. These tribes formed part of the united Kingdom of Israel and then the northern kingdom of the same name. However, Assyria captured Naphtali in c. 732 BCE and deported its population, a fate which befell the rest of the northern kingdom in c. 723 BCE. The New Testament also refers to Jesus's sojourn around Mount Hermon which appears to take for granted Jewish presence in this locality. Some people also add the locality of Qana (near Tyre in Lebanon) but the Bible clearly avoids confusion by referring to it as "Qana of Galilee".

Following the Bar Kokhba Revolt against Rome in c. 132 CE, several Jewish communities were established in Lebanon. Caliph Muawiya (642–680) established a Jewish community in Tripoli, Lebanon. Another was founded in 922 in Sidon. The Jewish Academy was established in Tyre in 1071. In the 19th century, hostility between the Druze and Maronites communities led many Jews to leave al-Qamar, with most moving to Hasbaya by the end of the century.