Bairut. Verlag von Gottlieb Haus Söhne.

Title

Bairut. Verlag von Gottlieb Haus Söhne.

Description

The town of Beirut as viewed from the sea. Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon.

ca. 1841

Artist

Daumerlang

Historical Description

Beirut is one of the oldest cities in the world. It is located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coast, Beirut is the country's largest and main seaport. Under the Ottoman sultan Selim I (1512–1520), the Ottomans conquered Syria including present-day Lebanon. Beirut was controlled by local Druze emirs throughout the Ottoman period. One of them, Fakhr-al-Din II, fortified it early in the 17th century, but the Ottomans reclaimed it in 1763. With the help of Damascus, Beirut successfully broke Acre's monopoly on Syrian maritime trade and for a few years supplanted it as the main trading centre in the region. During the succeeding epoch of rebellion against Ottoman hegemony in Acre under Jezzar Pasha and Abdullah Pasha. After Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt captured Acre in 1832, Beirut began its revival. By the second half of the nineteenth century, Beirut was developing close commercial and political ties with European imperial powers, particularly France. European interests in Lebanese silk and other export products transformed the city into a major port and commercial centre. This boom in cross-regional trade allowed certain groups, such as the Sursock family, to establish trade and manufacturing empires that further strengthened Beirut's position as a key partner in the interests of imperial dynasties. Meanwhile, Ottoman power in the region continued to decline. Sectarian and religious conflicts, power vacuums, and changes in the political dynamics of the region culminated in the 1860 Lebanon conflict.