- Beirut, Lebanon
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Anjar, 58 km (36 miles) from Beirut, is completely different from any other archaeological experience you'll have in Lebanon. At other historical sites in the country, different epochs and civilizations are superimposed one on top of the other. Anjar dates exclusively from one period: the Umayyad dynasty. Lebanon's other sites were founded millennia ago, but Anjar is a relative newcomer, founded by Walid I Ibn Abed Al-Malik, Caliph of the Umayyads, and going back to the early 8th century AD. Unlike Tyre and Byblos, which claim continuous habitation since the day they were founded, Anjar flourished for only a few decades. Other than a small Umayyad mosque in Baalbeck, there are few other remnants from this important period of Arab history in Lebanon.