Arqa
Ancient city-state and Crusader castle in northern Lebanon.
Arqa (also known as Irqata) is a Lebanese village near Miniara in Akkar Governorate, 22 km northeast of Tripoli, near the coast. It was a notable city-state during the Iron Age and is significant for the Tell Arqa archaeological site, which goes back to Neolithic times. During the Crusades, there was a strategically significant castle at the site.
Quick Facts
- Settlement type
- City
- Demonym
- Arkite
Facts from the source article.
History
During the Early Bronze IV period, the Akkar Plain was home to three main settlements: Tell Arqa, Tell Kazel, and Tell Jamous. At that time, the region’s cultural ties shifted away from the south and southern Levant, drawing more influence from Inner Syria, and copper began to be used. Archaeological layers at Arqa include Level 14, corresponding to Middle Bronze IA-B (similar to Qatna J18-17); Level 13E-D for MB IIA (like Qatna J16-14); Level 13C for MB IIB (like Qatna J13-11); and Level 13B-A for MB IIC/III (like Qatna J10). In the Middle Bronze I, smaller settlements appeared near Tell Arqa, and the area reached its highest population in MB II.
Arqa is notable as a city-state that sent one of the 382 Amarna letters to the Egyptian pharaoh. Known as Irqata in these records, it was the third city mentioned in the Rib-Hadda letters—68 letters that describe the last strongholds resisting the (H)Apiru invasion. Sumur(u) (Zemar) was the second holdout, alongside Rib-Hadda’s Byblos (Gubla). Eventually, Irqata’s king, Aduna, was killed along with other city kings, and Rib-Hadda, the mayor of Gubla, also died.
His brother Ili-Rapih succeeded him, and Gubla never fell to the Hapiru. During Rib-Hadda’s long struggle, Irqata and its elders wrote to Pharaoh Akhenaten for help (EA 100). The letter, titled “The city of Irqata to the king,” states: “We fall at the feet of the king, our lord, 7 times and 7 times… May the heart of the king, (our) lord, know that we guard Irqata for him.” It mentions that the sons of a traitor seek to harm them, and that Irqata remains loyal to the king.
Ecclesiastical history
Arca in Phoenicia was once the home of a Christian bishop within the Roman province of Phoenicia Prima, where it answered to the metropolitan bishop of Tyre. Among its bishops, Lucianus affirmed the Nicene faith at an Antioch synod in 363. Alexander attended the First Council of Constantinople in 381. Reverentius later rose to become archbishop of Tyre.
Marcellinus took part in the Council of Ephesus in 431. Epiphanius joined a synod at Antioch in 448. Heraclitus attended the Council of Chalcedon in 451 and, in 458, signed a letter to Emperor Leo I protesting the killing of Proterius of Alexandria. The see is no longer residential.
The Catholic Church now lists it as a titular see in both the Latin and Maronite traditions. The Maronite version began as a titular episcopal see, was raised to an archiepiscopal see in 1933, suppressed in 1941, and restored in 1950 as a titular episcopal see in Phoenicia. Its only holder was Abdallah Nujaim, appointed in 1950.
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