TRABLUS / AL MINA The next two place names mentioned in Esarhaddon’s list of the kingdom of Sidon in the year 676 BC are Da-la-im-me and I-si-hi-im-me. They must lay at the sea or close to it, as shown by the element “im-me” = sea. Both have to be looked for near Al-Mina, the present-day harbour of Tripoli. Old names for Tripoli: Phoenician:’tr(pl), Greek: Tripolis (Scylax), Aramaic: Tarp‘laye, Arabic: T(a)rablus. The ancient city occupied the site of the present-day harbour of Al-Mina, built on a promontory which runs out towards the northwest for a distance of 2 km and is about 1 km wide. The site is well adapted for a haven, as a chain of seven small islands, running out to the northwest, affords shelter in the direction from which the most violent winds blow. The peninsula is backed by a small plain, limited by the Nahr Abu ‘Ali in the north, the Nahr al-Baḥsas in the south and the first Lebanon Lebanon slopes, called al-Baal, in the east, next to the modern city of Tripoli. Originally the town had two ports. The one in the north survived. The one in the south is abandoned after earthquakes in the 6th century AD. The town is for the first time probably mentioned in the period of the Amarna correspondence as Wahlia (EA 104,11 + 114,12). The etymology of this city name, derived from the same root as Arabic “waḥl”, “morass”, suggests however that Wahlia was located at Abu Samra, not at Al-Mina. This strategically situated hill controls the crossing of the marshy valley of the Nahr Abu ‘Ali and it has shown traces of occupation in the Late Bronze Age. It was no harbour town. This is why a passage in the Amarna letter EA 114 referring to Wahliya should be translated as follows: “It was the men whom I sent to Sumur that he had seized in Wahliya. (Concerning) the ships of the rulers of Tyre, Beirut and Sidon, everyone in the land of Amurru is at peace with them.” Wahliya seem to have no ships! In EA 104 the town seems to be mentioned alongside with Ullaza, Ardata, Ambi and šigata. Eusebius (Chron.II 80) date the foundation however much later in the 4th year of the Olympiade (=761 BC). That is c.115 years before Esarhaddon came in this area (676 BC). In het 4th century BC Ps.Scylax describes the situation of the town Tripolis in a correct way, but does not mention any of the harbours located on the coastline between the Arwadian Tripoli (Arados, Antarados, Marathos) and this second “triple town” (the quarters of Arwad, Sidon and Tyre). The reason may simple, since the distance from the island of ar Ruad to the harbour of Al-Mina amounts to 40 km in a straight line. Now, this distance corresponds to a one-day coasting of Phoenician vessels, probably of the Hellenistic as well. There is no indication, therefore, that a part of the original Periplus was omitted in this section, as the crow flies. So we are dealing here really with Trablus.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 19:28:02 +0000
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