View source for Arqa

{{Short description|City in Lebanon}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name                   = Arqa
| native_name            = عرقا
| native_name_lang       = ar
| settlement_type        = City
| image_skyline          = Fortezza di Arqa.jpg
| image_alt              = 
| image_caption          = Remains of Crusader Castle, Arqa
| pushpin_map            = Lebanon
| pushpin_label_position = 
| pushpin_map_alt        = Map showing the location of Arqa within Lebanon
| pushpin_map_caption    = Location within Lebanon
| pushpin_relief         = 1
| coordinates            = {{Wikidatacoord|Q675858|region:LB_type:city|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_footnotes  = 
| subdivision_type       = Country
| subdivision_name       = {{flagcountry|Lebanon}}
| subdivision_type1      = [[Governorates of Lebanon|Governorate]]
| subdivision_name1      = [[Akkar Governorate|Akkar]]
| subdivision_type2      = [[Districts of Lebanon|District]]
| subdivision_name2      = [[Akkar District|Akkar]]
| established_title      = <!-- Founded -->
| established_date       = 
| founder                = 
| leader_party           = 
| leader_title           = 
| leader_name            = 
| area_footnotes         = 
| area_total_km2         = 
| area_note              = 
| elevation_footnotes    = 
| elevation_m            = 
| elevation_min_m        = 
| elevation_max_m        = 
| population_footnotes   = 
| population_total       = 
| population_as_of       = 
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_note        = 
| timezone1              = [[Eastern European Time|EET]]
| utc_offset1            = +2
| timezone1_DST          = [[Eastern European Summer Time|EEST]]
| utc_offset1_DST        = +3
| postal_code_type       = Postal code
| postal_code            = 
| area_code_type         = [[Telephone numbers in Lebanon|Dialing code]]
| area_code              = +961
| website                = 
}}
'''Arqa''' ({{langx|ar|عرقا|translit=ʿArqā}}; {{langx|akk|𒅕𒋡𒋫|translit=Irqata}}) is a Lebanese village<ref>{{cite web |title=Municipal and ikhtiyariah elections in Northern Lebanon |url=http://www.localiban.org/IMG/pdf/iiMonthly-Municip-Mar10-E92.pdf |publisher=The Monthly |access-date=3 November 2016 |page=22 |date=March 2010 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160603040803/http://www.localiban.org/IMG/pdf/iiMonthly-Municip-Mar10-E92.pdf |archive-date=3 June 2016 }}</ref> near [[Miniara]] in [[Akkar Governorate]], [[Lebanon]], 22&nbsp;km northeast of [[Tripoli, Lebanon|Tripoli]], near the coast.

The town was a notable city-state during the [[Iron Age]]. The city of ''Irqata'' sent 10,000 soldiers to the coalition against the [[Assyria]]n king in the [[Battle of Qarqar]]. The former bishopric became a double Catholic [[titular see]] (Latin and Maronite). The [[Roman Emperor]] [[Alexander Severus]] was born there. It is significant for the '''[[Tell (archaeology)|Tell]] Arqa''', an archaeological site that goes back to [[Neolithic]] times, and during the [[Crusades]] there was a strategically significant castle.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Tourism @ Lebanon.com |url=http://www.lebanon.com/tourism/arqa.htm |access-date=4 August 2024 |website=www.lebanon.com |archive-date=12 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200112073745/http://www.lebanon.com/tourism/arqa.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Names==
It is mentioned in Antiquity in the [[Amarna letters]] of [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]]-(as ''Irqata''), as well as in [[Assyria]]n documents.<ref>{{Cite web |last=karim.sokhn |date=29 April 2023 |title=Arqa Site |url=https://wanderleb.com/2023/04/29/arqa-site-2/ |access-date=4 August 2024 |website=wanderleb |language=en-US }}</ref>

The [[Roman Empire|Roman]] town was named '''Caesarea-ad-Libanum''' (of Lebanon/Phoenicia) or '''Arca Caesarea'''.<ref name=":0" />

==History==
===Early Bronze===
In the [[Bronze Age|Early Bronze IV]], the Akkar Plain had three major sites in Tell Arqa, [[Tell Kazel]], and [[Tell Jamous]].<ref>Thalmann 2007:221</ref> The cultural focus had been towards the south and southern Levant, but now changed with more influence from Inner Syria and the use of copper.
===Middle Bronze===
In the MB I the Akkar Plain still saw smaller settlements being added near Tell Arqa and the region reach its highest population density in MB II.<ref>Thalmann 2007:221</ref>
===Late Bronze===
====Amarna Period ''Irqata'' (c. 1350 BC)====
{{Further|Amarna letter EA 100}}
Arqa has the distinction of being a city-state that wrote one of the 382 [[Amarna letters]] to the [[Pharaoh]] of Ancient Egypt.<ref>{{Cite web |date=15 February 2016 |title=Tal Arqa, a great city in Antiquity - LebanonUntravelled.com |url=https://lebanonuntravelled.com/tal-arqa-great-city-antiquity/ |access-date=4 August 2024 |language=en-US }}</ref>

The [[city-state]] Irqata was the 3rd city of the [[Rib-Hadda]] letters, (68 letters), that were the last hold-outs against the [[Habiru|(H)Apiru]] invasion. Sumur(u)-([[Zemar]]) was the 2nd hold-out city besides Rib-Hadda's Byblos, (named [[Gubla]]).<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Amarna Letters; Rib-addi of Byblos {{!}} Ancient Egypt Online |url=https://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/earibbaddi/ |access-date=4 August 2024 |language=en-GB |archive-date=31 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531061447/https://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/EAribbaddi/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Eventually, the king of Irqata, [[Aduna (Irqata mayor)|Aduna]] was killed along with other city kings, and also the 'mayor' of Gubla, Rib-Hadda. Rib-Hadda's brother, [[Ili-Rapih]], became the successor mayor of Gubla, and Gubla never fell to the Hapiru.

During Rib-Hadda's lengthy opposition to the Habiru, even the city-state of Irqata and its elders, wrote to the [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]] Pharaoh [[Akhenaten]] for assistance. (EA 100, [[EA (el Amarna)|EA]] for el [[Amarna]]).

The letter is entitled: "The [[City-state|city]] of Irqata to the [[Pharaoh|king]]".

:This tablet-(i.e. tablet letter) is a tablet from Irqata. To the King, our Lord: Message from Irqata and its el[d]ers. We [[Prostration formula|fall at the feet]] of the king, our lord, 7 times and 7 times. To our lord, the Sun: Message from Irqata. May the heart of the king, (our) lord, know that we guard Irqata for him.
:When the [ki]ng, our lord, sent [[DUMU-Biha|D[UMU]-Bi-ha-a]], he said to [u]s, "Message of the king: "Guard Irqata"! " The sons of the traitor to the king seek our harm; Irqata see[ks] loyalty to the king. As to [ silver ] having been given to [[Subaru (region)|S[u]baru]] al[ong with] horses and [[Chariot|cha[riots] ]], may you know the mind of Irqata. When a tablet from the king arrived (saying) to ra[id] the land that the [[Habiru|'A[piru] ]] had taken [from] the king,'they wa[ged] war with us against the enemy of our lord, the man whom you pla[ced] over us. Truly&mdash;we are guarding the l[and]. May the king, our lord, heed the words of his loyal servants.
:May he grant a [[Greeting-gift (Šulmānī)|gift]] to his servant(s) so our enemies will see this and eat dirt. May the breath of the king not depart from us. We shall keep the [[city gate]] barred until the breath of the king reaches us. Severe is the war against us&mdash;terribly! terribly! -EA 100, lines 1-44 (complete)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pryke |first=Louise M. |date=2011 |title=The Many Complaints to Pharaoh of Rib-Addi of Byblos |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41380709 |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=131 |issue=3 |pages=411–422 |jstor=41380709 |issn=0003-0279 |archive-date=4 August 2024 |access-date=4 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240804145943/https://www.jstor.org/stable/41380709 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Moran |first=William |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.56021/9780801842511 |title=The Amarna Letters |date=1992 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |doi=10.56021/9780801842511 |isbn=978-0-8018-4251-1 }}</ref>
===Hellenistic and Roman period===
[[File:Monnaie - Dichalque, bronze, Césarée du Liban, Phénicie, Sévère Alexandre - btv1b11318310b (2 of 2).jpg|thumb|A coin of [[Alexander Severus]] from Caesarea ad Libanum (Roman Arqa)]]
After the death of [[Alexander the Great]] Arca came under the control first of the [[Lagids]] then of the [[Seleucids]]. When the [[Roman Empire|Romans]] gained control over this part of western Asia, they entrusted Arca as a client [[tetrarchy]] or vassal principality to a certain Sohaimos, who died in AD 48 or 49. It was then incorporated in the [[Roman province]] of [[Syria (Roman province)|Syria]], but was soon entrusted to [[Herod Agrippa II]]. [[Pliny the Elder]] counts it among the tetrarchies of Syria. It was at this time that its name was changed to Caesarea,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=9y7nTpFcN3AC&dq=arca+caesarea+province+syria&pg=PA77 ''The Middle East under Rome''], [[Maurice Sartre]] (Harvard University Press 2005 {{ISBN|978-0-67401683-5}}), p. 77</ref> distinguished from other cities of that name by being called '''Caesarea ad Libanum''' or '''Arca Caesarea'''. Under [[Septimius Severus]] (193–211) it was made part of the province of [[Phoenice (Roman province)|Syria Phoenicia]] and so became known as '''Arca in Phoenicia'''. Under his son [[Caracalla]] (198–217) it became a ''[[colonia (Roman)|colonia]]'' and in 208 [[Alexander Severus]] was born at Arca during a stay of his parents there.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/tell-arqa_%28Enciclopedia-dell%27-Arte-Antica%29/ |title=S.M. Cecchini, "Tell'Arqa" in ''Enciclopedia dell'Arte Antica'' (Treccani 1997) |access-date=29 November 2014 |archive-date=5 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141205061502/http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/tell-arqa_%28Enciclopedia-dell%27-Arte-Antica%29/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
===Crusades period===
At the time of the [[First Crusade]], Arca became an important strategic point of control over the roads from [[Tripoli, Lebanon|Tripoli]] to [[Tartus]] and [[Homs]]. [[Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse|Raymond of Toulouse]] unsuccessfully [[Siege of Arqa|besieged it]] for three months in 1099. In 1108, his nephew [[William II Jordan]] conquered it and it became part of the [[County of Tripoli]]. It resisted an attack by [[Nur ad-Din, atabeg of Aleppo]], in 1167 and another in 1171.

It finally fell to Muslim forces of the Sultan [[Baibars]] in 1265 or 1266. When Tripoli itself [[Fall of Tripoli (1289)|fell in 1289]] to the army of Sultan [[Qalawun]] and was razed to the ground, Arca lost its strategic importance and thereafter is mentioned only in ecclesiastical chronicles.<ref>{{Cite web |date=15 February 2016 |title=Tal Arqa, a great city in Antiquity - LebanonUntravelled.com |url=https://lebanonuntravelled.com/tal-arqa-great-city-antiquity/ |access-date=4 August 2024 |language=en-US |archive-date=4 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240804144524/https://lebanonuntravelled.com/tal-arqa-great-city-antiquity/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
===Later period===
In 1838, [[Eli Smith]] noted the village, whose inhabitants were [[Greek Orthodox Christianity in Lebanon|Greek Orthodox]], located west of [[esh-Sheikh Mohammed]].<ref>Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/183/mode/1up 183]</ref>

==Demographics==
In 2014, [[Islam in Lebanon|Muslims]] made up 100% of registered voters in Arqa, all of them being [[Lebanese Sunni Muslims|Sunni Muslims]].<ref>{{cite web | title=التوزيع حسب المذاهب للناخبين/ناخبات في بلدة عرقا، قضاء عكار محافظة الشمال في لبنان | url=https://lub-anan.com/المحافظات/الشمال/عكار/عرقا/المذاهب/ }}</ref>

==Ecclesiastical history==
Arca in Phoenicia became the seat of a Christian bishop in the [[Roman province]] of [[Phoenicia Prima]], a [[suffragan]] of the capital's [[Metropolitan see|metropolitan]] [[see of Tyre]].
 
Of its bishops, Lucianus professed the faith of the [[First Council of Nicaea]] at a synod held in [[Antioch]] in 363, Alexander was at the [[First Council of Constantinople]] in 381, Reverentius became archbishop of Tyre, Marcellinus was a participant at the [[Council of Ephesus]] in 431, Epiphanius took part in a synod at Antioch in 448, and Heraclitus participated in the [[Council of Chalcedon]] in 451 and was a signatory of the letter that the bishops of the province of Syria Phoenicia sent in 458 to [[Byzantine Emperor]] [[Leo I the Thracian]] to protest about the murder of [[Proterius of Alexandria]].<ref>Michel Lequien, [https://books.google.com/books?id=86weAemI-e4C ''Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus''], Paris 1740, Vol. II, coll. 823-826</ref><ref>Konrad Eubel, ''Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi'', vol. 7, p.&nbsp;86</ref><ref>Pius Bonifacius Gams, [http://www.wbc.poznan.pl/dlibra/doccontent?id=65154&dirids=1 ''Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626233439/http://www.wbc.poznan.pl/dlibra/doccontent?id=65154&dirids=1 |date=26 June 2015 }}, Leipzig 1931, p.&nbsp;434</ref>

No longer a residential bishopric, Arca in Phoenicia is today listed by the [[Catholic Church]] as a [[titular see]],<ref>''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 {{ISBN|978-88-209-9070-1}}), p. 837</ref> in two traditions: Latin and Maronite ([[Eastern Catholic]], [[Antiochian Rite]] in [[Syriac language|Syriac]]).

===Latin titular see===
The nominally restored diocese has had non-consecutive titular bishops as a Latin Catholic [[titular bishopric]] since the 18th century.

It is vacant, having had the following incumbents, all of the lowest (episcopal) rank :
* Pedro del Cañizo Losa y Valera (1726.09.21 – ?)
* Józef Krystofowicz (1809.03.28 – 1816.02.26)
* Francisco de Sales Crespo y Bautista (1861.12.23 – 1875.07.05)
* Pierre-Marie Le Berre, [[Holy Ghost Fathers]] (C.S.Sp.) (1877.09.07 – 1891.07.16)
* [[Claude Marie Dubuis]] (1892.12.16 – 1895.05.22)
* [[Alfredo Peri-Morosini]] (1904.03.28 – 1931.07.27)
* [[Jean-Édouard-Lucien Rupp]] (1954.10.28 – 1962.06.09) as [[Auxiliary Bishop]] of France of the Eastern Rite (France) (1954.10.28 – 1962.06.09), later Exempt Bishop of the then [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Monaco|diocese of Monaco]] (Monaco) (1962.06.09 – 1971.05.08), [[Apostolic Pro-Nuncio]] (papal diplomatic envoy) to [[Iraq]] (1971.05.08 – 1978); later [[Titular Archbishop]] of [[Dionysiopolis]] (1971.05.08 – 1983.01.28), Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to [[Kuwait]] (1975 – 1978), [[Permanent Observer]] to [[Office of the United Nations and Specialized Institutions in Geneva]] (UNOG) (1978 – 1980)
* [[Hugo Aufderbeck]] (1962.06.19 – 1981.01.17)

===Maronite titular see===
Established as Titular Episcopal See of '''Arca''' (Arca dei Maroniti in Curiate Italian); promoted in 1933 as Titular Archiepiscopal See of '''Arca in Armenia''', in 1941 suppressed, but restored in 1950 as Titular Episcopal See of Arca in Phoenicia.

It has had the following incumbents, all of the lowest (episcopal) rank :
* Abdallah Nujaim (1950.07.25 – 1954.04.04)
* [[Bishop-elect]] [[João Chedid]], [[Mariamite Maronite Order]] (O.M.M., Aleppians) (1956.05.04 – 1956.05.04), as [[Auxiliary Bishop]] of [[Brazil of the Eastern Rite]] (Brazil) ([1956.04.21] 1956.05.04 – 1971.11.29), later Bishop of [[Nossa Senhora do Líbano em São Paulo of the Maronites]] (Brazil) (1971.11.29 – 1988.02.27), [[Archbishop-Bishop]] of Nossa Senhora do Líbano em São Paulo of the Maronites (1988.02.27 – 1990.06.09)
* [[Roland Aboujaoudé]] (1975.07.12 – ...), Auxiliary Bishop emeritus of [[Antioch of the Maronites]] (Lebanon)

==See also==
* [[Canaan]]

* [[List of Crusader castles]]

* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Lebanon]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
* [[William L. Moran|Moran, William L.]] ''The Amarna Letters.'' Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987, 1992. (softcover, {{ISBN|0-8018-6715-0}})
* {{cite book |last1=Robinson |first1=E. |authorlink1=Edward Robinson (scholar) |last2=Smith |first2=E. |authorlink2=Eli Smith |year=1841 |url=http://archive.org/details/biblicalresearch03robiuoft |title=Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838 |location=Boston |publisher=[[Crocker & Brewster]] |volume=3 }}
* Jean-Paul Thalmann (2007) Agricultural practices and settlement patterns in the Akkar plain (Northern Lebanon) in the Late Early and Early Middle Bronze Ages. Pp. 219-232 in : MORANDI-BONACOSSI, D. (ed) Urban and Natural Landscapes of an Ancient Syrian Capital
{{refend}}

==Sources and external links==
* [http://www.localiban.org/article5966.html Aarqa, Localiban]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110707063602/http://www.3kkar.com/?p=19 Pictures of excavations of the city]
* [http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/former/t0178.htm GCatholic Latin titular see with incumbent biography links]
* [http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/former/t2030.htm GCatholic Maronite titular see with incumbent biography links]

{{Akkar District}}
{{Archaeological sites in Lebanon}}
{{Phoenician cities and colonies}}
{{Crusader sites}}
{{Roman colonies in ancient Levant}}
{{Sovereign Military Order of Malta}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Populated places in Akkar District|Arqa]]
[[Category:Sunni Muslim communities in Lebanon]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Lebanon]]
[[Category:Amarna letters locations]]
[[Category:Amarna letters writers]]
[[Category:Phoenician cities]]
[[Category:Roman sites in Lebanon]]
[[Category:Coloniae (Roman)]]
[[Category:Castles and fortifications of the Knights Hospitaller]]