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| Beqaa Valley | |
|---|---|
 Grapevines nearKasarnaba, overlooking the central Beqaa Valley | |
| Length | 120 km (75 mi) |
| Width | 16 km (9.9 mi) |
| Naming | |
| Native name | وادي البقاع (Arabic) |
| Geology | |
| Type | Valley |
| Geography | |
| Country | Lebanon |
| State/Province | Baalbek-Hermel Governorate,Beqaa Governorate |
| Population center | Baalbek |
| Coordinates | 34°00′32″N36°08′43″E / 34.00889°N 36.14528°E /34.00889; 36.14528 |
 | |
TheBeqaa Valley (Arabic:وادي البقاع,romanized: Wādī l-Biqā‘,Lebanese Arabic:[bʔaːʕ];also romanized asBekaa,Biqâ,andBecaa) is a fertile valley in easternLebanon and its most importantfarming region.[1] Industry, especially the country's agricultural industry, also flourishes in Beqaa. The region broadly corresponds to theCoele-Syria ofclassical antiquity.
The Beqaa is located about 30 km (19 mi) east ofBeirut. The valley is situated betweenMount Lebanon to the west and theAnti-Lebanon mountains to the east.[2] It is the northern continuation of theJordan Rift Valley, and thus part of theGreat Rift Valley, which stretches fromSyria to theRed Sea. Beqaa Valley is 120 kilometres (75 mi) long and 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) wide on average. It has aMediterranean climate of wet, often snowy winters and dry, warm summers.[3]
The region receives limited rainfall, particularly in the north, because Mount Lebanon creates arain shadow that blocks precipitation coming from the sea. The northern section has an average annual rainfall of 230 millimetres (9.1 in), compared to 750 millimetres (30 in) in the central valley.[4] Nevertheless, two rivers originate in the valley: theOrontes (Asi), which flows north into Syria andTurkey, and theLitani, which flows south and then west to theMediterranean Sea.[2]
From the 1st century BC, when the region was part of theRoman Empire, the Beqaa Valley served as a source of grain for theRoman provinces of theLevant. Today the valley makes up 40 percent of Lebanon'sarable land.[5] The northern end of the valley, with its scarce rainfall and less fertile soils, is used primarily as grazing land bypastoral nomads. Farther south, more fertile soils support crops of wheat,maize,cotton, and vegetables, withvineyards andorchards centered onZahlé.
The valley also produceshashish and cultivatesopium poppies, which are exported as part of theillegal drug trade.[5]
InBaalbek, that is part of a valley to the east of the northern Beqaa Valley, there are evidence of continual habitation dating back almost 8000–9000 years.Ard Tlaili is a small tell mound with an archaeological site, located on a plain at the foot of the Lebanon Mountain, just 11 km (7 mi) northwest of Baalbeck, in the Beqaa Valley. It dates to around 5780-5710 BC and has the southernmost pottery belonging to theHalaf Culture.[6]
Labweh is a village at an elevation of 950 metres (3,120 ft) on a foothill of the Anti-Lebanon Mountains in Baalbek District, Baalbek-Hermel Governorate, Lebanon, settled since theNeolithic period.[6]
In theMiddle Bronze IIA, the Beqa Valley was a highway between the regional power ofQatna in the north and its vassalHazor in the south. The Beqaa valley was known asAmqu during theBronze Age. The identity of the inhabitants is not known for certain, but the region was part of theAmorite Kingdoms ofAmurru andQatna. To the southwest of Baalbek wasEnišasi, a city or city-state mentioned in the1350-1335 BCAmarna letterscorrespondence, written by two rulers of the cityŠatiya andAbdi-Riša.[7]
By the earlyIron Age, the Beqaa Valley came to be dominated byPhoenician-andAramaic-speaking populations.
In the 11th and 10th centuries BC, theAramaeans founded the kingdom ofAram-Zobah (also Sobah), mentioned in theBible. Many scholars suggest it was located in the Beqa'a valley.[8] The precise whereabouts ofZobah, a prominent city at the time, remains a subject of scholarly debate. In the 8th and 7th century BC, Sobah, now underImperial Assyrian rule, served as the residence for an Assyrian governor,Bel-liqbi.[8]
By the time ofAlexander the Great, the valley was reportedly inhabited by theItureans, possibly an Arabic orAramaean people. According to theHistories of Alexander the Great, the Itureans were Arab peasants living in the hills aboveTyre who slaughtered about 30Macedonians, which prompted Alexander to conduct an expedition against them. Later on, the Itureans broke away from the weakenedSeleucid Empire to form theKingdom of Chalcis. From their base in the Bekaa, the Itureans expanded their territory to include thePhoenician cities of the coast and came close toDamascus. Their territory was eventually absorbed into the rest ofRoman Syria.
The valley was of considerable importance to theRoman Empire as one of the important agricultural regions in the eastern provinces, and it was known for itsmany temples. The region also gained the attention ofPalmyrene QueenZenobia, who built theCanalizations of Zenobia, linking the valley with Palmyra.
Zahle is the largest city and the administrative capital of theBeqaa Governorate. It lies just north of the mainBeirut–Damascus highway, which bisects the valley. The majority of Zahle's residents areLebanese Christian, the majority beingMelkite Greek Catholic,Maronite Catholic, andGreek Orthodox Christians. The town ofAnjar, situated in the eastern part of the valley, has a predominantlyArmenian Lebanese population and is famous for its 8th-centuryArab ruins. Further east, the town ofMajdal Anjar has aSunni Muslim majority.
The majority of the inhabitants of the northern districts of Beqaa,Baalbek andHermel, areLebanese Shiites, with the exception of the town ofDeir el Ahmar, whose inhabitants areChristians. The Baalbek and Hermel districts have aChristian andSunni minority, mainly situated further north along the border with Syria.
The western and southern districts of the valley also have a mixed population ofMuslims,Christians, andDruze. The town ofJoub Janine with a population of about 12,000, is situated midway in the valley, and its population isSunni. Joub Janine is the governmental center of the region known as Western Beqaa, with municipal services like theserail, which is the main government building in the area,emergency medical services (Red Cross), afire department, and acourthouse.
Other towns in the Western Beqaa district areMachghara, Sabghine,Kamed al Lawz,Qab Elias,Sohmor,Yohmor. The towns are all a mix of different Lebanese religious confessions.Rachaiya al Wadi, east of the Western Beqaa district, is home to Lebanon's share ofMount Hermon and borders Syria also. The district's capital, also Rachaiya al Wadi, not to be confused withRachaiya al Foukhar in South Lebanon, is famous for its old renovated souk and what is known as the castle of independence in which Lebanon's pre-independence leaders were held by French troops before being released in 1943. The southern section of the district is inhabited with Druze and Christian Lebanese, while the other northern section is mainly inhabited by Sunni Lebanese.
Due to wars and the unstable economic and political conditions Lebanon faced in the past, with difficulties some farmers still face today, many previous inhabitants of the valley left for coastal cities in Lebanon or emigrated from the country altogether, with the majority residing inNorth America,South America orAustralia.
The Beqaa Valley, often referred to as the Bekaa Valley in the wine industry, particularly the expansive agricultural regions in its eastern areas, accounts the majority of Lebanon's renowned wine production.[9] Wine making is a tradition that goes back 6000 years inLebanon. With an average altitude of 1000 m abovesea level, the valley's climate is very suitable to vineyards. Abundant winter rain and much sunshine in the summer helps the grapes ripen easily. There are more than a dozen wineries in the Beqaa Valley, producing over six million bottles a year.[1] Beqaa Valley wineries include:[citation needed]
Drugs have a long tradition in the Beqaa Valley, from the days of the Roman Empire to the present. Cultivators and tribal drug lords have worked with militias to build up a thrivingcannabis trade. The region has been compared toPeru'scocaine producingUpper Huallaga Valley.[14]
During theLebanese Civil War,cannabis cultivation was a major source of income in the Beqaa Valley, where most of the country'shashish andopium was produced. The war led various groups to turn todrug trafficking for income. Syria, which controlled most of the Valley, profited significantly from the trade.Palestinian militant groups, including thePLO, also participated in the hashish trade, making millions of dollars.[14]
The trade collapsed during theworldwide crackdown on narcotics led by the United States in the early 1990s.[15] Under pressure from the U.S. State Department, the occupying Syrian Army plowed up the Beqaa's cannabis fields and sprayed them with poison. Prior to 1991 it was estimated that income generated from illicit crops grown in the Beqaa was around $500 million. According to theUNDP the annual per capita income at that time in theBaalbek and Hermel district did not exceed $500. The same agency estimated the figure for the rest of Lebanon was $2,074.[15]
Since the mid-1990s, the culture and production of drugs in the Beqaa Valley has been in steady decline. By 2002, an estimated 2,500 hectares[16] of cannabis were limited to the extreme north of the Valley, where government presence remains minimal. Every year since 2001 theLebanese Army plows cannabis fields in an effort to destroy the crops before harvest.[17] It is estimated that that action eliminates no more than 30% of overall crops. Although important during the civil war,opium cultivation has become marginal, dropping from an estimated 30 metric tonnes per year in 1983 to negligible amounts in 2004.
Due to increasing political unrest that weakened the central Lebanese government during the2006 Lebanon War and 2007 Opposition boycott of the government, and due to the lack of viable alternatives,UN promises of irrigation projects and alternative crop subsidies that never materialized, drug cultivation and production have significantly increased.[18][19] They remain a fraction of the civil war era production and are limited north of the town ofBaalbek, where the rule of tribal law protecting armed families is still strong.
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