Beirut
Beyrouth, pronounced [bɛʁut]) is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. No recent population census has been conducted, but 2007 estimates ranged from slightly more than 1 million to 2.2 million as part of Greater Beirut, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region and the fifteenth-largest in the Arab world. Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coast, Beirut is an important regional seaport.
It is one of the oldest cities in the world, having been inhabited for more than 5,000 years. The first historical mention of Beirut is found in the Amarna letters from the New Kingdom of Egypt, which date to the 15th century BC.
Beirut is Lebanon's seat of government and plays a central role in the Lebanese economy, with most banks and corporations based in its Central District, Badaro, Rue Verdun, Hamra, Ryad el Soleh street, and Achrafieh. Following the destructive Lebanese Civil War, Beirut's cultural landscape underwent major reconstruction. Identified and graded for accountancy, advertising, banking, finance and law, Beirut is ranked as a Beta World City by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.
The English name Beirut is an early transcription of the Arabic name Bayrūt (بيروت). The same name's transcription into French is Beyrouth, which was sometimes used during Lebanon's French occupation. The Arabic name derives from Phoenician Berot or Birut (𐤁𐤓𐤕 Brt). This was a modification of the Canaanite and Phoenician word be'rot, meaning "the wells", in reference to the site's accessible water table. The etymology is shared by the biblical Beeroth (Hebrew: בְּאֵרוֹת)[12] which was, however, a different settlement somewhere near Jerusalem. The name is first attested in the 15th century BC, when it was mentioned in three Akkadian cuneiform tablets of the Amarna letters, letters sent by King Ammunira of Biruta to Amenhotep III or Amenhotep IV of Egypt. Biruta was also mentioned in the Amarna letters from King Rib-Hadda of Byblos.
The Greeks hellenised the name as Bērytós (Ancient Greek: Βηρυτός), which the Romans latinised as Berytus. When it attained the status of a Roman colony, it was notionally refounded and its official name was emended to Colonia Iulia Augusta Felix Berytus to include its imperial sponsors.
Before, under the Seleucid Empire, the city had been already founded and known as Laodicea in honour of the mother of Seleucus the Great.[citation needed] It was distinguished from several other places named in her honour by the longer names Laodicea in Phoenicia (Ancient Greek: Λαοδίκεια ἡ ἐν Φοινίκῃ, romanized: Laodíkeia hē en Phoiníkēi) or Laodicea in Canaan (Phoenician: 𐤋𐤋𐤀𐤃𐤊𐤀 𐤀𐤔 𐤁𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍, romanized: Llʾdkʾ ʾš bknʿn).
Reference
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beirut
