Beirut

Beirut occupies a headland on the eastern Mediterranean, with the mountains of Lebanon rising behind its harbour. Known as Berytus in Roman times, it was celebrated for its school of law, but earthquakes and warfare repeatedly altered the city. Its port connected the mountain hinterland to the sea, giving merchants a place to exchange local produce for goods from other Mediterranean shores.

In the early seventeenth century the Ma'nid emir Fakhr al-Din II fortified Beirut and built a palace there. His power rested on ties to the mountain districts and on trade through coastal towns, but conflict with Ottoman authorities ended in his capture and execution in 1635. The city subsequently came under changing local governors and emirs, while its harbour continued to serve the surrounding countryside.

In the eighteenth century the Shihab emirs directed raw silk from Mount Lebanon through Beirut. A French trading house opened a permanent agency in the port in 1753, and the port's silk trade grew at Sidon's expense. Merchants from Syria and the Mediterranean settled in the town, bringing their families, employees and clergy from coastal and inland communities with them, and a large khan associated with Emir Yusuf provided space for commerce. Beirut's growing harbour thus tied the mulberry groves of the mountains to markets across the sea.