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Gigarta (also known as Gigartus in classical sources) was an ancient settlement in northern Lebanon. Noted primarily in a Roman boundary inscription found in the vicinity of the Mseilha Fort in North Lebanon, Gigarta appears to have been closely associated with territorial jurisdictions between Caesarea ad Libanum (modern Arqa) and other regional communities during the first century AD. The region was populated / ruled over by Ituraeans, and historical accounts suggest that Gigarta’s status was below that of a fully developed Roman city (civitas) yet above that of minor settlements or hamlets (vicus). Scholars have speculated that Gigarta may correspond to either the modern town of Gharzouz or Zgharta.

In ancient sources

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The precise location of Gigarta remains debated among scholars due to scarce archaeological evidence directly linked to the site; information about the settlement comes from inscriptions and ancient texts suggesting it was situated on the western slopes of Mount Lebanon. Greek geographer Strabo refers the place as "Gigartus", one of the strongholds of the "Arabians and Itureans", and describes its location as being on the slopes of the Libanus.[1] Pliny the Elder writing in the first century AD, situated Gigarta between Tripolis to the north and Botrys to the south.[2][3] The Museiliha inscription referencing Gigarta was discovered in Aabrine, south of Ras ash-Shaq'a. It was reported to have been transported from its findspot nearby the Mseilha Fort. This inscription, now housed in the Louvre Museum,[4][5] is in Latin and records a boundary-marking operation between Caesarea ad Libanum and the people of Gigarta, from the vicus (village) of the Sidonians, on the order of a procurator.[3][5]

Gigarta does not appear to have attained the status of a civitas, even during the early Byzantine period (330–717). In late antiquity, Byzantine geographer George of Cyprus,[6] writing in the early seventh century, still referred to it as a village.[7]

Interpretation and location

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French orientalist Ernest Renan suggested that Gigarta it is modern Gharzouz,[3] while French archeologist René Dussaud proposed present-day Zgharta, based on proximity and descriptions from ancient texts.[8] According to French historian Julien Aliquot, Gigarta was a settlement of greater statutory importance than a vicus but of lower rank than a city: it was probably the capital of a more or less fragmented canton or pagus, comprising one or more vici, including the one called "vicus of the Sidonians" mentioned in the Museiliha inscription.[9]

References

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Citations

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  1. ^ Strabo 2019, 16.2.18.
  2. ^ Pliny the Elder 2019, 5.17.12.
  3. ^ a b c Renan 1864, p. 149.
  4. ^ Louvre Museum 2024.
  5. ^ a b Mommsen, Hirschfeld & Domaszewski 1873, p. 31, insc. 183.
  6. ^ George of Cyprus 1890, p. 185, 977.
  7. ^ Aliquot 2009, p. 77.
  8. ^ Dussaud 1927, p. 82.
  9. ^ Aliquot 2009, pp. 77–78.

Sources

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  • Aliquot, Julien (2009). La Vie religieuse au Liban sous l'Empire romain. Bibliothèque archéologique et historique (in French). Beyrouth: Presses de l’Ifpo. ISBN 978-2-35159-299-1.
  • Dussaud, René (1927). "Chapitre II. De Tripoli à Carné. — L'Émésène" [Chapter II. From Tripoli to Karnos. - The Emesene]. Topographie historique de la Syrie antique et médiévale [Historical topography of ancient and medieval Syria]. Bibliothèque archéologique et historique (in French). Beyrouth: Presses de l’Ifpo. pp. 75–115. ISBN 978-2-35159-464-3. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
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