Lebanon may be small, but it's history is rich and it's impact on the world is immense. Lebanon, after all, is only about 2/3rd the size of Connecticut!

Over the past 5,000 years, the Lebanese rebuilt eight different times. Despite the damage from war, earthquakes and tidal waves, the city continues to prosper.

Beirut is the capital city of Lebanon and by comparison to most other capital cities and nations, a very small city, in a very small country.

The world's first law school was founded in Beirut, giving the city the nickname of "Beritus (Berytus) Nutris Legum", which means "Beirut Mother of Law." Considered the premiere law school outside of Rome, the legal theory developed by this school provided the basis for "modern" law. In the mid-6th century A.D., however, disaster struck Beirut. A series of earthquakes, tidal waves, and fires ravaged the city. The law school relocated to Sidon, in southern Lebanon. Sadly, the law school never regained its vitality and withered away into the pages of history.

Beirut's survival continued through the French, Byzantine, Roman, Mamluk, Ottoman and Phoenician eras, rebuilding whenever necessary, thereby contributing to the many layers found throughout the city, eight in total as of the most recent count.

Beirut is a country of constant rebuilding and renovation. This city never stays still. Forever changing and reinventing itself, Beirut's legacy to the world is lasting.

This evolution is amazing as well as scary. It is amazing because this constant self-renewal gives credence to the saying that Beirut never dies.

I believe this is a truly remarkable feat given my totally objective *wink* perspective.

A great deal of changes over the past fifty years have taken place in Beirut, which was regarded as the “Pearl of the Middle East,” or, alternately, the “Paris of the Middle East” until the mid-1970s.

Everything changed on April 13, 1975. This date marks the beginning of the Lebanese Civil War. This civil war lasted until 1991. As of the end of the civil war found the country completely destroyed. The country looked like it would never be the same as it used to be.

This was assumed to be a fact, and should have been...should...

Beirut regained its glory within a few years, thanks to the efforts of Solidere, the Société libanaise pour le développement et la reconstruction de Beyrouth (in English, that's “The Lebanese Company for the Development and Reconstruction of Beirut”).

Beirut was rebuilt to its former beauty. Founded on May 5, 1994 by the late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, his group is responsible for most of the reconstruction of Beirut.

Lebanon has not had the pleasure of a peaceful recovery. In 1993, Israel launched “Operation Accountability” into the south of Lebanon. In 1996, Israel’s “Operation Grapes of Wrath” invaded the south of Lebanon and Beirut.

(I am not going to go into the reasons for these “operations,” I just merely want to point out that they have taken place and thus are of some serious significance to the history of Lebanon.)

After the 2005 series of bombings, which killed prominent figures such as Rafik Hariri, Samir Qasar, George Hawi and Gibran Tueni dead and almost killed TV anchorwoman May Chidiac, Lebanon fell into a state of utter confusion. This series of horrible events lead to the eventual withdraw of Syria from Lebanon. (Israel had already withdrew in 2000.)

In the summer of 2006, the Lebanese people prepared for what they expected to be the best summer for tourism on record, but sadly this was not to be. On July 12, 2006, what is now known as the “July War” began. This war lasted 34 days (on August 14th), however, Lebanon remained under Israeli naval blockade until September 8th. A large number of civilians perished in the fighting with even more displaced (over a million).

However, my paper is not on the depressing areas concerning war, but rather the beauty and amazing actions of the rebuilding and renovations. This is the one thing that I love to read and write about.

Anybody can and destroy an object, but it takes real human ingenuity to rebuild that object. What I find amazing is that this country was rebuilt not once, not twice, but 8 times. EIGHT TIMES. All in the same place. Imagine living in a city where anywhere you dig deeper than six feet you run into the history of that culture.

The rebuilding after the civil war is probably the most amazing feat of rebuilding in modern history. In 10 years, due to the efforts of Solidere, AUB, the Government of Lebanon, and various other philanthropists, Beirut was restored until it became one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It was restored to its former beauty in some aspects, and has been recreated and modernized into an even more beautiful city. Beirut is a city of rejuvenation and renewal. That is why I love it. Once you go there, you will understand.

Looking at the history of this nation and its desire not to die, its refusal to die, I cannot do anything but stand in awe.

This country, with its history and struggles, hosting many people of many different religions and cultures, succeeds in ways that nobody can even truly imagine. The government has been made to grant everybody a “fair” slice of power. The balance of power is shown even in the uppermost level with the President having to be Maronite Christian, the Prime Minister having to be a Sunni Muslim, and the Foreign Minister having to be a Shiite Muslim.

I just think that this is a cool tid-bit because it just shows how much the country has striven for peace and has made the government able to function without forcing the denial of their religion or culture by a series of weights and balances.