The Fabulous Ghassanids & Phoenicians:
The Surprising Story of How The Maloofs and Their Fellow Countrymen Mastered Sailing, Pioneered Peaceful International Trade, Promoted Women and Representative Democracy, Served as the First Christian Roman Emperor and in 1565 Saved Christendom — Oh, and in Their Spare Time, They Invented the Color Purple — and the Alphabet
Dear Elias (Louis) Maloof Descendents:
Being a Maloof, by your bloodline or by your name, means that you are descended from the Ghassanid clan[1]. The Ghassanids emigrated from Yemen in the early 3rd Century to the Levant (Middle East/Mediterranean) region. They were among the first Christian kings in the world.[2] Some merged with Hellenized Christian communities, converting to Christianity in the first few centuries A.D., while others may have already been Christians before emigrating north to escape religious persecution.
Cplakidas, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
The Ghassanids ruled as royalty in association with the Roman governor, who lived in Damascus. The governor was answerable to the Roman emperor, who lived in Constantinople. The Roman governor used to relay the command of the emperor to the Ghassanid governors. Their seat of government continued to move between Amman, Al Balqaa, Palmyre, Bursa and Jabiyah (Golan Heights).[3]
The Ghassanids prospered economically and engaged in considerable religious and public building; they were known for sharing their wealth. The Ghassanids were so well known for their generosity that a saying became attributed to them: “Left more impression, on the guests, than the children of Ghassan.” Their perfect steeds (horses) became well known for their excellence. The children of Ghassan also became famous as a result of the consideration that was bestowed upon them by the poets, as they were frequently patrons of poetry, music and the other arts. The poets came to them in succession, composing about them eloquent praises, in elegant and graceful poems. At one time they entertained the leading Arabian poets Nabighah adh-Dhubyani and Hassan ibn Thabit at their courts.
The kings of Ghassan also became famous for their justice, zeal, and their love for prosperity, as was mentioned by many of the great historians of the east and the west. Part of the disposition of the Ghassanids was the lack of patience over oppression, or injustice.
[1] This description is largely from Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenicia, and other online sources. Accessed June 29, 2022.
[2] For further information, please see: When Christians First Met Muslims | Prof. Michael Penn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzJojqPy7NQ
[3] Portions of this essay are taken from: Malouf George Hanna and Maʿlūf ʿĪsá Iskandar. Maloof : The Ghassani Legacy. 1st ed. Maloofs International 1992.
Who Were The Ghassanid Kings?
After settling in the Levant, the Ghassanids reigned as Kings in the area that is now Greater Syria from the 4th Century A.D. until the 6th Century A.D[1]. They were a client state to the Byzantine Empire[2] and fought alongside them against the Persian Sassanids and their Arab vassals, the Lakhmids. The Romans found a powerful ally in the Ghassanids. In addition, as Kings of their own people, they were also phylarchs — native rulers of client frontier states.
The Ghassanid’s primary reign consisted of thirty-two (32) kings, over 600 years, from 37–636 A.D.
The chronology of the Ghassanid King’s rule in the Levant was as follows (450–636 A.D.):
[1] For further information, please see: Ghassanids: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aqndZOxgPs, Ghassnids: The Christian Kings of the Middle East: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqLCw08c-20, Ghassanids, Lakhmids, Sassanid & Byzantines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SicjZxA9jz8 and Civilizations in Review: Ghassanid Dynasty: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_B0_jQy4p8
[2] For further information, please see: The Byzantine Empire Explained in 13 Minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNURBs091pk and The Byzantine commonwealth: Ghassanids — The Christian Arabs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksqCC8RgjZc
Where Did The Ghassanids Rule?
The Ghassanids were part of the Eastern Roman Empire. Geographically, their kingdom occupied much of the Eastern Levant, and its authority extended via tribal alliances with other Azdi tribes all the way to the northern Hijaz as far south as Yathrib (Medina).
Where Did The Ghassanids Have Military Victories?
The Ghassanids were accomplished warriors whose territory acted as a buffer zone, protecting Byzantine lands against raids by Bedouin tribes. The Ghassanid King, al-Harith ibn Jabalah (reigned 529–569 A.D.) supported the Byzantines against Sassanid Persia. In 529 A.D., he was given the highest imperial title that was ever bestowed upon a foreign ruler, the status of a patrician or nobleman, by the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I. In addition to that, al-Harith ibn Jabalah was given the right to rule over all the Arab allies of the Byzantine Empire. Al-Harith was a Monophysite Christian, as were many of the early Ghassanids. Monophysite doctrine asserts that Jesus has a single divine nature.
The Ghassanid family[1] ruled over Byzantine vassal states until its rulers and the eastern Byzantine Empire were overthrown by the Muslims in the 7th Century, following the Battles of Mu’tah in 629 and Yarmuk in 636 A.D. The Ghassanids thereafter nonetheless always maintained their Christian religious identity. However, some later chose to side with the Muslim armies against the corruption they saw in the Roman Empire to emphasize their loyalty to their Arabic roots and in recognition of the wider context of a rising Arab Empire.
Several of the Christian Arab tribes, who lived in today’s modern Jordan and assisted Muslim armies, were recognized by being exempt from paying jizya (جزية). Jizya is a form of tax paid by non-Muslims, though Muslims paid another form of tax called Zakah (زكاة). As explained later, the name “Maloof” in fact means “tax exempt.” Over time, those who remained Christian, including our relatives, joined Syriac communities of the Melkite Church, which follows the Pope.
Even after their empire was severely compromised, the Ghassanid’s ruled right up until the 20th Century in the following locations:
Kingdom of Ghassan (“All Arabs: 529–638 C.E.) 220–638 C.E.
Byzantine Empire (Phocid) 802–813 C.E.
Island of Rhodes 1203–1250 C.E.
Sheikhdom of Akoura 1211–1633 C.E.
Sultanate of Rasul 1229–1454 C.E.
Sheikhdom of Zgharta-Zawyie 1641–1747 C.E.
Princess of Jabal Shamar (Chemor) 1836–1921 C.E.
The fate of the Ghassanids after Yarmuk in 636 A.D. is vague and fragmented. There are glimpses of Ghassanids, the bulk of whom remained in Syria, dispersed in Anatolia, Iberia (Georgia), the Caucasus Mountains, Andalusia and Yemen. Wherever they were found, Ghassanids clung to their identity and royal blood, passing this pride from one generation to the other.
The Ghassanid’s legendary military distinction never completely died, and flourished periodically in generals of genius. As some examples, descendants of Jabla ibn al-Ayham, last king of Ghassan, are a General who became emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire in the early 9th Century, a Ghassanid General who reconquered Carthage for the Umayyads and another who died in the conquest of Sicily for the Aghlabid Dynasty.
For a short period, Ghassanid princes resumed their military activities and conducted expeditions against the tribes of northern Hejaz, and invaded Iraq. The Ghassanids, who had conserved their military force to some degree, fought successfully. This was compounded by their isolation after the fall of Constantinople to the Crusaders in 1204 A.D. During this time, Ghassanid Christians clung tightly to their identity as a minority and were interbred because of a prohibition of marriage with non-Christians.
Later, a pattern of emigration emerged which started from the exodus from Ma’rib, probably around the middle of the 5th Century A.D., and was repeated three centuries later in the 7th Century, with a partial but massive immigration to Anatolia.
Among their fiercest of battles was the one that occurred in 1440 A.D., after the wars of the Crusades, known as the battles of Holaco and Timurlank. Since that time, the Christians lost their place in Horan; and they fled from it, one after another. Among those who left the region were the Ghassanid Ma’loof children.
The renowned Ghassanid soldiers were also made available to the Romans whenever there was a pressing need., especially during their wars with the Persians.
The Ghassanid’s legendary military distinction never completely died, and flourished periodically in generals of genius. As some examples, descendants of Jabla ibn al-Ayham, last king of Ghassan, are a General who became emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire in the early 9th Century, a Ghassanid General who reconquered Carthage for the Umayyads and another who died in the conquest of Sicily for the Aghlabid Dynasty.
For a short period, Ghassanid princes resumed their military activities and conducted expeditions against the tribes of northern Hejaz, and invaded Iraq. The Ghassanids, who had conserved their military force to some degree, fought there successfully. This was compounded by their isolation after the fall of Constantinople to the Crusaders in 1204 A.D. During this time, Ghassanid Christians clung tightly to their identity as a minority and were interbred because of a prohibition of marriage with non-Christians.
Later, a pattern of emigration emerged which started from the exodus from Ma’rib, probably around the middle of the 5th Century A.D., and was repeated three centuries later in the 7th Century, with a partial but massive immigration to Anatolia.
Among their fiercest of battles was the one that occurred in 1440 A.D., after the wars of the Crusades, known as the battles of Holaco and Timurlank. Since that time, the Christians lost their place in Horan; and they fled from it, one after another. Among those who left the region were the Ghassanid Ma’loof children.
To preserve their faith and avoid Muslim conquest, the Ghassanid Maloofs moved for protection from Syria into the mountains and other areas in Lebanon, where they reigned over a sovereign sheikhdom called “Zgharta-Zawyie” (an area south of Tripoli)[1] until 1747 A.D.
Two prominent clans with validity to royal claims, and to be Ghassanid descendants, even today, are: one in Syria and Lebanon, al-Malouf, and one in Jordan and Palestine, al-Haddedeen. A branch of the al-Haddedeen fled to Palestine and founded the town of Ramallah in an empty uninhabited area. The Haddadeen’s ultimately settled in Ramallah. In Lebanon, the families of al-Malouf are also known to be Ghassanids.[2]
Another Ghassanid region, Hawran, saw the emigration of many clans to Lebanon in the 16th and 17th Centuries. The al-Malouf family stands out as emigrants from the village of Damat al-Ulya in the Leja. According to one of their historians, they did not pay the Jizya (tax) on the conquest. Their claim to Ghassanid descent is strengthened by their continued veneration of St. Sergius, the patron saint of the Ghassanids for whom they built many churches. The al-Malouf were a rich and powerful family who used the ruins of the Roman temple of Minerva as a guest house. Their prestige and wealth made them the envy of their neighbors, especially one neighboring tribe, the Fahail, who encroached upon them and caused their immigration, as explained in the story below.
The move of the al-Maloof family to Lebanon was in 1520 A.D., around the same date as the flight of the Hadadeen to Palestine. Legend has it that Lateefeh, a beautiful and sensitive girl, traveled on her horse carrying food for herself and the laborers who were harvesting wheat and barley from the al-Malouf land in the plains of Hawran. Her maids were carrying trays laden with food on their heads and on donkeys while Lateefeh was taking the lead, when she was suddenly surrounded by horsemen from the tribe of Fahail, the sworn enemies of the Maloufs, with the intention of kidnapping her. She defended herself and the Fahaili horsemen turned to her maidens, ate all the trays of food they were carrying and withdrew. Later, when the Maloof men failed to retaliate, Lateefeh asked her maidens to fill the empty pots and trays of food and to cover and deliver them to the Maloof men, filled instead with dung and the droppings of camels When her kin and the workers opened the pots, they asked Lateefeh, shocked, “What is this, cousin?”
Lateefeh replied, ‘This is the food for those who have no self-respect, who allow their clan to be humiliated.’ That night the Maloufs met and decided on revenge but only after they gathered the harvest and sold their belongings. When that was done, they killed their enemies and fled to Lebanon.[3]
The ancestors of Elias (Louis) Maloof first settled for a few years in the village of Seriin (سرعين) to the northwest of the town of Zahlé in the Bekaa Valley. However, this stay was short-lived due to conflicts. In 1526 A.D., Ibrahim Maalouf decided to move from the Bekaa Valley to Bsharri (بشري) in the high mountains of northern Lebanon. The route to Bsharri was difficult, and when the family stumbled onto an abandoned mountain village, they decided to resettle it. After rebuilding the structures, the village was named Douma (دوما) in commemoration of the original Maalouf village in Houran. A church named for Saint Sarkis, venerated by the Christians of Houran, was also built in the village.
The first four family branches settled in the village of Mhaydse (المحيدثة) in 1550 A.D. and lived peacefully for several years. From their homes, they looked across a deep ravine to an attractive, protected and forested ridge which they often used as a hunting ground. After receiving permission from the ruling emir, the families of Issa, Medlej and Farah relocated their homes and built the village of Kfarakab (كفر عقاب) in 1560 A.D. and the main church in 1570 A.. The family of Hanna remained in Mhaidsse.
Kfarakab become the core settlement of the Maalouf clan and gave the family the opportunity to play an integral role in social, economic, political and military developments in Lebanon. From Kfarakab, thousands of descendants migrated across Lebanon, and later, internationally, especially since the late 1800s, settling in the United States of America, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Australia. Today, the Maalouf family remains prominent in several Lebanese towns and villages, most notably Zahlé where an entire neighborhood is named after the family, Niha, and Chlifa, in the Beqaa Valley. [4]
Some Maloofs (ancestors of Elias (Louis) Maloof) moved to Tebnine, possibly a result of the Druze War (1860).
[1] For more information, please see: El Chemor the Royal Family of Ghassan — Part 1 — The Origins: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWzvLfDMq_8, El Chemor the Royal Family of Ghassan — Part 2 — The Rule in Lebanon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZjSH0tKVsA El Chemor the Royal Family of Ghassan — Part 3 — The Modern Days: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl2PSKQBHYU and El Chemor the Royal Family of Ghassan — Part 4 — The Realms and Titles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y8FRKKcptM
[2] Excerpts taken from: Zahran, Yasmine. Ghassan Resurrected. Stacey International, 2006.
[3] This and preceding two paragraphs taken from: Zahran, Yasmine. Ghassan Resurrected. Stacey International, 2006.
[4] Excerpt taken from: Zahran, Yasmine. Ghassan Resurrected. Stacey International, 2006.
Other Ghassanid Family Tales
I. Concerning the original decision to leave Yemen after one of the many collapses of the Ma’rib Dam, in roughly 450 A.D., due to erosion, the family tale is as follows:
Christianity entered the South Yemen region and found favor with the Ghassanid families, who had a long history of deep generosity. This caused a religious division in the overall population.
As described in the Qur’an, Ghassanid families had already built palaces, domains, dams and gardens which were uniquely advanced.
The legend goes that a great King of the tribe of the Uzd Omar ibn Amir or Maziksa, who relied upon a dam to irrigate his lands, took to lying with two slave girls. His wife Tarifa found him, and told him that from that point forward, rats would gnaw at his wonderful dam. He visited the dam and saw the rats.
The King then knew that for safety he had to abandon the country, but to avoid panic he staged a fight with his own son in the midst of a great festival. When the boy struck him, he threatened to kill the boy, the guests intervened, and the King then vowed to leave due to the embarrassment.
Thus began the Ghassanid journey; they settled first in the Balqa region in Jordan.
II. The second Ghassanid tale involves their settlement in 490 A.D. in Roman territory. Upon arriving in Balqa, they met the Salih tribe, who were Christians and allies of Rome. The Chief of Salih demanded tribute and went to war against them. The Romans were soon in awe of the Ghassanid’s fighting prowess and agreed to their remaining in the region on three conditions: (1) they convert to the Monophysite form of Christianity founded by the Emperor Anastasius; (2) they pay some tribute; and (3) they agree to supply 20,000 soldiers if Roman territory was ever attacked (Rome to provide 40,000 soldiers if the Ghassanids were attacked).
The Ghassanids accepted these conditions.
III. The third tale involves the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian. A local poet and Prince named Imru ‘al-Quays had been dethroned and sought Emperor Justinian I’s assistance. Imru was traveling to Constantinople but died en-route, leaving behind a confidante with his shields. Another King, of the Lakhmid tribe, though his aide, demanded the shields while Imru was travelling, but the confidante refused to give them. The Lakhmid King then killed the confidante’s son, but still he would not surrender the shields. Thus, as a result of this, great loyalty was attributed to the Ghassanids and their allies, who in fact never departed from their Arab heritage and traditions. In summary, the Ghassanids gave a secure border to the Romans, and a national church to the Syrians and to the Arabs, with all of the force and power that unity alone can give.
The Ghassanids built the Martyrion of St. Jean the Baptist as a center for pilgrimages. They built castles in Qastal and in the Safa in Hawran and other palaces scattered over the desert. They did great works of restoration including churches and other public buildings, mainly the restoration of the cisterns in Rasafa (Sergiopolis) and the aqueduct that was used for the church of St. Sergius and was destroyed in one of the Lakhmid raids.[1]
One of the Ghassanids most famous allies was Theodora, wife of the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian. Theodora was a great reformer and women’s rights advocate who allowed the Ghassanids to consecrate their own Monophysite Bishops.
After the arrival of Islam, most of the family remained Christian, mainly Antiochian Eastern-Orthodox and Melkite Greek Catholic. Several prominent leaders are said to have received the special appellation of Maayuf (معيوف) meaning “exempted” or “protected.” This is the derivation of the name “Maloof.”
The Maalouf family’s rich history is marked by a dedication to culture and education. The family descendants continue and excel in the arts and sciences. Family members include politicians, judges, lawyers, doctors, engineers, musicians, poets, historians, journalists, military officers, public servants, and ecclesiastics. Fourteen generations separate today’s generation from their ancient ancestor Ibrahim Abi Rajih.
[1] Excerpts taken from: Zahran, Yasmine. Ghassan Resurrected. Stacey International, 2006.
Famous Maloofs
Some famous Maloofs include:
Maalouf
Amin Maalouf (born 1949), renowned Lebanese-born French author and member of the Académie francaise.
Edgar Maalouf (1934–2018), Lebanese politician.
Edward Maalouf (born 1968), Lebanese competitive hand-cyclist, and the only person to have won medals for Lebanon at the Paralympic Games.
Fady Maalouf (born 1979), Lebanese-German pop singer.
Pr. Raymond Diab Maalouf (1928–2016), High Court Judge.
Ibrahim Maalouf (born 1980), trumpeter, composer, arranger, and trumpet instructor.
Jhony Maalouf, contestant in Season 1 of the French The Voice: La Plus Belle Voix.
Maria Maalouf, Lebanese journalist and political analyst.
Melhem B. Maalouf (1937–1996), President of the criminal chamber at the Lebanese Court of Cassation.
Nasri Maalouf (1911–2005), Lebanese politician, Member of Parliament, minister.
Nassim Maalouf (born 1941), Lebanese classical trumpet soloist who adapted the trumpet to Arabic music.
Samir Maalouf, Lebanese actor.
Toni Maalouf, Lebanese actor
Malouf
David Malouf (born 1934), world-renowned Australian writer.
Jacqui Malouf (born 1968), Canadian television host, cook, and author
Joseph Malouf (1893–1968), the Melkite Greek Catholic Archbishop of Baalbek, Lebanon.
Michael Malouf, Australian businessman, former Chief Executive Officer of the Carlton Football Club.
Maloof
Adrienne Maloof (born 1961), American businesswoman and television personality
George J. Maloof Jr. (born 1964), American real estate businessman.
George J. Maloof Sr. (1923–1980), American businessman and, at the time of his death, owner of the Houston Rockets.
Manuel Maloof (1924–2004), American businessman and politician.
Richard Maloof (born 1940), American musician who played bass and tuba for the Lawrence Welk orchestra.
Sam Maloof (born Samuel Solomon Maloof) (1916–2009), legendary American furniture designer and woodworker.
David Maloof (1924–1992), leading international maritime lawyer.
Summary
The “Maalouf” family has its own coat of arms, which was commissioned from a historian by David L. Maloof:
In summary, the (Maloofs) Ghassanids are:
The oldest Arab Christian royalty!
The Arab Christian royalty who rules the longest!
The Arab Christian royalty who ruled the largest territory!
The oldest Christian royalty in the world, and are still in a very modest form active (although not ruling any territory)![1]
[1] For information on current efforts to reorganize the Ghassanids royal clans, see “Ghassanids: The Royal Christian Kings of the Middle East” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqLCw08c-20
One of Our Ancestors Was
The First Christian Roman Emperor
One of our Ghassanid ancestors was “Philip the Arab” (Latin: Marcus Julius Philippus Arabs). This warrior leader was chosen to be the Roman Emperor in 244 A.D. and ruled until September 249 A.D. He negotiated peace with the Persian Sassanid Empire early on and returned to Rome to be confirmed by the Senate. During his reign, the city of Rome celebrated its millennium.
Philip was in fact the first Christian Roman Emperor as described in Orosius’ highly popular Historia Adversus Paganos (History Against the Pagans). He was also identified as a Christian in Eusebius of Caesarea’s Historia Ecclesiastica.
Philip was born in what is today Shahba, Syria, about 90 kilometers (56 miles) southeast of Damascus, in Trachonitis. Philip’s rise to prominence began through the intervention of his brother Priscus, who was an important official under the Roman Emperor Gordian III. Philip assumed the purple robe as Emperor following Gordon III’s death in battle.
Moving westward, Philip gave his brother-in-law Severianus control of the provinces of Moesia and Macedonia. He eventually arrived in Rome in the late summer of 244 A.D., where he was confirmed Augustus. Before the end of the year, he nominated his young son as Caesar. While in Rome, Philip also made peace and claimed an official victory over the Persians with the titles of Parthicus Adiabenicus, Persicus Maximus and Parthicus Maximus. (The Persians also claimed victory.)
In 245 A.D., Philip was forced to leave Rome. Adversaries known as the Carpi moved through Dacia, crossed the Danube and emerged in Moesia where they threatened the Balkans. Establishing his headquarters in Philippopolis in Thrace, he pushed the Carpi across the Danube and chased them back into Dacia, so that by the summer of 246, he claimed victory against them, along with the title “Carpicus Maximus.”
Philip had the honor of leading the celebrations of the one thousandth birthday of Rome. According to contemporary accounts, the festivities were magnificent and included spectacular games, known as ludi saeculares (“secular games”), and theatrical presentations throughout the city.
Again, according to Eusebius (Ecc. Hist. VI.34), Philip was a Christian. Thus, unlike many Roman Emperors, Philip showed great tolerance towards Christianity (although it was not until after Constantine became Emperor that Christianity became the favored religion in Rome, beginning in 312 A.D.). Despite being Emperor, as a Christian he was not allowed to enter Easter vigil services until he confessed his sins and was ordered to sit among the penitents, which he did willingly.
Philip was a successful Emperor. The five years of Philip’s reign were a time of uncommon stability and repose in a century notorious for turbulence.
Who Were The Phoenicians?
Because you are of Lebanese ancestry, you also have a strong relationship with (and may very well also be descended from) the Phoenicians.[1] As described below, recent genetic research indicates that most of the present-day Lebanese derive their ancestry (over 90%) from the Phoenicians, a Canaanite-related population.
Phoenicia was an ancient civilization primarily located in modern Lebanon. Beyond its homeland, the Phoenician civilization extended to the Mediterranean from Cyprus to the Iberian Peninsula, including Rhodes, Tripoli, Malta and Spain.
The Phoenicians emerged around 3000 B.C.[2] and came to prominence in the mid-12th Century B.C. They were renowned among contemporaries as skilled traders and mariners, becoming the dominant commercial world power for much of classical antiquity. They facilitated the exchange of cultures, ideas and knowledge between major cradles of civilization such as Greece, Egypt and Mesopotamia and their presence endured in the central and western Mediterranean Sea until the mid-2nd Century B.C.
The 4th Century B.C. Greek historian Herodotus claimed that the Phoenicians first migrated from the Erythraean Sea to modern day Lebanon around 2750 B.C.
Sometime between 1200 and 1150 B.C., the Late Bronze Age collapse severely weakened or destroyed most civilizations in the region, including the Egyptians and Hittites. The period is sometimes described as a “Phoenician Renaissance.” The Phoenicians then in fact filled the power vacuum caused by the Late Bronze Age collapse by becoming the sole mercantile and maritime power in the region, a status they would maintain for the next several centuries.
In 539 B.C., Cyrus the Great, King and founder of the Persian Acaemenid Empire, captured Babylon. The Phoenicians remained a core asset to the Acaemenid Empire, particularly for their prowess in maritime technology and navigation. They furnished the bulk of the Persian fleet.
The Romans intervened and re-conquered the territory in 62 B.C. Shortly after that, the territory was incorporated into the Roman province of Syria. Phoenicia became a separate province in the 3rd Century A.D. The Roman Empire ruled the province up to the 640s A.D., when the Muslim Arabs invaded the region successfully and a process of Islamization and Arabization began.
Again, according to a 2017 study published by the American Journal of Human Genetics, most of the present-day Lebanese derive their ancestry from a Canaanite-related population, which therefore implies substantial genetic continuity in the Levant since at least the Bronze Age. This study found that 93% of the genetic ancestry of people in Lebanon came from the Canaanites, i.e. the Phoenicians (the other 7% was of a Eurasian steppe population).
[1] This description is largely from the following written sources: Sanford Host, Ph.D., Phoenicians: Lebanon’s Epic Heritage (2021), Captivating History, The Phoenicians: A Captivating Guide to the History of Phoenicia and the Impact Made by One of the Greatest Trading Civilizations of the Ancient World. Captivating History (2019), Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenicia, and other online sources. Accessed June 29, 2022.
[2] For further information, please see: The Entire History of the Phoenicians (2500–300 BC) // Ancient History Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-p8OZz5KJoo, The Phoenicians: The Great Navigators of Antiquity — Great Civilizations — See U in History: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuwQZ3PbUJM, The Origins of the Phoenicians (DNA): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6o2jZoMUj_8 and The Phoenicians — History Of The Phoenicians Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sganHAWJZB4
What Are Phoenician Values?
The following seven values have been identified as the historical Phoenician values:
1. Peaceful Resolution of Differences
2. International Trade
3. Religious Tolerance
4. Creating Partnerships
5. Respect for Women
6. Equality
7. Privacy
How Was Phoenician Society Structured?
The Phoenicians were organized into city-states, similar to those of ancient Greece, of which the most notable were Tyre, Sidon and Byblos. Each city-state was politically independent, and while most city-states were governed by some form of Kingship, merchant families exercised influence through oligarchies.
Priests were also highly influential and often became intertwined with the royal family. Furthermore, beginning as early as 15th Century B.C., Phoenician leaders were “advised by councils or assemblies which gradually took greater power. Also ingrained was a system of courts and judges that resolved disputes and punished crimes based on a semi-codified body of law and traditions. Lawyering emerged as a profession in Phoenicia for those who could not otherwise plead their cases.
In addition to an organized civil society, the Phoenicians also had an advanced military. Yet, compared to most of their neighbors, the Phoenicians had little interest in conquest and were relatively peaceful. The wealth and prosperity of their city-states instead rested on successful foreign trade, which required good relations and a certain degree of mutual trust.
How Were Phoenician Women Treated?
Women in Phoenicia were among the world’s first female leaders. They took part in public events and religious processions, with depictions of banquets showing them casually sitting or reclining with men, dancing and playing music. They had a voice in the popular assemblies that began to emerge in some city-states. At least one woman, Unmiashhtart, is recorded to have ruled Sidon in the 5th Century B.C. And the two most famous Phoenician women were also political figures: Jezebel[1], portrayed in the Bible as the assertive princess of Sidon, and Dido, the semi-legendary founder and first queen of Carthage. In Virgil’s epic poem, the Aneid, Dido is described as having been the co-ruler of Tyre.
Jezebel[2] was the Phoenician Princess of Sidon (9th Century B.C.E.) whose story is told in the Hebrew Tanakh (the Old Testament) in I and II Kings where she is portrayed unfavorably. Recent scholarship, which has led to a better understanding of the civilization of Phoenicia, the role of women, and the struggle of the adherents of the Hebrew god Yahweh for dominance over the worship of the Canaanite deities Astarte and Baal, suggest a different, and more favorable, picture of Jezebel as a woman’s rights activist ahead of her time married into a culture whose religious class saw her as a formidable threat (phoenicia.org).
Jezebel’s father was King Ethbaal of Sidon, a Phoenician High Priest. Her name means “Daughter of Baal” or, as one would say today, “Daughter of God.” Jezebel was married to King Ahab of the Northern Kingdom of Israel as a means to cement an alliance between that city and her home state of Sidon. Upon arrival in her new home she almost immediately came into conflict with the Jewish religious class by asserting her own independence, faithfully setting up shrines and temples to the gods of her own understanding and beliefs. She imported her own priests — and priestesses. Her seemingly rebellious attitude toward the religion of her husband upset the prophet Elijah who opposed her from the first. Their conflict escalates to the point where Elijah challenges Jezebel’s priests of Baal to a duel on Mount Carmel.
Phoenician women thus in fact enjoyed enormous liberty and were considered the equals of males. Both men and women presided over religious gatherings as priests and priestesses and, as daughter of a High Priest, Jezebel herself was initiated into the priesthood. Her on-going conflict with the Prophet Elijah chronicled in I Kings was thus an impossible clash by a woman ahead of her time in cultural understanding as the Israelites were not accustomed to a strong female ruler and Jezebel was not willing to have second-class citizen status (phoenicia.org).
[1] For more information, please see: Jezebel: The Bible’s Ultimate Femme Fatale | Naked Archaeologist | Parable: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EG7NH2p8IM
[2] This description is largely from Brewminate, https://brewminate.com/jezebel-phoenician-princess-of-ancient-sidon-queen-of-israel / Accessed July 5, 2022.
What Was the Phoenician Religion?
Religious practices and beliefs of Phoenicia[1] shared some similarities common to the ancient Semitic world. The supreme god was called “El.” The son of El was Baal, a powerful dying-and-rising storm god.
As a result of Jesus’ ministry, much of the Phoenicians in Lebanon and Malta converted early on to Christianity. Malta was converted to Christianity after St. Paul was shipwrecked there in the year 62 A.D., was attacked by snakes and (it is posited) miraculously survived. Malta remains largely Catholic today.
[1] For further information, please see: The Religions of Ancient Canaan and Phoenicia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9klkMKZczA and The Religion of the Phoenicians: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KP24hLGNiTA
What Did the Phoenicians Invent?
The best-known legacy of the Phoenicians is the world’s oldest linear alphabet, which was transmitted across the Mediterranean and used to develop the Arabic script and the Greek alphabet, and in turn the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets. Then ultimately our English alphabet.
Around 1050 B.C., the Phoenicians developed this script for writing their own language, The Canaanite-Phoenician alphabet consists of 22 letters — all consonants. Through their maritime trade, the Phoenicians spread the use of this alphabet, which was eventually adopted and modified by the Greeks, in the 8th Century B.C. Credited with bringing the alphabet to Greece is Phoenician hero Cadmus. The Greeks added the first vowels. Today, this is the very same alphabet used in English, which is why the study of linguistic sounds in English is called “phonics.”
The Phoenician’s extraordinary international trade network is credited with fostering the economic, political and cultural foundations of classical Western Civilization.
The Phoenicians were building large merchant ships as early as 1200 B.C. and also developed several other maritime inventions. The amphora, a type of container used for both dry and liquid goods, was an ancient Phoenician invention that became a standardized measurement of volume for close to two thousand years.
The first example of admiralty law appears in the Levant under the Phoenicians.
Phoenicia lacked significant natural resources other than the cedars of Lebanon, and thus timber was its earliest and most lucrative source of wealth. The Phoenicians were also early pioneers in mass production, and sold a variety of items in bulk. The became the leading source of glassware in antiquity.
The most prized Phoenician goods were fabrics dyed with Tyrian purple, which color was originated by them and which were sold and lead to the amassing of considerable Phoenician wealth. The violet-purple dye derived from the Phoenicians collecting and removing the hypobranchial gland of the Murex marine snail, once profusely available in the coastal waters of the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Among the Phoenician’s most popular goods were fine textiles, again typically dyed with Tyrian purple, which was the cloth used by royalty throughout Europe. Homer’s Iliad, which was composed during this period, references the unsurpassed quality of Phoenician clothing and metal goods.
How Did The Phoenicians Save Christendom?
Phoenician history takes place not only in Lebanon, but also in other areas that they colonized, including Rhodes, Malta, Tripoli and on the Iberian Peninsula. Malta was colonized by the Phoenicians in roughly 750 B.C. To this day, Malta has 90% Lebanese/Phoenician DNA. In fact, even though Malta is just 113 miles off of Italy, the people of Malta speak not Italian, but the Lebanese-Arabic dialect. The country is also largely Catholic — the Phoenicians, again, having been converted directly by St. Paul when he shipwrecked in Malta in the year 62 A.D.
But most significantly, from May to September in the year 1565, the Phoenicians of Malta saved Christian civilization..
The Ottoman Empire was then on the rise — conquering even large swaths of Europe. They had already taken Constantinople in 1453. Once they took Malta, their plan was to move on and take Rome — and perhaps end the Catholic faith.
The Knights had already been defeated by the Ottomans in battle after battle — in Jerusalem in 1291, on Rhodes in 1522, and in Tripoli in 1560 — losing half the Christian fleet there. By 1565, the Ottomans ruled the Middle East, North Africa, from Algeria to Egypt, and Europe all the way to Hungary. There was no end in sight to their expansion.
The Ottomans arrived at Malta with 40,000 troops sailing on 81 ships, complete with cannons. Malta, in turn, was defended by just 500 Knights of Malta, and some 6,000 locals, genetic Phoenicians.
Thus, on Malta, the Knights now had a secret weapon they did not have in their prior battles — the local Phoenician population, who fought valiantly beside them.
The siege was brutal. The Ottomans placed captive Christians on crosses, cut off their heads and floated them across the bay to the Knight’s fort, to terrorize them. The Knights in turn cut off the heads of their captives and fired them back at the Ottoman ships — in their cannons.
The casualties were heavy. But amazingly, in Malta, because of the Phoenicians, the Christians finally stood firm. The Ottomans retreated, the Ottoman advances were stunted, and ultimately the Christian world survived.
Conclusion
In summary, you can be proud that your Ghassanid ancestors and their fellow Phoenician countrymen:
Mastered sailing,
Pioneered peaceful international trade,
Promoted women and representative democracy,
Were the Arab Christian royalty who ruled the largest Middle Eastern territory for the longest time, and provided the first Christian Roman Emperor,
Saved Christendom in 1565,
Invented the color purple; and
Invented the alphabet!
Genealogy
The Maloof family genealogy up to Elias (Louis) Maloof is below.
