I. Name

Lebanon is the name of a mountain range in Syria (Ar. Ǧebel al-Lubnān), which stretches ca. 170 km from the North (Nahr al-Kabı̄r) to the South (Nahr al-Qāsimı̄ya), and rises from the Mediterranean Coast reaching a height (at Qenāt al-Saudā) of 3083 m; breaking off to the East it joins the long Biqāʿ-Valley. Opposite, to the East, we find the lower mountains of the Anti-Lebanon. This prominent range is mentioned in cuneiform documents from Old-Babylonian times on, often written Lab-ni-ni (cf. RGT…