Ancient history Arwad has been continuously inhabited since at least the 3rd millennium BC. it was mentioned in the archive of the Royal Palace of
Ebla, then at
Alalakh. The island was settled in the early 2nd millenniumBC by the
Phoenicians. Located some north of
Tripoli, it was a barren rock covered with fortifications and houses several stories in height. The island was about 800 m long by 500 m wide, surrounded by a massive wall, and an artificial harbor was constructed on the east toward the mainland. It developed into a trading city in early times, as did most of the Phoenician cities on this coast. It had a powerful navy, and its ships are mentioned in the monuments of
Egypt and
Assyria. In the
Bible, an "Arvad" is noted as the forefather of the "Arvadites", a Canaanite people. The Phoenicians collected rain water in cisterns and shipped fresh water to the island, eventually discovering an undersea freshwater spring nearby. It is also mentioned in the
Amarna letters as being in league with the
Amorites in their attacks on the Egyptian possessions in Syria. About 1200BC or a little later, it was sacked by invaders from
Asia Minor or the islands, as were most of the cities on the coast. but it recovered when they were driven back.
Assyrian period Its maritime importance is indicated by the inscriptions of the Assyrian kings.
Tiglath-pileser I (BC) boasts that he sailed in the ships of Arwad.
Ashurnasirpal II (BC) made it tributary, but it revolted and 200 men of Arwad were mentioned among the allies of
Hadadezer of
Aram Damascus at the
Battle of Qarqar, when all Syria seems to have been in league against
Shalmaneser III (). At this time, the king of Arwad was Mattan Baal. It was afterward tributary to
Tiglath-pileser III and
Sennacherib; under Sennacherib, its king was Abd-Ilihit .
Ashurbanipal () compelled its king Yakinlu to submit and send one of his daughters to become a member of the royal harem.
Persian period Under the Persians, Arwad was allowed to unite in a confederation with
Sidon and
Tyre, with a common council at Tripolis. The
Book of Ezekiel refers to its seamen and soldiers in the service of
Tyre.
Alexander the Great and Hellenistic period When
Alexander the Great invaded Syria in 332 BC, the king of Arwad,
Gerostratus, and his son Straton submitted to him without resistance and sent their navy to support his
Siege of Tyre. It seems to have received the favor of the
Seleucid kings of
Syria and enjoyed the right of asylum for political refugees. It is mentioned in a rescript from Rome about 138BC in connection with other cities and rulers of the East, to show favor to the
Jews. This was after Rome had begun to interfere in the affairs of
Judea and
Syria and indicates that Arwad was still of considerable importance at that time. The city has been cited as one of the first known examples of a
republic in the
Levant region, in which the people, rather than a monarch, are described as sovereign. The island was important as a base for commercial ventures into the
Orontes valley. Arwad inaugurated a new civic era in 259 BC, when its traditional royalty disappeared, and it became a free independent city within the
Seleucid kingdom, during the reign of
Antiochus II.
Roman period In Roman times, Arwad fiercely resisted
Mark Antony when he came to Syria to find money there. When the city refused to co-operate, it was besieged in 38 BC, then eventually surrendered, which marked the end of its independence in 34–35 BC.
Bishopric The city of Aradus, as it was then called, became a Christian
bishopric.
Athanasius reports that, under
Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, Cymatius, the Chalcedonian bishop of Aradus and also of
Antaradus (whose names indicate that they were neighbouring towns facing each other) was driven out by the
Arians. At the
First Council of Constantinople in 381, Mocimus appears as bishop of Aradus. At the time of the
Council of Ephesus (431), some sources speak of a Musaeus as bishop of Aradus and Antaradus, while others mention only Aradus or only Antaradus. Alexander was at the
Council of Chalcedon in 451 as bishop of Antaradus, Paulus as bishop of Aradus, while, at a synod held at Antioch shortly before, Paulus took part as bishop of both Aradus and Antaradus. In 458, Atticus signed, as bishop of Aradus, the letter of the bishops of the province of
Phoenicia Prima to Byzantine Emperor
Leo I the Thracian protesting about the murder of
Proterius of Alexandria. Theodorus or Theodosius, who died in 518, is mentioned as bishop of Antaradus in a letter from the bishops of the province regarding
Severus of Antioch that was read at a synod held by
Patriarch Mennas of Constantinople. The acts of the
Second Council of Constantinople in 553 were signed by Asyncretius as bishop of Aradus. At the time of the Crusades, Antaradus, by then called Tartus or Tortosa, was a
Latin Church diocese, whose bishop also held the titles of Aradus and
Maraclea (perhaps Rachlea). It was united to the see of
Famagusta in Cyprus in 1295. No longer a residential bishopric, Aradus is today listed by the
Catholic Church as a
titular see.
Medieval history , 1745 During the later part of the 13th century, in the time of the
Crusades, the island of Ruad was used as a
bridgehead or staging area by the Crusaders. It was the last piece of land that the Crusaders maintained in the Holy Land. The Crusaders had lost control of the mainland in 1291 (see
Fall of Acre), and the dwindling
Kingdom of Jerusalem had been relocated to the island of
Cyprus. In early 1300, in an attempt to coordinate military operations with the
Mongol leader
Ghazan, the Cypriots prepared a land-based force of approximately 600 men: 300 under
Amalric of Lusignan, son of
Hugh III of Cyprus, and similar contingents from the
Templars and
Hospitallers. from which they launched raids on
Tortosa while awaiting Mongol reinforcements. When the Mongols failed to arrive, the majority of the Christian forces returned to Cyprus, though a garrison was left on Ruad which was manned by rotating groups of different Cypriot forces.
Pope Clement V formally awarded ownership of the island to the
Knights Templar, who (in 1302) maintained a garrison with 120 knights, 500 bowmen and 400 Syrian helpers, under the Templar
Maréchal (Commander-in-Chief)
Barthélemy de Quincy. In February 1301, the Mongols did arrive with a force of 60,000, but could do little else than engage in some raids around Syria. The Mongol leader
Kutluqa stationed 20,000 horsemen in the
Jordan Valley to protect
Damascus, where a Mongol governor was installed. Soon however, they had to withdraw. The
Egyptian Mamluks, who had been systematically re-establishing control over
Palestine and Syria, sought to take Ruad as well. A Mamluk fleet landed a force on the island, engaging in combat with the entrenched Templars, and then establishing a lengthy siege, culminating with the
Fall of Ruad, and the Crusaders surrendering on September 26, 1302, following a promise of safe conduct. However, the promise was not honored: all the bowmen and Syrian helpers were killed, and the Templar knights were sent to Cairo prisons.
Contemporary era During
WWI, the island was occupied by the French navy on 1 September 1915, under the leadership of Admiral
Louis Dartige du Fournet, including warships such as
Jauréguiberry, ''
Jeanne d'Arc and D'Estrées''. Later on, was appointed as its governor. Afterwards, the island was bombed by the Ottomans in November 1917, but their attack was repulsed by French sailors. Under the
French Mandate the dungeons of the fortress were used as a prison for those opposing French rule, as the captives' still-visible graffiti attest. In 1945, at the end of
WWII, France wanted to preserve the island, hence started working to build a military base, in a geopolitical framework, to maintain a military position in the region, and to keep a cultural influence. But as a result of pressure from the United States, the island was ceded unconditionally to Syria at the end of 1945, a decision confirmed in 1946. During the later half of the 20th century and the 21st century, the island's economy became more reliant on tourism, fishing and boatbuilding. This tourism focused economy was greatly impacted by the
Syrian Civil War, due to the decreased travel to Syria. However, there has been no conflict on the island during the war, and it has been controlled by government forces from the beginning of the war until the
fall of the Assad regime on December 8, 2024. Despite this, at least 20 islanders have lost their life in the course of the war. The
COVID-19 pandemic has also affected the island's economy, further weakening the tourism industry, with many local businesses losing potential tourist related income. == See also ==