Early Bronze In the
Early Bronze IV, the Akkar Plain had three major sites in Tell Arqa,
Tell Kazel, and
Tell Jamous. The cultural focus had been towards the south and southern Levant, but now changed with more influence from Inner Syria and the use of copper.
Middle Bronze In the MB I the Akkar Plain still saw smaller settlements being added near Tell Arqa and the region reach its highest population density in MB II. • Phase N (Level 14) MB IA-B (compare Qatna J18-17). • Phase M (Level 13E-D) MB IIA (compare Qatna J16-14). • Phase M (Level 13C) MB IIB (compare Qatna J13-11). • Phase M (Level 13B-A) MB IIC/III (compare Qatna J10).
Late Bronze Amarna Period Irqata (c. 1350 BC) Arqa has the distinction of being a city-state that wrote one of the 382
Amarna letters to the
Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. The
city-state Irqata was the 3rd city of the
Rib-Hadda letters, (68 letters), that were the last hold-outs against the
(H)Apiru invasion. Sumur(u)-(
Zemar) was the 2nd hold-out city besides Rib-Hadda's Byblos, (named
Gubla). Eventually, the king of Irqata,
Aduna was killed along with other city kings, and also the 'mayor' of Gubla, Rib-Hadda. Rib-Hadda's brother,
Ili-Rapih, became the successor mayor of Gubla, and Gubla never fell to the Hapiru. During Rib-Hadda's lengthy opposition to the Habiru, even the city-state of Irqata and its elders, wrote to the
Egyptian Pharaoh
Akhenaten for assistance. (EA 100,
EA for el
Amarna). The letter is entitled: "The
city of Irqata to the
king". :This tablet-(i.e. tablet letter) is a tablet from Irqata. To the King, our Lord: Message from Irqata and its el[d]ers. We
fall at the feet of the king, our lord, 7 times and 7 times. To our lord, the Sun: Message from Irqata. May the heart of the king, (our) lord, know that we guard Irqata for him. :When the [ki]ng, our lord, sent DUMU-Biha|D[UMU]-Bi-ha-a, he said to [u]s, "Message of the king: "Guard Irqata"! " The sons of the traitor to the king seek our harm; Irqata see[ks] loyalty to the king. As to [ silver ] having been given to Subaru (region)|S[u]baru al[ong with] horses and Chariot|cha[riots] , may you know the mind of Irqata. When a tablet from the king arrived (saying) to ra[id] the land that the Habiru|'A[piru] had taken [from] the king,'they wa[ged] war with us against the enemy of our lord, the man whom you pla[ced] over us. Truly—we are guarding the l[and]. May the king, our lord, heed the words of his loyal servants. :May he grant a
gift to his servant(s) so our enemies will see this and eat dirt. May the breath of the king not depart from us. We shall keep the
city gate barred until the breath of the king reaches us. Severe is the war against us—terribly! terribly! -EA 100, lines 1-44 (complete)
Hellenistic and Roman period from Caesarea ad Libanum (Roman Arqa) After the death of
Alexander the Great Arca came under the control first of the
Lagids then of the
Seleucids. When the
Romans gained control over this part of western Asia, they entrusted Arca as a client
tetrarchy or vassal principality to a certain Sohaimos, who died in AD 48 or 49. It was then incorporated in the
Roman province of
Syria, but was soon entrusted to
Herod Agrippa II.
Pliny the Elder counts it among the tetrarchies of Syria. It was at this time that its name was changed to Caesarea, distinguished from other cities of that name by being called
Caesarea ad Libanum or
Arca Caesarea. Under
Septimius Severus (193–211) it was made part of the province of
Syria Phoenicia and so became known as
Arca in Phoenicia. Under his son
Caracalla (198–217) it became a
colonia and in 208
Alexander Severus was born at Arca during a stay of his parents there.
Crusades period At the time of the
First Crusade, Arca became an important strategic point of control over the roads from
Tripoli to
Tartus and
Homs.
Raymond of Toulouse unsuccessfully
besieged it for three months in 1099. In 1108, his nephew
William II Jordan conquered it and it became part of the
County of Tripoli. It resisted an attack by
Nur ad-Din, atabeg of Aleppo, in 1167 and another in 1171. It finally fell to Muslim forces of the Sultan
Baibars in 1265 or 1266. When Tripoli itself
fell in 1289 to the army of Sultan
Qalawun and was razed to the ground, Arca lost its strategic importance and thereafter is mentioned only in ecclesiastical chronicles.
Later period In 1838,
Eli Smith noted the village, whose inhabitants were
Greek Orthodox, located west of
esh-Sheikh Mohammed. ==Demographics==