Arkite
|
Arqa عرقا |
|
|---|---|
| City | |
 Arqa
|
|
| Coordinates: 34°31′50″N 36°02′45″E / 34.53056°N 36.04583°ECoordinates: 34°31′50″N 36°02′45″E / 34.53056°N 36.04583°E | |
| Country |
 Lebanon
|
| Governorate | Akkar |
| District | Akkar |
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) |
| • Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) |
| Dialing code | +961 |
Arqa (Arabic: عرقا) (Phoenician: Irqata; Hebrew: ערקת, 'Arqat in the Bible) is a Sunni village near Miniara in Akkar Governorate, Lebanon, 22 km northeast of Tripoli, near the coast.
The former bishopric became a double Catholic titular see (Latin and Maronite). The Roman Emperor Alexander Severus was born there. It is significant for the Tell Arqa, an archaeological site that goes back to Neolithic times, and during the Crusades there was a strategically significant castle.
It is mentioned in Antiquity in the Amarna letters of Egypt-(as Irqata), as well as in Assyrian documents.
The Roman town was named Caesarea (of Lebanon/Phoenicia) or Arca Caesarea.
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 Hapiru. 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.
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