Beyrout

Beyrout, or BEIRÛT, believed to be the Berothai or Berothah of the Old Testament (2 Sam. viii. 8 and Ezek. xlvii. 16); and known to the ancients under the name of Berytus, as a Phœnician seaport belonging to Sidon. In the 12th century it was for a few years in the hands of the Christians, and has since been subject successively to the Saracen, Seljuk, and Turkish sultans. In 1840-41 it was bombarded by the English fleet under Sir C. Napier, taken from the Egyptians, and delivered over to the Turks. Beyrout is a flourishing commercial town, situated in a most picturesque position on the coast of Syria, and at the foot of Lebanon, 55 miles from Damascus, and 147 from Jerusalem. It is the chief seaport, market-town, and emporium of all the trade with the shores of Syria, Palestine, and Cilicia, with a regular service of Egyptian, French, and British steamers. The latter bring Manchester goods, woollens, Rangoon rice, hides, copper, iron, and coal, and return to England with corn and silk. Since the opening of the Suez Canal, a direct eastern trade in spices, coffee, indigo, and jute has sprung up. The roadstead is full of sand-banks, and large ships cannot approach within half a mile of the shore, but shelter is found during stormy weather in the Beyrout River, about 3 miles from the town. Commerce has of late years very largely increased, the annual value of imports having risen in 1848-88 from £550,000 to about £1,800,000, and the exports from a little over £200,000 to about £600,000. About half the total imports are from Great Britain. In 1886, 4009 vessels, with a burden of 618,699 tons, entered and cleared the port. Ship-building has received some attention. In 1859 a line of omnibuses, the first ever seen in Syria, was established here, and a French company completed in 1863 a good road to Damascus, of which Beyrout is the port; in 1875 an English company completed an extensive system of water-works, and in 1886 a concession for gas-works was sold to a Paris company. A Scottish school for Jews has been founded at Beyrout, as also the depot of the American-Syrian mission, with a school, printing-press, and medical staff. The population numbers some 80,000 (two-thirds of whom are Christians, and some 2000 Europeans) against 8000 in 1844. In 1890-95 a railway was made from Beyrout to Damascus.