In the late fourth century Phoenicia was divided into two provinces: Phoenicia Maritima, which extended from Arados in the north to Tyre (capital) in the south; and parallel to that was the inland province of Phoenicia Libanensis, which included the Bekaa Valley and the steppe areas near the Syrian Desert, with its capital at Damascus.
On 9 July 551 a large earthquake generated a seismic sea-wave (=tsunami) that flooded and partly flattened the cities of Phoenicia. Beirut seems to have been the worst hit but most of the destruction seems to have resulted from the ensuing fire which apparently raged for two months. Beautiful buildings and works of art were lost. The Law School was destroyed and over 30,000 people are known to have been killed.
In 602 Chosroes II (r.590*628) used the murder of his friend Maurice (63; r.582-602) by Phocas (r.602-610) as a pretext to begin a campaign to retake the Roman eastern provinces. Heraclius (c.66; r.610-41) ultimately defeated the Persians, aided by a local revolt in which Chosroes was murdered and his successors negotiated a peace (628).
The invasion by Muslim Arabs began with a raid near the Dead Sea at the Battle of Wadi al-Arabah in 633. Damascus and Palestine fell two years later and the coastal towns of Tyre and Sidon fell soon after. By 637 the Muslims had overrun the entire region.
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