BEIROUT, or BAIRUT, anciently Beretus (Βαρετος), a seaport-town of Syria, in the pashalic of Saide or Acre. A tongue of land, which presents a conspicuous headland when viewed from the north, extends itself in a plain about five or six miles from the mountains towards the sea; and on the northern edge of this plain the town is situated, on a rising ground, which contributes both to its cleanliness and salubrity. To the north the projection of the land forms a fine bay, the head of which is five or six miles E.S.E. of the town; and there is thus a roadstead to the N.E., secured from the S.W. wind, which is the prevailing one. The harbour is now choked up with sand and rubbish; and all that remains of the ancient structure is a pier, to which boats can approach sufficiently for discharging goods. All along its front are ranged fine shafts of gray granite pillars, which are used for mooring small vessels. Merchant vessels and ships of war anchor at a distance in the roadstead. The town itself is an irregular square, open towards the sea, and surrounded on the three sides which face the land with a wall built by Djezzar Pasha, defended by a few round towers of little strength, and far too feeble to resist an attack of artillery. Near the sea is an old castle, on which are six pieces of artillery; and at the common landing place is a ruined tower, built on a rock in the sea. The town is in general better built, and the situation is more salubrious than any along the coast; the streets are wider, and are paved with large stones. The dwelling-houses are spacious, lofty, and well built; the bazaars are amply furnished with provisions, as well as with Oriental and European manufactures; and the magazines near the sea-shore are large and convenient. The town contains three mosques, with their courts, fountains, and minarets; and four Christian churches. Water is abundantly supplied at all seasons from several fountains, constructed by Djeddar Pasha. The suburbs are nearly as large as the town; consisting of houses interspersed with gardens, which are planted with fruit-trees, and are extremely beautiful. "The situation," says Mr Carne, "is the most beautiful of all the Syrian towns; the environs are laid out in plantations of mulberry trees, and a quantity of silk is produced and exported." Indeed, the commerce of Beyrouth is greater than that of any other port in Syria; and it is increasing. It is the maritime emporium of Damascus, and of the surrounding country. British manufactures, such as cottons, muslins, cloths, &c., with bar-iron, lead, coffee, spices, indigo, &c., are imported. The returns are made in cotton, corn, raw silk (which is the staple commodity of the country), sometimes in wine and oil, and occasionally in specie. The population, amounting to about 12,000, is composed of Druses, Maronites, Greeks, Turks, Jews, Arabs, Africans. A Greek and a Maronite bishop reside here. Beyrouth still boasts some relics of the ancient magnificence of Berytus, that celebrated "nurse of tranquil life" (Βαρύτος βίον ευρεῖον τοῦ πόλιος), as Nomus has called it (Dionysiacæ, lib. xlii. p. 708 ed. Falk, Antv. 1569). The school of jurisprudence, founded here in the third century, long maintained a high reputation. During the reign of Justinian, the two imperial cities and Berytus were the only places within the limits of the empire where law was permitted to be publicly taught; and of the three, the Syrian school (of which Theophilus and Dorotheus, the associates of Tribonian in the compilation of the Institutions and the Digest were antecessors or teachers) appears to have stood highest in general estimation. But the prosperity of Berytus was first interrupted, and finally subverted, by some of the great convulsions of nature. In the year 384 the town was greatly injured by an earthquake, and in 554 it was visited by another which left it a heap of ruins. After this last catastrophe the professors transferred their school to Sidon, and the surviving inhabitants made an effort to raise a new city from the ruins of the old; but another calamity awaited them, and this famous seat of jurisprudence was totally consumed by fire.

After a long interval, the modern town of Beyrouth was founded by the Druses near the ancient site, and was possessed by the emirs as their capital and only seaport, until they were expelled by Djeddar Pasha of Acre. Beyrouth is an important possession in connection with the power of Turkey in the East. In 1840 it was bombarded by the combined fleets of England and Turkey, and wrested from the hands of the pasha of Egypt. Long. 35. 29. E. Lat. 33. 50. N. (Buckingham's Travels among the Arab Tribes; Volney's Travels; Carne's Letters from the East; Jowett's Christian Researches in Syria, &c.; Lamartine's Travels in the East.)