Berytus as Colonia and Civitas

The urban persona of Berytus, like that of most cities of the Greek East, had been influenced by a succession of rulers who imposed distinctive patterns of political administration. Berytus was known as the ‘Phoenician’ city Beruta in the Tell al-Amarna tablets (fourteenth century BC) ¹ and in the inscriptions of Ramses II (thirteenth century BC) ² and Asarhaddon (seventh century BC).