As part of the Levant, it was part of numerous succeeding empires throughout ancient history, including the Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Achaemenid Persian, Hellenistic, Roman and Sasanid Persian empires.
After the 7th-century Muslim conquest of the Levant, it was part of the Rashidun, Umyayad, Abbasid Seljuk and Fatimid empires.
During the 7th century the Muslim Arabs conquered Syria establishing a new regime to replace the Byzantines.
The Maronite community in particular managed to maintain a large degree of autonomy despite the succession of rulers over Lebanon and Syria.During the 11th century the Druze faith emerged from a branch of Shia Islam.Bechara El Khoury, President of Lebanon during the independence, Riad El-Solh, first Lebanese prime minister and Emir Majid Arslan II, first Lebanese minister of defence, are considered the founders of the modern Republic of Lebanon and are national heroes for having led the country's independence.Foreign troops withdrew completely from Lebanon on 31 December 1946.Their most famous colonies were Carthage in what is present-day Tunisia and Cádiz in present-day Spain.
The Canaanite-Phoenicians are also known as the inventors of the alphabet, among many other things.
The monks who followed Maron spread his teachings among Lebanese in the region.
These Christians came to be known as Maronites and moved into mountains to avoid religious persecution by Roman authorities.
Lebanon's history since independence has been marked by alternating periods of political stability and prosperity based on Beirut's position as a regional center for finance and trade, interspersed with political turmoil and armed conflict (1948 Arab–Israeli War, Lebanese Civil War 1975–1990, 2005 Cedar Revolution, 2006 Lebanon War, 2007 Lebanon conflict, 2006–08 Lebanese protests, 2008 conflict in Lebanon, and since 2011 Syrian Civil War spillover). Archaeologists discovered remnants of prehistoric huts with crushed limestone floors, primitive weapons, and burial jars left by the Neolithic and Chalcolithic fishing communities who lived on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea over 7,000 years ago.
Lebanon was a part of northern Canaan, and consequently became the homeland of Canaanite descendants – the Phoenicians, a seafaring people that spread across the Mediterranean before the rise of Cyrus the Great.
As the Arab Muslims conquered the region, the Maronites held onto their religion and identity.