Aanjar is a particularly interesting sight as it is comparatively recent compared with other ancient cities in Lebanon (7th century AD). Also, unlike other sites, it has not been continuously inhabited and so its remains are specifically from an important period that are rarely found elsewhere. It was founded by the Umayyads and benefited from its strategic position on intersecting trade routes leading to Damascus, Homs, Baalbeck and the south. This almost perfect quadrilateral of ruins lies in the midst of the richest agricultural land in Lebanon.