ShirkuhAsad ad-Dīn Shīrkūh bin Shādhī (ئەسەد الدین شێرکۆ; أسد الدين شيركوه بن شاذي), also known as Shirkuh, or Şêrko (meaning "lion of the mountains" in Kurdish) (died 22 February 1169) was a Kurdish military commander, and uncle of Saladin. His military and diplomatic efforts in Egypt were a key factor in establishing the Ayyubid dynasty in that country. Shirkuh is a Kurdish name which literally means "the lion (of the) mountain". Shirkuh is also the name of several villages in modern-day Iran.
ShahrbarazShahrbaraz (also spelled Shahrvaraz or Shahrwaraz; New Persian: شهربراز), was shah (king) of the Sasanian Empire from 27 April 630 to 9 June 630. He usurped the throne from Ardashir III, and was killed by Iranian nobles after forty days. Before usurping the Sasanian throne he was a spahbed (general) under Khosrow II (590–628). He is furthermore noted for his important role during the climactic Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, and the events that followed afterwards.
ZahléZahlé (زَحْلة) is the capital and the largest city of Beqaa Governorate, Lebanon. With around 150,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Lebanon after Beirut and Tripoli and the fourth largest taking the whole urban area (the Jounieh urban area is larger). Zahlé is located east of the capital Beirut, close to the Beirut-Damascus road, and lies at the junction of the Lebanon mountains and the Beqaa plateau, at a mean elevation of 1,000 m.
ArqaArqa ( عرقا; 𒅕𒋡𒋫) is a Lebanese village near Miniara in Akkar Governorate, Lebanon, 22 km northeast of Tripoli, near the coast. The town was a notable city-state during the Iron Age. The city of Irqata sent 10,000 soldiers to the coalition against the Assyrian king in the Battle of Qarqar. The former bishopric became a double Catholic titular see (Latin and Maronite). The Roman Emperor Alexander Severus was born there. It is significant for the Tell Arqa, an archaeological site that goes back to Neolithic times, and during the Crusades there was a strategically significant castle.
Emesene dynastyThe Emesene (or Emesan) dynasty, also called the Sampsigeramids or the Sampsigerami or the House of Sampsigeramus (آل شمسيغرام), were a Roman client dynasty of Arab priest-kings known to have ruled by 46 BC from Arethusa and later from Emesa, Syria, until between 72 and 78/79, or at the latest the reign of Emperor Antoninus Pius (138–161). Iamblichus, the famous Neoplatonist philosopher of the third century, was one of their descendants, as was empress Julia Domna, matriarch of the Severan dynasty.
Elagabalus (deity)Elagabalus (ˌɛləˈɡæbələs), Aelagabalus, Heliogabalus, (ˌhiːliəˈɡæbələs) or simply Elagabal (Aramaic: 𐡁𐡋𐡄𐡂𐡀𐡋 ʾĕlāhgabāl or 𐡁𐡋𐡄𐡀𐡂𐡀𐡋 ʾĕlāhaʾgabāl; Arabic: إله الجبل Ilah al-Jabal, "mountain god") was an Arab-Roman sun god, initially venerated in Emesa (modern-day Homs), Syria. Although there were many variations of the name, the god was consistently referred to as Elagabalus in Roman coins and inscriptions from AD 218 on, during the reign of emperor Elagabalus.
