City on Fire

Urbanity, originally uploaded by Piax.

Last Summer the conflict along the Israel-Lebanon border drew the world's attention. Hezbollah militants provoked Israel into launching a full scale war against its northern neighbor. Unexploded cluster bombs in southern Lebanon remain after the month-long war. These places remain abandoned for fear of unexpected detonations.

Although most of the fighting took place near the border, Lebanon's largest city and capital was also bombed by Israeli forces. The ancient city that modern Beirut is built over was poorly understood until archaeologists returned following Lebanon's 15 year civil war. They uncovered layers of Ottoman, Roman, Phoenician, and Hellenistic civilizations.