Throughout human history, Rosh Hanikra served as a passage point for trade caravans and armies between Lebanon and Syria (the Northern cultures), and Israel, Egypt and Africa (the Southern cultures. The book of Joshua (Chapter 13,verse 6) mentions "Misraphot Mayim" south of Rosh Hanikra, as the border settlement of the Israelite tribes of that period. Jewish sages refer to the cliffs as "The Ladder of Tire".
After the Arab conquests, the site was renamed A-Nawakit (the grottos). The present name, Rosh Hanikra, is a 'hebraicized' version of a lattter-dated Arabic variation Ras-A-Nakura. Alexander of Macedonia (323 BCE) is credited for having hewed a tunnel through Rosh Hanikra to create a passageway for his army after sieging Tire. Documents and drawings of pilgrims show stairways carved into the rock, facilitating caravans.
The first accessable road to motor vehicles was made by the British army in World War I. During the Second World War the British dug a tunnel 250 meters long for the railway running between Haifa and Beirut, thus allowing easy access for army cargo shipped from Egypt to the north. At the time of the British Mandate in Palestine, a road was paved and made available for commercial and private use. A border station and duty office were established at the site.
After the withdrawal of British police forces, the area came under Israeli control. The Lebanese border post is located 2 kilometers north of Rosh Hanikra. In March 1948, during Israel's Independance War, the Palmach blew up the railway bridges in the grottos to thwart a possible invasion of the Lebanese Army.
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