Byblos
—Jason

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Byblos is one of the oldest inhabited cities of the world and was a key player in the oceangoing trade that connected ancient Mediterranean communities.  Located just 26 miles north of Beirut, Lebanon, ancient Byblos was in a perfect location to facilitate the spread of trade, technology, and ideas between Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and other powers.  

This fascinating city developed multiple identities over the course of centuries. The Akkadians identified the city as Gubla, the Phoenicians who lived within its walls called the site Gebal, while in ancient Egyptian it appears as Kebny.  Byblos is the Greek name for this ancient city and the one most Westerners recognize.  The Greeks identification comes from an association with a particular trade good that was imported from the Egypt: papyrus.  .

Byblos was central to moving goods within the ancient Near East, Egypt, Africa, and then to the wider world.  The city itself was built along the shores of the eastern Mediterranean and offered its inhabitants multiple forms of commerce and resources.  The people of Byblos were able to exploit the sea and land to sell items not available to more landlocked cultures.  Very early in their history, the people of Byblos were able to build strong, seaworthy ships that could sail along the coastlines of Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Turkey, and Egypt.

The Lebanon and anti-Lebanon Mountains ensured a steady supply of fresh water that enabled agriculture to supplement the abundant fishing available to the city.  Those same mountains were also fertile ground for Lebanese cedars and other hardwoods.  Lebanese cedars were highly sought-after luxury goods that civilizations in both Mesopotamia and Egypt demanded.  The lumber was used to build furniture, caskets, or become the foundations for temple structures in regions that lacked good hardwood trees.

As larger civilizations expanded their trade routes, Byblos, and other city-states along the region of Syria-Palestine became valued trading partners.  Goods from Mesopotamia and further east were brought by donkey caravans and exchanged for cedar from Lebanon, ivory, gold, and animals from Egypt and Africa.  The ships and crews of Byblos quickly became an invaluable link in the transport of these items to the cultures living along the central and western Mediterranean Sea.

Small colonies of merchants and settlers from these larger civilizations were established to ensure easy trade relations.  With the introduction of those foreign elements, ideas and religions spread throughout the area of Syria-Palestine.  Egyptian and Mesopotamian temples were built alongside those dedicated to Phoenician and Canaanite deities.  Daughters from the royal family of Byblos were intermarried with the surrounding dynasties to reinforce trade and diplomatic relations.  

The Egyptians became the dominant power that protected Byblos for several centuries.  Ships from Byblos would sail from their home city and collect one of the most valuable items in the ancient world: papyrus.  The Nile Delta was a region that facilitated the largescale growth of papyrus reeds and their production into papyrus scrolls.  Egypt had a monopoly on this writing medium and papyrus was one of the major resources exported from the land of the pharaohs.  The Egyptians identified their trade partners’ ships as “Byblos boats” when they came to dock at the harbors in the Nile Delta where trade goods from Byblos were offloaded and Egyptian items filled the holds of the ship.

As Egyptian power collapsed in Syria-Palestine, Byblos’ position in the region shifted.  Byblos became the premier Phoenician city-state as the Egyptian New Kingdom collapsed.  The Phoenician alphabet spread throughout the Mediterranean Basin as the foundation for written alphabets of local languages.  The ease of the writing system made trade much easier to keep track of as a knowledge of hieroglyphics and cuneiform were no longer a requisite to keep records.  The Phoenician alphabet was adopted and adapted by many cultures with whom they traded. 

However, this newfound freedom and prosperity were extinguished when the Neo-Assyrians conquered the region between 738 and 701 BCE.  Byblos still maintained a royal dynasty, but they ruled as puppets for their imperial overlords.  The Neo-Babylonians were the next power to absorb the region between 626 and 539 BCE. They too were eventually overcome, this time by the Achaemenid Persians who ruled the region from 538-332 BCE.  Phoenician was a vital part of the western Persian Empire as it provided the bulk of maritime resources for their new overlords.  Trade between the Near East and Europe was facilitated with the help of the people of Byblos.

Alexander the Great was the next conqueror of Byblos and the other surrounding Phoenician city-states.  The young Macedonian king had conquered Greece and launched a large invasion of the Persian Empire beginning in 336 BCE.  Alexander scored major victories at the Battles of the River Granicus and Issus in 334-333 ensured the Macedonians had a free hand in Phoenicia.  Byblos surrendered to Alexander and aided him in the seven-month long siege of Tyre in 332 BCE.  The warships of Byblos reinforced Alexander’s blockading force.

At the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE the Macedonian Empire fragmented into separate kingdoms ruled by his generals which had major ramifications for Byblos and its people.  The Wars of the Diadochi lasted for the next 300 years as they and their descendants attempted to destroy one another.  Byblos bounced back and forth between the Seleucid and Ptolemic dynasties during this period.  The Roman Republic absorbed Byblos and the other Phoenician cities, beginning in 64 BCE.  

Despite its ever-shifting imperial overlords, Byblos continued to thrive as an economic powerhouse.  The ancient ruins of Byblos are beautiful tourist attractions that draw more and more people to each year.  The modern city surrounds the ancient ruins and allows easy access for visitors.  In addition to its archaeological sites, modern Byblos also is the home of the Lebanese American University and its campus is sited on a hill that overlooks both the ancient and modern city.