Byblos ( ; ), also known as Jbail, Jebeil, Jbeil or Jubayl (, locally ), is an ancient city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. The area is believed to have been first settled between 8800 and 7000BC and continuously inhabited since 5000BC. During its history, Byblos was part of numerous cultures including Canaanite, Egyptian, Phoenician, Assyrian, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, Umayyad, Abbasid, Genoese, Ayyubid, Mamluk and Ottoman. Urbanisation is thought to have begun during the third millennium BC when it developed into a city, making it one of the oldest cities in the world, if not the oldest. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Etymology
The name appears as kbnj in Egyptian hieroglyphic records going back to the 4th-dynasty pharaoh Sneferu (BC) and as () in the Akkadian cuneiform Amarna letters to the 18th-dynasty pharaohs and IV. In the 1stmillenniumBC, its name appeared in Phoenician and Punic inscriptions as (, );. in the Hebrew Bible as Geval ();Ezekiel 27:9. and in Syriac as (). Eusebius' Onomasticon stated that Byblos was called "Gobel / Gebal" in Hebrew. The name seems to derive from (, "well") and (, "god"), the latter a word that could variously refer to any of the Canaanite gods or to their leader in particular. The name thus seems to have meant the "Well of the God" or "Source of the God".
Its present Arabic name () or J(e)beil is a direct descendant of these earlier names, although apparently modified by a misunderstanding of the name as the triliteral root or , meaning "mountain". All of these, along with Byblos, are etymologically related. During the Crusades, this name appeared in Western records as Gibelet or . This name was used for Byblos Castle and its associated lordship.
The Phoenician City, known to the Greeks as () and to the Romans as , was important for their import of papyrus out of Ancient Egypt – to the extent that "byblos" came to mean "papyrus" in Greek. The English word "Bible" ultimately derives from the Greek name of the city, Βύβλος ('Βύblos / Byblos').
History and archaeology
Situated approximately 42 km (26 mi) north of Beirut, Byblos holds a strong allure for archaeologists due to its accumulations of various strata resulting from countless centuries of human dwelling. The initial excavation was conducted by Ernest Renan in 1860, documented in his work "Mission de Phénicie" (1865–1874). This was succeeded by Pierre Montet's efforts from 1921 to 1924, and later by Maurice Dunand, who continued excavations from 1925 for a span of forty years. Renan's expedition was to "provide the evidence that the city did not move and that Gebeil is Byblos". [Original French]: "D’abord, le site de Byblos était fixé sans conteste possible. Le passage où Strabon définit Byblos une ville située sur une colline à quelque distance de la nier, avait égaré les savants. Renan lui-même avait songé à Qassouba, mais il comprit vite que cette colline était trop peu importante pour avoir été le siège d’une ville telle que Byblos. L’abondance des fragments antiques recueillis aux environs de la citadelle, la situation des nécropoles au nord et au sud de l’enceinte franque prouvent jusqu'à l’évidence que la ville ne s’est pas déplacée et que Gebeil recouvre Byblos." [English translation]: "First, the site of Byblos was fixed without question possible. The passage where Strabon defines Byblos as a city situated on a hill some distance away from it, had misled the scientists. Renan himself had thought of Qassouba, but he soon realised that this hill was too small to have been the seat of a city such as Byblos. The abundance of ancient fragments collected around the citadel, the situation of the necropolises to the north and south of the Frankish enclosure provide the evidence that the city did not move and that Gebeil is Byblos."
Fragments attributed to the semi-legendary pre-Homeric Phoenician priest Sanchuniathon say Byblos was the first city erected in Phoenicia and was established by the god Cronus. (Cronus was considered the nearest equivalent to the Canaanite Baal / Baal Hammon in the syncretising system used by the ancient Greeks and Romans.) According to the writer Philo of Byblos (quoting Sanchuniathon, and quoted in Eusebius), Byblos was founded by the Phoenician shrine god El (whom the Greeks identified with their god Cronus). During the 3rd millennium BC, the first signs of a town can be observed, with the remains of well-built houses of uniform size. This was the period when the Canaanite civilization began to develop.
Neolithic and Chalcolithic levels Neolithic remains of some buildings can be observed at the site. Jacques Cauvin published studies of flint tools from the stratified Neolithic and Chalcolithic sites in 1962.Cauvin, Jacques., Les industries lithiques du tell de Byblos (Liban), L'Anthropologie, vol. 66, 5–6, 1962. Remains of humans found in Chalcolithic burials have been published by Henri Victor Vallois in 1937.Vallois, H.V., Note sur les ossements humains de la nécropole énéolithique de Byblos (avec 2 planches). Bulletin du musée de Beyrouth. Tome I, 1937. Beyrouth. Tombs from this era were discussed by Emir Maurice Chehab in 1950.Chehab, Emir M., Tombes des chefs d'époque énéolithique trouvés à Byblos, Bulletin du Musée de Beyrouth. Tome IX, 1949–1950, Beyrouth. Early pottery found at the tell was published by E.S. Boynton in 1960 with further studies by R. Erich in 1954 and Van Liere and Henri de Contenson in 1964.Boynton, E.S., The Ceramic Industry of Ancient Lebanon. (Available in MS in American University of Beirut and in microfilm in Harvard Library) 1960.Erich, R., Relative chronologies in Old World Archaeology, Chicago, 1954.Van Liere, W. and Contenson, Henri de, "Holocene Environment and Early Settlement in the Levant", Annales archéologiques de Syrie, volume 14, pp. 125–128, 1964.
Dunand's five-level stratigraphy Prehistoric settlements at Byblos were divided up by Dunand into the following five periods, which were recently expanded and re-calibrated by Yosef Garfinkel to correlate with Tell es-Sultan (Jericho):
Early Neolithic (early phase) corresponding to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) of Jericho, represented by plastered floors and naviforme technology, dated between 8800 and 7000 BC; Early Neolithic (late phase) corresponding to the PNA of Tell es-Sultan (Jericho) IX (also Yarmukian) between 6400 and 5800 BC, represented by pottery, sickle blades, figurines and small points; Middle Neolithic corresponding to the PNB of Tell es-Sultan (Jericho) VIII and represented by pottery, dated between 5800 and 5300 BC; Late Neolithic corresponding to the Middle Chalcolithic of Beth Shean and represented by pottery, stone vessels, silos, chamber tombs and seals, dated between 5300 and 4500 BC; Early Chalcolithic corresponding to the Late Chalcolithic of Ghassulian, represented by jar burials, pierced flint, churn and a violin figurine, dated to between 4500 and 3600 BC and, Late Chalcolithic corresponding to the Early Bronze Age, represented by architecture and cylinder seal impressions, dated to between 3600 and 3100 BC.
The site first appears to have been settled during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B period, approximately 8800 to 7000 BCVogel, J.C. Waterbolk, H.T., Groningen Radiocarbon Dates X, Radiocarbon, 14, 6–110 / 105, 1972. (Durand's Early Neolithic).
Early Neolithic Byblos was a later settlement than others in the Beqaa Valley such as Labweh and Ard Tlaili. It was located on the seaward slope of the larger of the two hills that used to compose ancient Byblos, with a watered valley in between.
The original site spread down into the valley and covered an area of providing fertile soils and a protected landing place for boats. Dunand discovered around twenty houses although some of the settlement was suggested to have been lost to the sea, robbed or destroyed.Dunand, Maurice., Rapport préliminaire sure les fouilles de Byblos en 1948, 1949, Bulletin du musée de Beyrouth. Tome IX, 1949–1950, Beyrouth.Dunand, Maurice., Fouilles de Byblos, vol II, Atlas, Paris, 1950d (also part I, 1954 – part II, 1958).Dunand, Maurice., Chronologie des plus anciennes installations de Byblos, Revue Biblique, vol. 57, 1950b.Dunand, Maurice., Rapport préliminaire sure les fouilles de Byblos en 1950, 1951 & 1952, Bulletin du musée de Beyrouth. Tome XII, 1955, Beyrouth.Dunand, Maurice., Rapport préliminaire sure les fouilles de Byblos en 1954, 1955, Bulletin du musée de Beyrouth. Tome XIII, 1956, Beyrouth.Fleisch, Henri, Préhistoire au Liban en 1950, Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Français, vol. 48, 1–2, p. 26. (Contains report on Byblos presented by Maurice Dunand to the 3rd C.I.S.E.A., Brussels, 1948), 1951. Dwellings were rectangular with plastered floors, pottery was usually Dark faced burnished ware with some shell impressions.Dunand, Maurice., Rapport préliminaire sure les fouilles de Byblos en 1960, 1961 & 1962, Bulletin du musée de Beyrouth. Tome XVII, 1964, Beyrouth.
The Middle Neolithic was a smaller settlement of no more than adjacent to the older site. The pottery was more developed with red washes and more varied forms and elaborate decorations, buildings were poorer with unplastered floors.
The Late Neolithic period showed development from the middle in building design, a wider range of more developed flint tools and a far larger variety of pottery with fabrication including silica. The Late Chalcolithic featured developments of "Canaanite blades" and fan scrapers. Adult burials in jars started to appear along with metal in the form of one copper hook, found in a jar. Some jars were lined with white plaster that was applied and self-hardened after firing.Dunand, Maurice., Rapport préliminaire sure les fouilles de Byblos en 1957, 1958 & 1959, Bulletin du musée de Beyrouth. Tome XVI, 1961, Beyrouth. Copper appeared more frequently in the Late Chalcolithic period along with multiple burials in tombs and jar handles with impressed signs.
Early Bronze
According to Lorenzo Nigro, Byblos moved from being a fishermen's village to its earlier urban form at the beginning of the third millennium BC. Early Bronze Age remains were characterised by the development of Byblos combed ware and a lithic assemblage studied by Jacques Cauvin.Fleisch, Henri., Néolithique du Proche-Orient, Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Français, vol. 49, 5–6, p. 212. (Contains report on Byblos excavations of 1951 by Maurice Dunand), 1952.
Watson Mills and Roger Bullard suggest that during the Old Kingdom of Egypt and Middle Kingdom of Egypt Byblos was virtually an Egyptian colony. The growing city was a wealthy one and seems to have been an ally (among "those who are on his waters") of Egypt for many centuries. First Dynasty tombs used timbers from Byblos. One of the oldest Egyptian words for an oceangoing boat was "Byblos ship". Archaeologists have recovered Egyptian-made artifacts as old as a vessel fragment bearing the name of the Second dynasty ruler Khasekhemwy, although this "may easily have reached Byblos through trade and/or at a later period".Wilkinson, Toby, 1999, Early Dynastic Egypt p. 78.
EB IA (3600-3300 BCE): Rural/fisherman's village (Dunand Installation IIb from Chalcolithic to EB IA) with a shrine erected at the natural spring.Sala 2011 The spring was gradually built up as a sacred well.Dunand 1973a; Sala 2011 EB IB (3300-3000 BCE): Proto-urban town with a temple compound. (Dunand Installation III).
Middle Bronze In the Middle Bronze IIA, objects have been found at Byblos naming the 12th Dynasty king Senusret II, the 13th Dynasty Egyptian king Neferhotep I.
Late Bronze During the Late Bronze Age, the rulers of Byblos maintained close relationships with the New Kingdom pharaohs of Ancient Egypt.
Amarna period