Byblos

Byblos

Byblos is one of the oldest cities in Lebanon, inhabited since the Neolithic period. It is closely tied to the legends and history of the Mediterranean region over thousands of years, and is also deeply connected to the development and spread of the Phoenician alphabet. Byblos (known as Gebal in the Bible), an ancient Phoenician port in Lebanon’s coastal region, is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, with a history dating back 7,000 years to the time when the first groups of fishermen settled there.

In ancient times, Byblos had close ties with major empires in the East and the Mediterranean, and was one of the important centers of ancient culture. Today, Jbeil in Lebanon stands on the site of ancient Byblos. Violence has ravaged Lebanon, but the narrow streets of Jbeil’s old open-air market have remained almost entirely intact. Like flipping through a manuscript that records thousands of years of history, visitors can wander amidst the memories of this serene coastal city.