Lebanon: Byblos Continuous Habitation

Another day trip from Beirut was to Byblos which bills itself as the world's oldest port and one of the earliest Phoenician city-states. The place looks to attract many visitors. The UNESCO site, not the most photogenic, is also hard to grasp. I don't think I have been to a more difficult site. It's a time/space warp. In a relatively small area, there are a dozen groups of structures dating from the 5th century BCE all the way to the Crusaders. In order to investigate earlier periods, some of the structures were relocated to a place nearby and reassembled. Such concentration of successive civilization is literally mind blogging.

The bus trip from Beirut to Byblos was short (45 minutes) but scenic. First we passed the site of the 2020 Port Explosion and its Memorials.




Then a good view of Mount Lebanon and the Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon.


Some shots through the bus window of the coastal road going north and a short 15-second video.






The Crusader Castle dominates the Byblos Archaeological Site. First below is a view from SE Tower of much of the site. And second below is the Crusader Castle as seen from the site.




View down to the City Walls (right) that have been used and reworked from the Bronze Age to the Phoenicians to the Romans to the Ottomans to the Crusaders to now. Wow!




The relocated Roman Theater. Nice spot, eh?


Some enormus Phoenician Sarcaphagi near the grave shaft in which King Ahiram's (969–936 BC) tomb was found and can be seen in the Beirut National Musuem (an upcoming post).




The spring and well called The Source has supplied the site with water for millenium.


Bronze Age Temple Ruins and 19th Century Ottoman House.


Crusader Castle.


Obelisk Temple from 1600 BC.


Photo of the ruins of the main gate where the old city wall is 30+ meters thick. Oh my!




The Crusaders reused Roman columns laid endwise to strengthen the castle walls.


Sightseeing boats in the Byblos port.


Another tasty falafel meal to end our day trip!