Jbail

Jbail (Byblos), one of the oldest towns in the world, goes back at least 9000 years. The rise and fall of nearly two dozen successive levels of human culture on this site makes it one of the richest archaeological areas in the Middle East. Millennia ago Byblos was the commercial and religious capital of the Phoenician coast. Byblos also gave its name to the Bible and it was here that the first linear alphabet, ancestor of our alphabet, was invented. In the modern town, 36 kilometers north of Beirut, the Roman-medieval port has been repaired and nearby are the extensive excavated remains of the city's past which stretch from the Stone Age to the Crusader era. This old part of town with its cafés and restaurants and with its archaeological areas dominated by the crusader castle, make Byblos a popular destination.


Columns	Harbor and Citadel	Greco-Roman Columns	Amphitheater	Citadel I
Harbor and Citadel II	View from sky	Citadel II	St. John Crusader's Church

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Š 1997-2001 by Ayman Ghaziayman@ghazi.de
Last changes: August 4, 1997}