The ancient biblical Byblos city

Byblos is an ancient biblical city of Hebe, located on the territory of ancient Phoenicia, on the sandy shores of the Mediterranean. The city is located 30 km from the present capital of Lebanon, Beirut. Now, on the site of Byblos is a modern Arab city Jbeil District. In ancient times, Byblos was one of the largest commercial ports in the world, and it is through him from Egypt to Greece delivered the papyrus.

The ancient biblical Byblos city 2

In Greece, it was called Byblos, and that it owes its name to the city. The first mention of it appeared in the middle of the IV millennium BC At that time, the city was famous for huge majestic temples of Baal and the god Adonis, who came here from Greece. In papyri found in Egypt, it is in the Byblos city Isis Osiris’s body was found locked in a wooden box.

The ancient biblical Byblos city 3

Incredibly strong maritime trade relations with Egypt were adjusted already to the III millennium BC But it did not last long, and in the end of the millennium Byblos city was in decline due to the fire incident. The activities it froze, but about the II millennium BC all it renewed, and the city became a center of trade again in Phoenicia, and sea routes spread to the Aegean Sea.

The ancient biblical Byblos city 4

Influence of Egypt at that time was so great that the Egyptian language was an official here. But a little later, by the end of the II millennium BC trade and political relations between Egypt and the Bible become equal. Over time, the Bible became the center of the Northern Phoenicia, but XXII Dynasty pharaohs some time kept control over it. But, despite this, for a long time the ancient city was the largest center of commerce papyrus, competing only with Sidon and Tyre.

The ancient biblical Byblos city 5

The excavations of the ancient city of some inscriptions that were compiled syllabic Linear been found. This letter is much easier than Egyptian hieroglyphs or Akkadian cuneiform writing and contain only 100 characters. But there were no word boundaries, which greatly complicates the reading. Unfortunately, until now decipher these inscriptions are not possible. Difficult to decrypt a small number of inscriptions and a unique form of signs, unknown among the writings of the ancient world.