Byblos (Jbeil)

One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Phoenicians shipped wine from this port 5,000 years ago — the word "Bible" comes from Byblos (papyrus was traded here). Roman temples, Crusader castle, fishing harbor. Local wines available in old town.

What to do there

5 things to do

1. 1 Stand at the Temple Where Your Alphabet Was Born History · Price: low

   The 22-letter Phoenician alphabet invented at Byblos is the ancestor of every letter you're reading right now — Greek, Latin, Cyrillic, Arabic, Hebrew all trace back to this single port city.

   Where: Byblos Archaeological Site, main entrance on Al-Jdaydi Street, Jbeil. Admission ~$9-10 USD at the gate; hire a guide for $25 — worth every dollar for the stories you'll never find on a sign.

   What: Walk to the Temple of the Obelisks, built 1900-1600 BC. Beneath the stone floor of this temple, archaeologist Maurice Dunand found a ritual pit — a favissa — packed with 1,306 bronze figurines offered to Resheph, the Phoenician god of plague and war. Some are dipped in gold leaf. 262 of them are Egyptian faience animals: 80 baboons, 37 hippopotami, 17 hedgehogs. Someone was throwing serious offerings into this pit over centuries. But the temple's most world-shaking secret is what lies 200 meters away: in 1923, a landslide at the royal necropolis exposed Tomb V, home to the sarcophagus of King Ahiram, c. 1000 BC. His son Ittobaal carved a 38-word curse around the rim: anyone who opens this tomb will be destroyed. French archaeologist Pierre Montet ignored the curse — and found the earliest known example of the fully developed Phoenician alphabet. That curse is why you can read this sentence.

   How: Enter through the main archaeological gate, turn left toward the L-shaped temples and the Temple of Obelisks. The Bronze Age sacred enclosure and obelisk field are right there. Then walk toward the royal necropolis area (the shaft tombs are visible). The actual Ahiram sarcophagus is now in the National Museum of Beirut — but you're standing in the tomb shaft where it was found in 1923, on a site inhabited without interruption for 7,000 years.

   Backup: If the guide is unavailable, the site is self-guided but bring a printout of the Ahiram inscription to hold while standing at the tomb shaft — the contrast of the modern printed text with the ancient pit is the moment.

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2. 2 Read the Layers: Roman Stones Inside a Crusader Castle History · Free

   The Crusader castle at Byblos was built in the 12th century using recycled Roman columns and stones — you can literally see the seams where one civilization plundered another.

   Where: Byblos Crusader Castle, inside the archaeological site compound (included with site admission). The castle sits prominently on the right as you enter the site, surrounded by a 10-meter dry moat.

   What: This castle was built by the Genoese Embriaco family — the 'Lords of Gibelet,' as Byblos was called by the Crusaders — starting in 1100 AD. The building material? Roman columns, Roman keystones, Roman carved blocks. Look at the walls: you'll see column drum sections mortared horizontally into the fortification. The Romans built colonnades for a Mediterranean city; the Crusaders dismantled them for a fortress. Saladin captured this castle in 1188 and dismantled the walls in 1190. The Crusaders took it back in 1197 and rebuilt it. The castle standing now includes granite columns quarried in EGYPT — Egypt had shipped them to Byblos because Byblos had been shipping cedar to Egypt for 2,000 years. Trade going both ways across the Mediterranean, 3,000 years before the Crusaders arrived. Then climb to the ramparts for a panorama: the Mediterranean, the archaeological site, the harbor, the old town. At golden hour, the limestone glows amber.

   How: Included in archaeological site admission — no extra charge. Take the stone staircase to the top of the keep for the full panorama. The Site Museum inside the castle displays finds from the excavations; the most important pieces (including the Ahiram sarcophagus inscription cast) are on display.

   Backup: If the interior is closed for maintenance, the exterior moat walk and the view from the perimeter path give full access to the layered-stone storytelling.

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3. 3 Touch the Six Columns That Once Lined a Half-Mile Roman Street History · Free

   Six granite columns still stand where a 720-meter Roman colonnaded boulevard once ran through the city — and they were cut in Egypt, not Lebanon.

   Where: The Roman Colonnade, within the Byblos Archaeological Site — walk northeast from the Temple of Baalat Gebal (Temple of the Lady of Byblos, built 2800 BC and the oldest monumental structure in the Syro-Palestinian world).

   What: Six columns remain from a colonnaded street that once ran 720 meters through Roman Byblos, built c. 300 AD. They're made of Egyptian granite — not Lebanese stone. Byblos had been exporting cedar to Egypt for 2,500 years by the time Rome built this boulevard. In payment, Egypt sent granite. The columns arrived by sea, were erected in a port city that had been continuously inhabited for 5,000 years before the first Roman ever set foot here. By the time Rome arrived in 64 BC, Byblos was already one of the oldest cities on Earth. The Romans didn't discover Byblos — they just added a footnote. Also visible from here: the reconstructed Roman theatre (built 218 AD, moved from its original site between the city gate and the twin superimposed temples to its current position near the sea).

   How: After the Obelisk Temple visit (Step 1), walk toward the northern edge of the excavation area. The six standing granite columns are unmistakable — they tower above the surrounding stone field. Put your hand on the granite. It was cut on the Nile. The Temple of Baalat Gebal (2800 BC, rebuilt 5th century BC by King Yehawmlik, rededicated to Aphrodite under Rome) is immediately adjacent — 5,000 years of religious continuity in one courtyard.

   Backup: This area is always accessible during site opening hours. If the theatre is roped off, the columns are always approachable.

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4. 4 Drink the Wine the Pharaohs Ordered at the Harbor That Shipped It Wine · Price: moderate

   The wine of Byblos was described as 'fragrant' by Hesiod and Euripides — and it was being exported to Egypt in Canaanite jars 5,000 years ago from this exact harbor.

   Where: Chez Pépé (also known as Byblos Fishing Club), Byblos Old Port harbor front, Jbeil. Opened 1962 by Pepe Abed — the oldest restaurant on the Phoenician harbor, still family-run.

   What: You're sitting on the harbor that launched wine trade to ancient Egypt. The Phoenicians invented the amphora — the 'Canaanite jar,' the world's first standardized wine transport vessel — right here. An Egyptian New Kingdom tomb fresco shows seven Phoenician ships pulling into an Egyptian port, unloading those distinctive jars. The wine of Byblos was mentioned by name in classical texts as 'fragrant' — Hesiod wrote about it. The same harbor fishermen who work the water today are heirs to 5,000 years of maritime trade from this exact stretch of coast. In the 1960s, Brigitte Bardot and David Niven ate at this restaurant; their photographs are still on the 'Wall of Fame' inside.

   How: Order the catch of the day with a glass of Lebanese white — ask for Obaideh (indigenous Lebanese grape, described as honey and lemon) or a Château Musar white. The Musar story is worth telling over the wine: Gaston Hochar founded it in 1930 inspired by Lebanese wine's 6,000-year history; his son Serge kept the winery running through the Lebanese Civil War, maintaining his Bekaa Valley harvests even as shellfire hit nearby. Michael Broadbent called the 1967 vintage the 'discovery' of the 1979 Bristol Wine Fair, launching Musar onto the world stage. For budget: any Lebanese table wine in the souk costs $5-8 a glass and tells the same ancient story. Expect $25-50/person at Chez Pépé for fish + wine.

   Backup: Bab El Mina and Malak Al Baher are both harbor-front alternatives. Or sit at any souk café for arak (grape spirit, aniseed) — the original Lebanese drink — with mezze.

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5. 5 Hunt a 100-Million-Year-Old Fish in the Souk Built on a Roman Road Adventure · Price: low · Optional

   The Old Souk of Byblos is built on top of an ancient Roman road — and its fossil sellers offer fish that predate dinosaurs, excavated from a mountainside 23km away.

   Where: Byblos Old Souk, eastern end of the old town, accessible from the harbor after leaving the Chez Pépé terrace. The cobblestone streets were restored in the 1970s on Ottoman foundations built on Roman road foundations.

   What: The fossil shops of the Byblos Old Souk sell specimens extracted from Haqel, a mountain village 23km away, where a Cretaceous-era seabed was uplifted millions of years ago. Fish fossils here are 95-100 million years old — Cretaceous marine creatures frozen in limestone. The Lebanese government regulates fossil exports; shop owners will explain provenance. The Byblos Fossil Museum (Memory of Time) at the souk entrance has the best examples — sharks, rays, eels, squid in stone. This is not a tourist gimmick: paleontologists come specifically to Haqel for specimens found nowhere else.

   How: Walk east from the harbor through the old port gate into the souk — the cobblestones begin immediately. The fossil shops cluster near the main alley. Memory of Time (Byblos Fossil Museum) is at the souk entrance and open most days; admission is minimal or free to browse. A small display fossil (a single fish, 95 million years old) costs $10-30 depending on size. Budget $10-15. If you don't want to buy, ask the shop owner to show you the most dramatic piece — they love the conversation and will often bring out the serious specimens for a good audience.

   Backup: If fossil shops are closed (rare), the souk bars serving arak and Lebanese wine occupy the same Roman-road-Ottoman-era street. Sit, order a small carafe of wine or arak with olives, and you're still doing something that Romans, Crusaders, and Phoenicians did on approximately this same spot.

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