Byblos, Lebanon

Wednesday the 9^th January

I remember thinking It’s a good thing I don’t have to work for a living or I would not be feeling good today. As it stood, the most difficult thing I had to do this morning was to get out of bed and get a pizza for breakfast. Alison had to head back to Damascus to catch a plane home early that morning and she was a happy bunny to be so early. Rob and I had planned a run along the cornice, but common sense told us both that was right out. So, Marcus and I spent the morning chilling in our room watching crap TV and recovering. We were sharing a room with another guy, Rory from Dublin, he was off to Tripoli and Bcharre that morning. We had planned to follow him up the next day. We decided if nothing else we could manage a trip to Byblos as it was only a 45 min bus ride.

We took a servise from the Charles Helou bus station north of Beirut to the ancient city of Byblos. Byblos was founded somewhere around 5000 BC. It is believed to be the first known city ever to be built in the world and it vies with cities such as Damascus for being the oldest continually inhabited city although there is no concrete evidence to suggest this. Byblos is a Greek name. The Phoenicians called it Gebal and the Canaanites Jbiel. It’s currently name derives directly from the old Canaanite name. It has many legends around it. Cronus was thought to have built the city and Thoth, who is purported to have invented writing, is thought to have resided there [Evidence of a Phoenician alphabet certainly exists from around 2000 BC. There is even a nice little translation chart you spell your name in Phoenician in the museum]. The name Byblos is thought to have come from the parchment that was shipped from Egypt to Greece through this port. Archaeologists love Byblos for the sheer volume of artefacts, human detritus, and historical evidence that lies in abundance under the foundations here. City after city was constructed at this site.

I won’t go into overt detail here because the history is extensive. If you want to read up on it there are plenty of sources on the web. However the usual suspects all had a hand in the development, or destruction, of the town over the centuries. The Egyptians, Assyrians, Byzantines, Romans, Arabs, Crusaders, et cetera.

The town itself is reminiscent of a Mediterranean coastal town. You could be quite forgiven for thinking you were in Greece, Spain, France, or Italy, as you stroll along the winding streets down to the quay. We took some lunch in a restaurant famous for being home to a local legend, one Pepe The Pirate. Hob-nobber with the rich and famous and playboy extraordinaire, this old funboy is depicted in photographs adorning every wall of the restaurant. It was a little uncertain as to whether this guy was still alive or not, but his spirit was definitely still around.

The site itself was a bit disappointing given the history of the place. The Crusaders had quite thoughtfully and considerately built a large castle on top of the previous one in the 13^th Century AD. There is a number of ruins from Phoenician temples dating back thousands of years, but they were so difficult to make out it was difficult to ascertain exactly what the guide was alluding to. The castle was reasonably impressive. The ancient city walls from the Byzantine period were quite cool, as were the remains of the city gates. The graveyard was a bit of a let down. There was a nice Ottoman-style house on the sea-front.

… Marcus and I are exploring the ruins of Byblos. They are pretty much that. Ruinous. Large signposts designate the area we are in as the Phoenician Temple of Obelisks. I can make out a lot of coke bottles and crisp packets which I am pretty sure are not dating from pre-Biblical times. The castle looms above us masking the setting sun. The thing that has interested me the most so far on this trip is the fascinating modern rail-tracks. These tracks have popped up all over the site They go under rocks, into walls, and earlier on we saw them heading off into the sea at the edge of the port. “Wanna go Choo-Choo!” I say. Marcus doesn’t look as optimistic as me about a train turning up.

We headed home after this and went out for an Italian on Rue Gemayze where we got chatting to two English guys. One was a painter and the other was working for the BBC. The painter was tripping around Lebanon taking inspiration from this ancient land. The media guy was making a documentary on him. We said good-bye and hoped we may bump into them again. Tomorrow we are heading North, into the mountains.