Page 13 - Byblos Menu

The Phoenician Alphabet
invented in Byblos Decline

of Byblos
It is during the period of Egyptian occupation
that the Phoenician culture developed arguably
After the conquest of the region by
their most important contribution to the world:
Alexander the Great, and the destruction
their alphabet of 22 characters of Tyre in 332 BCE, Byblos again

Through trade, the Phoenician alphabet prospered and became completely
travelled first to Greece around 800 BCE and Hellenized, adopting Greek culture, dress,
then spread to other countries through Greek and language. During the Hellenistic
merchants. period (330-64 BCE) Byblos became most
famous for the production of papyrus
which would give it its Greek name. In
64 BCE the region was conquered by the
Roman general Pompey the Great and
continued as a Roman colony from 64
Aleph Bet Giml Dalet
BCE to 395 CE. The Romans, as usual,
A B C G D
improved upon the city they found,
ordering the streets and building large
temples, Roman baths, and civic gardens.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, the
He Waw Zayin Heth
E F U V Y W Z H Byzantine Empire controlled Byblos
from 395-637 CE when the Muslim Arab
invaders took the region and drove the
Byzantines out.

The great port was virtually ignored for
Teth Yodh Kaph Lamedh
- I J K L centuries and provided an easy target for
invading Crusaders in 1098 CE during
the First Crusade. Once the Crusaders
had been driven out, the Muslim rulers
Mem Nun Samekh Ayin continued to neglect the city, busying
M N X O themselves with rule further inland.
Byblos was forgotten for centuries until
the work of the French historian Ernest

Renan brought the city back to light in
Pe Tsade Qoph Resh 1860 CE.
P - Q R

Shin Taw
S T