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This is 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 archeological areas dominated by the
crusader castle, make Byblos a popular destination.
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