Byblos is an ancient mediterranean city, believed to have been occupied first between 8800 and 7000 BC. It has been suggested as the oldest continually inhabited city in the world. The Phoenician city of Byblos was important for the export of papyrus from Egypt to Greece.
Hellenistic rule came with the arrival of Alexander the Great in the area in 332 BC. Coinage was in use, and there is abundant evidence of continued trade with other Mediterranean countries.
During the Greco-Roman period, the temple of Resheph was elaborately rebuilt, and the city, though smaller than its neighbours such as Tyre and Sidon, was a center for the cult of Adonis. In the 3rd century, a small but impressive theater was constructed.
Although a Persian colony is known to have been established in the region following the Moslem conquest of 636, there is little archaeological evidence for it. Trade with Europe effectively dried up, and it was not until the coming of the First Crusade in 1098 that prosperity returned to Byblos, known then as Gibelet or Jebail.
Hellenistic rule came with the arrival of Alexander the Great in the area in 332 BC. Coinage was in use, and there is abundant evidence of continued trade with other Mediterranean countries.
During the Greco-Roman period, the temple of Resheph was elaborately rebuilt, and the city, though smaller than its neighbours such as Tyre and Sidon, was a center for the cult of Adonis. In the 3rd century, a small but impressive theater was constructed.
Although a Persian colony is known to have been established in the region following the Moslem conquest of 636, there is little archaeological evidence for it. Trade with Europe effectively dried up, and it was not until the coming of the First Crusade in 1098 that prosperity returned to Byblos, known then as Gibelet or Jebail.
Modern location: Jbail, Lebanon
(1)
Addirmilk
|
Aynel
An
AR
1/16 Shekel
struck c. 348-332 BC
in
Byblos
Obverse: Galley with two soldiers left, below hippocamp left
Reverse: Lion bringing down a bull left; 'Ayin yodh nun 'aleph lamedh mem lamedh kaph gimel beth lamedh
Diameter:
9 mm
Die Orientation: -
Weight: 0.6 g
Die Orientation: -
Weight: 0.6 g
No notes for this coin
Betlyon 21; SNG Copenhagen 134
(2)
Caracalla
An
AR
Tetradrachm
struck 215-217 AD
in
Byblos
Obverse: laureate head right; AVT KAI AN_TWNINOC CE·
Reverse: eagle on cross-garlanded altar facing, head left, wreath in beak; ·ΔHMAPX·_·EΞ·VΠAT·TO·Δ· / K / ·
Diameter:
25.5 mm
Die Orientation: -
Weight: 13.7 g
Die Orientation: -
Weight: 13.7 g
ex Münz Zentrum Rheinland
Prieur 1307
(3)
Elagabalus
Obverse: Radiate and cuirassed bust right; AVT KAI M AV_ANTWNINOC
Reverse: Astarte facing seated in tetrastyle, pyramidal temple, holding scepter; IEPAC BV / BΛOV
Diameter:
25 mm
Die Orientation: -
Weight: 13.3 g
Die Orientation: -
Weight: 13.3 g
No notes for this coin
SNG Cop. 146; BMC 55-60.