By Ashley Westerman
**Written on 7/12, but posted later.
Today we took our first sightseeing trip outside of the AUB campus and surrounding neighborhood. We spend a good portion of the morning and some of the early afternoon at the historic city of Byblos; a town about 15 – 20 miles or so away from campus. We left this morning as a group at 9 and arrived at the ancient city around 10.
On the way, we stopped on the side of the road at Dog River where giant stone tablets serve as a permanent timeline of major military forces who had either passed through or conquered Lebanon. Each tablet was inscribed with the date and forces involved in each campaign. From Napoleon to the Independence of Lebanon to Hezbollah, the tablets attest to how important the region has been throughout history. Unfortunately, the river has run dry but the bed is still there; the layers of history still visible from its shores. Because the Dog River fed into the Mediterranean, it was a prime spot for forces to pass through. Nestled at the foot of the mountains, this ancient timeline is on the edge of the main high way in Beirut for all passersby to see.
Byblos is arguably the oldest consistently populated city in the world
with Damascus in Syria as its other main contester. Byblos was originally ruled and populated by the Phoenicians who are also the people credited with creating the first alphabet and use of language.
When we arrived in Byblos, we were taken on a tour of the 6-acre city as well as the Crusader-age castle/fortress that looms above the ancient ruins. Our tour guide was a nice fellow; elderly but still full of jokes and very informative. He told us that Byblos has 6 names all together – one name for each of its acres. The castle, he said was built by the Crusaders after they tore down three original monuments of the city. As you can see in pictures, the castle is made up of mostly sandstone and granite. This castle reminded me a lot of the ruins Eric and I saw in Cappadocia with its winding stairways and complex design. The view of the ruins of Byblos on the edge of the Mediterranean Sea was very beautiful; a prime spot for a castle and a village.
On the tour we learned many fun and interesting facts about Byblos. We learned that villagers would carve out figurines of gods or themselves and place them inside a shrine near the middle of town. They did this to ask for protection from the gods. We also learned that the Phoenicians buried their dead – not their kings, but regular citizens – in clay jars in the fetal position as preparation for the deceased rebirth into the afterlife. (There is a picture of a 5-year old child in a burial pot in one of my pictures.) We also saw the graves of the kings as well as some sarcophagi that had been unearthed by excavators. We sat on ruined thrones of the same kings and visited their theater, which was on the last hill closest to the sea.
I’ve always had an affinity for history, especially ancient history and after having gone through the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul; I thought it was pretty neat that I even got to travel further back in time in Byblos.
After the tour, we had the most scrumptious dinner with Terry Anderson and our driver, Adel. I cannot even begin to describe the deliciousness of the entire meal. We began with one of each appetizer. This alone included: octopus in its own ink, fried squid, babaghanoug, hummus, pits bread, cilantro salad, keba, fried cheese rolls, an assortment of seafood meats and fried veggie rolls – just to name a few. For our main course we all ate fried fish, done “Lebanese style” and afterward we all drank Turkish coffee. I even got to read everyone’s fortunes! They were all good, of course. J
After this delicious meal we headed back to the AUB campus where we spent the rest of the day lazing about, trying to recuperate from all of our time in the sun. We did a little shopping after the sun went down and rounded out the night with a cheap yet still lovely meal from a local café near the University.
The weather is dreadfully hot here, but my excitement of being here still builds. Over the next couple of days, we should be pretty busy with lectures and trips. I believe on Wednesday morning we are going to visit a Palestinian refugee camp and then on Thursday, everyone else besides myself, is heading to Damascus. I can’t go because I was unable to get a Visa in time before I left the United States but I will meet them at a hotel in the northern part of Lebanon that evening so I am not too upset about missing out.
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