23. ID Byblos

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In the beginning, Byblos was a humble fishing village named Gebal. However, due to its strategic location on the Mediterranean coast, the small village swelled into an opulent town via trade. Because of the abundance of prized timber surrounding Byblos in Lebanon, the town became the primary exporter of timber throughout the known world. The inhabitants of Byblos soon became the finest shipwrights the world had ever seen and were largely responsible for Phoenicia's reputation as a mighty sailing empire. Byblos took advantage of supply and demand cycles with Egypt to amass vast riches. However, as Tyre expanded in influence and size between 1100 and 725 BCE, Byblos' ability to monopolize Mediterranean trade diminished, although Byblos remained the religious capital of Phoenicia.

Byblos has a claim to being one of the oldest cities in existence, and its inhabitants believed that the god El had founded it at the beginning of time. The greeks bought much of their papyrus at Byblos, leading them to name their books "biblos".

http://www.ancient.eu/uploads/images/preview-2943.jpg?v=1431036354

Information Source: http://www.ancient.eu/Byblos/

Image Source: http://www.ancient.eu/uploads/images/2943.jpg?v=1431032440