Brief History of Byblos from the Early Bronze to the Iron Age

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In this video we take a quick look at the fascinating history of the ancient Canaanite-Phoenician city of Byblos before its annexation into the Roman Empire.
Contents:
00:00 Intro
02:59 Early History
06:11 Egypt and the Amarna Letters of Rib-Hadda
10:25 Byblos in the Iron Age
13:07 Last Centuries as a Phoenician City
15:16 Thank You and Patrons
Related Videos:
History of the Phoenician City of Sidon from the Bronze Age to the Roman Period
kzbin.info/www/bejne/oKSko2yum76Zh5I
History of the Phoenician City of Tyre from the Bronze Age to the Age of Alexander
kzbin.info/www/bejne/ipfMaX5jopmjh5I
How did the Phoenicians Survive the Late Bronze Age Collapse and Build their Commercial Empire?
kzbin.info/www/bejne/inK9m61_h9xrg5Y
Who were the Phoenicians? A Quick Look at Phoenician History
kzbin.info/www/bejne/fobInWmwit9rfbc
Sources and Suggested Reading ► bit.ly/3UPgFGb
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Music:
Epidemic Sound
#Phoenician #ancienthistory #DubbedWithAloud

[@HVLLOWS1999]

Cy the Great does it again

[@HistorywithCy]

Haha thanks! Lot's more on the way, stay tuned and thanks for watching!

[@Artur_M.]

When the style of Rib-Hadda's letter to the Vizir Haya suddenly turned more casual, it caught me off guard. I think that the fragments of the written sources are my favorite parts of your videos.

[@HistorywithCy]

Yeah interesting point. I think that's probably because unlike with the pharaoh, Rib-Hadda saw the vizier more as an equal since technically both were civil servants. If you like written sources, you'll get a kick out of the next video... it'll have tons of them! As always, thanks so much for tuning in and watching, really appreciate it!

[@NikhillRao27]

@@HistorywithCy I've seen Ashurbanipal's testament on the sacking of Elam in like 3 of your videos and it gets me every time.

[@BiggestCorvid]

My favorite part of a Cy upload is seeing how many other people are just as excited. Now let's have a watch!

[@HistorywithCy]

Thanks man, love the enthusiasm and hope and thanks so much for constantly tuning in and watching... really appreciate it!

[@nomanor7987]

Please do some vids on Bronze Age Indus civilization and Shang China.

[@jennypoussin3866]

To Cy, the historian, at your feet I have fallen. May KZbin, the God of the Internet, bless your videos! 😅 Love when you read those ancient letters! 💕

[@HistorywithCy]

Oh, then you're love the next video, a bit long but with tons of quotes from letters and inscriptions. Thanks so much for watching, really appreciate it!

[@1AK2]

Watching from Byblos Lebanon .. we are the last remaining Christians of the land of Christ.. Very resilient till this day, against our neighboring hostiles. Surrounded by hizbollah / Persians at the south in the city of tyre, and the Assyrians to the north mainly the Assad regime. We remain.

[@basba_qal]

So, you're not a Phoenician?

[@1AK2]

@@basba_qal we do decend from Phoenicians, pertaining to BC lineage

[@basba_qal]

@@1AK2 Are you sure? Have you traced your lineage and heritage through your DNA? YOU are however, in your comment, adhering to your Christian identity, which was conjured up around 2000 years ago give or take a few years , which is totally in contradiction to what a Phoenician identity is or was, but a decendant of those invaders that Cy mentioned in this video. I'm sure, since you watch this channel, that you are familiar of the crusaders, the Islamic/Arab invasion, the Spanish inquistion etc. Hmmm, puzzeling! loss of identity and replacing it with a false indoctrination could have devastating consequences. So, Take care, friend.

[@MrWolfstar8]

Cheers from the USA.

[@brodyhess5553]

@@basba_qal are you sure ????

[@WanaxTV]

Long overdue! Welcome back!

[@HistorywithCy]

Thanks man, appreciate the support and looking forward to all of your new videos as you move beyond the Aegean (still love the Greek history though!) Thanks for watching!

[@jtmcgee]

ALWAYS learn something and enjoy your videos. Thanks 👏

[@dariaimpera957]

A pure pleasure to listen to your historical stories! Storytelling, voicing is excellent! Thank you for your work, Im your fan!

[@strobex3298]

Love the great content, thank you!

[@HistorywithCy]

Thank YOU for watching, this channel wouldn't be anything without viewers like you!

[@joeshmoe8345]

Great stuff Cy Guy, thanks for sharing with us again.

[@HistorywithCy]

My pleasure, more on the way and thanks for watching!

[@anasevi9456]

Thank you so much for another great video Cy.

[@HistorywithCy]

Thank YOU for continuing to take the time to watch, really means a lot!

[@LuisAldamiz]

Great job, as always, Cy. TY. I must say that I was a bit disappointed you went so quickly over the Neolithic+ prehistory of the city but that's largely because I did not read the title properly (clearly states: Bronze and Iron Age scope, my bad). I've been very intrigued by this prehistory because Byblos gives name to a regional culture (Byblos culture) which first used local type pottery but later somehow shifted to Cardium style pottery, the same type that (beginning surely at Epirus) was carried westward by the Neolithic settlers of Italy, SE France and Iberia (and would later, with "epicardial" variants, affect most of Western Europe as well). I'm aware of that and little more, so I was naively hoping for further info on this Neolithic culture of Lebanon and surrounding areas. This brings me to another most intriguing issue: Byblos' original name as Gubel or Gubla, and the fact they had a city goddess by that same name, reminds a lot of Cybele (Kubele in the oldest Phrygian texts AFAIK), which is almost necessarily the same as the goddessof Çatalhöyuk (lady of lions or whatever you want to call her) and somehow even a likely precursor of Germanic goddess Freja (who, like Cybele, rides a chariot pulled by felines... giant cats in the Nordic version). She's arguably also related to Egyptian deity Sekhmet-Bastet BTW and, of course, to the mainline Neolithic Earth Goddess (Gaia in the (pre-)Greek version, Mari/Morrigan in the Western one). This is something that I only considered now, as I watched the video, so it's sketchy, but still rings true (very plausible) to me. Another issue, already moving to the LBA collapse period, is how did the proto-Phoenician (North Canaanite) cities survived the collapse. My educated guess is that they must have been either the same or directly associated to the Shekelesh of the Egyptian narrative of the "sea peoples". These are described as circumcised, what makes them likely Semitic or otherwise under Egyptian influence (circumcision was probably an Egyptian thing before being also West Semitic or Canaanite/Jewish), also the very unusual Syro-Lebanese genetic tendency in modern Sicilians, strongly suggest that some group from that area (the Shekelesh quite apparently) conquered and (re-)settled the island in the Bronze-Iron age transition (plausibly associated to the Etruscans = Tyrsenoi = Teresh), also the very name seems related to "shekel" (= weight unit... of silver, later coin) and probably meant something like "mercenaries" or "pirates", maybe even "traders" (much like "viking" later in another time and geography). In other words: I speculate (with some basis) that the Shekelesh were proto-Phoenicians and that's how they got away from the collapse: turning from loyal vassals to pirate kings (or something in that line). Enjoy.

[@stormofyahuah2307]

Not only did I enjoy the well prepared video but your narration was easy to listen too. Thanks Cy. Liked and Subbed.

[@HistorywithCy]

Thanks and welcome! I'll do more on the Amarna letter's soon, stay tuned and thanks for watching!

[@IranTalk]

Excellent work Cy. Thanks for releasing this excellent video!

[@HistorywithCy]

My pleasure, thanks for watching!

[@johnnysmall]

Another great video Cy!!

[@HistorywithCy]

Thanks man, really appreciate the continued support! Babylonia is next!

[@johnnysmall]

@@HistorywithCy omg yay!

[@benmichel9563]

Nice to see you producing content again.

[@HistorywithCy]

Thanks, happy to be back... lots more on the way, stay tuned and thanks for watching!

[@benmichel9563]

@@HistorywithCy awesome. By the way tell Epithimus I am waiting for him to produce more content too. His drawings are great.

[@geraldmeehan8942]

Thank you! Great work!

[@HistorywithCy]

Thank YOU for watching!

[@Imperiused]

Was looking forward to this one!

[@HistorywithCy]

How you enjoyed it and thanks for watching!

[@TheRedneckPreppy]

Great episode Cy. As always thank you very much for your hard work.

[@HistorywithCy]

Thanks, always appreciate you tuning in! Hope all is well on your end and stay tuned for more!

[@robbabcock_]

Great stuff, as always!

[@HistorywithCy]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed in and more on the way!

[@LichsuhoathinhDrabattle]

Amazing video. Videos of channel helps linking so many little historical anecdotes together and interesting✨😎‼

[@HistorywithCy]

Thanks and glad you enjoyed it! More on the way, stay tuned and thanks for watching!

[@quintonbroster2994]

Fantastic as usual

[@HistorywithCy]

Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for watching!

[@Number1Irishlad]

Hey, I love your content! I just would like to ask, have you considered doing a video on the city state of Rhodes?

[@PopGoesTheology]

Thanks, for another classic, Cy!

[@HistorywithCy]

My pleasure, thanks for watching!

[@ancientsitesgirl]

As always, amazing video❣❣❣❣

[@HistorywithCy]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it and thanks for always tuning in!

[@tanerfox3284]

love your content man

[@HistorywithCy]

Thanks man, so grateful for viewers like you! Thanks for watching!

[@dewstrie7972]

Please continue this série on Phoenician cities especially Byblos!

[@cole6491]

Hey, love the video! Wondering what (kind of) music you're using in the background, it's great.

[@anitapollard1627]

Yay!!!!! Thank you Cy 🤗

[@HistorywithCy]

My pleasure, thank you for watching!

[@PenguinofD00mxxx]

love to see you post

[@HistorywithCy]

Thanks, love it that you're enjoying these! Will be posting a lot more in the next few months, stay tuned and thanks for watching!

[@Elephantshoe666]

I love this channel ! 🙌🏽👏🏻❤️❤️❤️😊

[@HistorywithCy]

Thank you so much, glad you're enjoying the content and thanks for watching!

[@megazekemeister]

What an amazing channel

[@Stefkicksass]

Some of the Amarna letters of Rib-Hadda are currently on display at the Byblos exhibition at the antiquity museum of Leiden. The cuneiform is much smaller in real life as I had expected it to be. Smaller than an average person's handwriting today.

[@HistorywithCy]

Oh man that's awesome! Yeah, they look like chicken feet and are often so clumped together it's hard to really make out what symbol is what. Thanks for watching and stay tuned for more!

[@vazak11]

Very interesting!

[@HistorywithCy]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!

[@magellantv]

Concise, yet so informative! Loved it!

[@jaroddavid5933]

Hey Cy, Great work as always. I’m wondering when you plan on getting into more of the social history of a lot of these civilizations - since you mostly cover the political side of things?!

[@HistorywithCy]

Yes, definitely want to... will be doing that for Babylonia in the near future and also for Egypt, but Canaan/Phoenicia would be good too, thanks for the suggestion!

[@SobekLOTFC]

Eeeey new History with Cy- welcome back, βασιλεύς! 😊

[@HistorywithCy]

Thanks, good to be back! Thanks so much for watching and stay tuned for some good stuff to come!

[@noahlogue3807]

ANOTHER HISTORY WITH CY!!!

[@HistorywithCy]

Love the enthusiasm and thanks for watching!

[@carvingtheway]

Awesome video 🥂🥂🥂🙏🏻🇱🇧💪🏻

[@HistorywithCy]

Thank you!

[@carvingtheway]

@@HistorywithCy 🙏🏻

[@jtmcgee]

4:45 ahhh archeologists and their creative and sometimes esoteric naming schemes. Its a wonder anyone can understand the functions and/or locations of important ancient structures.

[@JimmyStiffFingers]

Very interesting vid. ^-^

[@HistorywithCy]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! More on the way, stay tuned!

[@ninveh1]

As Assyrian i visited Byblos. Beautiful phoenicia.

[@dtice69]

Yehawmilk, huh? So you're telling me that 2500ish years ago there was a Texan king in the Levant? Fascinating.

[@HistorywithCy]

🤣🤣🤣 yeah sounds like they had rodeos back then! Thanks for watching and more on the way, stay tuned!

[@JonnoPlays]

I'd like to see more content on ancient goddess temples if you have the ability. It's interesting to me that the first major structure was a goddess temple.

[@juniorthomas6404]

Any idea when the next part of the Peloponnesian war will be posted?

[@HistorywithCy]

So I'm actually going to publish all of them at once because I really love that story and don't want to keep everyone waiting for the next chapters. Realistically I think it'll be out in January as I have some large projects on Babylonia, Assyria and then the one or two more Egypt Dynasty videos on the way. Thanks for your interest, I didn't think that many people were into the Peloponnesian War!

[@MalayArcher]

Welcome back :)

[@HistorywithCy]

Thanks, happy to be back... lots more on the way, stay tuned and thanks for watching!

[@MrWolfstar8]

History with Cy drop! 🎉

[@HistorywithCy]

Thanks for watching!

[@Bulgarian021]

Im also excited to see s new video, CY seems busier during the past 3-4 mnths. I hope all is fine with him

[@craigcollings5568]

❤ Jbeil!

[@lukevortex1037]

The RijksMuseum van Oudheden in Leiden, the Netherlands has a decent exposition about Byblos at the moment 👌

[@HistorywithCy]

Nice, I would love to go! I'm hoping to visit the Rijks Museum maybe in late 2023 or early 2024 as I might be in the Netherlands at that time, but the exhibit will probably be over by then. Thanks for watching and hope you get to see the exhibition!

[@dewstrie7972]

Hey Amazing video!! ❤ I am from Byblos actually !

[@HistorywithCy]

Nice, hope you enjoyed this short video on some of the ancient history of your city. Thanks so much for watching, really appreciate it!

[@GospelandSpade]

Great and interesting video. Ezekiel 27:9 also states that the men of Gebal/Byblos were export calkers (people who helped make a ship water tight) which is not surprising seeing their position and reliance on the sea.

[@StefanScripca]

long time no Cy!

[@HistorywithCy]

Hi and thanks for watching! I'm back and have a whole catalog of things coming your way, stay tuned!

[@clamsoup]

Byblos is a word for book, or library. It would have been known in Alexandria.

[@historiaconcountryballs4869]

can yo do a video of Arslantepe

[@bingosunnoon9341]

Why the never ending ad for magellan?

[@Sam-qi2gw]

okay now do the extended version

[@HistorywithCy]

I think there will be one in the future... not just on Byblos but all of the Phoenician cities together. Thanks for watching!

[@QalOrt]

Are Carthage and Utica videos in the near future? If you do Utica, are there extant native Utica sources since that city sided with Rome?

[@HistorywithCy]

A general one on Carthage, yes, some time in 2023. I don't have plans at the moment to do a separate one of the battle of Utica but let's see. Thanks for watching!

[@shmigo.gambino]

When you say the name yehawmilk I would have said more like yhwhmlk or yahweh is king. My personal opinion, but based on what know about the religion at the time and how widely Yehweh was worshipped in Canaan according to archological evidence I feel as if it was totally plausible

[@Emcee_Squared]

7:48 It seems this "7 times I fall" expression is a canaanite expression which made its way into hebrew. It is also found in Proverbs 24:1

[@HistorywithCy]

Interesting and definitely makes sense. I've only read that line/expression in translations of documents from the Levant (I think also in Hittite documents but I'll have to check). Thanks for watching and more on the way, stay tuned!

[@ajithsidhu7183]

Please do on arabia bronze age

[@HistorywithCy]

Will do one day for sure!

[@meenki347]

But why no mention of book production?

[@HistorywithCy]

Hmm, not sure if they had looks of books... more like clay tablets and papyrus rolls. Thanks for watching and more on the way!

[@meenki347]

@@HistorywithCy However, I heard that the English word, "Bible", originates from Byblos. Because making books was one, if not their most famous industry. I've only heard this and was hoping that you would mention it or explain more about this. The Encyclopedia Britannica says, "Hence the English word Bible is derived from byblos as “the (papyrus) book.” Though the first printed book obviously originates with Gutenberg, books were written by hand and stitched into books long before.

[@Rednecknerd_rob9634]

Just when I thought the Sumerian King Dudu's name was awesome, Yehawmilk arrives. 🤣

[@HistorywithCy]

Yeah I chuckled the first time I read the name out lout. Thanks for watching and stay tuned for more!

[@Rednecknerd_rob9634]

@@HistorywithCy lol, Not gonna lie, I nerd out a bit when you reply and stuff lol. I do look forward to what's up next. And I hope you and your family have a Happy and Holiday and New Year.

[@beepboop204]

🙏

[@HistorywithCy]

Thanks!

[@YadinZedek777]

The Kings of Byblos were the rulers of Byblos, the ancient Phoenician city in what is now Lebanon. Early period c.1800s BC Abichemou I c.1790s BC Yapachemou Abi I c.1700s BC Rib-Hadda, Yakin c.1500s BC Yantin-Ammu, Abichemou II, Yapachemou Abi II, Eglia Egyptian period c.1340s BC Rib-Adda c.1320 BC Ilirabi / Ili-Rapih c.1320? BC Azirou / Aziru (King of the Amurru kingdom) 1100s BC Zakar Baal Phoenician golden age 1000s BC Ahiram c.1000 BC Zakar Baal (II?) c.980 BC Ithobaal c.940 BC Yahimilik c.930 BC Abi-Baal c.920 BC Elibaal c.900 BC Safatba'al (I) Assyrian period c.735 BC Safatba‘al II c.710 BC Urumilki / Urumiku c.670 BC Milkiashapa / Milkiasaph c.650 BC Yehawmelek Persian period c. 500 BC Safatba'al (III) c. 480 BC Urimilk II c. 470 BC Yeḥarbaal (son of Urimilk II) c. 450 BC Yehawmilk (son of Yeḥarbaal) c. 425 BC Elpaal (’LP‘L); possibly married to queen Batnoam c. 400 BC ‘Ozbaal (‘ZB’L; son of Batnoam)

[@AbdulHannanAbdulMatheen]

👏🙂

[@HistorywithCy]

Thank you!

[@ItsCasprin]

ITS BEEN A CY DROUGHT AND I'M SO THIRSTY.

[@HistorywithCy]

Haha have a tsunami of content scheduled for 2023, stay tuned and thanks so much for tuning in!

[@henkstersmacro-world]

👍👍👍

[@HistorywithCy]

Thank you!

[@hia5235]

Makes you wonder if the semitic cities along the coast invited the Sea Peoples there to free them from their Egyptian rulers.

[@melvinjones3895]

all the gods are gone

[@SpaceElephanth]

e

[@al-hilalgames5708]

It's always depressing to hear the cultural genocide committed by the Greeks in this region...

[@alexislaisney3749]

If only they got them all.

[@dylan__dog]

Yahweh-Malik

[@AsherMoshe]

I must say your pretty incorrect 70 present then others

[@HistorywithCy]

How so? Please explain and cite some sources. Thanks.

[@joemachine4714]

Lebanese pronounce it Jibeil rather than Gabaal.

[@HistorywithCy]

Thanks for letting me know! More on the way, stay tuned!

[@reedheath1331]

𝕡𝐫ｏ𝕄ｏ𝔰𝓶 🌈

[@Vintage_Recreations]

The Hapiru are the Hebrews.

[@historiaconcountryballs4869]

can yo do a video of Arslantepe