It’s home to the oldest city in the world

Byblos is the world's oldest continually inhabited city. It's around 20 miles (30 kilometers) north of modern Beirut. Byblos is a Greek name. Interestingly, the global papyrus gained its Greek name – Byblos – as it was exported to the Aegean via Byblos. So the English word Bible is actually derived from Byblos — it's a "papyrus book."

Recent investigations revealed that Byblos was occupied as early as the Neolithic period, which lasted from 8000 BC to 4000 BC. It was known as Kubna in Ancient Egyptian and was a major harbor for the shipment of cedar and valuable wood to Egypt. We know this because Egyptian monuments and inscriptions are extremely similar to those discovered along the Nile. The world's first alphabet was also developed here. Byblos was the birthplace of the Phoenician alphabet.