Royal necropolis of Byblos

Phoenician temple remains with the Citadel of Jbeil in the background

Ancient texts and manuscripts hinted to the location of Gebal, which was lost to history until the advent of the 19th century. In 1860, French biblical scholar and orientalist Ernest Renan carried out an archaeological mission in Lebanon and Syria during the French expedition in the area. Renan had relied on Strabo's writing in his attempt to locate the city. Strabo identified Byblos as a city situated on a hill some distance away from the sea.[lower-alpha 2][19][20] This description misled scholars, including Renan who thought that the city lay in the neighboring Qassouba (Kassouba), but he concluded that this hill was too small to have housed a grand ancient city. Renan correctly posited that the Ancient Byblos must have been located atop the circular hill dominated by the Crusader citadel of Jbeil. Starting from the citadel, he had two long trenches dug; the trenches revealed ancient artifacts unquestionably demonstrating that Jbeil is the same as the ancient city of Gebal/Byblos.[19][20]

During the period of French Mandate, High Commissioner General Henri Gouraud established the Service of Antiquities in Lebanon; he appointed French archaeologist Joseph Chamonard to head the newly created service. Chamonard was succeeded by French epigrapher and archaeologist Charles Virolleaud as of 1 October 1920. The service prioritized archaeological surveys in the town of Jbeil where Renan had found ancient remains.[21]

On 16 March 1921, Pierre Montet, the Egyptology professor at the University of Strasbourg, addressed a letter to notable French archaeologist Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau describing Egyptian-inscribed reliefs he had discovered during a 1919 archaeological mission in Jbeil. The fascinated Clermont-Ganneau personally funded the methodological survey of the site, which he believed contained an Egyptian temple. Montet was selected to head the excavations, he arrived at Beirut on 17 October 1921.[22][23] Excavation works in Jbeil were inaugurated on 20 October 1921 by the French mandate authorities, they consisted of annual campaigns of three months each.[24]

Location of the cemetery

On 16 February 1922, heavy rains triggered a landslide in the seaside cliff of Jbeil which exposed an underground man-made cavity. The next day the administrative advisor of Mount-Lebanon informed the Service of Antiquities of the landslide and announced the discovery of an ancient hypogeum containing a large unopened sarcophagus.[25][26] To keep treasure hunters at bay, the perimeter was secured by the Mudir of Jbeil Sheikh Wadih Hobeiche.[27] Virolleaud arrived at the site to clear and make an inventory of the contents of the unearthed tomb;[26] he continued to supervise the digs and opened the discovered sarcophagus on 26 February 1922.[28] A second tomb (named Tomb II) was discovered by Montet in October 1923;[29] the discovery triggered a systematic survey of the surrounding area in autumn 1923.[30] Montet headed the excavation of Ancient Byblos until 1924; during this period, he uncovered eight other tombs, bringing the total number to nine.[10] Maurice Dunand succeeded Montet in 1925 and continued his predecessor's work on the archeological tell for another forty years.[10]

Tomb I consists of a 4 meters (13 ft) wide by 12 meters (39 ft) deep square vertical well giving access to an underground burial chamber carved partly from solid rock and partly from clay.[lower-alpha 3] The west wall, which isolated it from the exterior seaside cliff, had collapsed during the 1922 landslide.[40] The grave goods were not affected by the landslide; inside the burial chamber the excavators discovered several pottery jars floating in damp clay, and a large white limestone sarcophagus with three protruding lugs on its lid by which it could be manipulated.

Sarcophagus of Abi Chemu (Tomb I) in situ

The sarcophagus was placed in a north–south orientation.[41][27] A rock-cut opening is present at a height of 1 meter (3.3 ft) on Tomb I chamber's north wall, directly facing the sarcophagus. The opening leads to a 1.8 meters (5.9 ft) high and 1.2 meters (3.9 ft) to 1.5 meters (4.9 ft) wide corridor that adjoins the south side of the well of Tomb II. The same corridor is joined by a passageway emerging from the northwestern angle of Tomb I's well. Midway between Tomb I and the well of Tomb II the S-shaped corridor opens, to its north side, onto a small nondescript hole giving access to a roughly cut round cavity housing a disused archaic tomb.[41]

A coarsely built wall separated the chamber of Tomb I from its well. The well was filled to its brim with stones and mortar. The same material was used to build a platform around the well, on top of which were laid the foundations of a mastaba-like building. Little remains of the Egyptian-inspired structure because it was replaced by a Roman period bath. Unlike the well of Tomb I, the well of Tomb II was not closed off with stones and cement, but simply with earth. A thick slab of five to six rows of blocks covered the well opening and provided a foundation for a construction from which only a few masonry blocks remain.[42]

Well II is shallower than Well I; a single course wall separated it from the burial chamber. Tomb II did not contain any burial receptacles upon its discovery. A number of pottery jars and other artifacts sank in a thick layer of clay, with some of the jars damaged by falling rock shards from the chamber's ceiling. The ceiling of Tomb II's burial chamber is 3.5 meters (11 ft) high at the center of the room, it slopes down to a height of only 1 meter (3.3 ft) at its northern wall.[43] Four stones were found at the center of the chamber, they supported a wooden coffin that had disintegrated, leaving rich grave goods scattered in the clay.[29]

Montet demonstrated that Tombs I and II were not broken into before their discovery in 1922–1923 contrary to what his predecessor Virolleaud reported.[44] Virolleaud had found shards of glass lodged in the Tomb I chamber wall and assumed they dated from Roman times.[lower-alpha 4][27]

Cross-section of Well III: a, a': walls of large blocks; b: layer of concrete; c: cover of the well; d: foundation of stones and cement; e, f: vertical ducts cut in the thickness of the cover and at an angle of the well; g: materials filling the upper part of the well.

Wells III and IV are located west of Tombs I and II, adjacent to the northern wall of the Roman baths. The well opening of Tomb III measures 2.5 by 3.3 meters (8.2 ft × 10.8 ft); it was covered by a heavy layer of cement covering a masonry course sealed with ash, and vertically pierced close to its south-west angle by a square 30 centimeters (12 in) conduit reminiscent in function to that of Egyptian mastabas' serdabs. Another, similarly sized and shaped conduit traversed the deeper layer of well filling, but this one flanked the northwest angle of the well, and only ran to a depth of 2 meters (6.6 ft). The two conduits did not communicate. A niche was carved in the north wall close to the bottom of the well.[45][46]

Tomb III's burial chamber extends from the southern wall of the well, it was closed off by an uncemented single course wall. It is of fine construction with paved a floor and walls carved straight up to the ceiling.[47] Tomb III did not contain a stone sarcophagus, a number of funerary goods were found laying in a 70 centimeters (28 in) layer of clay.[48]

Tomb IV is located to the east of Tomb III; at 5.75 meters (18.9 ft) it is the shallowest of all the necropolis tombs. The well measures 3.05 by 3.95 meters (10.0 ft × 13.0 ft); its southern wall was covered by a 1 meter (3.3 ft) thick masonry wall and the burial chamber seemed undisturbed, but the excavators found that the limestone sarcophagus was opened and emptied.[49] A vertical conduit, similar to the one found in Tomb III was found in Tomb IV.[48] These conduits appear to have been a distinguishing element of the Byblos funerary cult.[36] The sarcophagus of Tomb IV lay at the center of the burial chamber facing the entryway, similar to all the other sarcophagi found in the surveyed tombs of the necropolis. The builders placed two stones at the base of the sarcophagus to support and level it on the sloping floor.[49]

Top: 1923 Photograph of the Byblos Necropolis graffito.
Bottom: Sketch of the graffito. [50]

The semicircular shape of Tomb V, known as "Ahiram's tomb", is unique within the necropolis. It was found half-filled with mud, with three tombs inside; a large plain one close to the wall, the finely-carved Ahiram sarcophagus at the center, and a smaller plain sarcophagus.[51] It was also the only tomb to have an inscription within its shaft. This inscription, dubbed the Byblos Necropolis graffito is found at a depth of 3 meters (9.8 ft) on the south wall of the shaft; it warns looters from entering the grave.[52] French epigrapher René Dussaud interpreted the graffito as "Avis, voici ta perte (est) ci-dessous" [Beware, here is your loss (is) below].[53][54][55]

The well of Ahiram's tomb is located midway between the northern tombs group (Tombs I, II, III, and IV) and the southern group (Tombs VI, VII, VIII, and IX). It is flanked on the west by a two course wall and column bases that were part of the tomb's superstructure. The soil on top of the well was very compacted; a conduit similar to the ones found in tombs III and IV measuring 2 meters (6.6 ft) was found in the northeast corner of the well. Molded fragments and marble plates, and numerous shards of pottery, which were markedly different from the ceramic fragments collected in the other tombs, were mixed with the earth used to fill the well. Two levels of four square slots are carved at depths of 2.2 meters (7.2 ft) and 4.35 meters (14.3 ft) respectively on both of the well's east and west walls. These four rows of slots used to hold two rows of wooden vertical beams and floors spanning the width of the well.[52] According to Montet, the builders of the tomb did not consider that the king's corpse was sufficiently protected by the shaft's surface paving slabs and by the wall built at the entrance to the chamber halfway up the well, so they laid wooden beams which acted as a third obstacle. The looters however, removed the paving and dug out the wooden structures; as they emptied the well, they could not have missed seeing the warning spell on their down to the royal grave.[55]

Below the beam slots no additional pottery shards were found, but near the bottom, against the eastward entrance to the burial chamber, several fragments of alabaster vases that had been cast out of the chamber had collected.[55][56] One of these fragments bore the name of Ramses II. The excavators found that the wall that closed off the burial chamber had partly collapsed, and the content of the room was disorderly and half-filled with muddy clay. A huge block of rock, fallen from the vault, rested atop the decorated sarcophagus of Ahiram that occupied the center of the chamber. All of the three chamber sarcophagi were looted and only contained human bones.[57]

Excavated sarcophagi with the medieval quarter of Byblos in the background[58]

This group of tombs is located 50 meters (160 ft) east of the necropolis cliffside and 30 meters (98 ft) south of well IV; they are built in a part of the hill with a heavy sedimentary deposit. The wells of these tombs are less well-preserved than the wells of the first group. The well of Tomb VIII was still covered with a layer of pavement, while Tombs VI and VII had lost most of their surface cover. The burial chamber of wells VI, VII, VIII, and IX are completely dug in muddy soil.[59] Grave robbers were able to burrow from one tomb to the next through the soft clay.[60]

The shaft of Tomb VI is the deepest of the all the necropolis' wells. An ashlar wall supported the shaft down to a depth of 6 meters (20 ft); beyond this depth the well continues through the muddy soil, without any masonry retaining walls.[60] Like the rest of this tomb group, Tomb VI was robbed of its content except for a few artifacts that lay in, and at the entrance of the chamber. There were no stone sarcophagi in this tomb.[59]

Tomb VII has the largest of the burial shafts, with sides measuring 5 meters (16 ft) each. The chamber of Tomb VII was dug like that of Tomb VI through hard rock and the underlying clay, and was found two-thirds filled with clay and pebbles. At the time of its excavation, the cambered lid of a stone sarcophagus rose through the layer of clay. The stone sarcophagus laid on a layer of stone pavement, and courses of stone that were in a relatively good state of conservation supported the walls of the chamber. The body of the sarcophagus of Tomb VII is roughly cut and is of simple rectangular shape. Two large lugs jut from each of the extremities of the concave lid that, like those of the sarcophagus of Tomb I, were used to manipulate the heavy cover. This tomb contained a good number of precious artifacts and jewels that appear to have been missed by looters.[61]

Tomb VIII is characterized by a lozenge shaped opening, which evens into a square at the bottom. The thin wall separating Tomb VIII from Tomb VI is perforated in its center, and Montet assumed that it was due to a quarrying accident. The well also reaches the layer of clay underlying the hard rock upper layer, and the tomb chamber was found filled with clay and gravel. The chamber had retaining walls, most of which had collapsed, and small pebbles covered the floor. A simple stone sarcophagus, a few fragments of alabaster vases, and other earthenware items were found in the tomb. No precious artifacts were recovered, except for gold foils that were mixed with the tomb's muddy soil.[62]

The well of Tomb IX cuts through 8 meters (26 ft) of rock. The wall closing off the chamber was not broken into, the looters had burrowed instead through the clay layer to access the chambers of Tomb V, VIII, and IX. The roof of Tomb IX had collapsed, and it was found filled to its brim with mud and ceiling rock shards. The chamber floor was covered by paving stones, and its walls were sturdy and in good condition. The looters almost completely emptied the contents of the tomb except for alabaster, malachite, and pottery receptacle fragments. Among the finds were terracotta artifacts bearing the names of two Gebalite kings, Abi (possibly a name contraction) and Abishemu.[63]

• Montet's sketches of the royal tombs
• 
  Context plan of tombs I and II
• 
  Section view of tombs I and II
• 
  Plan and section of Tomb III
• 
  Section views of tombs I, III and IV
• 
  Plan of Ahiram's tomb and shaft section view
• 
  Plan and section view of tombs IV, VII, and VIII

In total, seven stone sarcophagi were discovered in the royal necropolis of Byblos; a single sarcophagus in each of tombs I, IV, VII, VIII and three in Ahiram's tomb (Tomb V).[64][65] The other burial chambers are believed to have housed wooden caskets that have disintegrated over time.[64][65] Tomb II housed a wooden casket that has rotted away, leaving a wealth of objects laying on the burial chamber floor.[66]

The stone sarcophagi found in tombs I and IV are of fine white limestone sourced from the nearby Lebanese mountains; the walls of both sarcophagi are thick, well polished, and undecorated.[28] Moreover, the sarcophagi found in tombs I, IV, V, and VII share the same morphology which resembles the common stone sarcophagi of Egypt. One difference however, is that the lids of said Gebalite sarcophagi retain the lid lugs which allowed workmen to maneuver them.[67][41][27] These features, along with a number of tomb contents including similarly shaped alabaster containers, suggests that the entire group can be attributed to a restricted time period.[36]

Sarcophagus of Abi Chemu featuring lengthwise fluting on its lid

The sarcophagus of Tomb I measures 1.48 by 2.82 meters (4.9 ft × 9.3 ft), and is 1.68 meters (5.5 ft) tall.[lower-alpha 5][28] The side walls of the sarcophagus are 35 centimeters (14 in) thick; the bottom of the sarcophagus body is 44 centimeters (17 in) thick.[27] The rim of the Sarcophagus I lid is beveled; it is cut from below as to enter a few centimeters into the sarcophagus body. The back of the lid is rounded and striated with lengthwise irregularly sized flutes. The central flute is the widest; it is flanked by five, decreasingly smaller flutes from each side.[68] Three lugs protrude obliquely from the lid's exterior close to its corners; the lug at the northwestern corner and an entire corner section of the lid have broken off at the foot of the sarcophagus. The sarcophagus was opened on 26 February 1922.[28][69]

The sarcophagus of Tomb IV measures 1.41 by 3 meters (4.6 ft × 9.8 ft) and is 1.49 meters (4.9 ft) tall. The body of the sarcophagus IV is slightly more sophisticated as both of its long sides are beveled at the top and bottom. The small sides have a bench-like protrusion at the base. Montet ascertains that the sarcophagus never had a stone lid; he found blackish traces on the rim of the sarcophagus body that prove that it was covered by a curved wooden lid.[70]

The sarcophagi of tombs IV, V, VII and VII were extracted during the fifth campaign, which lasted from 8 March 1926 until 26 June 1926.[71]

The sarcophagus of King Ahiram as found in Tomb V

The sarcophagus in the National Museum of Beirut

The sandstone sarcophagus of Ahiram was found in Tomb V and is so called for its bas-relief carvings, and its Phoenician inscription that attributes it to King Ahiram. The inscription is one of five known Byblian royal inscriptions, it is considered to be the earliest known example of the fully developed Phoenician alphabet. For some scholars, it represents the terminus post quem of the transmission of the alphabet to the west.[72] The sarcophagus measures 2.97 meters (9.7 ft) long by 1,115 meters (3,658 ft) wide and is 1.4 meters (4.6 ft) tall, lid included.[73]

The top of the sarcophagus body is ringed by a frieze of inverted lotus flowers. The flowers alternate between closed buds and open flowers. A motif of thick rope frames the top of the main sarcophagus bas-relief scenery, and corner pillars decorate all four sides of the sarcophagus.[74] The sarcophagus rests on four lions on each of its sides. The heads and front legs of the lions protrude outside the sarcophagus tank, while the rest of the lions' bodies appears in bas-relief on the long sides.[74]

The main scene on the body of the sarcophagus depicts the king on a throne holding a wilted lotus flower. A table full of offerings stands in front of the throne, followed by a procession of seven male figures.[75] Two scene of a funerary procession of four mourning women occupies the two small sides of the sarcophagus. Two of the women on each of the sides bare their chests, and the two others are depicted hitting their heads with their hands.[75] The scene on the back side of the sarcophagus shows a procession of men and women bearing offerings.[76]

The lid of the sarcophagus is slightly convex, like those of the neighboring sarcophagi. It has only one lug at each end, which are shaped like lion heads. The bodies of the lions are carved in bas-relief on the flat part of the lid. Two bearded effigies measuring 171 centimeters (5.61 ft) each are carved on either side of the lions; one of the figures bears a wilted lotus flower, the other a live one. Montet posited that they both represent the deceased king.[74] Lebanese archaeologist and museum curator Maurice Chehab, who later demonstrated the presence of traces of red paint on the sarcophagus, interpreted the two figures as the deceased king and his son.[77]

The Phoenician inscriptions are composed of two parts, the shortest of which is found on the sarcophagus body, in the space of the narrow band above the row of lotus flowers.[78] The longer inscription is carved on the font, long edge of the lid.[79]

Inscribed tomb findings, and vessels typical of the Bronze Age permitted scholars to date the tombs, and in some cases, to identify their occupants.

More than 260 items were recovered from the royal necropolis of Byblos.[lower-alpha 6][81]

Tomb I contained a 12 centimeters (4.7 in) obsidian vase and lid set with gold, engraved with the enthronement name of Amenemhat III in hieroglyphic characters.[82] This type of vase is known from representations of Egyptian sarcophagi of the Middle Kingdom.[83] The same grave also produced two alabaster vases [84]

Tomb II had two royal Egyptian gifts, 45 centimeters (18 in) long obsidian box and lid set with gold; the rectangular box rests on four legs; it has at the center of the lid a perfectly preserved Egyptian hieroglyphic cartouche containing the enthronement name and epithets of Amenemhat IV.[lower-alpha 7][85] It is not clear what the contents of the box may have been; similarly shaped receptacles were often depicted on Egyptian tomb friezes and called "pr 'nti" which translate to "house of incense".[84] A stone vase carved with the name of Amenemhat IV was also found in Tomb II; the cartouche reads: "Long live The Good God, son of Ra, Amenemhat, living forever".[84]

The tombs contained a wealth of royal jewelry made from gold, silver and gemstones, some of which bear a heavy Egyptian influence. Each of tombs I, II and III contained chiseled gold Egyptian-influenced pectorals. Tomb II contained an Egyptian-style, locally produced gem-encrusted gold pectoral with its chain and a shell-shaped cloisonné pendant bearing the name of King Ip-Shemu-Abi. Two grand silver hand mirrors, were recovered in tombs I and II; all of the three tombs contained bracelets and rings in gold and amethyst, silver sandals and intricately decorated and inscribed khopesh arms made from bronze and gold. The khopesh of tomb II bears the name of its owner, King Ip-Shemu-Abi and his father Abishemu. Other grave goods include a silver knife decorated with niello and gold, several bronze tridents, finely decorated teapot-shaped silver vases and various other vessels made of gold, silver, bronze, alabaster and terracotta.[86][87]

Tomb I contained a rare find of particular interest consisting of a fragment of a silver vase which French art history expert Edmond Pottier likened its spiral decorative patterns to that of the gold oenochoe from Tomb IV of Mycenae.[88] This silver vase demonstrates either Aegean artistic influence on local Gebalite art or could be proof of trade with Mycenae.[87][88]

Pectoral of Ip-Shemu-Abi at the National Museum of Beirut

According to Virolleaud and Montet, the lavish Tombs I, II and III date back to the Middle Bronze Age, specifically the Twelfth Dynasty of Middle Kingdom Egypt (19th century BC). Montet based his dating on grave goods and royal Egyptian gifts found in the three tombs. Tomb I housed an ointment jar etched with the cartouche of Amenemhet III, and Tomb II contained an obsidian box bearing the name of his son and successor Amenemhet IV.[90][91]

Montet matched the style of the pottery shards that he uncovered in the shaft of Tomb V to the vases found by English Egyptologist William Matthew Flinders Petrie in the ruins of the palace of Amenophis IV at Tell-el-Amarna. Both featured large brown or black painted bands, which divide the body of the receptacles in into several parts, each of which contained vertical lines and circular motifs. Furthermore, the small vase handles are of identical shape. These similarities lead Montet to conclude that the Gebalite pottery shards were contemporary of the New Kingdom of Egypt (c. 1550 BC –c. 1077 BC).[92][93]

The other graves of the second group (tombs VI to IX) were all robbed in antiquity, making precise dating problematic. Some signs point to a range spanning from the end of the Middle Bronze Age to the Late Bronze Age for others.[94][93]