In 1938 BCE, the ancient port city of Byblos in the Levant is once more commandeered by the Egyptians. The region is an Egyptian ally since the early 3rd millennium BCE, and a favored city for Egyptian trade.
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A Phoenician trade hub, Byblos sits on the sparkling coast of the eastern Mediterranean Sea in modern day Lebanon. With both inland and sea trade routes coming through, Byblos is a busy trade center for a vast array of goods including papyrus, lapis lazuli, salt fish and ceramics.
As a middle-man between land and sea, nation to nation, with the most innovative ships on the waters, Byblos establishes a rich and shining city of abundance. The port has been inhabited since c. 8800 BCE, and continuously since c. 5000 BCE.
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Since before c. 3000 BCE Byblos is an important city to the Egyptians. Seafarers, explorers, conquerors and traders, the Egyptians are quick to spot a lucrative opportunity. They find one in the early Phoenicians.
The great cedar forests are a prime attraction. Tombs of the Old Kingdom (c. 2900 BCE) use timbers of Lebanon cedar. Cedar wood is decay resistant, can repel insects and has a tight grain making it workable without breakage.
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Cedar can be soaked and bent. Cedar from Byblos as well as stone bowls travel to Egypt during the 3rd Dynasty (c. 2600 - 2550). "Byblos ship" is one of the oldest Egyptian terms for an ocean-going vessel.
Finds at Byblos refer to Egyptian king Neferhotep I, who reigns in the early 18th century BCE. Rulers of Byblos continue to maintain close relationships with the New Kingdom Pharoahs beginning c. 1600 BCE.
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Byblos is famous for the Armana letters, sixty in all, sent to Egypt by the ruler of Byblos, Rib Hadah, and his successor IIi Rapih. The letters plead for military aid from the Pharoah Akhenaten c. 1353 - 1334 BCE.
Attacks and harassment from the Haribu, a tribal raider society, cause grief up and down the coast. The rulers of Byblos can only sharpen their weapons and wait.
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A collection of independent, merchant family run city-states, the Phoenicians have trade power but lack a large military force. While they are also known as warriors, they don't have enough power to stave off constant attacks.
Although the Egyptians manage to control Byblos for hundreds of years, they do so under the agreement of sending soldiers to help protect the city-states. Byblos maintains its own rulers and local administration. Sporadically, Byblos is ruled by a king.
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During the Egyptian period the Kings of Byblos are:
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
Egyptian interest peaks toward the end of the 13th century BCE. Afterward, their focus shifts to the cities of Tyre, home of the famous Tyrian purple dye, and Sidon, about 40 km (24.8 miles) south of today's Beirut.
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The collapse of Egypt's New Kingdom in the 11th century BCE frees Byblos from Egyptian colonial rule. At this time the Phoenicians accelerate their meteoric rise to fortune and glory.
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