been Gebal, or Byblus. Mentioned under the name of Gubal in the Assyrian
inscriptions as early as the time of Jehu[457] (ab. B.C. 840), and
glanced at even earlier in the Hebrew records, which tell of its
inhabitants, the Giblites,[458] Gebal is found as a town of note in the
time of Alexander the Great,[459] and again in that of Pompey.[460] The
traditions of the Phoenicians themselves made it one of the most ancient
of the cities; and the historian Philo, who was a native of the place,
ascribes its foundation to Kronos or Saturn.[461] It was an especially
holy city, devoted in the early times to the worship of Beltis,[462] and
in the later to that of Adonis.[463] The position is marked beyond all
reasonable doubt by the modern Jebeïl, which retains the original
name very slightly modified, and answers completely to the ancient
descriptions. The town lies upon the coast, in Lat. 34º 10´ nearly,
about halfway between Tripolis and Berytus, four miles north of the
point where the Adonis river (now the Ibrahim) empties itself into the
sea. There is a "small but well-sheltered port,"[464] formed mainly by
two curved piers which are carried out from the shore towards the north
and south, and which leave between them only a narrow entrance. The
castle occupies a commanding position on a hill at a little distance
from the shore, and has a keep built of bevelled stones of a large size.
Several of them measure from fifteen to eighteen feet in length, and are
from five to six feet thick.[465] They were probably quarried by Giblite
"stone-cutters," but placed in their present position during the middle
ages.

Tripolis, situated halfway between Byblus and Aradus, was not one of
the original Phoenician cities, but was a joint colony from the three
principal settlements, Tyre, Sidon, and Aradus.[466] The date of
its foundation, and its native Phoenician name, are unknown to us:
conjecture hovers between Hosah, Mahalliba, Uznu, and Siannu, maritime