Talk:Byblos

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"The name seems to derive from gb (𐤂𐤁, "well") and ʾl (𐤀𐤋, "god")..."

The problem with this proposed etymology is that it is not reflected in ANY of the early spellings. The gbl ("mountain") trilateral root is problematic because it does not fit the location.

The difficulties with these etymologies need to be made explicit in the text. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.60.129.28 (talk) 00:11, 19 January 2024 (UTC)

Need map and governorate

This article needs a map and the name of the governorate Byblos is part of. Badagnani 22:44, 31 July 2006 (UTC) proteckfirst — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2603:6011:5502:8AEA:A99A:1839:4876:AE50 (talk) 22:25, 22 October 2023 (UTC)

Merge

I see that there are several stub articles that have been split off, relating to individual tourist attractions in Byblos. I recommend that they be merged back into the main article for now, since they really don't have much in the way of information or sources. Then if more information becomes available later that extends it past a couple paragraphs, it'll be easy enough to split things out to a separate article again. --Elonka 18:42, 11 October 2007 (UTC)

This information might be better located at Byblos travel guide from Wikivoyage. --Elonka 20:21, 13 October 2007 (UTC)

- Oppose These articles were not split off from the main article as the tourism section was added recently. They are important enough to have seperate enrtries on their own and they will be expanded further. BlingBling10 01:14, 14 October 2007 (UTC)

• Uh, where's that new info? I strongly favor a merge. Beeblbrox (talk) 23:48, 6 April 2008 (UTC)
• Just added the 2008 lineup; it should remain a separate entry in my opinion. For the festival and the city's sake. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.126.21.5 (talk) 19:02, 4 September 2008 (UTC)

Why is it not mentioned that the word "bible" comes from the name "byblos"? 141.152.247.183 (talk) 07:45, 19 September 2008 (UTC)

Seems to be a giant hole in the article by not mentioning that.

Fixed 24 January 2015. --Observer6 (talk) 14:39, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

somebody inserted wrongly text in first sentence

This article starts with an inserted phrase that not only seems incorrect but also does not respect punctuation.

Now, it says:

Byblos The name originated from the Greek word biblion [1] which means Book and the City was known as Papyrus [2], because this commercial center was important in the papyrus trade. (Greek: Βύβλος) is the Greek name of the Phoenician city Gebal

So it seems that the part "The name originated from the Greek word biblion [1] which means Book and the City was known as Papyrus [2], because this commercial center was important in the papyrus trade. (Greek: Βύβλος)"

was inserted and that the original sentence was: Byblos is the Greek name of the Phoenician city Gebal

first of all there is no respect for punctuation while inserting, and secondly the issue about the word biblion and Papyrus appears below in a much more clear way.

I suggest to just eliminate the inserted phrase.

Camilo Ramada [email protected] — Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.21.11.75 (talk) 15:46, 6 September 2011 (UTC)

I'll have to admit that the first source in the lead, the Beirut International Dental Meeting, is not exactly the sort of source that should be used in an article. In fact it's a good example of what not to use. Your idea sounds sensible. Dougweller (talk) 16:24, 6 September 2011 (UTC)

I've done as you suggested, and am now looking at the editor's other edits. I wish I hadn't looked at this! Dougweller (talk) 16:57, 6 September 2011 (UTC)

Threats to Byblos

"The 2006 Lebanon War negatively affected this ancient site by covering the harbor and town walls with an oil slick"

What does this actually mean? How can a war cover anything with an oil slick? Did the war suddenly get up one morning and think "I know what, I'll go and paint the town walls with oil"? Is it still a slick when it's coating the walls (surely an oil slick is when the oil is floating on water!)? Does it mean the town was affected by an oil slick during the war? What was the effect of the oil slick? How was it caused? Was it ever cleaned up or is the town still under a metre thick layer of the gooey black stuff? Did it have any affect on the health of the inhabitants? Is a whole section really justified for this one liner? Would Lebanese civil war be a better heading for the section, if it remains? More questions than answers! Skinsmoke (talk) 02:23, 27 September 2011 (UTC)

JUBAYL

Why is this article called byblos and not the city's current name? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.152.41.197 (talk) 07:24, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

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Etymology

The article claims: "The name seems to derive from GB (𐤂𐤁, "well") and ʾL (𐤀𐤋, "god"), the latter a word that could variously refer to any of the Canaanite gods or to their leader in particular. The name thus seems to have meant the "Well" or "Source of the God"."

Where is the reference for this claim? I have not been able to find any documented source that corroborates this supposed etymology.

Aside from the fact that Phoenician script was written right to left (in contrast to the above-written words in Phoenician characters), the purported etymology fails to explain the loss of the letter "Aleph" when going from GB 'L to GBL.

Every reference I have been able to find traces the etymology of the Phoenician name of the city Gebal (Byblos) to the trilateral Semitic route GBL meaning "border", "frontier", "mountain".

In light of what is written in the article that the early Neolithic settlement of Byblos "was located on the seaward slope of the larger of the two hills that used to compose ancient Byblos", this etymology makes perfect sense. This etymology is also better explained by the Akkadian form "Gubla".

Unless a reliable source can be cited in support of the cited "Source of the God" etymology, it should be changed in support of the well-documented GBL etymology.

Jacob D (talk) 09:36, 6 March 2019 (UTC)Jacob D

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