In Paris, the Institut du Monde Arabe is showcasing an exhibition, entitled Byblos – Millennium City of Lebanon, on view until August 23, 2026. The exhibition traces the storied history of Byblos, Lebanon’s ancient seaside city, backed with a staggering 9,000-year history, making it one of the world’s oldest inhabited cities.
Having developed vital relations with Mesopotamia, Persia, ancient Egypt and Greece. The story of Byblos, today a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has been written by “sailors and merchants, kings and pharaohs,” reads the text on a wall at the exhibition. Also known as Jbeil in Arabic, the term ‘Byblos’ is derived from the Greek word for biblos, meaning the ancient type of paper known as “papyrus,” which was one of the city’s main trade commodities.
Since the 19th century, Byblos has been an excavation site, which was part of a bigger picture of foreign interest in regional archaeological areas, including modern-day Egypt and Iraq. For researchers and archeologists, Byblos, which historically has had temples, a prosperous port and links to the origins of the Phoenician alphabet, remains a place of wonder and discovery. “It has one of the most impressive architectural heritages in all of the Middle East,” Elodie Bouffard, the exhibition’s curator, told AD. “For us, it was an opportunity to talk about the fact that this area is so rich that we are still making new and amazing discoveries.”
Flowing over two floors, the exhibition displays 400 exceptional items, including vessels, jewellery, statues, weaponry, mosaics, photographs and videos of recent excavations. Nearly 350 of the artefacts were loaned from Lebanon’s Directorate General of Antiquities, cementing the long-held alliance of cultural activities between France and Lebanon.
The exhibition, which was originally scheduled for November 2024, was postponed due to Israeli bombardment in Lebanon, particularly in the southern region, which began in 2023 and continues until this day. Exporting the pieces was a challenge, where two aeroplanes and one ship were organised to transport them to Paris. The second aeroplane did not take off due to the war, meaning that 28 pieces were left behind in Lebanon.
Throughout the exhibition, the spaces that were supposed to host the missing pieces are instead marked with a clear sign that reads “Artwork blocked by the war.” “It was very important for us to include this because we are talking about history and heritage but at the same time it’s very difficult for Lebanon to talk about their heritage because there is only destruction and pain,” said Bouffard.
“For us, it was an opportunity to talk about the current situation,” she continued. “There are strong links between France and Lebanon, that’s why it was an important and emotional moment to open this exhibition. We are still in contact with our colleagues, day by day. Our attention is very strong on what’s happening in their country today.”
4 Highlights from Byblos – Millennium City of Lebanon
Upon entering the exhibition, visitors are greeted by a sea of over twenty limestone anchors, dating back to the Bronze Age and found across several temples in Byblos, accompanied by an overall audio that combines music and the sound of waves. Almost looking like monoliths, the anchors vary in sizes and shapes, taking on organic round, oval and triangle forms. Used to stabilise ships in the water, anchors were important equipment for seamen’s safety and survival. Each well-preserved stone, used by fishermen and sailors, features one or two holes “depending on the type of seabed for which they were intended: rocky, coral or sandy,” according to an exhibition text.
This room demonstrates the continuous Franco-Lebanese partnership in carrying out archaeological excavation plans. In 2019, excavation activities between Lebanon and the Louvre Museum took place, where archaeologists uncovered inside a necropolis everyday clay items, including plates, bowls, vessels and jars, the latter of which was used to transport liquids including oil, wine and vinegar. The display is accompanied by a video of archaeologists quietly unearthing and dusting off these valuable objects.
Dating back to the end of the 2nd-century and the early 3rd-century, here is a pattern-detailed and large mosaic piece that decorated the floor of a Roman-era villa in Byblos. It depicts Europa, the Phoenician princess (who is believed to have been born in Tyre, modern-day Lebanon), being abducted and swept away by the infatuated Zeus of ancient Greece, who transformed himself into a bull and took Europa to Crete, where she gave birth to King Minos. Such a subject of drama and passion has been depicted time and again by European masters in art history, including Rembrandt, Peter Paul Rubens and Titian.
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Indicating Byblos’ strong ties with ancient Egypt, this tiny yet majestic pendant that has clear pharaonic decoration was found in the tomb of possibly an elite member of Byblos society in the Bronze Age. It’s a mysterious gem, made of gold, carnelian stones and lapis lazuli, since the symmetrically designed pendant has the name of Pharaoh Senusret II inscribed on its reverse. The pendant includes symbols of bees, the protective ‘wedjat’ eyes, and a beetle, associated with royalty. According to the exhibition, this piece was likely imported from the Nile Valley or created locally by artisans in Byblos. @institutdumondearabe
Byblos – Millennium City of Lebanon is on view at Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris until August 23, 2026.
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