Byblos, Lebanon

Continuously inhabited since: 5000 BC
Byblos is a Mediterranean city in the Mount Lebanon Governorate of present-day Lebanon. It is believed to have been founded around 5000 BC, and according to fragments attributed to the semi-legendary pre-Trojan war Phoenician historian Sanchuniathon, it was built by Cronus as the first city in Phoenicia. Byblos is located on the Mediterranean coast of the present-day Lebanon, about 26 miles (42 km) north of Beirut. It is attractive to archaeologists because of the successive layers of debris resulting from centuries of human habitation. The first settlement appeared approximately 6230 BC. During the third millennium BC, the first signs of a town can be observed, with the remains of well-built houses of uniform size.