Nahr El Kelb - Jounieh: inscription and obelisk

Nahr El Kelb - Jounieh / Altitude: Coastal, Inhabitants: 30.000

How to get there?
Take the highway to the north. Nahr El Kelb is the first bridge at 20 min from Beirut.
Under the tunnel on the right side, steles are testimonies of the history of Lebanon. The oldest date to the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses II's in the 13th century BC, when the Egyptians marched on Lebanon. Many steles and inscriptions relate a quick history of major conquerors of Lebanon.

Key to Nahr El Kelb

On the North bank of Nahr el Kelb (the Dog River), an inscription in cuneiform writing refers to the conquests of Nebuchadnezzar II of Assyria, king of Babylon in the 6th century BC.

To be able to see the inscription, cross the old bridge and you will find it on the right side.

On the south bank, an inscription in Arabic commemorates Sultan Saif Ad Dine's invasion. The bridge, renovated in the 14th century by Siafi Itmish, was originaly commissioned by the Mameluke Sultan Zahir Barqouq.

Before the bridge, a Latin inscription depicts the glorious days of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus better known as Caracalla. Back in the 3rd century, the Gallic legion built a passage road at this location.

Above this Latin inscription, an obelisk commemorates the presence of the allied forces in 1942.

Facing the bridge, an inscription depicts the liberation of Lebanon and Syria in 1941.

Rewind a few decades to July 25th 1920, and you will find a plaque commemorating the arrival of the French army led by General Gouraud, in the aftermath of World War I.

There used to be an Egyptian memorial rock with a Pharaoh and God Ptah. It has been covered by a French intervention in 1860 that had put an end to the Druze-Maronite mountain war.

Behind the Egyptian stone, is an Assyrian memorial stone with a king wearing a crown. Next to it, an English inscription relates the British army invasion in October 1918. It praises the British 21st battalion at war.

Two Assyrian memorial stone lie next to each other.

A Greek inscription is carved, dating probably to Alexander the Great's conquest.

There used to be a rock with a wolf statue that has now disappeared.

Up over the bridge, there is another inscription with an Assyrian king praying.

The climax of the visit is certainly the stone depicting Pharaoh Ramses II in a ritual of sacrifice. The victim is offered to the Egyptian god Hormakhet. It dates from the 13th century BC. Next stele shows Ramses II sacrificing another prisoner as a gift to the sun god Amon.

The last stele written in cuneiform dates to the 7th century BC. It portrays Assyrian Esarhaddon and relates their victory over Egypt.

Extract from the book 'A Complete insiders Guide to Lebanon