Gebal, Byblos

GEBAL - A Phoenician city, Ezk.27.9. It was theoretically (never actually) within the borders of the Promised Land, Jos.13.5; it provided builders for Solomon, 1 K.5.18 (AV 'stonesquarers'), and ships' caulkers for Tyre, Ezk.27.9. The gentilic is Gebalites, Jos.13.5 (RV, RSV; AV Giblites). Its Greek name was Byblos, and it is the modern Jebeil. It has been excavated by Montet and Dunand and has yielded important finds, including the sarcophagus of Ahiram and inscriptions in pre-alphabetic script (cf M. Dunand, Byblia grammata, 1945). [Article: Dictionary of the Bible, J.Hastings, 2nd Ed., T&T.Clark, 1963.]