Byblos and the early Egyptian state

The Egyptian relationship with Byblos (ancient keben) has a long history spanning over three millennia. The connection was one of deep symbiosis originally grounded in the raw materials required by Egyptian elites, procured within reach of a port on the Lebanese coast. Foreign connections were fundamental to the rise of Egyptian kingship ideologies, the emergence of the territorial state, and expressions of royal power. Byblos became Egypt’s key east Mediterranean focus. Interactions and cultural influences developed over the 3rd millennium to the point that Byblos assumed a religious significance for the Egyptians. The relationship had profound cultural and economic influence on Byblos, in addition to delivering status and prestige in competitive local peer-polity interactions with other urban centres. For the people of Byblos, the relationship with Egypt provided a stable economic base for much of the 3rd millennium, enabling maintenance of its position as a regional entrepôt until the interregional collapse of c. 2200 BC.