When Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses II marched through Lebanon over 3,000 years ago, he left three inscriptions in the rock above what is now Nahr-el-Kalb (Dog River).
Over the centuries other foreign expeditions followed his example, marking their passage through this difficult place by carving their exploits in stone. Today 17 such inscriptions or steles can be visited, all on the south bank except for one on the north bank. Each inscription is numbered, and a stairway leads to those located higher up on the cliff.
Five steles mark expeditions made by Assyrian kings, one of whom was Assarhaddon (680-627 BC). In Roman times the third Gallic Legion under Emperor Caracalla (211-217 AD) left a stele marking road work carried out here.
There are two inscriptions in Greek. One is illegible but the other commemorated more roads and engineering work. This was accomplished in 382 by Proclus, Byzantine governor of Phoenicia under Theodose the Great (379-395). Another stele commemorates the expedition that Napoleon II sent to Lebanon in 1860-1861.
The
pointed
Arab
bridge
nearby
is
also
the
subject
of
an
inscription
advising
us
that
Mamluke
Sultan
Barqouq
(1382-1399)
either
built
or
rebuilt
it,
This
bridge,
destroyed
and
repaired
many
times
during
its
history,
was
last
renovated
by
Emir
Bechir
II
in
1809.
The
20th
century
also
has
its
share
of
inscriptions.
One
records
that
French
troops
under
General
Gouraud
took
in
Damascus
in
1920.
Two
others
dating
1919
and
1930
mark
one
event.
The
first
stele
noted
that
the
British
Desert
Corps
took
Damascus,
Homs
and
Aleppo
in
October
1918.
The
other
relates
the
same
story,
but
names
Australian,
New
Zealand,
Indian,
and
French
contingents,
as
well
as
the
"Arab
troops
of
King
Hussein",
Shereef
of
Mecca.
The
British
and
French
occupation
of
Beirut
and
Tripoli
in
October
1918
is
recorded
in
another
inscritption.
Besides
the
19
stele
before
Lebanon's
independence,
we
have
one
marking
the
evacuation
of
foreign
armies
from
Lebanon
on
December
31,
1946,
and
a
monument
to
the
French
war
dead.
Finally,
the
bridge
with
three
arches
not
far
from
the
old
Arab
bridge
was
built
by
Wassa
Pasha,
mutassarrif
of
Mount
Lebanon
between
1883
and
1892.
(BYBLOS - JEITA GROTTO - TRIPOLI - SIDON - ZAHLÉ - BAALBECK)
(THE CEDARS - TYRE - BEITEDDINE - AANJAR)
EGYPT - SYRIA - JORDAN