Lebanon: Nahr al-Kalb (Dog River)
Date: 12 March 2012 02:55:29
I do not know how I forgot about Nahr al-Kalb when I started my ramblings on Lebanon writing about history and ruins. A huge oversight.
Think of place where the following passed through: Pharoah Ramses II (1298-1235 BC), Assyrians (7th century BC), Greeks and Romans, through to Napoleon III, the French army and Allied troops, to the Lebanese people marking independence and the leaving of French troops (1946), and where all of these left commemorative stelae (a stone slab or column typically bearing a commemorative inscription or relief design). These stelae indicate that they not only conquered kingdoms and often the area, but managed to pass over the Dog River, with its steep cliffs on either side forcing armies to march in single file, leaving them open to attack. Now, a motorway cuts through the hills and a nice path lets you easily view these stelae.
It was amazing, as I wandered up and around, to consider the amount of history that took place where I was standing. Of course, in my travels to Europe and throughout Lebanon, as well as considering the indigenous history of places such as Australia, Canada and the US, I was aware of these lands being ancient lands and seeing kingdoms rise and fall: but to be able to see all this in such a small area, and not collected in a museum or gallery (which I love visiting, do not get me wrong), but being where it happened, truly blew my mind.
