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Bible Encyclopedias
Giblites
Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
or Gib´lites, the inhabitants of the city and district of Gebal in Phoenicia, 34° 7′ N. lat., 35° 42′ E. long., on the shore of the Mediterranean, under Mount Lebanon. 'The land of the Giblites,' with 'all Lebanon,' was assigned to the Israelites by the original appointment (); but it does not seem that they ever possessed themselves of it. The Giblites are denoted by the word rendered 'stone-squarers' in; from which it would seem that they were then subject to, or in close connection with Tyre. It is doubtful whether this Gebal, or the one in Edom, is that mentioned in . But in , the Phoenician Giblites are distinctly mentioned as such, and preferably employed upon the shipping which formed the glory and strength of Tyre.
Gebal was an important place, and celebrated for the birth and worship of Adonis, the Syrian Thammuz. The town still subsists under the name of Jebail. It is seated on a rising ground near the sea, at the foot of Lebanon, which here approaches close to the coast. It is walled on the three sides towards the land, and open on the west towards the sea, being perhaps about half a mile in circuit. Within the wall, which seems of the age of the Crusades, the chief building is an old castle, which has received modern repairs, and is now used as the abode of the agha or commandant. There are three or four open and lofty buildings belonging to the chief people of the place, a mosque with a low minaret, and an old Maronite church of good masonry; but the houses generally are of poor construction, and nearly half the space within the walls is occupied with the gardens of the inhabitants. The population is estimated at 2000.
Public Domain.
Kitto, John, ed. Entry for 'Giblites'. "Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature". https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/kbe/g/giblites.html.
