Commemorative stela of Nahr el-Kalb
A group of the inscriptions as depicted by Louis-François Cassas in 1799
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| Material | Limestone |
|---|---|
| Writing | Egyptian hieroglyphs, Assyrian cuneiform, Latin, Greek, Arabic, French and English |
| Created | c.1500 BC – 1946 AD |
| Present location | in situ |
The commemorative stelae of Nahr el-Kalb are a group of over 20 inscriptions and rock reliefs carved into the limestone rocks around the estuary of the Nahr al-Kalb (Dog River) in Lebanon, just north of Beirut.
The inscriptions include three Egyptian hieroglyphic stelae from Pharaohs including Ramesses II, six Cuneiform inscriptions from Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian kings including Esarhaddon and Nebuchadnezzar II, Roman and Greek inscriptions,Arabic inscriptions from the Egyptian Mamluk sultan Barquq and the Druze prince Fakhr-al-Din II, a memorial to Napoleon III's 1860 intervention in Lebanon and a dedication to the 1943 independence of Lebanon from France. As such, the site has been said to summarise all of Lebanon's history in one place.
The earliest European to identify the site was the 17th century traveller Henry Maundrell in 1697, and was the first editor of the inscriptions in 1922.
In 2005, the stelae at the river were listed in the UNESCO Memory of the World initiative.
Past generals and conquerors have traditionally built monuments at the mouth of the Nahr al-Kalb. Ramses II, Nebuchadnezzar, Esarhaddon, Caracalla, and even armies from modern-day France and Great Britain have engaged in this practice.
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