During his reign from 605 to 562 BCE, King Nebuchadnezzar II turned Babylon into a dominant empire, expanding its influence across large parts of the Levant and Syria.
To assert his authority and leave a lasting mark, he commissioned inscriptions and bas-reliefs to be carved into rock faces at carefully chosen, highly visible sites — along mountain paths, deep in valleys, and in forested areas.
In Lebanon, four such sites have been identified so far. These testify to the king’s strategic interest in local resources, particularly cedar wood, which was vital for his various construction projects. One of the most notable sites is Brisa, located in the northern Bekaa Valley near the town of Hermel. There, two well-preserved engravings can be seen on the rocky walls of a ravine known as Ouadi ech-Charbine.
The first inscription, written in Old Babylonian script, is paired with a carved relief depicting a dramatic hunting scene: a bearded man in a long robe battling a lion — a symbolic portrayal of the king himself.
The second, inscribed in Neo-Babylonian cuneiform, shows the monarch standing before a leafless tree, in a composition that appears both enigmatic and solemn.
The ArchéOrient blog offers a fascinating contextualization of these inscriptions, and we highly encourage you to read the dedicated article.
