 Tyre and Sidon were important maritime and trade centers; Gubla (later known as Byblos; in Arabic, "Jbeil") and Berytus (present-day Beirut) were trade and religious centers.Gubla was the first Phoenician city to trade actively with Egypt and the pharaohs of the Old Kingdom (2686-2181 BC), exporting cedar, olive oil, and wine, while importing gold and other products from the Nile Valley.Before the end of the 17th century BC, Lebanese-Egyptian relations were interrupted when the Hyksos, a nomadic Semitic people, conquered Egypt.