In the early twentieth century, French troops took measure of the sea level’s elevation for the first time. The Beirut port was their starting point, then they marched and measured the altitude of most areas above sea level with reference to the starting point, of course. And they placed this metal rod that indicates the elevation at 500-meter intervals so that they could calculate the altitude between every point and the next. Most of these points (or the metal rods) are not there anymore, and the original starting point at the Beirut port has also been lost. The story goes that the Lebanese government has not measured the elevation above sea level since that time.