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  Shown within Lebanon | |
| Location | Between Rue Allenby & Rue Foch, Beirut, Lebanon |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 33°53′13″N 35°30′47″E / 33.886944°N 35.513056°E |
| Type | Harbour |
| History | |
| Periods | Iron Age III, Persian, Ottoman |
| Cultures | Phoenician |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 2000, 2011-2012 |
| Archaeologists | Josette Elayi, Hussein Sayegh, Assaad Seif, Hisham Sayegh, Nick Marriner, Ralph Pederson, Hanz Curver. |
| Public access | no |
The Phoenician port of Beirut, also known as the Phoenician Harbour of Beirut and archaeological site BEY039 is located between Rue Allenby and Rue Foch in Beirut, Lebanon.[1] Studies have shown that the Bronze Age waterfront lay around 300 metres (330 yd) behind the modern port due to coastal regularisation and siltation.[2] It was excavated and reported on by Josette Elayi and Hala Sayegh in 2000 and determined to date to the Iron Age III and Persian periods.[3][4] Two nineteenth-century Ottoman docks were also unearthed during construction, just to the north of this area at archaeological sites BEY018 and BEY019.[5]
Excavations at BEY039 covered 3,000 square metres (0.30 ha) and comprised the western bank of a north-to-south-facing harbor about 300 metres (980 ft) from the sea. It was made up of Ramleh sandstone blocks measuring about 60 centimetres (24 in) by 30 centimetres (12 in), fixed with a grey mortar. This overlaid a layer of larger blocks measuring about 100 centimetres (39 in) by 60 centimetres (24 in) that were fixed without mortar. This type of construction was similar to that used during Phoenician period D. Although this harbor has now been reliably identified, the existence of other ports or areas used for harboring boats in the nearby coves at different times has not been ruled out.[5]
- ^ Elayi, J. & Sageyh, H., Un quartier du port Phénicien de Beyrouth au Fer III/Perse, Archaéologie et histoire, Paris: Gabalda; 2000.
- ^ Marquis P., Les fouilles de centre-ville. In: Doumet-Serhal C, editor. Decade: a decade of archaeology and history in the Lebanon. Beirut Archaeology and History in Lebanon 2004. p. 266-279.
- ^ Nina Jidejian (1973). Beirut through the ages, p. 49. Dar el-Machreq [distribution: Librairie orientale]. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
- ^ Sayegh, H. & Elayi, J., Rapport préliminaire sur le port de Beyrouth au Fer III / Perse (Bey 039) (Pls. III-IV) = Preliminary Report on the Beirut Harbour during the Iron Age III / Persian Time, Transeuphratène, 2000, ISSN 0996-5904.
- ^ a b Marriner, Nick (2007). Paléoenvironnements littoraux du Liban à l'Holocène : Géoarchéologie des ports antiques de Beyrouth, Sidon et Tyr : 5000 ans d'interactions nature-culture (Thèse de doctorat) (in French). University of Marseille I. pp. 398 & 412.