Sidon 2008 season of excavation

The tenth season of excavation on the mound of the ancient city of Sidon took place from 19 July to 31 August 2008. Important historical facts were elucidated during the previous excavations of 1998-2007 and the tenth season was no exception. The stratigraphical sequence encountered at Sidon and the continuity of occupation has proved to be exceptional and will undoubtedly lay the foundations for a chronological sequence for the Lebanon as a whole which is not available at present.
At this stage six Early Bronze Age occupation levels have been found for the Third Millennium BC, with an important building consisting of at least 8 rooms dating to the end of the period. Immediately above the third millennium levels at Sidon there is a layer of sand representing a change of function rather than a gap in occupation. This is followed by the Middle Bronze Age of which ninety-two burials have been excavated so far, some of which were in the aforementioned sandy layer. Five occupation levels were identified above the sand. An important public building in use from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age measuring more than 45 m long and extending along “College site” was further excavated. One room, referred to as ‘room 5’ excavated this season together with rooms 2 and 3 provided enough material evidence to deduce a ritualistic purpose to the building and thus was most probably a temple.
In addition the Late Iron Age levels were further investigated enabling us to reach the Late Bronze Age building associated with the Tawosret faience vessel found in 2005. Four rooms identified will require further investigations.
This year the site was extended to the south using mechanical diggers. This necessitated moving the site’s entrance to new location. The purpose of this was to follow the temple further up the site as well as to expose the stratigraphy of the latest levels of occupation.

The Early Bronze Age

A further three rooms of the Early Bronze Age monumental building were investigated  bringing the total to at least 8 rooms. This year’s excavation uncovered more of the building’s rectangular store-rooms which had completely burnt down. Some carbonized barley was found but in a lesser quantity than in the last season. In one store-room a small crucible was discovered on top of a pit filled with black ash the floor of which was covered with limestone nodules. This is the earliest evidence of bronze activity uncovered in Sidon in the Early Bronze Age. Ten cylinder seal impressions were also discovered this year and one applied ram-head on pottery. These were found in a street to the north of the building and are believed to have originated from the building itself. Only one seal impression has the geometric net pattern motif. The others bear either the combination of caprids and lion tête-bêche or human and lion procession. A further motif depicting a row of humans is new to the Sidonian repertoire. 

The Middle Bronze Age

A further twenty-three Middle Bronze Age burials were discovered in 2008 bringing the total of burials excavated so far to ninety-two. Most belonged to the later levels of the second millennium when the site was re-occupied some time around 1750 BC. These consisted of jar burials of children, large stone multiple wall-lined tombs and the mud brick burial of a warrior. Ten scarabs were found within the burials together with pottery vessels. This season also revealed the largest display of weapons found in a single year, namely 5 bronze weapons discovered within the constructed single and multiple burials.
It is now clear that those installations uncovered around the graves consisting of stone and mud brick walls, chalk-lined pits, tannours, mortars and pestles, are all part of a ceremony conducted at the graveside.  Most of the faunal assemblage found in or around the graves bear cut marks suggesting that butchering and/or traces of heating had taken place before interment. Running consistently throughout the five Middle Bronze Age levels on top of the sand is the suggestion of an evolution in the ritual activities which culminated in the enlargement of the monumental building (temple). This temple was used in the Hyksos period as the setting for communal ritual activities.  

The Late Bronze Age

The 2005 season revealed a faience vessel with cartouches bearing the name of Pharaoh Queen Tawosret, the erstwhile wife of Sety II who reigned at the very end of the 19th Dynasty. This vessel was found in a building of which four rooms have so far been identified. The excavation of room 1 revealed that a mortar chalky floor was laid most probably at the same time as the Late Bronze Age building was erected on top of an earlier room dating to the Middle Bronze Age. A small probe in room 1 revealed a circular stone pit of a type commonly found in previous Middle Bronze Age levels along with some disarticulated human remains.
Room 2 revealed Late Bronze Age levels with a high concentration of livestock bones such as goat, cow and fish, all quite possibly deliberately dumped in this area.

The Late Iron Age

The Late Iron Age was mostly investigated in the “Tawosret building” area.  New evidence was uncovered in the plaster floors and the remains of walls, some of the latter having been used as good solid foundations for later activities. From the various pits found in this area and the re-use of the same walls at different periods in the Iron Age, it is now certain that Phoenician levels which previously were only found sporadically on College Site, were removed during the Persian period, noted as having been a flourishing time for the city of Sidon.

The Roman period

The extension of the site and the opening of two new trenches enabled us to reach Roman levels. Further investigation is needed.
It is now certain - in light of their emerging schematic layouts and their accompanying pottery - that various buildings on “College site” from the third, the second and the first millennium BC were not domestic architectural edifices but rather belonged to the category of ‘important’ buildings/temples and that they can be used as a source for the reconstruction of the socio-economic and perhaps religious life of the city as it unfolded over the centuries. 

The continuation of this work is important since every year without fail has contributed to a greater understanding of the purpose of each building. The results of this excavation will be a hallmark for the understanding of the archaeology of the Levant.