Phoenician port of Beirut

Phoenician port of Beirut

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 / 33.886944; 35.513056
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 or Phoenician Harbour of Beirut, or archaeological site BEY039 located between Rue Allenby and Rue Foch in Beirut, Lebanon. Studies have shown that the Bronze Age waterfront lay around 300 metres (330 yd) behind the modern port due to coastal regularisation and siltation. 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. Two nineteenth century Ottoman docks were also unearthed during construction, just to the north of this area at archaeological sites BEY018 and BEY019.

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.

Another alleged port, suggested to consist of two ancient dry docks and the foundations of a massive ancient temple was located at Plot 1398 in Mina al-Hosn, Beirut in Lebanon. The alleged port, classified as archaeological site BEY194 was demolished by urbanization at 6:00 a.m. on 27 June 2012.

The alleged port was discovered during construction on the site in 2011 and investigated by a team of Lebanese archaeologists from the Directorate General of Antiquities under Hisham Sayegh, a B.A. graduate and pottery specialist from the Lebanese University. The site was said to include two canals or watercourses that comprised the supposed dry docks along with two large sandstones, considered to be part of the enormous foundations of an ancient temple. The surrounding area, called Mina al-Hosn is translated as "port of the fort" in Arabic. Precise dating of the structures was never obtained however there were a few finds of pottery at the site that were dated to the fifth century BCE.