Czech excavations in Beirut, Martyrs' Square  

  2006  

Rescue excavations in 1996 on the Martyrs Square, in the city centre of Beirut, uncovered two Hellenistic layers, three of the Roman and Early Byzantine times and later Medieval pottery kilns and gardens of Fakhr-ed-Din.

In October, 2006 the study season was devoted to finds from the excavations in 1996. The documentation was concentrated in the Roman and Byzantine finds; the objects were photographed and drawn, as well as those of the Ottoman period.

  1996  

On the invitation of the Beirut UNESCO Quarters and the Directorate of Antiquities of Lebanon, a six weeks excavation season was conducted in spring 1996 in the city centre of Beirut (Fig. 1.1), Martyrs Square, in the sector called Bey 62, Sondage A. The 30 x 10 m sector offered to us was situated on the western side of the square (Fig.1.1a). The excavations were enabled by the support given by the UNESCO, which covered the main part of the expenses, while several smaller contributions by private persons helped to cover the rest.

Besides Prof. Jan Bouzek, who held the excavation permit, Prof. Radislav Hosek, epigraphist, Prof. Petr Charvat an orientalist who worked on Medieval Glazed Ware, Dr. Jiri Musil, who acted as vice-director of the excavations, Mgr. Jana Kupkova and three of our students: Pavel Titz, Alice Hayerova and Martin Trefny participated.

The excavation was running from May 17 until June 28, 1996. The excavated area formed an oblong, measuring 30 x 10 m. The upper layers were removed by machines, kindly arranged by the Solidere project.

Bey 069 was situated among several other sectors of excavations. The northern limits were formed by the sector BEY 026 examined by the Institute français d'archéologie du Proche Orient in Beirut and Damascus (Christine Aubert), the southern limits by BEY 027 (excavations led by Pascal Arnaud ) and the eastern limits by BEY 048 (excavations led by Pascal Mongne). West of it was a parking lot, which was not excavated. The storing of the finds was arranged in the basement under the Maronite church of St. John.
Bouzek, J. (Ed.) 2002a: Czech excavations in Beirut, Martyrs' Square (Bey 069), Sondage A, Part I, General Survey. Pottery and other small finds of Hellenistic, Early Roman and Medieval periods, Glass and metal objects, Eirene 38, 2002, 7-166.
Bouzek, J. 2002b: Czech excavations at Beirut, Martyrs' Square. Part II: Architecture, survey of layers and deposits, Addenda to Part I- The lamps, Studia Hercynia VI, 41-106.

The first scientific preliminary report was published in BAAL: J. Bouzek, 'Bey 069, Sondage A', Bulletin d'Archéologie et d'Architecture Libanaises 1 1996, 135-147, two other in Eirene (Bouzek, J. - Musil, J. 'Preliminary Report on Current Excavations: Institute for Classical Archaeology, Charles University, Prague, 1.Beirut, Martyrs' Square, 1996 excavations', Eirene 32 1997 (1998), 158-165, 170-176), and in the Jubilee volume of the Cracow Institute of Classical Archaeology, (J. Bouzek, 'Charles University of Prague excavations in Beirut, Martyrs Square, preliminary report', in: Centennary of Mediterranean Archaeology at the Jagellonian University 1897-1997, Cracow 1999, pp. 48-57 ).

Two main reports of the series appeard this year: Bouzek, J., Musil, J. ad. Czech excavations in Beirut, Martyrs' Square (Bey 069, Sondage A, Part I, General Survey, Pottery and other small finds of Hellenistic, Early Roman and Medieval periods, Glass and metal objects, Eirene 38 2002, 7-166 Czech excavations at Beirut, Martyrs' Square. Part II: Architecture, survey of layers and deposits, Addenda to Part I- The lamps, 41-106

Though only a modest slice of evidence for the history of the Lebanese capital, our sounding could confirm that this part of the Place of Martyrs had a story similar to other sectors of the inner city. Like other areas excavated in the centre of Beirut, also our sondage has shown traces of participation of overseas trade links since the earliest recorded time, as shown for pottery, but glass and metal objects found seem to be mainly local. The flourishing occupation started in Hellenistic times and continued up to the end of Classical Antiquity; then the area was abandoned, reused as gardens in the 17th century and reintegrated in the modern city in the late 19th century. It became the centre of the Lebanese capital, which is now emerging from the ruins left by the civil war. May its reconstruction bring new fresh life here, as we all hope.

Our part of the city centre of Beirut (the western side of the Martyrs' Square) was apparently long under the shallow sea. Some finds of chipped flint blades in the area seem to come from a Middle to Late Bronze Age site in the vicinity, and the river stones used in some sections of later foundations may attest that an Early Iron Age building existed nearby, but we found no certain traces of the Phoenician settlement, as examined on the tell lying to the north of our sector.

Thus we have found no traces of the destruction of wars with the Assyrians, Persians and Alexander the Great; no destruction of Beirut during his campaign is mentioned, so it may well be so that the city just gained on importance, being earlier overshadowed by Sidon and Byblos.

The quarter of our excavations received the first buildings in late 3rd century BC, according to the earliest pottery it was still under the Ptolemies, i.e. probably around the battle of Raphia in 217 BC and before the city came under the Seleucids in 198, as was finally confirmed by the Apameia peace treaty in 188 BC.

The first destruction happened apparently ca. 150 B.C. according to the archaeological chronology, and it is plausible to connect these deposits with the report by Strabo (XVI, 735) of the destruction of the city by Tryphon in 145 BC, in the wars of succession between him and Demetrios II, resp. Antiochos VII Sidetes (145-138 BC).

After the Parthian attacks, when also Antiochos X Eusebes fell in battle, Tigranes sacked around 70 BC the Phoenician cities, possibly also Berytos. The Arabs became also the landlords of the coastal part of Syria, Antiochos XIII was defeated by them. In 65/64 the campaign led by Pompeius made Syria a Roman province. Archaeological evidence seems to show a series of destruction deposits connected with these wars. The military encounters between the Romans and the Parthians after Crassus' defeat at Carrhae in the next years never came as far south as to Berytos. But the war between Caesar and Pompeius, which ended with the battle of Pharsalus in 49 BC, was probably not without problems for our city. The battle of Laodicea after the death of Caesar took place further to the north. The high taxes imposed by Antonius caused him problems at Arados, and perhaps also elsewhere. Then came the war between the Parthian prince Pakoros and Antonius; the Parthians were defeated only in 39 and finally in 38 BC at Gindaros. Antonius presented then Phoenicia to Cleopatra; but it was not until the battle of Actium in 31 BC that the city enjoyed peaceful conditions. The following foundation of Roman colonia at Beirut shows, however, that the city must have been much destroyed and at least partly depopulated by this time.

Agrippa settled here the veterans of two legions (leg. V Macedonica and leg. VIII Augusta) and the city became (probably at 15 BC) a colonia under Italic constitution. Some deposits in our sector may well date from the reconstruction of the city at Augustus' time. Herodes the Great, Herodes Agrippa I and Herodes Agrippa II financed several buildings at Beirut, notably the theatre. The archaeological complexes dating from the Augustan age can probably be connected with some demolition and new building activity of this time (cf. esp. Josephus Flavius, bell.Iud I, 21,11, VII,3,1; ant. Iud XIX 333FF, XX 211). St. Paul probably visited the city in 57 AD.

The sack of Jerusalem was celebrated here by Titus (bell.Iud VII,3,1 and. o.). The scarcity of middle Roman deposits can be explained, as elsewhere in the Roman world, by good cleaning policy of the city, where Latin was still the main language used for public monuments and also for graffiti in our sector.

Septimius Severus much favoured the city. In the middle of the 3rd century the famous Law School was established in Beirut; it was situated not far from our excavations. 4th-5th century was the time of new large building activity, with a sophisticated system of drains in our sector, with a monumental house with mosaics. The Law School was especially active under Justinian; his codex was composed here.

Deposits of Late Antiquity are common, many of them seem to be connected with the earthquake of 529 AD, notably those in our squares 1 and 3. The Arab conquest in 636 AD by the caliph Omar Moawia apparently marked the end of our quarter, situated close to the sea, as happened to many coastal sites in the eastern Mediterranean. The Umayad dynasty ruled over Beirut between 661-750, Abbasids between 750-1100, with small interruptions.

In 981 the city was for a short time sacked by the Byzantines, 1071 by the Turks. It was under the Crusaders between 1098 and 1291, under the Mamluks between 1291-1516. In 1516 Beirut came under the Ottoman rule, which lasted until the World War I.

Glass and pottery workshops existed in the area in Early Medieval times, a Late Medieval pottery kiln was found in our Square 1. But the site served as a source of worked stone and for dumping refuse, and it only became leveled and used in a more sophisticated way at the time of Fakhr-ed-Din (1595-1634). It became part of his gardens, and large flower-pots were constructed here for trees, as they were revealed in the neighbouring sector excavated by Pascal Mongue.

But the area of our sondage only became part of the urban area again in the 19th century, when the souk construction with pillars for vaulting foundation was inserted into the ruins, and a large canal running S-N was constructed across the sondage Bey-062 area. The last destruction there, however, was caused by the civil war in the seventies and eighties of the 20th century; the area was part of the Green line dividing the Christian and Moslem parts of the city. But the reconstruction of the area is now nearly finished, and a subterranean garage has been built at the place where we were excavating in late nineties of the last century.

A most thorough survey Jean Lauffray, 'Beyrouth, Archéologie et Histoire, ?ques gr?-romaines. I. P?ode hell?stique et Haut-Empire romain', in: Aufstieg und Niedergang der rmischen Welt 2, 33, 1, Berlin 1977, 135-163. Cf. also R. Mouterde, Regards sur Beyrouth, Ph?cienne, hell?stique et romaine, Beirut 1966; Benziser, Berytus, PWRE III (1899), 322-3. Some of the modern guide-books also give reasonable general surveys of later history of Beirut, which is now usually divided into several main periods:

Note:

Phoenician Iron Age	1200-550 BC
Persian	550-333 BC
Hellenistic	333-64 BC
Roman	64 BC – 395 AD
Byzantine	395 – 632
Umayad	661-750
Abbasid	750-1100
Crusaders	1098-1291
Mamluk	1291-1516
Ottoman	1516-1918
French mandate	1918-1943
Independent	1943

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