Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-vsgnj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-19T05:00:48.292Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Archaeology of Beirut: A Report on Work in the Insula of the House of the Fountains

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 April 2011

Dominic Perring ,
Paul Reynolds  and
Reuben Thorpe
Dominic Perring
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of York, King's Manor, York YO1 7EP, UK. E-mail: .
Paul Reynolds
Affiliation:
Department of History and Archaeology, American University of Beirut, Lebanon. E-mail: .
Reuben Thorpe
Affiliation:
Albion Archaeology, St Mary's Church, St Mary's Street, Bedford MK42 OAS, UK. E-mail: .
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This insula, which lay on the western margin of the earlier Iron Age city, was uncovered during post-war reconstruction work carried out in Beirut during 1994–6. Laid out in the Hellenistic period, the insula was filled out with a series of small courtyard houses after the Roman annexation. A public portico was added along a main street in the second quarter of the second century, before a period of relative inactivity. The district was revived and rebuilt in the middle of the fourth century and was home to a series of handsome town houses in the fifth century, before being devastated by earthquake in AD 551. The site was then left derelict until the early nineteenth century. This interim report sets these findings within their broader historical and archaeological context, as well as summarizing the results of recent work on the site's ceramics and stratigraphy.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Antiquaries Journal , Volume 83 , September 2003 , pp. 195 - 229
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Arnaud, P 2002. ‘Beirut: commerce and trade (200 BC-AD 400)’, ARAM, 13–14 (2001–2), 171–91Google Scholar
Arnaud, P, Llopis, E and Bonifay, M 1996. ‘BEY 027 Rapport préliminaire’, Bulletin d'Archéo-logie et d'Architecture Libanaises, 1, 98–134Google Scholar
Aubert, C 1996. ‘Bey 002 Rapport préliminaire’, Bulletin d'Archéologie et d'Architécture Libanaises, 1, 60–97Google Scholar
Aubert, C 2002. ‘Architecture et décor de la maison hellénistique à Beyrouth’, ARAM, 13–14 (2001–2), 73–85Google Scholar
Badre, L 1997. ‘BEY 003 preliminary report, excavations of the American University of Beirut Museum, 1993–6’, Bulletin d'Archéologie et d' Architecture Libanaises, 2, 95–113Google Scholar
Ball, W 2000. Rome in the East, London and New YorkGoogle Scholar
Baity, J (ed) 1984. Apamée de Syrie. Bilan des rechérches Archéologiques 1973–1979. Aspects de l'architecture domestique d'Apamée, BrusselsGoogle Scholar
Baity, J 1989. ‘La maison urbaine en Syrie’, in Archéologie et histoire de la Syrie II: La Syrie de l'époque achéménide à l'avènement de l'Islam (eds Dentzer, J-M and Orthmann, W), 407–22, SaarbrückenGoogle Scholar
Bejor, G 1999. Vie colonnate. Paesaggi urbani del mondo antico, RomeGoogle Scholar
Beydoun, Z R 1997. ‘Earthquakes in Lebanon: an overview’, Lebanese Science Bulletin, 10, 109–29Google Scholar
Boatwright, M T 2000. Hadrian and the Cities of the Roman Empire, PrincetonCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boeswillwald, E, Ballou, A and Cagnat, R 1905. Timgad, une cite africaine sous Vempire romain, ParisGoogle Scholar
Bouzek, J 1996. ‘BEY 069 Sondage A’, Bulletin d'Archéologie et d'Architecture Libanaises, 1, 135–47Google Scholar
Bowersock, G W 1989. ‘Social and economic history of Syria under the Roman empire’, in Archéologie et histoire de la Syrie II: La Syrie de l'époque achéménide à l'avènement de l'Islam (eds Dentzer, J-M and Orthmann, W), 63–80, SaarbrückenGoogle Scholar
Butcher, K E T 1996. ‘A new dedication to Julia Domna from Berytus (BEY 006)’, Bulletin d' Archéologie et d'Architecture Libanaises, 1, 212–14Google Scholar
Butcher, K E T forthcoming. Small Change in Ancient Beirut. The Coin Finds from BEY 006 and BEY 045: Iron Age, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine, Archaeological Excavations in the Souks of Beirut: 1994–6. Vol 1 (eds Perring, D, Seeden, H and Williams, T D), Berytus, 45Google Scholar
Butcher, K E T and Thorpe, R 1997. ‘A note on excavations in central Beirut 1994–96’, J Roman Archaeol, 10, 291–306CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cagnat, R 1928. ‘Une inscription relative à la reine Bérénicé’, Musée Beige, 32, 157–60Google Scholar
Cameron, A 1993. The Mediterranean World in Late Antiquity, LondonCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chuvin, P 1990. A Chronicle of the Last Pagans, Cambridge, MassGoogle Scholar
Corbier, M 1991. ‘City, territory and tax’, in City and Country in the Ancient World (eds Rich, J and Wallace-Hadrill, A), 211–39, London and New YorkCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cumberpatch, C G 1997. ‘Archaeology in the Beirut Central District. Some notes and observations’, Berytus, 42 (1995–6), 157–72Google Scholar
Cumberpatch, C G 1998. ‘Approaches to the archaeology of Beirut’, National Museum News, 7, 20–1Google Scholar
Curvers, H 2002. ‘The Lower Town of Beirut (1200–300 BC). A preliminary synthesis’, ARAM, 13–14 (2001–2), 51–72Google Scholar
Curvers, H and Stuart, B 1997. ‘The BCD Infrastructure Archaeology Project, 1995’, Bulletin d'Archéologie et d'Architecture Libanaises, 2, 167–205Google Scholar
Curvers, H and Stuart, B 2002. ‘The BCD Archaeology Project 1996–1999’, Bulletin d'Archéologie et d'Architecture Libanaises, 3 (1998–9), 13–30Google Scholar
Davie, M 1987. ‘Maps and the historical topography of Beirut’, Berytus, 53, 141–64Google Scholar
de Vaumas, E 1946. he relief de Beyrouth et son influence sur le développement de la ville, BeirutGoogle Scholar
Dobbins, J J 2000. ‘The houses at Antioch’, in Antioch. The Lost Ancient City (ed Kondo-leon, C), 51–63, PrincetonGoogle Scholar
Downey, S B 2001. ‘Colonnaded streets in the Greek East’, J. Roman Archaeol, 14, 640–2Google Scholar
Duncan-Jones, R P 1996. ‘The impact of the Antonine plague’, J. Roman Archaeol, 9, 108–36CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elayi, J and Sayegh, H 1998. Beirut in the Iron Age III/Persian Period: A District of the Phoenician Harbour. The Objects, Transeuphratene suppl, 6, ParisGoogle Scholar
Elayi, J and Sayegh, H 2000. Un quartier du port phénicien de Beyrouth au FerlII/Perse. Archéologie et histoire, Transeuphratene suppl, 7, ParisGoogle Scholar
Ellis, S 2000. Roman Housing, LondonGoogle Scholar
Finkbeiner, U and Sader, H 1997. ‘BEY 020: preliminary report of the excavations, 1995’, Bulletin d'Archéologie et d'Architecture Libanaises, 2, 114–66Google Scholar
Frezouls, E 1976. ‘A propos de l'architecture domestique à Palmyre’, Ktema, 1, 29–52CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gavin, A and Malouf, R 1996. Beirut Reborn: The Restoration and Development of the Central District, LondonGoogle Scholar
Ghadban, C 1997. ‘Trois nouvelles inscriptions latines de Beyrouth’, Bulletin d'Archéologie et d' Architecture Libanaises, 2, 206–35Google Scholar
Grainger, J 1990. Cities of Seleukid Syria, OxfordCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hakimian, S 1994. ‘Beyrouth: l'histoire d'une destruction ou la destruction de l'Histoire’, in Beyrouth: construire I'avenir, reconstruire le passe? (eds Beyhoum, N, Salam, A and Tabet, J), 17–29, BeirutGoogle Scholar
Hall, L J 1996. ‘Berytus, ‘Mother of Laws’: studies in the social history of Beirut from the third to sixth centuries AD’, unpublished DPhil thesis, Ohio State UniversityGoogle Scholar
Hall, L J 2001. ‘The case of Late Antique Berytus: urban wealth and rural sustenance – a different economic dynamic’, in Urban Centers and Rural Contexts in Late Antiquity (eds Burns, T S and Eadie, J W), 63–76, East Lansing, Mich.Google Scholar
Hall, L J 2002. ‘Berytus through die classical texts: from colonia to civitas’, ARAM, 13–14 (2001–2), 141–69Google Scholar
Hirschfeld, Y 1995. The Palestinian Dwelling in the Roman-Byzantine Period, JerusalemGoogle Scholar
Hopkins, K 1978. ‘Economic growth and towns in Classical Antiquity’, in Towns in Society (eds Abrams, P and Wrigley, E A), 35–79, CambridgeGoogle Scholar
Hopkins, K 1980. ‘Taxes and trade in the Roman Empire’, J. Roman Stud, 70, 101–25CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horden, P and Purcell, N 2000. The Corrupting Sea. A Study of Mediterranean History, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Jidejian, N 1997. Beirut through the Ages, BeirutGoogle Scholar
Jones, A H M 1937. Cities of the Eastern Roman Provinces, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Kennedy, H 1985. ‘From polis to medina: urban change in late antique and early Islamic Syria’, Past Present, 106, 3–27CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khalaf, S and Khoury, P S 1993. Recovering Beirut. Urban Design and Post War Reconstruction, LeidenCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khurt, A 1995. The Ancient Near East c. 3000–330 BC, London and New YorkGoogle Scholar
Kouly, S 2002. ‘The excavation of BEY 007 Eastern Extension’, Bulletin d'Archéologie et d'Architecture Libanaises, 3 (1998–9), 46–9Google Scholar
Lauffray, J 1945. ‘Forums et Monuments de Béryte’, Bulletin du Musée de Beyrouth 7, 13–81Google Scholar
Lauffray, J 1977. ‘Beyrouth archéologie et histoire, époques gréco-romaines. I. Période hellénistique et Haut-Empire romain’, in Geschichte und Kultur Roms im Spiegel der neueren Forschung (eds Temporini, H and Haase, W), 135–63, Berlin and New YorkGoogle Scholar
Liebeschuetz, W 1996. ‘The end of the ancient city’, in The City in Late Antiquity (ed Rich, J), 1–49, London and New YorkGoogle Scholar
Macadam, H L 2002. ‘Studia et circenses: Beirut's Roman law school in its colonial, cultural context’, ARAM, 13–14 (2001–2), 193–226Google Scholar
Marquis, P and Ortali-Tarazi, R 1996. ‘BEY 009 L'immeuble de la Banco di Roma’, Bulletin d'Archéologie et d'Architecture Libanaises, 1, 148–75Google Scholar
Mattingly, D J and Salmon, J 2001. Economies beyond Agriculture in the Classical World, London and New YorkGoogle Scholar
McpQuitty, A 1993. ‘Ovens in town and country’, Berytus, 41, 53–76Google Scholar
Middleton, P 1983. ‘The Roman army and longdistance trade’, in Trade and Famine in Classical Antiquity (eds Garnsey, P and Whittaker, C), 75–83, CambridgeGoogle Scholar
Millar, F 1990. ‘The Roman coloniae of die Near East: a study of cultural relations’, in Roman Policy in the East and Other Studies in Roman History (eds Solin, H and Kajava, F M), 7–58, HelsinkiGoogle Scholar
Morris, I 1991. ‘The early polis as city and state’, in City and Country in the Ancient World (eds Rich, J and Wallace-Hadrill, A), 25–57, London and New YorkCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mouterde, R 1966. Regards sur Beyrouth phénicienne, hellénistique et romaine, BeirutGoogle Scholar
Naccache, A 1998. ‘Beirut's memorycide: hear no evil, see no evil’, in Archaeology Under Fire: Nationalism, Politics and Heritage in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East (ed Meskell, L), 140–58, LondonGoogle Scholar
Parkins, H 1997. ‘The ‘consumer city’ domesticated?’, in Roman Urbanism: Beyond the Consumer City (ed Parkins, H), 83–111, London and New YorkGoogle Scholar
Patrich, J 2001. ‘Urban space in Caesarea Maritima, Israel’, in Urban Centers and Rural Contexts in Late Antiquity (eds Burns, T S and Eadie, J W), 77–110, East Lansing, Mich.Google Scholar
Perring, D 1991. Roman London, LondonGoogle Scholar
Perring, D 1999. ‘Excavations in the Souks of Beirut: an introduction to the work of the Anglo-Lebanese team and summary report’, Berytus, 43 (1997–8), 9–34Google Scholar
Perring, D 2002. ‘Beirut in Antiquity: some research directions suggested by recent excavations in the Souks’, ARAM, 13–14 (2001–2), 129–40Google Scholar
Perring, D, Seeden, H, Sheehan, P and Williams, T D 1996. ‘Archaeological excavations in the Souks area of downtown Beirut. Interim report of die AUB Project BEY 006 1994–1995’, Bulletin d'Archélogie et d'Architecture Liba-naises, 1, 176–227Google Scholar
Perring, D, Rackham, J and Cakirlar, C 2003. ‘Animal bone from excavations in Beirut: a progress report’, Newsletter of the Council for British Research in the Levant, 22–3Google Scholar
Picard, C 1921. ‘L'établissement des Poséidoniastes de Bérytos’, Exploration archéologique de Délos, ParisGoogle Scholar
Pollard, N 2000. Soldiers, Cities and Civilians in Roman Syria, Ann Arbor, Mich.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reynolds, P 1995. Trade in the Western Mediterranean AD 400–700: The Ceramic Evidence, BAR Int Ser S604, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Reynolds, P 1999. ‘Pottery production and economic exchange in second-century Berytus: some preliminary observations of ceramictrends from quantified ceramic deposits from the Souks excavations in Beirut’, Berytus, 43 (1997–8), 35–110Google Scholar
Reynolds, P 2000a. ‘Baetican, Lusitanian and Tarraconensian amphorae in classical Beirut: some preliminary observations of trends in amphora imports from the western Mediterranean in the Anglo-Lebanese excavations in Beirut (BEY 006, 007 and 045)’, in Congreso Internacional ‘Ex Baetica Amphorae’. Univer-sidad de Sevilla 1998, 1035–60, ÉcijaGoogle Scholar
Reynolds, P 2000b. ‘The Beirut amphora type, 1st century BC-7th century AD: an outline of its formal development and some preliminary observations of regional economic trends’, Rei Cretariae Romanae Fautorum Ada, 36, 387–95Google Scholar
Reynolds, P forthcoming a. ‘Italian fine wares in 1st-century AD Beirut: the assemblage from the cistern deposit BEY 006 12,300/12,237’, in Early Italian Sigillata. The Chronological Framework and Trade Patterns, LeuvenGoogle Scholar
Reynolds, P forthcoming b. ‘Regional Levantine amphora production trends, 2nd to 6th centuries AD. The evidence from the Anglo-Lebanese AUB excavations in Beirut’, in 1st International Conference on Late Roman Coarse Wares, Cooking Wares and Amphorae in the Mediterranean: Archaeology and Archaeometry (Barcelona, 2002)Google Scholar
Rowe, P and Sarkis, H (eds) 1999. Project Beirut. Episodes in the Construction and Reconstruction of a Modern City, New YorkGoogle Scholar
Sader, H 1998. ‘Ancient Beirut: urban growth in the light of recent excavations’, in Project Beirut. Episodes in the Construction and Reconstruction of a Modern City (eds Rowe, P and Sarkis, H), 23–39, New YorkGoogle Scholar
Saghieh, M 1996. ‘Bey 001 and 004 Preliminary Report’, Bulletin d'Archéologie et d'Architecture Libanaises, 1, 23–59Google Scholar
Saghieh-Beydoun, M, Allam, M, ‘Ala’ Eddine, A and Abulhosn, S 2002. ‘BEY 004. The monumental street ‘Cardo Maximus' and the replanning of Roman Berytus’, Bulletin d'Archéologie et d'Architecture Libanaises, 3 (1998–9), 95–125Google Scholar
Sailer, R 2001. ‘The non-agricultural economy: superseding Finley and Hopkins?’, Journal of Roman Archaeology, 14, 580–4Google Scholar
Sartre, M 2001. D' Alexandre à Zénobie, ParisGoogle Scholar
Sayegh, H 1996. ‘BEY 010 Les Souks, Secteur nord-est’, Bulletin d' Archéologie et d'Architecture Libanaises, 1, 235–69Google Scholar
Scheidel, W 2002. ‘A model of demographic and economic change in Roman Egypt after the Antonine plague’, J Roman Archaeol, 15, 97–114CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seeden, H 1998. ‘William A Ward and Beirut: archaeological news from the capital of his choice’, in Ancient Egyptian and Mediterranean Studies in Memory of William A Ward (ed Lesko, L H), 215–27, Providence, RIGoogle Scholar
Seeden, H 1999. ‘Lebanon's archaeological heritage on trial in Beirut: what future for the capital's past?’, in Heritage Conservation in Modern Society (eds McManamon, F P and Hatton, A), 168–87, One World Archaeol 33, London and New YorkGoogle Scholar
Seeden, H and Thorpe, R 1999. ‘Beirut from Ottoman sea walls and landfills to a twelfth-century BC burial: report on the archaeological excavations in the Souks northern area (BEY 007)’, Berytus, 43 (1997–8), 221–36Google Scholar
Segal, A 1997. From Function to Monument. Urban landscapes of Roman Palestine, Syria and Province Arabia, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Sheehan, P 1999. ‘Mosaics from BEY 006: an introductory catalogue’, Berytus, 43 (1997–8), 147–66Google Scholar
Slofstra, J 1995. ‘The villa in the Roman west: space decoration and ideology’, in Integration in the Early Roman West (eds Metzler, J, Millett, M, Roymans, N and Slofstra, J), Dossier d'Archéologie du Musée National d'Histoire et d'Art 4, 77–90, LuxembourgGoogle Scholar
Smith, R H 2000. ‘Chancel screens from the west church at Pella of the Decapolis’, in The Archaeology of Jordan and Beyond: Essays in Honour of James A Sauer (eds Stager, L E, Greene, J A and Coogan, M D), 465–75, Winona Lake, Ind.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Southern, P 2001. The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine, London and New YorkGoogle Scholar
Stuart, B 2002. ‘Cemeteries in Beirut’, ARAM, 13–14 (2001–2), 87–112Google Scholar
Thorpe, R 2002. ‘BEY 045 Preliminary report on the excavations’, Bulletin d'Archéologie et d'Architecture Libanaises, 3 (1998–9), 57–83Google Scholar
Thorpe, R with Beyhum, A, Kouly, S and Beayno, F 2002. ‘BEY 007: the Souks Area. Preliminary report of the AUB/Acre Project’, Bulletin d'Archéologie et d'Architecture Libanaises, 3 (1998–9), 31–55Google Scholar
Wallace-Hadrill, A, 1991. ‘Elites and trade in the Roman town’, in City and Country in the Ancient World (eds Rich, J and Wallace-Hadrill, A), 241–72, London and New YorkCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wallace-Hadrill, A 1994. Houses and Society in Pompeii and Herculaneum, PrincetonCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ward, W A 1999. ‘Note on the Egyptian amulet from the burial in BEY 007’, Berytus, 43 (1997–8), 237Google Scholar
Ward-Perkins, B 1996. ‘Urban survival and urban transformation in the eastern Mediterranean’, in Città altomedievali nel mediterraneo occiden-tale (ed Brogiolo, G P), 143–53, MantuaGoogle Scholar
Wardini, E 1996. ‘The archaeology of Beirut’, Middle East Quarterly, 3.11, 46Google Scholar
Whittaker, C 1983. ‘Late Roman trade and traders’, in Trade in the Ancient Economy (eds Garnsey, P, Hopkins, K and Whittaker, C), 163–80, LondonGoogle Scholar
Williams, S and Friell, G 1999. The Rome that did not Fall. The Survival of the East in the Fifth Century, London and New YorkGoogle Scholar