Jebel Aabeby is an archaeological site approximately southeast of

Sidon Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast. ...

, to the west of the road north to Qraye in

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

. The site is on a hill where a number of

Cedar Cedar may refer to: Trees and plants *''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae *Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar Places United States * Cedar, Arizona * ...

trees surround the Mar Elias monastery on the western side of the summit. A

Heavy Neolithic Heavy Neolithic (alternatively, Gigantolithic) is a style of large stone and flint tools (or industry) associated primarily with the Qaraoun culture in the Beqaa Valley, Lebanon, dating to the Epipaleolithic or early Pre-Pottery Neolithic at t ...

assemblage of

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and sta ...

tools made by the

Qaraoun culture The Qaraoun culture is a culture of the Lebanese Stone Age around Qaraoun in the Beqaa Valley. The Gigantolithic or Heavy Neolithic flint tool industry of this culture was recognized as a particular Neolithic variant of the Lebanese highlands ...

was collected from some Olive terraces bordering on the road and from an area above them that was disturbed in the construction of a trackway. The flint was of a brown, Nummulitic,

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', " ...

type, some having been patinated to white while others were found fresh. Several broad blades were found along with heavy scrapers on flakes, massive cores,

rabot Rabot may refer to: Geography * Rabot, Tajikistan, a city in Tajikistan *Rabot Island, island near Antarctica * Rabot Glacier, glacier in Antarctica * Rabot Point, a high rocky point in James Ross Island, Antarctica People with the surname *Charl ...

racloir In archaeology, a racloir, also known as ''racloirs sur talon'' (French for scraper on the platform), is a certain type of flint tool made by prehistoric peoples. It is a type of side scraper distinctive of Mousterian assemblages. It is created ...

s and a few smaller scrapers. The material now stored in the

Museum of Lebanese Prehistory The Museum of Lebanese Prehistory (french: Musée de Préhistoire Libanaise, ar, متحف ما قبل التاريخ اللبناني) is a museum of prehistory and archaeology in Beirut, Lebanon. History The museum is the first museum of prehist ...

was studied by

Henri Fleisch Reverend Father Henri Fleisch (1 January 1904 – 10 February 1985) was a French archaeologist, missionary and Orientalist, known for his work on classical Arabic language and Lebanese dialect and prehistory in Lebanon. Fleisch spent years rec ...

, who concluded that the site was likely used as a prehistoric

factory A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. ...

References

{{Portal, Lebanon, History, Asia Heavy Neolithic sites Neolithic settlements Archaeological sites in Lebanon