Tell el-Burak is an archaeological site located in a lush agricultural section of southern littoral of

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, it has been under investigation by the

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB; ) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its main campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, autonomous board of trustees and offers programs le ...

and the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

since 1998. The excavations have revealed three occupations on the tell, the latest in the

Ottoman Period The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Central Euro ...

, the next in the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

, and the earliest in the

Middle Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

Excavations

The German-Lebanese team of archaeologists had conducted most of the excavations of Tell el-Burak by 2011, and the study and analysis of the site is ongoing. During the

2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon On 1 October 2024, Israel invaded Southern Lebanon, marking the sixth Israeli–Lebanese conflict, Israeli invasion of Lebanon since 1978. The invasion took place after nearly 12 months of Israel–Hezbollah conflict (2023–present), conflict ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

gave enhanced protection to 34 cultural sites in Lebanon including Tell el-Burak to safeguard it from

damage Damage is any change in a thing, often a physical object, that degrades it away from its initial state. It can broadly be defined as "changes introduced into a system that adversely affect its current or future performance".Farrar, C.R., Sohn, H., ...

. The tell stands prominently amidst agricultural lands on a strip of plain fronted by the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

and backed by a range of hills. The plain, a well-watered zone, is home to a large agricultural area where fruit trees currently predominate. The conical purpose-built tell towers above the plain to some 19 meters and is readily visible from both land and sea. From the top of mound,

Sidon Sidon ( ) or better known as Saida ( ; ) is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast in the South Governorate, Lebanon, South Governorate, of which it is the capital. Tyre, Lebanon, Tyre, t ...

can be seen to the north, and to the south rising above Ras el-Qantara, the tell of the Late Bronze Age/Phoenician city of

Sarepta Sarepta (near modern Sarafand, Lebanon) was a Phoenician city on the Mediterranean coast between Sidon and Tyre, also known biblically as Zarephath. It became a bishopric, which faded, and remains a double (Latin and Maronite) Catholic titula ...

can be seen.

Original construction

During this earliest Middle Bronze Age stage, the mound was built as part of a defensive structure serving as the base for a fortress on its top. This appears to be the first MBA monumental fortified palace so far discovered in Lebanon. The fortress was built with mudbricks.

"Kingdom of Sidon"

According to archaeologists, Tell el-Burak excavations have helped significantly to clarify the history of the nearby

during the MBA. Previously, there was a big gap in this history from the end of the

Early Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

until the middle of the 2nd millennium BC, when Sidon is first mentioned in the historical texts. Sidon was clearly the big power centre at that time, that controlled significant territory. So there appears to have been the kingdom of Sidon that controlled el-Burak, and other areas.

Oldest wall paintings

The biggest room, measuring 7 by 14 meters, contained unusual wall paintings displaying Egyptian influence. The wall paintings are dated by researchers at 1900 BC. Trade connections at that time with Egypt and the Palestinian coast are also indicated by pottery studies. Researchers believe that the site casts considerable light on the early history and development of the ‘’fresco’’ paintings in the entire Mediterranean, including the famous wall paintings of

Minoan Crete The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age culture which was centered on the island of Crete. Known for its monumental architecture and energetic art, it is often regarded as the first civilization in Europe. The ruins of the Minoan palaces at K ...

, : "According to Dr. Sader, the analysis of the painting technique revealed the presence of the oldest forerunner of ''fresco'' painting as the preliminary drawings were applied on the still wet plaster and combined with it. “The ''fresco'' painting technique may have originated and developed in the Levant long before its use in the later Minoan-Aegean paintings, namely on the island of Crete” she said."

Iron Age

In the

, Tell el-Burak was home to a settlement that was prosperous and peaceful, as seen in its defenseless and fine architecture. There is no apparent occupation in the intervening

Late Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

as the site was seemingly abandoned in favor of

, four kilometers to the south. In 2004, an underwater archaeological survey was conducted in the area of the tell by the archaeologist Ralph K. Pedersen. It indicated that there was no harbour or good anchorage near the site. In September 2020, a winepress was discovered at Tell el-Burak, dates back to the seventh-century B.C.
Adriano Orsingher1 et al., "Phoenician lime for Phoenician wine: Iron Age plaster from a wine press at Tell el-Burak, Lebanon", Antiquity, vol. 94 (377), pp, 1224–1244, 2020

References

External links

Web site of excavation at the University of Tuebingen

Website of the Project at the American University of Beirut (archived in 2017 - no longer updated)
{{Archaeological sites in Lebanon Archaeological sites in Lebanon