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Tell el-Burak

Lebanon · South Lebanon

SettlementUnknown
Approximate period2,000 BCE — 350 BCEMiddle Bronze Age; Iron Age and Persian period See on the map ↓

In brief

Structures used for agricultural production in the Phoenician period have been excavated at the coastal settlement south of Sidon. The plaster and basins of the winemaking facility have enabled research into production technology.

What was found?

  • 1Plastered grape-treading basin

    The basin on the upper level of the wine production facility is the section where grapes were crushed. It is part of the first Iron Age wine press uncovered in Lebanon.

  • 2Semicircular collecting vat

    The vat on the level below the treading basin is the section where grape must was collected. Together, the two sections show the physical arrangement of production.

  • 3Buildings of the Phoenician agricultural settlement

    The excavations uncovered substantial remains of an agricultural settlement extending from the last quarter of the 8th century BC to the middle of the 4th century BC. They place the wine production facility within a broader area of agricultural activity.

What does it point to?

Tell el-Burak provides tangible traces of coastal agricultural production in the Phoenician economy. According to the researchers, analyses of the facility's plaster indicate a local and innovative tradition of lime plaster production in southern Phoenicia.

What did it teach us?

  1. It documented Iron Age wine production in Lebanon directly through a production facility.
  2. It showed that grape crushing and must collection were organized in two sections at different levels.
  3. Plaster analyses provided new data on Phoenician technology for producing building materials.

Latest news / selected archive

A study published in 2020 presented the Iron Age winemaking facility at Tell el-Burak and the technology of its lime plaster.

Record

Culture
Bronze Age Levantine communities and Phoenicians
First modern dig
2001
Team / historical
Jens Kamlah ve Hélène Sader; Tübingen Üniversitesi ve Beyrut Amerikan Üniversitesi ortak projesi
Coordinates
33.4821°, 35.3223°

Sources

  1. uni-tuebingen.de
  2. discovery.ucl.ac.uk
  3. levantineceramics.org

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12.000

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