Berytus

Study of 2189 coins found on three archaeological sites in Jemmayzeh, the eastern entry of Beirut. The finds stretch from the Persian to the modern period. The Medieval and contemporary coins are studied by Hassan el-Akra. Find attached the contents and the introduction.

PhD thesis at University of Bordeaux.
Advisors: Dominique Castex, Frédérique Blaizot

FUNERARY PRACTICES AND BIOLOGICAL IDENTITIES IN BERYTUS AND BOTRYS DURING THE ROMAN PERIOD (Lebanon, Ith Century B.C. - IVth Century A.D.)

During the first century B.C., with the rise of the Roman Empire, the Levant became the scene of cosmopolitanism where many heteroclite cultures would coexist. The new cosmopolitan society had Rome as its capital (Caput Mundi), and roads drawn up by the army linking the rest of the empire to its capital. Recent rescue excavations (since 2005) in Berytus (Beirut) and Botrys (Batroun) have revealed a considerable amount of unpublished data on populations who lived in the region during the four centuries of the Roman Empire until the early centuries of Christianity. Following an archaeo-anthropological approach, this thesis presents an assessment of eight funerary sites (n= 290) from the cities of Colonia Julia Augusta Felix Berytus and Botrys. Significantly, Botrys, unlike Berytus, did not have the status of a Roman colony. This research seeks to contribute to the history of these two cities. The purpose is to understand the populations of the past through the study of the skeletons, rituals and funerary practices as well as the organisation of funerary spaces. This study primarily reveals a cultural and biological cosmopolitanism illustrated by variability in funerary practices and in biological characteristics. These results suggest that at least two different groups or more coexisted in the Colonia Julia Augusta Felix Berytus. On the contrary, the biocultural data of Botrys skeletons reveal a less cosmopolitan city with less diversity  shown on different anthropological and cultural levels. Indeed, the similarity of funerary practices, body treatments, grave goods and the organisation of the funerary space and biological homogeneity are indisputable in Botrys. Comparative analysis between Berytus and Botrys highlighted an existing biological heterogeneity at different scales between individuals of both cities. However, this diversity is contradicted by the homogeneity of the females of both cities during the 2th and the 4th century A. D.

Keywords : Berytus, Botrys, Levant, roman period, roman colony, funerary practices, religious beliefs, archaeoanthropology, archaeothanatology, morphometry, non metric anatomical traits, population health, spatial distribution of burial practices.



Online access:
http://www.theses.fr/2016BORD0070
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01369038

This paper presents a study of 95 bronze coins found recently by the french mission from Lyon at Tyre. These finds stretch from the Hellenistic to the byzantine period. The comparison of this assemblage with the finds from the necropolis and the Apollo sanctuary at Tyre as well as those from Deb'aal and Umm el-'Amed allowed to draw a certain pattern of the coin circulation in Tyre and its region.

Ceramic vessels have been an essential component of daily life in the Levant for 9,000 years, yet the processes shaping the introduction, development, and dissemination of pottery technology in the region remain poorly understood. This paper presents new ceramic data from the Neolithic of the Biqāc Valley and Lebanese coast and reexamines published information to investigate the earliest potting traditions in Lebanon. The aim of this work is to organize and synthesize the data available on Neolithic pottery from Lebanon and to place the assemblage in its broader regional context, thereby gaining a better understanding of the trajectory of the adoption and dissemination of pottery technology in the Levant.

Ceramic vessels have been an essential component of daily life in the Levant for 9,000 years, yet the processes shaping the introduction, development, and dissemination of pottery technology in the region remain poorly understood. This paper presents new ceramic data from the Neolithic of the Biqā c Valley and Lebanese coast and reexamines published information to investigate the earliest potting traditions in Lebanon. The aim of this work is to organize and synthesize the data available on Neolithic pottery from Lebanon and to place the assemblage in its broader regional context, thereby gaining a better understanding of the trajectory of the adoption and dissemination of pottery technology in the Levant.

Au cours du premier siècle avant notre ère le Levant devient le théâtre d’un cosmopolitisme où maintes cultures hétéroclites vont coexister avec l'avènement de l’Empire romain.  Les fouilles préventives récentes (depuis 2005) à Berytus (Beyrouth) et à Botrys (Batroun) ont mis au jour une quantité considérable de données inédites sur l’homme et sur les populations qui vivaient dans la région durant les quatre siècles de l’Empire romain et jusqu’au début du Christianisme. Nous allons présenter les résultats d’une étude archéo‐anthropologique de huit ensembles funéraires (n=290) provenant de la Colonia Julia Augusta Felix Berytus et de la ville de Botrys qui contrairement à Berytus n’a pas le statut de colonia romana, ce travail propose de contribuer à l’histoire de ces deux villes.  Cette étude révèle en premier lieu un cosmopolitisme culturel et biologique illustré par la variabilité des pratiques funéraires et par la diversité biologique des deux ou plusieurs groupes qui ont dû coexister à la Colonia Julia Augusta Felix Berytus. Par contre, les données bio-culturelles de Botrys évoquent quant à elles, une cité moins cosmopolite, moins diversifiée sur les plans anthropologiques et culturels. En effet, la ressemblance des modes d’inhumation, du traitement du corps, du mobilier funéraire et la structuration de l’espace funéraire et l’homogénéité biologique sont incontestables à Botrys. En revanche, les analyses comparatives entre Berytus et Botrys ont mis en évidence une hétérogénéité biologique existante à plusieurs échelles entre les individus des deux villes. Cette distance est brisée par l’homogénéité du corpus féminin des deux villes pour la période qui s'étend du IIème au IVème siècle de notre ère.

This paper reflects the two seasons of fieldwork undertaken in 2005 and 2006 by a small team in part of the Shin basalt region, or Wa'ar, as it is known locally, to the north-west of Homs. It builds upon initial work undertaken in the basalt region as part of the Settlement and Landscape of the Homs Region Project (SHR Project). The work is focussed on understanding the development of the deserted village variously known as Khirbet Deir Salam or more usually Dar es-Salaam ('House of Peace'or 'Place of Peace').

... | Ayuda. Coinage in sixth century Beirut: preliminary observations. Autores: Kevin Butcher; Localización: Berytus: Archaeological Studies, ISSN 0067-6195, Nº 43, 1997‑1998 , pags. 173-180. © 2001-2010 Universidad de La Rioja · Todos los derechos reservados. ...

... | Ayuda. New questions and answers in the mocromorphology of the occupation deposits at the Souks site, Beirut. Autores: Charles AI French, Nicole Boivin; Localización: Berytus: Archaeological Studies, ISSN 0067-6195, Nº 43, 1997‑1998 , pags. 181-210. ...

This paper deals with recent discovery of a moulded glazed skyphos uncovered in the funerary site of Mazraa 571 (Beirut). The most captivating aspects of archaeology is that it connects arts to sciences especially when studying material culture. The term itself of material culture holds the duality of material (physical) and culture (conceptual). The aim of this study was to present the typochronological study of the skyphos but to go beyond the classical morphological and chronological analyses and to reach an interpretative level in order to understand the symbolism, meaning and use of this artifact on the site.
Mazraa 571 is mainly a funerary site, the moulded lead-glazed skyphos was discovered as a part of a cluster in a funerary zone between burials. It is covered with a green glaze on the outside and yellow glaze on the inside. Moreover, a plant relief pattern is moulded all over the vessel, this type of pottery was never common.

... Gazzar Pasha could also have been responsible for some of the re-building in this sector. ... Saleh Ibn Yahya, writing in the 11th century, described the walls of Beirut noting reinforcements of ancient columns placed in the walls by Crusader builders. ...