Khaldeh, the necropolis of an uncovered Phoenician city of the Iron Age

In 1960, while working on the Beirut-Sidon highway, Roman-Byzantine remains were found about 12 km south of Beirut at Khan Khaldeh. Dwelling quarters of the ancient Late Roman and Byzantine city were brought to light. The well-preserved mosaic floors of the Early Christian Basilicas dated to the 5th and 6th-7th centuries CE testify to the richness and the importance of the site in these periods (Figure 1). The city is described in the muta- tio Heldua de l’Itineraire de Bordeaux (CCSL 175, It. Burd 583, 9), and is attested by the Akkadian sources as Hi-li-du-u-a, the Phoe- nician city annexed by the Neo-Assyrian king Esarhaddon in 677/6 BCE. Under the level of the Late Roman city, in a place called Kob- bet Choueifat west of the runways of Beirut International airport, in the summer of 1961, large quantities of pottery were found, pos- sibly belonging to Phoenician burials dating to the Iron Age IIA (10th- end of 9th century BCE) and IIB (end of the 9th- end of 8th century BCE) periods.