The destruction of downtown Beirut during the civil war has provided a treasure trove for archaeologists.
Ruins from the Iron and Stone ages as well as the Phoenician, Hellenistic, Assyrian, Persian, Roman, Byzantine, Crusader, Mameluk and Ottoman eras have been found since reconstruction began more than a year ago.The layers of bygone civilizations began surfacing when the bulldozers moved in to clear away the rubble of offices, stores and theaters shattered by the relentless shelling of the 1975-90 war.
"It's ironic that the same war that destroyed the city has paved the way for excavations," said Hareth Boustany, archaeological consultant for Solidere, the downtown development company. "The fighting leveled the area. All we had to do was dig in search of ancient treasure."
Archaeologists crawl, kneel and laboriously brush away dirt under a searing sun, their yellow hard hats occasionally popping up from what was once a bustling commercial district.
"We have discovered several relics with 12 distinct layers and colors, some of them going back to 1000 B.C.," Helene Sader, an archaeology professor at the American University of Beirut, said of one recent find of pottery and cups.
A Crusader castle wall, a Phoenician wall and the remains of a city dating back to 4000 B.C. also have been unearthed.
Other discoveries at the three major and several minor excavation sites: a marble statue of Apollo, the Greek god of light, art and beauty; a marble statue of a woman from the Roman era; a Roman cave used for storage; several marble statuettes of Persian cavaliers; about 10,000 pieces of pottery.
One excavated area between Martyrs Square and the Beirut seaport appears to be a series of graves, ancient walls and decaying stone stairs. It is the ruins of a house in what was a Bronze Age city. Six rooms, each about 13-by 13-feet, connect with narrow and wide corridors.
Much of the 445-acre downtown has been razed to make way for new business and entertainment centers under a government reconstruction plan.
Beirut has been destroyed at least twice by earthquakes and once by fire in the last 20 centuries. It is generally accepted that remnants of several cities lie beneath today's Beirut.
"We intend to dig deeper," an excited German archaeologist, Uwe Finkbeiner, said at an excavation site 13 feet deep. He led a 10-member team from the University of Tubingen in Germany.
The Hariri Foundation, a social aid and charitable organization financed from Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's personal fortune, and UNESCO have donated $1.3 million to pay for excavations.
Solidere also chipped in, providing $3 million so far to finance digs and altering reconstruction plans so as not to damage the finds.
Academics have until at least 1998 to finish their work, said Hans Culverts, a Dutch archaeologist. After that, Solidere says, buildings will begin going up on much of the downtown land, leaving no room for digging.
So far archaeologists have studied areas totaling about three city blocks. Whenever the workers who are razing buildings and putting in new sewers stumble on new ruins, the archaeologists move in to study the site.
French, Dutch, German and British archaeologists are working with Lebanese colleagues. Americans are missing out because of an 8-year-old State Department ban on travel to Lebanon that was imposed because of security concerns during the hijacking and hostage-taking era of the 1980s.
"It's their loss," Boustany said. "They might never get another opportunity like this one."
More than 350 foreign archaeologists, including 20 Americans, have expressed interest in participating in the dig.
"American archaeologists, friends of mine, regret being left out of the campaign ... they blame their government for that," said Culverts, the Dutch archaeologist.
Some relics are to be displayed at the National Museum or at a future downtown archaeological park. Larger discoveries, such as the Crusader castle's wall, will be preserved on site.
"It will not be touched," said Rashed Fayed, a Solidere spokesman who noted that a sewage network had been altered to avoid damaging the castle.