Urbanization, Trade, and Growing Social Complexity Results from Tell Fadous-Kfarabida
Public Lecture | Prof. Hermann Genz (American University of Beirut)
The Bronze Age site of Tell Fadous-Kfarabida, situated on the Lebanese Coast two kilometers south of the modern city of Batroun, was only discovered in 2004. In this paper the main results of the 2004 to 2016 seasons of excavations, conducted by a team from the American University of Beirut, will be summarized.
The 1.5 hectare site was continuously occupied from the early fourth to the early second millennium BCE. During the Early Bronze Age II and III, the site was a small urban settlement, with a fortification and remarkably well-built domestic dwellings and public buildings. Various installations and in situ-finds within the different rooms provide important clues to their original use.
During the Early Bronze Age IV a decline of the settlement is noticeable, as this period is only attested by pits. In the Middle Bronze Age, a number of Egyptian imports suggest that the site regained some importance The results shed important light on the role of smaller sites in the process of the early urbanization on the Lebanese coast, suggesting that the socio-political organization of the 3rd millennium in the Central Levant was more complex than hitherto assumed.
Prof. Hermann Genz was appointed as Professor of Archaeology at the American University of Beirut in 2004. He has directed excavation projects in Lebanon at Tell Fadous-Kfarabida (2004-2016), Baalbek (2012 – ongoing), and Tell Mirhan (2016 – ongoing). His research focuses on the Bronze and Iron Ages of the Eastern Mediterranean, especially the Levant and Anatolia.
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