Two Phoenician white marble blocks from Tyre

Abstract

Ancient architectural construction at the coastal sites of Lebanon was particularized by the massive import of decorative stones, especially marble and granite. The Roman period saw a huge increase in such imports, while examples from earlier periods remain rare and little studied. Apart from the marbles of the sanctuary of Eshmoun, located to the north-east of Sidon, very few marbles found in Lebanon that date back to the Phoenician and Hellenistic periods have been studied and published. This article considers two white marble blocks from Tyre, dating from the Phoenician and Achaemenid periods. These blocks might be attributable to the two recently discovered sanctuaries dated to these same periods.