Go back to the coastal
Sidon-Tyre road and drive south 15 kilometers to Sarafand, ancient
Sarepta. This is mentioned in the Bible and in both Assyrian and
Egyptian texts. The ancient settlement is located on the coast between
Ras al Qantaea and the Mausoleum of Khodr Abu Abbas, while the modern
village of Sarafand lies in the neighboring hills, circa 1.5 kilometers
from the coast. The modern town is fairly recent and is said to
have been founded some two centuries ago. Modern access to ancient
Sarepta is through a narrow street leading to the small fishing
harbor.
After twenty years of neglect, the ancient tell is now entirely
covered by vegetation and nothing of the excavated remains left
"in situ" can be seen. Anarchic and illegal constructions
in its immediate surroundings have destroyed its natural environment.
According to the royal annals of the Assyrian king Sanherib, Sarepta
was one of the fortified cities of Phoenician Sidon. The biblical
narrative speaking of the prophet Elijah's visit to Sarepta confirms
this information when it says that Sarepta is a "Sidonian town"
( I Kings 17:9). The archaeological excavations of the University
if Pennsylvania on the site showed that it was settled for the first
time in the middle of the second millennium B.C. and occupied without
major interruption until the Byzantine period. Nineteenth century
travelers had already noted on and around the tell ancient remains
like columns, marble slabs and sarcophagi.
According to the archaeological record, Sarafand was mainly a center
for pottery production. An industrial zone characterized by potters
kilns and workshops was uncovered.
A shrine dedicated to the goddess Astarte yielded a large collection
of offerings, like clay figurines, models of Astarte thrones, amulets,
cultic vessels... The collected material clearly showed that Sarepta
had trade relations with the Mediterranean world, as seen by imports
from Egypt and the Aegean. The site also yielded a series of Phoenician
and Ugaritic inscriptions, an indication that it had contacts with
other cities of the Levantine coast.
On the hills overlooking the village of Sarafand lies a first millennium
necropolis. Dozens of rock-cut tombs have been looted by clandestine
diggers over the years. One example of this illicitly dug material
is the beautiful stone door of a tomb standing today in the garden
of the Alaeddin hospital in Sarafand.
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