Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (17.2005(2007))

ESHMOUN

LEBANON

burial niches inside the chamber, identified
only tentatively because of severe damages.
The crudeness of the stone-dressing sug-
gests that the tomb was never finished.
Pit graves cut into the rock and possibly
containing lead coffins were found on sites
51 and 70. On the former of the two, the
trench had been cut in a piece of grey rock
sticking out in the middle of a cultivated
field. As for the other site (N 33°33'47.7";
E 35°29'48.9"; 506 m a.s.l.), believed to be
a settlement or village, pit graves were
found cut in the rock inside a recent stone
construction used as a keep for goats or
sheep. Two of these graves were oriented
N-S and were equipped with recesses
around the edges for fitting covering slabs.
A third pit was oriented E-W, but it was so
severely damaged that its identification as
a grave is purely tentative.
Remains of Roman-age settlements or
farmsteads were discovered on eight sites,
identified from the surface pottery and glass
collection (nos 47, 53, 62, 65, 70, 71, 74,
75), augmented with Roman coins on sites
62 and 75. Typical water cisterns were
localized on sites 65, 70 and 71. As it is only
natural that cemeteries did not exist in
a void away from settlements, it can be
assumed, for example, that the necropolis on
site 46 was connected with the village on
site 47. (We were told by the local
inhabitants that the locality on site 47 had
once been called Maloulith or Maloula,
which was apparently the name of the
village in Aramaic). Other connected
settlements and burial grounds include 53
and 51, 37 and 55. In the case of site 70,
some graves were found near the settlement.
Four sites are presumed to date to the Late
Roman Period, two on the northern slopes
and two on the southern ones. Site 66 was
located on the edge of the slope west of El
Kharbe. The site and the location were
discussed above. Several Late Roman

potsherds found among modern ceramics
within the limits of El Kharbe village
located site 69 there. On the opposite side of
the valley, potsherds from the same period
were found north of the modern village of
Mazraat el-Mathane. Meriting special
attention is site 63 located on the flat


Fig. 3. Carved decoration inside the chamber
of a tomb from Site 33
(Photo K. Jdknbiak)

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