Claude Doumet, Sidon. 15 Years of Excavations. On the occasion of the exhibition Sidon “The Best of 15 Years”. 3 September – 3 November 2013, Sidon, Beirut (Anis Commercial Printing Press al) 2013, V + 134 pp., 119 full colour illustrations and photographs. ISBN 978-9953-0-2695-4. Price: $ 35

Orders to be sent to: www.ahlebanon.com or www.eisenbrauns.com/item/DOUSIDON1.

Only a few days after the opening of a prestigious display hall in Beirut’s National Museum commemorating the pioneering work of the late Emir Maurice Chéhab, a most attractively designed and highly informative exhibition covering the results of 15 years of excavations in Sidon was solemnly inaugurated in the Bouwebet el-Fawqa residence overlooking the archaeological College Site1. Under the title “The Best of 15 years”, Claude Doumet and her British Museum team put some 50 artefacts on display, amongst which several highlights of the campaigns conducted in close collaboration with the General Direction of Antiquities of the Lebanese Ministry of Culture and backed by the dynamic Lebanese British Friends of the National Museum. Along with the aforesaid, the city’s authorities (not to forget the sponsors of the event and the Sidon excavations) may rightfully pride themselves in having established yet another milestone in the archaeological record of Lebanon.

Unfortunately enough, the recent political turmoil in the Middle East once again cast a shadow over prime cultural events such as this one, which otherwise would no doubt have attracted a large national and international audience. All the more reasons therefore to draw the attention of PhD students, scholars, libraries, scientific institutions and universities worldwide to the most handsomely produced catalogue accompanying the exhibition signed by Claude Doumet. Lavishly illustrated , this publication invites its broad readership to embark on a trip leading through the more than forty centuries witnessing the rise and fall of one of the most prominent cradles of cultures on the Lebanese shore, from chalcolithic to medieval times. In the introductory chapters, the reasons that led the excavators to select the

1 For pictures, press clips and detailed information on opening hours and events linked with the exhibition and excavations, see https://www.facebook.com/SidonBestOf15Years?fref=ts

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College site are explained (pp. 6-13) before focussing on Sidon’s economic resources including those of Sidon’s Hinterland (pp.14-23). The chapter “Maritime trade” (pp.24- 51 ) offers an impressive harvest of finds illustrating Sidon’s overseas trade with Egypt, the Minoan and Mycenaean world, Cyprus, Euboia and Greece. In the next chapter entitled “Public buildings, burials and the disposal of objects in a well” (pp.52-, the more prominent buildings and their contents are reviewed in a chronological order, often with stimulating interpretations offering new perspectives for a wider discussion in academic circles. A real tribute to” Canaan’s first born” (Genesis 10:15), -the metropolis whose habitants, the Sidonians, were to become synonymous with the entire population of the Phoenician coast in Biblical and Greek sources-, the well annotated exhibition catalogue also contains an up to date bibliography referring to excavation reports and studies on individual objects viz. clusters of archaeological artefacts (pp.124-132). Finally, we cannot but applaud the editor’s choice of the format of this publication, all students involved in Phoenician studies will no doubt recognize as a wink to J.B. Pritchard’s Recovering Sarepta, A Phoenician City (Princeton 1978).