Phoenician-era cemetery discovered in Tyre

A Phoenician-era cemetery has been unearthed in the coastal town of Tyre, which was a major Phoenician seaport from about 2000 BC through to Roman times, the National News Agency said Tuesday. The cemetery was discovered in the northern entrance of Tyre in the Jal Al-Bahr region, and is located on a hill near the sea shore. The landowner who was doing some reclamations on his land found skeletons buried in sand and hurried to the General Directorate of Antiquties which in turn dug further and did some drilling to find human and animal skeletons that date back to the fifth and sixth centuries BC. The skeletons were found laid in an orderly manner with relics of pottery and bronze that has religious connotations linked to the Phoenician era. Engineer Ali Badawi, an archaeologist and head of antiquities in Tyre, assured that the General Directorate of Antiquties will move the skeletons to a safe place, adding that what has been discovered will promote further studies and provide information on the traditions and arctic products of the Phoenician era.