Excavations directed by Paul Courbin from 1971 to 1984 at the site of Ras el-Bassit
PUBLISHED 2023. Please visit the publication's webpage.
This grant is intended for the publication of the final report, in three volumes, of the excavations directed by Paul Courbin from 1971 to 1984 at the site of Ras el-Bassit, which lies along the northern coast of Syria about 50 km north of Latakia.
The excavations on the ancient tell uncovered an important settlement. This small port rapidly became a reference site for scholars interested in northern Levantine coastal economies during the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age periods and their relations to the wider Mediterranean Basin.
Occupied continuously from the second half of the 2nd Millennium B.C. until the Late Roman period, a total of 11 main occupation phases have been distinguished in the excavations.
Although several articles have dealt with various aspects of the site's history, and the publication of the Iron Age necropolis appeared in 1993, the final report on the ancient settlement remains unpublished. The objective of the project submitted here is to complete our study of the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age occupations in order to publish the final results of the excavations undertaken by Paul Courbin. Three volumes are planned: one volume on the Late Bronze Age occupation; a second volume on the Iron Age architecture and stratigraphy; and a third volume on the Greek pottery and its implications for the interpretation of Iron Age Greek-Levantine relations. These publications will make available the full archaeological record of Ras el-Bassit uncovered thus far, and will make a significant contribution to our knowledge of coastal Syria and its place in the broader Mediterranean context during Antiquity.
The publication project is directed by Dr. Jacques Perreault.