Mtaileb or Mtayleb ( ar, المطيلب) is a suburb north of
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
in the
Matn District
Matn ( ar, قضاء المتن, '), sometimes spelled Metn (or preceded by the article El, as in El Matn), is a district ('' qadaa'') in the Mount Lebanon Governorate of Lebanon, east of the Lebanon's capital Beirut. The district capital is ...
of
Mount Lebanon Governorate in
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
.
Mtaileb I
Mtaileb I or Rabiya is an
archaeological site located east northeast of
Antelias in a wooded ravine next to a road that zig-zags upwards to the Rabiya Club.
The site was discovered by
Auguste Bergy Reverend Father Auguste Bergy (12 May 1873 – 31 August 1955) was a French Jesuit archaeologist known for his work on prehistory in Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or ...
in 1941 and a
Heavy Neolithic
Heavy Neolithic (alternatively, Gigantolithic) is a style of large stone and flint tools (or industry) associated primarily with the Qaraoun culture in the Beqaa Valley, Lebanon, dating to the Epipaleolithic or early Pre-Pottery Neolithic at t ...
assemblage of the
Qaraoun culture
The Qaraoun culture is a culture of the Lebanese Stone Age around Qaraoun in the Beqaa Valley. The Gigantolithic or Heavy Neolithic flint tool industry of this culture was recognized as a particular Neolithic variant of the Lebanese highlands ...
consisting of enormous
flint
Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and sta ...
tools was collected and now held in the
Museum of Lebanese Prehistory
The Museum of Lebanese Prehistory (french: Musée de Préhistoire Libanaise, ar, متحف ما قبل التاريخ اللبناني) is a museum of prehistory and archaeology in Beirut, Lebanon.
History
The museum is the first museum of prehist ...
marked "1,500 m - 1,800m E.N.E. Antelias". The tools were studied by
Jacques Cauvin
Professor Jacques Cauvin (1930 – 26 December 2001) was a French archaeologist who specialised in the prehistory of the Levant and Near East.
Biography
Cauvin started his work in France at Oullins Caves and Chazelles Caves (near Saint-André- ...
and said to be made of impure
Upper Jurassic flint. The area is now well built up with widely spaced villas and contains flint outcrops under the soil.
Mtaileb II
Mtaileb II is located west northwest of Mtaileb on the north facing, wooded,
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
slopes, in a junction of two ravines beneath the main
Bikfaya
Bikfaya ( ar, بكفيا, also spelled Bickfaya, Beckfayya, or Bekfaya) is a town in the Matn District region of Mount Lebanon. Its stone houses with red-tiled roofs resting amidst pine and oak forests make Bikfaya one of the most sought-after su ...
road. A small Neolithic assemblage of tools was collected in beige and grey flint with small
axe
An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has ma ...
s and picks. One slightly polished trapezoidal axe was found. The material is stored in the
Museum of Lebanese Prehistory
The Museum of Lebanese Prehistory (french: Musée de Préhistoire Libanaise, ar, متحف ما قبل التاريخ اللبناني) is a museum of prehistory and archaeology in Beirut, Lebanon.
History
The museum is the first museum of prehist ...
marked "1500 m S.W. Mazraat-ech-Chaar".
References
External links
Mtayleb Localiban
{{Archaeological sites in Lebanon
Populated places in the Matn District
Maronite Christian communities in Lebanon
Eastern Orthodox Christian communities in Lebanon
Archaeological sites in Lebanon
Heavy Neolithic sites
Neolithic settlements