The site came to light in 2004 after a deep trench made by heavy machinery revealed part of an ancient city. Excavations led by the “Tell Fadous-Kfarabida” project, affiliated with the American University of Beirut, for more than two decades, indicate that the site contains archaeological layers dating back to the Early Bronze Age. On August 23, 2025, the site suffered direct damage due to heavy excavation work. Work was halted after local activists informed the municipality and the Directorate General of Antiquities. Since October 23, 2025, at the request of the Lebanese Directorate General of Antiquities, an archaeological mission conducted a rescue campaign to assess damages and document what remains of the site. The operations led to the discovery of new artifacts from the bulldozer debris, including small pottery vessels and finely carved stone vessels. Excavations are expected to resume in the summer of 2026 to explore deeper layers and architecture related to the Early Bronze Age, as part of efforts to protect and study the site. The site spans approximately 1.5 hectares and contains layers of human settlement dating from the Chalcolithic to the Middle Bronze Age (4000 to 2000 BCE). The Directorate General of Antiquities has proposed a property acquisition project to ensure the site’s protection. Samar Karam, the head of archaeological sites in northern Lebanon, told Sputnik: “The site was inhabited from the Chalcolithic period to the Middle Bronze Age, from 4000 BCE to 2500 BCE. The pieces displayed today are part of what has been discovered from the site we’ve been working on for 12 years, so there is a large quantity of pieces and fragments. What we exhibit today reflects the themes we’ve adopted, such as daily life, carpentry, and administration, and on the Bronze Age, which is why we selected beautiful pieces for display, including four pieces discovered last October from the debris left by the site’s excavation, which are stone vessels.” The “Risen from Ruins” exhibition, prepared in one week, represents a new milestone in documenting the Tell Fadous-Kfarabida site by showcasing some of the discoveries that have come to light over recent years or during the recent rescue operations. The displayed pieces reveal the historical diversity of the tell and its role in understanding ancient settlement stages on the Lebanese coast.
