spread across the region between the sixteenth and fourth centuries b.c. But Beirut seems to have been a rather unimportant town in that period. A modest Phoenician seawall dates to 700 b.c., and invading Persians wrecked and then rebuilt the town on a grid plan in the fourth century b.c. A small cluster of 16 houses from that era was recently uncovered when the nineteenth-century marketplace was demolished and rebuilt. Even the fifth-century b.c. Greek traveler and historian Herodotus overlooked Beirut, despite mentioning other cities, including Tyre and Sidon, in the area. Two centuries later, these were important prizes for Alexander the www.archaeology.org Across Beirut, archaeologists are uncovering centuries of evidence clarifying the city’s long and complicated history. In the Riad el Solh area downtown, the remains of a massive 1st-century Å Roman wall that may once have been more than 20 feet wide are visible. 25http://www.archaeology.org