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Royal necropolis of Ayaa

قياع, Italy

Royal necropolis of Ayaa

The royal necropolis of Ayaa (Arabic: قياعة, romanized: Qiyā'ah or Qiyâa; also romanized as "Ayaʿa") was a group of two hypogea housing a total of 21 sarcophagi of kings and nobles of the city of Sidon (modern Saida), a coastal city in Lebanon, and a prominent Phoenician city-state. The sarcophagi w

ere highly diverse in style, ranging across Egyptian, Greek, Lycian and Phoenician styles. The Phoenicians exhibited diverse mortuary practices that included inhumation and cremation. While written records about their beliefs in the afterlife are scarce, archaeological evidence suggests they believed in an afterlife known as the "House of Eternity." Burial sites in Iron Age Phoenicia, like the Ayaa necropolis, were typically located outside settlements, and featured various tomb types and burial practices. The royal necropolis of Ayaa was located at the base of Hlaliyeh hill, at an elevation of 35 meters and approximately 500 meters from the sea, at the outskirts of the city of Sidon. The site had been previously surveyed by French orientalist and biblical scholar Ernest Renan who noted the presence of remnants of ancient ashlar masonry. The plot was owned by Mehmed Cherif Efendi, a Sidon...

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