Tuwaini, Tall. The coastal site of Tuwaini, (ancient Gibala) 40km south of Ugarit, is one of the larger mounds (350 x 290m) in the Jebleh Plain and was originally connected by a lagoon-type harbour with the shore north of modern Jebleh.
Since 1999, a Syrian-Belgian team has uncovered a long sequence of occupational deposits from the Early Bronze Age until the Byzantine era. Excavations and a geomagnetic survey revealed the well-preserved plan of the city during the Iron II/III period (Tweini Phases VI-V). Dominant is an elaborated street system connecting several public urban structures including a Phoenician temple district with domestic and industrial areas. The Early Iron Age (Phase VII) is represented by two main architectural levels, dated to the 12th and 11th cent. B.C. In the LB II period (Phase VIII), Tuwaini was part of the Ugarit kingdom and is mentioned as Gibala in the treaty between the Hittite king Mursili II and Niqmepa, king of Ugarit. The material culture of the LBII (Phase VIIIB) parallels that of Ugarit with imports from all over the Eastern Mediterranean including a Hittite-Luwian hieroglyphic inscription and a wide range of Cypriote and Mycenaean ceramics. Domestic structures with underground communal tombs are known for the LBI to MB I periods (Phase VIIIA-IXA). The construction of a cyclopean city wall dates to the beginning of the 2nd mill. The first urbanization of Tuwaini started already in the Early Bronze Age III-IV period and is represented by a sequence of two main architectural levels including mudbrick constructions.