Souk al-Tawileh (‘al-Tawileh’ meaning long in Arabic) is the central north-south street of Beirut Souks; it once led all the way to the harbor. During the post-war reconstruction of Beirut’s central district that began in 1994, excavations through successive layers revealed that the street’s origins dated back to the Phoenico-Persian period. Souk al-Tawileh thrived in Romano-Byzantine times; it lost its standing after the 551 Beirut earthquake, remaining a simple earth path for a long time.