Archaeologists of the Tell el-Burak Archaeological Project (a joint project between the American University of Beirut, the University of Tübingen, the German Archaeological Institute, and other institutions) discover in an Iron Age wine press at Tell el-Burak, 9 km south of Sidon, the earliest known evidence of hydraulic mortar in Phoenician architecture. Multidisciplinary analysis of plaster samples from three installations — including an exceptionally well-preserved wine press, dated to c. 725-600 BC — reveals that Phoenician builders deliberately mixed crushed ceramic fragments (probably broken amphorae) into the lime binder. These inclusions act as pozzolanic material, chemically reacting with the lime to form a hydraulic mortar capable of hardening even under wet conditions. Advanced analytical techniques (X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis) confirm the material's hydraulic properties and reveal that the ceramic fragments contain minerals associated with high-temperature firing (above 800°C), indicating deliberate material selection, not simple pottery waste. The finding predates by several centuries the spread of hydraulic mortar (cocciopesto, opus signinum) that the Romans would later popularize.