National Museum of Beirut

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Coordinates: 33°52′41.80″N, 35°30′53.23″E

National Museum of Beirut
Established	1937
Location	Beirut, Lebanon
Type	Archaeological
Director	Suzy Hakimian
Website	http://www.beirutnationalmuseum.com/

The National Museum of Beirut (Arabic: متحف بيروت الوطنيّ‎) is the principal archaeology museum in Lebanon. The museum's collection was begun at the turn of the 20th century, and it was officially inaugurated in 1942. The museum houses antiquities and treasures found during excavations undertaken by the Directorate General of Antiquities. The current exhibition numbers 1300 artifacts dating from prehistoric times to the Arab conquest. During the 1975 Lebanese Civil War, the museum stood on the demarcation line that separated the antagonist warring factions. The museum's neo-pharaonic style building and some of its collection suffered extensive damage throughout the war, but the greatest part of its artifacts was saved as a result of last-minute preemptive measures. Today, after sizeable renovation efforts, the National Museum of Beirut has regained its former standing for housing noteworthy Phoenician relics.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Early beginnings 1.2 Closing and devastation 1.3 Reopening and renovation 2 Architecture 3 Collections 3.1 Prehistory 3.2 Bronze age 3.3 Iron age 3.4 Hellenistic period 3.5 Roman period 3.6 Byzantine period 3.7 Arab conquest, Mamluk period 4 Publications 5 References 6 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Early beginnings

In 1919, a small collection of ancient artifacts compiled by Raymond Weill (a French officer stationed in Lebanon), were housed and exhibited at a provisional museum in the German Deaconesses building in Georges Picot Street, Beirut.^[1] Meanwhile, a prototype of the Archaeological and Fine Arts Service was instigated and began assembling items, which were scattered in the vicinity of Beirut. These excavations were carried out by Dr. Georges Contenau at Saida and the Renan mission at Saida, Tyre^[2] and Byblos.^[3] The initial collection was rapidly enriched through the work of the successive directors, but also through donations from private collections,^[2] among which were Henry Seyrig's private coin collection^[4], General Weygand's collection in 1925^[2] and that of Dr George Ford in 1930.^[5][2]

In 1923, a founding Committee headed by Bechara El Khoury, then Prime Minister and Minister of Education and Fine Arts, was created with the task of raising funds to build a National Museum.^[1] The funding committee included: Alfred Sursok, Marios Hanimoglo, Albert Bassoul, Omar Daouk, Kamil Eddeh, Ali Jumblat, Henry Pharaoun, George Faissy, Assad Younes, Hassan Makhzoumi, Joseph Farahi, George Korom, Jean Debs, Wafik Beydoun and Jack Tabet. This was formed under the name: "Friends of the Museum Committee."^[6] The committee accepted the plans presented by architects Antoine Nahas and Pierre Leprince-Ringuet. Construction activities began in 1930 on a land parcel donated by the Beirut Municipality near the Beirut Hippodrome, and were completed in 1937.^[1] The Museum was supposed to be inaugurated during the year 1938, but due to the Second World War the museum was not opened until 1942.^[6] The Museum was inaugurated on May 27, 1942 by President Alfred Naqqache.^[1]

The National Museum's collection grew richer within three decades under the direction of Mir Maurice Chehab, (the Museum's curator for 33 years)^[6] until the advent of the Lebanese Civil War in 1975.^[1]

[edit] Closing and devastation

The National Museum closed its doors when the Lebanese war broke out. When these events started in 1975, the situation rapidly deteriorated in the vicinity of the Museum and the Directorate General of Antiquities. Both buildings were located on the demarcation line, which has divided Beirut into two antagonistic areas for more than seventeen years.^[7][1] "Museum alley" became a checkpoint controlled by the various militias of the Lebanese, and by Syrian or Israeli armies, who opened and closed the passageway in accordance with short-lived truces.^[8][9] Due to these events, the authorities decided to close the Museum. The first protective measures inside the Museum were taken while fire-shells and moments of truce alternated. Small finds, the most vulnerable objects of the collection, were removed from the showcases and hidden in storerooms in the basement. The latter was walled up, banning any access to the lower floors. On the ground floor, mosaics – which had been fitted in the pavement – were covered with a layer of concrete. Statues and sarcophagi were protected by sandbags. When the situation reached its worst in 1982, the heavy artifacts were encased in wood and concrete.^[1][10]

The museum endured shelling and bombing, and was turned into a barrack for armed elements during these hostilities.^[1] When the cease-fire was declared in 1991, the Museum and the Directorate General of Antiquities were in a state of destruction. The Museum was flooded with rainwater and the outer facade was completely peppered with shots and shell-holes, while the internal walls were covered with graffiti left by the militias who used the Museum as a military barrack.

Regarding the Museum collection, the situation was highly critical: the objects were kept in storerooms for more than fifteen years in totally inappropriate conditions. The large stone objects were left in their casings without any ventilation. The National Museum had been built on the water table, which caused a dangerous increase in the humidity rate and the rise of the water level inside the storerooms, and traces of saltwater corrosion were spotted on the lower edge of the stone monuments. Several documents (maps, photographs, records) as well as 45 boxes containing archaeological objects were burnt in a shellfire, which devastated the aisle adjacent to the Directorate General of Antiquities. Also, nothing had survived from the laboratory equipment.^[1]

Some of the discovered items were looted and are exhibited at Turkish museums, whilst others have been auctioned. These were paradoxically stolen from storehouses in which they were kept to avoid damage and looting (mainly in Byblos and Sidon).^[6][11]

[edit] Reopening and renovation

The first plans to restore the national museum were proposed in 1992 by Michel Edde, then Minister of Culture and Higher Education. The proposal to tear down the concrete walls and cases which protected the national treasures was turned down by the general director of antiquities, Camille Asmar, since there were still no doors or windows preventing the looting of the museum. Ghassan Tueni donated the funds for the museum's massive main door. Once the doors and windows were put in, the decision was made to pull down the concrete wall that protected the entrance to the basement.^[12] Restoration work started in 1995 and focused on the building itself. Meanwhile, the inventory, recording and restoration of the objects were taking place. On October 8, 1999, the museum reopened its doors to the public after being renovated.^[1]

The rehabilitation of the National Museum was undertaken by the Ministry of Culture, the Directorate General of Antiquities and the National Heritage Foundation.^[13] In 1999 the Lebanese government started a massive campaign to recover antiquities that were stolen or traded during the civil war.^[14] Many artifacts were recovered from warehouses or private homes, since Lebanese law dictates that any item more than 300 years old belongs to the state.^[15]

The Museum's current renovation and design was carried out by French architect, urban planner and designer Jean-Michel Wilmotte.^[16]

[edit] Architecture

The museum was designed in a neo-pharaonic style by architects Antoine Nahas and Pierre Leprince Ringuet, and was built with Lebanese ochre limestone. It comprises a basement, a ground floor, a mezzanine floor and a terrace; the central part, above the mezzanine, is covered by a glass roof giving natural overhead light. The area of the site on which the building is located is approximately 5,500 square metres (59,000 sq ft), and the exhibition floor space amounts to 6,000 square metres (65,000 sq ft). The immediately adjoining museum annexes and administrative offices occupy about 1,000 square metres (11,000 sq ft).^[2]

[edit] Collections

The National Museum of Beirut currently exhibits 1300 artifacts from its collection of approximately 100000 objects.^[17] The artifact exhibition follows a chronological circuit beginning in Prehistory and ending in the Mamluk era.

[edit] Prehistory

This collection incorporates prehistoric artifacts from early hunter-gatherer societies^[4] ranging from the Lower Palaeolithic (1M.-150.000 B.C.) till the Neolithic (9000 B.C.- 3200 B.C.). Theses artifacts were found in caves and rock shelters scattered around the Lebanese territory.^[18] Around five hundred prehistoric sites have been surveyed in Lebanon as a whole, and around fifty sites in Beirut itself.^[4] The collection comprises ancient tools such as spearheads, flints, hooks and pottery.^[18]

[edit] Bronze age

The Bronze Age (3200 B.C.- 1200 B.C.) saw the birth of Lebanon's first fortified villages, the development of commercial and maritime activities and the invention of the world's first alphabet in Byblos.^[18] This collection includes the Museum's masterpiece: the sarcophagus of Ahiram, which holds the oldest text written with the Phoenician alphabet.^[19]

Collection highlights:

• Sarcophagus of King Ahiram: limestone, Byblos royal cemetery, 10^th century B.C.
• Votive statuettes: gilded bronze, Obelisk temple - Byblos, 19-18^th century B.C.
• Decorated knife:gold and ivory, Obelisk temple - Byblos, 19-18^th century B.C.
• Fenestrated axes: gold, Obelisk temple - Byblos, 19-18^th century B.C.
• King Ip Shemu Abi's crown and scepter: gold and bronze, Royal cemetery, Byblos, 18^th century B.C.
• King Abi Shemu's jewelry collection: gold and precious stones, Royal cemetery, Byblos, 18^th century B.C.
• Statuette of Reshep: gilded bronze, Obelisk temple - Byblos, 19-18^th century B.C.
• Duck shaped cosmetic box: ivory, Sidon, 14^{th century B.C.[20][18]}

[edit] Iron age

The Iron Age (1200 B.C.- 333 B.C.) coincides in Lebanon with the climax of the Phoenician civilization, which culminated in its maritime expansion and the transmission of the alphabet (which was attributed by the Greek legend to the Tyrian Cadmos). During this period, and after an era of autonomy, the city-states of the area came under Assyrian, Babylonian and Persian hegemony. The collection dating from this era gives testimony to the occupying civilizations, leaving their marks on Phoenician ceramics, jewelry and ivory work, statues, sarcophagi.^[18]

Key highlights of the collections include:

• the Ford collection of anthropoid sarcophagi: marble, 4^th century B.C.
• the votive statues from the Eshmun temple: marble, Bustan esh Sheikh, 4^th century B.C.
• the capital with bull protomes,: marble, Sidon, 5^th century B.C.^[5][18]

[edit] Hellenistic period

The Hellenistic period (333 B.C.- 64 B.C.) In 333 B.C., the decisive victory won by Alexander the Great over the Persian king Darius III opened the gates of Phoenicia to the Greek conqueror.

After Alexander's untimely death, Phoenicia came under Seleucid rule in 198 B.C. Monarchy was then abolished, and the Phoenician cities were ruled by high officials bearing Greek names. However, they enjoyed some autonomy and were given the right to mint coins.

Greek influence, which had made its way to Phoenicia during the Persian period, now became stronger. Figurines found in Kharayeb show Aegean influence on local craftsmen. This spreading Hellenization interacted with the local Semitic population substratum, which remained faithful to its gods and its language. It resulted in an artistic and architectural symbiosis best illustrated in the artifacts of Umm el 'Amed and Bustan esh Sheikh.

Collection higlights:

• Sanctuary of Eshmun tribune: marble, Bustan esh Sheikh (near Sidon), ca. 350 B.C.
• Statue of Aphrodite: marble, Beirut
• Greek gods figurines: terracotta, Kharayeb^[18]

[edit] Roman period

In 64 B.C., the military expedition of the Roman general Pompey put an end to the anarchy prevailing in the Seleucid Empire, and Phoenicia became part of the Roman world. But it is only after 31 B.C., under the reign of Augustus, that the pax romana extended over the area. The pax romana favored trade exchanges, and local crafts like silversmith, glass, textile and ceramic industry developed.

Roman Period (64 B.C.- 395 A.D.) section collection highlights include:

• the Achilles sarcophagus: marble, Tyre, 2^nd century A.D.
• the drunken Cupids sarcophagus: marble, Tyre, 2^nd century A.D.
• the Abduction of Europe mosaic: Byblos, 3^rd century A.D.
• the statue of Hygieia: marble, Byblos
• Calliope and the seven wise men mosaic: Baalbeck, 3^rd century A.D.
• Dionysus bust: marble, Tyre, 3^rd century A.D.

[edit] Byzantine period

After the death of Theodosius in 395 A.D., the Roman Empire was divided into a western and an eastern empire. The Lebanese cities were attached to the latter, and converted to Christianity which became the state religion in 392. They followed the imperial order to destroy pagan temples, but heathen cults like those in honor of Adonis and Jupiter Heliopolitanus remained alive among the population and survived for several centuries.

Artifacts from the Byzantine period (395 A.D.- 636 A.D.) include:

• the "Jealousy" mosaic: Beirut
• the church chancel element: marble, Beirut
• coins and jewelry collection

[edit] Arab conquest, Mamluk period

The Arab conquest of Lebanon was completed in 637 A.D. The expansion of the coastal cities, which had slowed down after the earthquakes of the 6th century, revived during the Umayyad period. Their harbors and shipyards regained their activity, and the hinterland witnessed irrigation works which promoted agriculture.

Lebanon was directly affected by the various episodes of dynastic changes which brought to power successively Umayyads, Abbasids, Fatimids, Seljuks, Ayyubids and Mamluks. During this long period, Islam spread and Arabic became the language of the administration. It progressively replaced local dialects. The artifacts from the Mamluk period (636 A.D.- 1516 A.D.) include coins, golden jewelry, and glazed terracotta bowls.^[18]

[edit] Publications

In 1936, Maurice Chehab initiated the museum's first French publication, "the Beirut Museum Bulletin" ("Bulletin du Musée de Beyrouth"), totalizing 36 volumes. Publication was stopped in 1986 amidst the exacerbation of the civil war.^[4] The journal addressed archaeological finds, sites and ancient civilizations.^[21] In 1995 the Museum and the Lebanese British Friends of the National Museum foundation resumed publication of a bi-annual journal entitled "Archaeology and History in Lebanon".^[22]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Beirut National Museum
• The Lebanese British Friends of the National Museum
• lebanonheritage
• Lebanon's Archeological Heritage
• Interview with Suzy Hakimian by Hana Alireza Kobeissi
• what's up lebanon
• Lebanese Center for Policy Studies
• Antoine Nahas Biography