Museum of Lebanese Prehistory
Encyclopedia
The Museum of Lebanese Prehistory (Musée de Préhistoire Libanaise) is a museum
of prehistory
and archaeology
in Beirut
, Lebanon
.
and was opened in June 2000 to commemorate the 125th anniversary of Saint Joseph University of Beirut
. The founding of the museum followed from the work of Jesuit scholars who controlled prehistoric research in this part of the world until the 1950s. These had accumulated a large amount of artifacts and heritage, collected at the "Faculté des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines" of Saint Joseph University. This faculty established a research centre in 1988 that developed with the creation of the Museum of Prehistory in June 2000.
The museum occupies a total of 350 square metre on two levels. The upper floor is devoted to tools and the basement displays illustrate the lifestyle of hunter-gatherers. The invention of agriculture
and the domestication of animals are key themes and the museum includes 35 display boards and 22 windows exhibiting different fossils and flint tools from the Stone Age
. These include early agricultural tools, blades, sickle
s, a pick, an axe
and millstone
. Diorama
s and recreated artifacts are presented together in thematic arrangements and in some cases compare and relate modern tools to Stone Age counterparts making the artefacts easier to understand. Displays cover three areas: tools, hunting
and the invention of agriculture
. Visitors are invited to discover how and why flint tools were made and what purpose they served. Rare bone tools and an antler from the Cave of Antelias, Sands of Beirut
illustrate the ingenuity of the prehistoric people who inhabited Lebanon. Hunting is illustrated in various panels with reconstructions of weapons like the spear and arrows along with elements of well preserved fauna from sites explored by the Jesuit Fathers. The invention of agriculture was one of the most important milestones in the history of mankind achieved in the Middle East. A special area of the display highlights the various stages from plowing up to production of bread, a transition accessible to all audiences. A French and Arabic documentary presentation entitled Lebanon in Prehistory can be viewed by visitors.
. Fleisch compiled a photographic archive of the devastation caused by excessive urbanization
of Lebanon for nearly 60 years. The single showroom exhibition gave a dissection of the scene showing sites such as Tripoli
, Jbeil, Tabarja
, the bay of Jounieh
, Antelias
and memorable caves, Ras Beirut
and Naam. Thousands of images and freezes were taken of the Lebanese coastline, mountains and the Beqaa Valley
showing sites that were inhabited by bipedal hominids for nearly a million years before the appearance of the Phoenicians. A central theme of the exhibition was urbanization as "a disaster inflicted on the Prehistory" and the upheavals of the Lebanese landscape. This destruction is shown in the Fleisch's photographs which document the disappearance of the Sands of Beirut, a complex of nearly 20 rich, prehistoric sites that were completely destroyed due to operations to use the soft sandstone
for buildings.
Lévon Nordigiuan, the museum director said
The exhibition was filled with similar photographic examples. The Antelias cave with many Paleolithic
vestiges was demolished by workers in the 1960s. Naama showed three Paleolithic habitats with numerous animal bones and disappeared in favor of the southern highway. Last-minute intervention of Fleisch saved many essential pieces for scientific research. Other sites, like the shelter of Ksar 'Aqil in the valley of Antelias are still at risk. Transformations reported by the photographs are not always obvious to understand for the untrained eye.
Maya Haïdar Boustani, the museum curator
stated
To provide a comparison point for visitors, photographs of the locations were taken showing changes over 60 years and the verdict was clear and without surprises; urbanization
has become rampant. Comparative photos, in color this time, depict a coastline taken over with holiday resorts and mountains denatured by residential cement mixer
s.
. In 2001, an exploration project was carried out in the Anti-Lebanon
mountains in partnership with the Directorate General of Antiquities and the Council for British Research in the Levant
. From July 14 to August 10, 2001, an international team led by Alexander Wasse (Council for British Research in the Levant) conducted a field campaign. Its objectives were to locate and specify the GPS location of sites already discovered by Bruce Schroeder, to carry out an intensive survey of the plateau and wadi of Nachcharini Atneine, to study the environmental context in order to get an idea of the prehistoric occupation of the area and assess the conservation status of the Nachcharini
cave for possible excavation. Of the 23 prehistoric sites originally discovered by Bruce Schroeder, 19 were located, including Nachcharini and 39 other new sites were inventoried. According to the lithic material collected, the periods documented include the Middle Paleolithic, the Epipaleolithic
, the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A
, the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B
and Chalcolithic or Early Bronze Age. The diagnosis of pottery sherds collected on the surface showed several periods of occupation.
In 2004, the museum embarked on a project of surveys in Syria's (Homs District
). The project was a partnership of the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums in Syria, the Mila and Fontanals Institution of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (Barcelona
) and the International Institute for Prehistoric Research in the University of Cantabria
(Santander
). Scientific direction was carried out jointly by Dr. Michel Al-Maqdisi (Directorate of Antiquities and Museums of Syria), Dr. Maya Haïdar-Boustani (Museum Lebanese Prehistory, LSU) and Dr. Juan José Ibañez (Mila and Fontanals Institution). The area of the survey is located in western Syria, totaling approximately 560 kilometres (348 mi). This region includes clearly differentiated areas in the valley of the Orontes, the basaltic plateaus, hills and plains of Bouqaia
. The aim of the mission is not only to inventory and document all sites from the Paleolithic to the Ottoman
period, but specifically to locate sites that mark the beginning of the Neolithic and later those of Early Bronze Age lying between the south of Aleppo and the Beqaa valley
, forming a vast region that connects the middle Euphrates
to the Jordan Valley. The second area of research concerns the period of the mid 3rd millennium, including surveys to find sites on the caravan route between Tell Jamous in the west and Tell Nebi Mend to the east. The location of archaeological sites is based on analysis of satellite images (Corona and Google Earth), the study of the topographical maps, aerial photography, geophysical and population surveys. 167 archaeological sites were found from all periods, reflecting the rich heritage of this region. The major contribution of the work was the discovery of Natufian and megalithic tombs attested in two sites: Jeftelik and Wadi Chbat, the first Natufian sites inventoried and documented in this area. The Neolithic and perhaps even the final PPNB pottery was documented on a few important sites such as Tell al-Marj, which has strong parallels with Byblos
. Megalithic sites are a spectacular phenomenon, often equipped with tumuli
and burial vaults. These structures are sometimes grouped in small numbers, as on the tops of hills in the basaltic area, but sometimes they form a vast necropolis
such as the basalt plains north of Lake Qattina. The presence of monolith
s, and side walls of the tumuli suggests the existence of complex, Bronze Age, ritual structures similar to those of Menger in northern Lebanon and those of southern Syria.
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
of prehistory
Prehistory
Prehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...
and archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
in Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
.
History
The Museum is the first museum of prehistory in the Arabic Middle EastMiddle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
and was opened in June 2000 to commemorate the 125th anniversary of Saint Joseph University of Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
. The founding of the museum followed from the work of Jesuit scholars who controlled prehistoric research in this part of the world until the 1950s. These had accumulated a large amount of artifacts and heritage, collected at the "Faculté des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines" of Saint Joseph University. This faculty established a research centre in 1988 that developed with the creation of the Museum of Prehistory in June 2000.
Displays
The museum houses an exceptional collection of animal and human bones, Neolithic pottery, stone tools and other ancient items recovered from over four hundred archaeological sites since the 19th century. The collections form a unique reference and were only accessible to specialists until the late 1990s. By exhibiting part of the collection to the public, the University has enabled people to investigate and discover the details and mysteries of prehistoric Lebanon.The museum occupies a total of 350 square metre on two levels. The upper floor is devoted to tools and the basement displays illustrate the lifestyle of hunter-gatherers. The invention of agriculture
Neolithic Revolution
The Neolithic Revolution was the first agricultural revolution. It was the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture and settlement. Archaeological data indicates that various forms of plants and animal domestication evolved independently in 6 separate locations worldwide circa...
and the domestication of animals are key themes and the museum includes 35 display boards and 22 windows exhibiting different fossils and flint tools from the Stone Age
Stone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
. These include early agricultural tools, blades, sickle
Sickle
A sickle is a hand-held agricultural tool with a variously curved blade typically used for harvesting grain crops or cutting succulent forage chiefly for feeding livestock . Sickles have also been used as weapons, either in their original form or in various derivations.The diversity of sickles that...
s, a pick, an axe
Axe
The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood; to harvest timber; as a weapon; and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol...
and millstone
Millstone
Millstones or mill stones are used in windmills and watermills, including tide mills, for grinding wheat or other grains.The type of stone most suitable for making millstones is a siliceous rock called burrstone , an open-textured, porous but tough, fine-grained sandstone, or a silicified,...
. Diorama
Diorama
The word diorama can either refer to a nineteenth century mobile theatre device, or, in modern usage, a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum...
s and recreated artifacts are presented together in thematic arrangements and in some cases compare and relate modern tools to Stone Age counterparts making the artefacts easier to understand. Displays cover three areas: tools, hunting
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
and the invention of agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
. Visitors are invited to discover how and why flint tools were made and what purpose they served. Rare bone tools and an antler from the Cave of Antelias, Sands of Beirut
Sands of Beirut
The Sands of Beirut were a series of archaeological sites located on the coastline south of Beirut in Lebanon.-Description:The Sands were a complex of nearly 20 prehistoric sites that were destroyed due to building operations using the soft sandstone in constructing the city of Beirut and Beirut...
illustrate the ingenuity of the prehistoric people who inhabited Lebanon. Hunting is illustrated in various panels with reconstructions of weapons like the spear and arrows along with elements of well preserved fauna from sites explored by the Jesuit Fathers. The invention of agriculture was one of the most important milestones in the history of mankind achieved in the Middle East. A special area of the display highlights the various stages from plowing up to production of bread, a transition accessible to all audiences. A French and Arabic documentary presentation entitled Lebanon in Prehistory can be viewed by visitors.
Exhibitions
The museum hosts a range of conferences and exhibitions including "The heritage of Darwin", "The paintings of Frédéric Husseini" and "Aquatic fossils from Lebanon". To celebrate its 10th anniversary, the museum presented an exhibition entitled Prehistory vs Urbanization devoted to one of its founders, Henri FleischHenri Fleisch
Reverend Father Henri Fleisch, born January 1 1904 in Jonvelle , France and died 10 February 1985 in Lebanon where he was buried. He was a French archaeologist, missionary and Orientalist, known for his work on classical Arabic language and Lebanese dialect and prehistory in Lebanon.He entered the...
. Fleisch compiled a photographic archive of the devastation caused by excessive urbanization
Urbanization
Urbanization, urbanisation or urban drift is the physical growth of urban areas as a result of global change. The United Nations projected that half of the world's population would live in urban areas at the end of 2008....
of Lebanon for nearly 60 years. The single showroom exhibition gave a dissection of the scene showing sites such as Tripoli
Tripoli
Tripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Western Tripoli , to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean , describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means "Three...
, Jbeil, Tabarja
Tabarja
Tabarja is a coastal town in Lebanon, situated 28 kilometers north of Beirut.Tabarja's name is derivative of the Greek, ΠΕΡΙΦΕΡΕΙΑ, which means "district headquarters."...
, the bay of Jounieh
Jounieh
Jounieh is a Mediterranean coastal city about 16 kilometers north of Beirut, Lebanon. Jounieh is known for its seaside resorts, pubs, restaurants and nightclubs, as well as its old stone souk, ferry, and cablecar , which takes passengers up the mountain to the shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon in...
, Antelias
Antelias
Antelias is a town in Lebanon. It is located around 5 km to the north of Beirut. Its inhabitants are mainly Christians and include Armenians , Maronites, Greek Catholics and Greek Orthodox ....
and memorable caves, Ras Beirut
Ras Beirut
Ras Beirut is a luxurious residential neighborhood of Beirut. It is the most cosmopolitan and open-minded area of Beirut, where sizable populations of Christians, Muslims, and Druze coexist peacefully. It is known as the cultural and intellectual center of Beirut...
and Naam. Thousands of images and freezes were taken of the Lebanese coastline, mountains and the Beqaa Valley
Beqaa Valley
The Beqaa Valley is a fertile valley in east Lebanon. For the Romans, the Beqaa Valley was a major agricultural source, and today it remains Lebanon’s most important farming region...
showing sites that were inhabited by bipedal hominids for nearly a million years before the appearance of the Phoenicians. A central theme of the exhibition was urbanization as "a disaster inflicted on the Prehistory" and the upheavals of the Lebanese landscape. This destruction is shown in the Fleisch's photographs which document the disappearance of the Sands of Beirut, a complex of nearly 20 rich, prehistoric sites that were completely destroyed due to operations to use the soft sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
for buildings.
Lévon Nordigiuan, the museum director said
The exhibition was filled with similar photographic examples. The Antelias cave with many Paleolithic
Paleolithic
The Paleolithic Age, Era or Period, is a prehistoric period of human history distinguished by the development of the most primitive stone tools discovered , and covers roughly 99% of human technological prehistory...
vestiges was demolished by workers in the 1960s. Naama showed three Paleolithic habitats with numerous animal bones and disappeared in favor of the southern highway. Last-minute intervention of Fleisch saved many essential pieces for scientific research. Other sites, like the shelter of Ksar 'Aqil in the valley of Antelias are still at risk. Transformations reported by the photographs are not always obvious to understand for the untrained eye.
Maya Haïdar Boustani, the museum curator
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
stated
To provide a comparison point for visitors, photographs of the locations were taken showing changes over 60 years and the verdict was clear and without surprises; urbanization
Urbanization
Urbanization, urbanisation or urban drift is the physical growth of urban areas as a result of global change. The United Nations projected that half of the world's population would live in urban areas at the end of 2008....
has become rampant. Comparative photos, in color this time, depict a coastline taken over with holiday resorts and mountains denatured by residential cement mixer
Cement mixer
A cement mixer is a shot drink. It often consists of:*1 part Bailey's Irish Cream *1 part Lime juice...
s.
Projects
The museum has been involved in various archaeological research and recovery projects in Lebanon and SyriaSyria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. In 2001, an exploration project was carried out in the Anti-Lebanon
Anti-Lebanon
The Anti-Lebanon mountains is the Western name for the Eastern Lebanon Mountain Range , which are a southwest-northeast-trending mountain range between Syria and Lebanon. Its Western name comes from the Greek word for ‘opposite’. The majority of the mountain range lies in Syria. The border between...
mountains in partnership with the Directorate General of Antiquities and the Council for British Research in the Levant
Council for British Research in the Levant
The Council for British Research in the Levant was formed in 1998 with the amalgamation of the British Institute at Amman for Archaeology and History and the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem...
. From July 14 to August 10, 2001, an international team led by Alexander Wasse (Council for British Research in the Levant) conducted a field campaign. Its objectives were to locate and specify the GPS location of sites already discovered by Bruce Schroeder, to carry out an intensive survey of the plateau and wadi of Nachcharini Atneine, to study the environmental context in order to get an idea of the prehistoric occupation of the area and assess the conservation status of the Nachcharini
Nachcharini
Nachcharini is a medium-sized cave and Neolithic settlement located on the high , central plateau of the Anti-Lebanon mountains near the Syrian border...
cave for possible excavation. Of the 23 prehistoric sites originally discovered by Bruce Schroeder, 19 were located, including Nachcharini and 39 other new sites were inventoried. According to the lithic material collected, the periods documented include the Middle Paleolithic, the Epipaleolithic
Epipaleolithic
The Epipaleolithic Age was a period in the development of human technology marked by more advanced stone blades and other tools than the earlier Paleolithic age, although still before the development of agriculture in the Neolithic age...
, the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A
Pre-Pottery Neolithic A
Pre-Pottery Neolithic A denotes the first stage in early Levantine Neolithic culture, dating around 9500 to 8500 BC. Archaeological remains are located in the Levantine and upper Mesopotamian region of the Fertile Crescent...
, the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B
Pre-Pottery Neolithic B
Pre-Pottery Neolithic B is a division of the Neolithic developed by Dame Kathleen Kenyon during her archaeological excavations at Jericho in the southern Levant region....
and Chalcolithic or Early Bronze Age. The diagnosis of pottery sherds collected on the surface showed several periods of occupation.
In 2004, the museum embarked on a project of surveys in Syria's (Homs District
Homs District
Homs District is a Syrian district administratively belonging to Homs Governorate. Its capital city is the city of Homs....
). The project was a partnership of the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums in Syria, the Mila and Fontanals Institution of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
) and the International Institute for Prehistoric Research in the University of Cantabria
University of Cantabria
University of Cantabria , in Spanish Universidad de Cantabria, is a public university located in Santander and Torrelavega in Cantabria, Spain. It was founded in 1972 and is organized in 12 schools and colleges....
(Santander
Santander, Cantabria
The port city of Santander is the capital of the autonomous community and historical region of Cantabria situated on the north coast of Spain. Located east of Gijón and west of Bilbao, the city has a population of 183,446 .-History:...
). Scientific direction was carried out jointly by Dr. Michel Al-Maqdisi (Directorate of Antiquities and Museums of Syria), Dr. Maya Haïdar-Boustani (Museum Lebanese Prehistory, LSU) and Dr. Juan José Ibañez (Mila and Fontanals Institution). The area of the survey is located in western Syria, totaling approximately 560 kilometres (348 mi). This region includes clearly differentiated areas in the valley of the Orontes, the basaltic plateaus, hills and plains of Bouqaia
Bouqaia
Bouqaia is a basin in the Homs Gap, Syria, at the foot of the Marmarita hills.The geography and geomorphology of this alluvial filled, tectonic depression has been explored as part of a wider investigation of the area by various research bodies. The foci of this study has been archaeological and...
. The aim of the mission is not only to inventory and document all sites from the Paleolithic to the Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
period, but specifically to locate sites that mark the beginning of the Neolithic and later those of Early Bronze Age lying between the south of Aleppo and the Beqaa valley
Beqaa Valley
The Beqaa Valley is a fertile valley in east Lebanon. For the Romans, the Beqaa Valley was a major agricultural source, and today it remains Lebanon’s most important farming region...
, forming a vast region that connects the middle Euphrates
Euphrates
The Euphrates is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia...
to the Jordan Valley. The second area of research concerns the period of the mid 3rd millennium, including surveys to find sites on the caravan route between Tell Jamous in the west and Tell Nebi Mend to the east. The location of archaeological sites is based on analysis of satellite images (Corona and Google Earth), the study of the topographical maps, aerial photography, geophysical and population surveys. 167 archaeological sites were found from all periods, reflecting the rich heritage of this region. The major contribution of the work was the discovery of Natufian and megalithic tombs attested in two sites: Jeftelik and Wadi Chbat, the first Natufian sites inventoried and documented in this area. The Neolithic and perhaps even the final PPNB pottery was documented on a few important sites such as Tell al-Marj, which has strong parallels with Byblos
Byblos
Byblos is the Greek name of the Phoenician city Gebal . It is a Mediterranean city in the Mount Lebanon Governorate of present-day Lebanon under the current Arabic name of Jubayl and was also referred to as Gibelet during the Crusades...
. Megalithic sites are a spectacular phenomenon, often equipped with tumuli
Tumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...
and burial vaults. These structures are sometimes grouped in small numbers, as on the tops of hills in the basaltic area, but sometimes they form a vast necropolis
Necropolis
A necropolis is a large cemetery or burial ground, usually including structural tombs. The word comes from the Greek νεκρόπολις - nekropolis, literally meaning "city of the dead"...
such as the basalt plains north of Lake Qattina. The presence of monolith
Monolith
A monolith is a geological feature such as a mountain, consisting of a single massive stone or rock, or a single piece of rock placed as, or within, a monument...
s, and side walls of the tumuli suggests the existence of complex, Bronze Age, ritual structures similar to those of Menger in northern Lebanon and those of southern Syria.