NATIONAL MUSEUM OF BEIRUT

Built under the French mandate (1930-1937), it was officially inaugurated on 27 May 1942. During the Civil War, the Beirut Museum was closed. Located on the demarcation line, the building was too exposed. A sniper shot damaged one of the museum's most beautiful mosaics. In order to limit the looting and destruction, the curator ordered the larger pieces (sarcophagi, mosaics...) to be covered with concrete, while the smaller objects were deposited in the basement of the museum, which was walled off. Some pieces were nevertheless stolen and damaged during the war. Restored from 1993, it has been open again since 25 November 1997. The pieces are nicely presented with a short description. The volume of the ground floor is impressive. A captivating visit, which gives a good idea of the archaeological richness of Lebanon.

Ground floor

It is dedicated to the 2nd and 1st millennia B.C. and to the Romano-Byzantine period. Nearly a hundred pieces are on display: sarcophagi, mosaics, statues and bas-reliefs. For example, the sarcophagus of Ahiram, king of Byblos in the 13th century BC, is the oldest sarcophagus marked with Phoenician inscriptions. It is one of the masterpieces of the museum.

Also to be seen:

An obelisk inscribed with the name of Abi Chemou (King of Byblos), dated 19th BC.

A stele of Pharaoh Ramses II with a hieroglyphic inscription discovered in Tyre (13th BC).

Two anthropoid marble sarcophagi (^5th BC) discovered in 1901 in Saida. These sarcophagi bear a carved human figure on their lid.

The statuettes of children (^5th BC) discovered in a temple dedicated to the healing god Echmoun.

The tribune (350 BC) of Echmoun presents figurative scenes.

A head of Emperor Septimius Severe (AD 193-211).

The limestone colossus of Byblos (date uncertain).

This room has several mosaics from the Greco-Roman and Byzantine periods: including the seven wise men of Greece surrounded by the seven great philosophers.

One is impressed by the limestone model of the A temple of Niha (Bekaa), which dates from AD 2nd, a preliminary project for the construction of the temple.

Second level

It contains more than 1,240 pieces that evoke prehistory (10000-3200 BC), the Bronze Age (3200-1200 BC) and the Iron Age (1200-333 BC), the Hellenistic period (333-64 BC) and the Roman period (64 BC-395 AD). The Byzantine period (AD 395-635) and the Arab conquest in the Mamluk period (AD 635-1516) are briefly mentioned.

One gets a bit lost chronologically on the second level, especially after the ground floor, but it is worth a look at the statuettes and figurines from the Bronze Age and gold leaf (found on all sorts of supports in the shop) and coins from the Persian period. Magnifying glasses placed on the showcases make it possible to examine the details of each object. We were seduced by the zoomorphic figurines (hippopotamuses, monkeys, rams, rodents, etc.), masks, necklaces, windowed axes, ivory game and blush boxes and the musician with a lyre (discovered at Kamed el-Loz in the Bekaa).

Basement

Since the end of 2016, the basement of the museum houses the largest collection of anthropoid sarcophagi in the world. The 700 ^{square metres} renovated by the architect and museologist Antonio Giannarusti are dedicated to funerary rites and practices from the Paleolithic to the Ottoman period. A selection of 520 archaeological pieces - including sarcophagi, stelae, and funerary furniture that accompanied the deceased into the afterlife - illustrates beliefs, cults and funerary art over the millennia. As with all of the museum's exhibited remains, the entire collection in the basement is the result of excavations carried out in Lebanon. Among the flagship objects is a series of 31 Phoenician sarcophagi (6th-4th centuries BC) discovered in the southern region of Saida, ancient Sidon. And three mummies that were found in 1989 by speleologists in the holy valley of Qadisha, a UNESCO World Heritage site known to have been a refuge for the Maronites, then persecuted by the Mamelukes and the Byzantines. At the time of our visit, the exhibition rooms in the basement were however closed for work.

Museum Passage

The National Museum gave its name to the infamous "Museum Passage", which was one of the communication routes between the western and eastern parts of Beirut during the civil war. Kidnappings, bombings and bereavements punctuated the history of this avenue, which was, before 1975, one of the busiest in the capital. From the beginning of the conflict, its bourgeois buildings were reduced to ruins. Bloody buildings, shattered balconies, gaping walls... It is in this apocalyptic setting that, against all odds, non-violent demonstrations were organized during the fifteen years of conflict. In the midst of the shooting, Lebanese of different faiths exchanged bags of blood, showing their willingness to resist together and to give back to civilians the life that militiamen of all sides were trying to take away from them.