Beirut Urban Archaeology

This document is an Archaeological Assessment commissioned by Team International engineering and management consultants. After giving some preliminary background to the report and the methods used in its compilation, it addresses all the sites proposed for ground works in the Beirut area (figs.1&2) while outlining their known historical development. It also specifies the types of archaeological material that may be found on each site and suggests the most prudent mitigation strategy. The report gives some wider background history for several wider areas that may be affected by the proposed development and assesses the likely level of preservation of archaeological remains in these areas as well as likely nature, date and relative significance. The concluding sections deal with visible archaeological trends present in the data and also the recommended mitigation strategies along with possible options of work for each site. Two appendices are also attached of the individual site reports, their references, and figures which characterise and outline the archaeological significance of each area based on the survey.

Research that examines conservation of archaeological sites and ruins in post-war redevelopment, using London, Berlin and Beirut as case studies. It demonstrates the extent of socio-political sensitivites that surround many such sites within the post-war/conflict situation and suggests how such sites may aid in post-conflict recovery. It also examines the practice of conserving small or fragmentary archaeological sites for display within the modern city.

Peer Reviewer comment: "This is a solid piece of scholarship. It is well-researched and shows an indepth knowledge of the subject. It has a detailed and extensive list of reference, which will be of interest to international researchers."     
The reconstruction of central Beirut after the Lebanese civil war by Solidere is not generally considered a success. It has resulted in a soulless, expensive and exclusive area aimed at tourists and wealthy overseas business people who have generally failed to materialise;
local people tend to go elsewhere, except when protesting (Ilyés 2015). Despite the fact that Beirut was known to be an ancient city with occupation stretching back to prehistoric times, the initial post-war plans were for a modern city centre built on a tabula rasa. Little thought was given to any cultural heritage. Subsequent protest at this planned destruction ensured changes to the original redevelopment plans to incorporate historic building conservation and some archaeological investigation but it was far from ideal, and often became tangled in the ongoing politico-religious conflicts (Sandes 2010).
Aleppo is another such city; occupation can be traced back to the 10th century BCE, and its old city has World Heritage status. The ongoing Syrian war has caused dreadful destruction of the city and its peoples, but in the rebuilding how important will this cultural heritage be considered?
This paper examines the role of the built heritage, particularly archaeology, in the (post-)conflict urban reconstruction process and with reference to Beirut, examines what archaeology has the potential to offer to the rebuilding and rehabilitation of Aleppo and its communities.

This paper summerizes the hellenistic coin finds on sites BEY 002, BEY 006, BEY 004, BEY 026, BEY 145, BEY 125, BEY 133, BEY 142 and BEY 144 from Beirut. The full data presented the VXth INC Glasgow, 2009,  are consultable in the "Talks" section of the current page of Academia.

Excavations in the immediate area of the Roman theater in Beirut have yielded a total of 451 bronze coins, the classification of which has provided an insight into the production and circulation of coins in the city throughout the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods.

Beirut has a long-standing history of being a multipurpose hub in the Middle East. The area has witnessed a multitude of morphological transitions with the most recent being the post civil war reconstruction of the central district by a joint-stock company named Solidere. This dissertation aims to investigate the spatial logic and centrality of Beirut focusing on the case of BCD and stemming from the notion that centrality is a process and not a state (Hillier, 1999). It aims at questioning BCD’s ability/inability in structuring a globally and locally functional centre by testing the hypothesis that the transformation of the city after the civil war has weakened the original centre and pushed urban activities to sub-centres. Using movement as a key factor at all stages, Space Syntax is adopted as an analytical and quantitative methodology that helps provide an evidence-based understanding of how spatial patterns are formed by overlapping movement based analysis with urban data such as land use, social and traffic data. The analysis includes a historical overview of Beirut in transition to understand the factors that have formed and impacted the spatiality of BCD. Contemporary analysis of the city is to follow, with a comparison study between BCD and organically grown and functioning sub-centres such as Hamra, Gemmayze, Verdun & Sodeco. This has proven necessary in understanding the differences between grid properties and how they account for the degree of centrality and attracting land uses. Conclusions and findings from the space syntax analysis demonstrate that the transformation of the city after the civil war had weakened the centrality of BCD making it less integrated with the rest of the urban system. This transformation in the spatial configuration had also contributed to the relocation of urban activities from BCD to the sub-centres, which have emerged as focal points for their local communities at times of physical segregation during the civil war. Recommendations for improving the centrality of BCD are also included in a complementary section.

The history, principles and results of archaeological investigations in the Beirut Central District give a good perspective on the biography of the city. The archaeological academic discipline has become part of the world of urbanism and development. The future challenges will be to conserve and present the archaeological findings. Applying archaeological methods and techniques to the urban development and reconstruction makes the archaeologist an engineer.

Interim report (stratigraphic sequence only) written in 1997 on the excavations of cemetery, later Hellenistic possible Gymnasium, 1stcent BC/AD bathhouse,  later Thermes, and later still elements of a Hammam and/or Khan with European medieval material also.

Study of 2189 coins found on three archaeological sites in Jemmayzeh, the eastern entry of Beirut. The finds stretch from the Persian to the modern period. The Medieval and contemporary coins are studied by Hassan el-Akra. Find attached the contents and the introduction.

In the summer of 1995 a Roman burialsite was excavated, located at present BEY 014.1 The site was situated in the Kanthari-district, next to the Bursj el-Murr and located to the south-west of the ancient Roman city on the eastern slope of Ras Beyrouth-hill. This paper explores the primary findings and architecture of this excavation in detail and analyzes specifically the social, religious and cultural context of the graves with respect to Romanization and cultural exchange in the region. Romanization is understood here as the (the process of exchange and) mixture of Roman and indigenous culture.

An Open Call for Undergrad and Grad Students
Lead by Pelin Tan
Contact: Sasha Ussef, sasha.ussef@sursock.museum
Time: 10:00 – 14:00 or 15:00 – 18:00, evenings

associate professor at the Architecture Faculty, Mardin Artuklu University, Mardin (Turkey), and the Sursock Museum in the framework of the exhibition Let’s Talk about the Weather
(http://www.sursock.museum/content/lets-talk-about-weather-art-and-ecology-time- crisis), curated by Nora Razian and Nataša Petrešin-Bachelez.
Participation of the students: Students in humanities, arts, natural sciences, who engage with and research the topics of this summer school, are warmly invited to join this summer school. There will be nine students coming from Mardin’s Architecture Faculty. The sessions will be held in English. An active participation in discussions and bringing examples from one’s own research are kindly requested.
Themes: Infrastructure, Drone, Archive, Camp, Solidarity
Invited speakers:
Marwa Arsanios (artist, Beirut), Tony Chakar (artist, Beirut), Nadim Farajalla (professor at the AUB), Jessika Khazrik (artist, Beirut), Mansour Aziz (designer, Beirut), Fadi Mansour (architect), Namık Mackic (architect).
Sursock Museum, Beirut, in the framework of the exhibition Let’s Talk about the
Weather (13 July -17 October 2016)
Locations: Beirut (Sursock Museum, Mansion, Arab Image Foundation, Arab
Architecture Center), Tripoli, Chouf.
General description and concept:
This summer school is co-organised by Pelin Tan,
The summer school
will focus on the ongoing practices and discourse of critical urban ecology, urban and rural spaces of Beirut with comparison of other trans-local examples of different cities and geographies.

Recensé : Sophie Brones, Beyrouth dans ses ruines, Marseille, Parenthèses, « ‪Parcours méditerranéens », 2020, 234 p.

L’anthropologue Sophie Brones publie les résultats d’une recherche sur le patrimoine à Beyrouth. S’appuyant sur des récits d’habitants et une observation attentive des lieux, elle mène une réflexion sur les usages du passé et les transformations urbaines.


https://metropolitiques.eu/Beyrouth-pour-memoires.html

This paper presents a study of 95 bronze coins found recently by the french mission from Lyon at Tyre. These finds stretch from the Hellenistic to the byzantine period. The comparison of this assemblage with the finds from the necropolis and the Apollo sanctuary at Tyre as well as those from Deb'aal and Umm el-'Amed allowed to draw a certain pattern of the coin circulation in Tyre and its region.

Sixteen nearly complete and partial dog burials, in addition to scattered canid remains, were recently recovered from Persian period layers in Beirut. The practice of dog inhumation in Levantine Persian period is widely attested. However, few detailed archaeozoological analyses were so far carried out on the canid remains. This study outlines the archaeological characteristics of the Beirut burials and provides a comprehensive assessment of the biological characteristics of the buried dogs. Morphological and metric analysis show that all the specimens were of mediolinear type. The mortality profile points to an attritional death, whereas pathological conditions show that dogs suffered from traumatic injuries, joint and periodontal diseases. Relying on archaeothanatological observations, a reconstruction of the burial space and mortuary practices is also attempted. The analysis suggests that, aside from stone and amphora fragments, dogs were buried under perishable covers or in perishable containers. Furthermore, the location of the burials reveals new patterns on this tradition of dog inhumation. The burials were laid out at the outskirts of the ancient city, aligned parallel to the shore of a water stream and to the axis of a street. Hence, this study corroborates previous observations on the biological features of the dogs inhumed in Levantine cities during the Persian period and, by addressing previously not tackled issues on mortuary practices, contributes to improve our knowledge of this phenomenon.

Last nights at the Holiday Inn


“It offers lingering visitors luxurious furnished apartments with a lovely sea view, right in the middle of the best hotels. Under the same roof, anyone who chooses to do so can live, indulge in business, exercise a profession, get supplies, eat, drink and enjoy himself. A dream come true. In grim contrast to its publicity brochures, Beirut's 26-floor Holiday Inn last week was more a nightmare than a dream come true.”(1)

On March 21, 1976, after heavy shelling that started at night, squadrons from the “Mourabitoun”, the “Lebanese Arab Army” and other organizations captured the Holiday Inn. The high-rise hotel had been occupied by the Phalange when combats started in the hotels district in October 1975. On the following day, Christian militiamen struggled to take back their former citadel. A desperate attempt that revealed to be unsuccessful.

For the Lebanese Left and their Palestinians allies, the assault was a victory over “isolationist” and “imperialist” forces. At the contrary, the defeated Phalanges considered the event as an act of heroism of their isolated defenders. Last, the residents of Ain el Mraysseh neighborhood rejoiced of the end of the deadly sniping from the tower’s top floors.

The Holiday Inn attack is a milestone in the narratives of the Lebanese War. From the time of happening, it has been subject to various and contradictory versions and generated tales that incorporated collective memory and trauma. Based on archive, testimonies and artistic and literary works, this presentation doesn’t pretend to offer the definitive truth. It rather apprehends a specific historical moment and its interpretations through oral, written and visual approaches. 

(1) Karsten Prager, "Beirut’s Agony Under the Guns of March", Time 107, no 14 (5 April 1976): 31.