Since Lebanon's bloody Civil War ended 15 years ago, the country has been focused on rebuilding infrastructure. In the process of tearing down old buildings and digging new foundations, archaeological discoveries are being made in this ancient land of the Phoenicians at a rapid pace.
"Decade - A Decade of Archaeology and History in The Lebanon 1995-2005," edited by Claude Doumet Serhal in collaboration with Annie Rabate and Andrea Resek, contains photographs, maps and detailed essays on numerous historical sights in the country and all the digs that have occurred since the end of the civil war.
"This is the only book that summarizes 10 years of archaeological achievement in this country," explains Serhal, an archaeologist and friend of the National Museum. "It is important because it offers to the general public, for the first time, an idea of what has been achieved in Lebanon's ancient sites since the end of the war.
Twelve major archaeological excavations are documented in "Decade" - Tyre, Tell, Rachidieh, Sidon, Eshmun, Shhim, Beirut, Byblos, Yanuh, Tripoli, Tell Arqa, Hourriye, The Qadisha Valley, and Kamid el-Loz. Articles are written in English or French by the archaeologists leading them and numerous photographs and illustrations. The essays, while sometimes highly specialized and scientific, try in the end to bring archaeology to a wider public and show, for example, the scientific value of every team and how they used new technologies and computer reconstruction to aid their work.
The 580-page book, which retails at $115, is the culmination of years of work by the Friends of the Museum and the independent journal, "Archaeology and History in the Lebanon" or AHL, set up by the friends and the General Direction of Antiquities in 1997.
Comments