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From the Guest Editor

2016; Penn State University Press; Volume: 4; Issue: 2-3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.5325/jeasmedarcherstu.4.2-3.iii

2166-3556

Hanan Charaf,

Issues 2 and 3 of Volume 4 of the Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies bring to a close the series dedicated to the archaeology and cultural heritage of Lebanon from the classical period onward. As with the previous issues, the three main geographical regions of Lebanon are represented. Anis Chaaya discusses the enigmatic—yet imposing—castle of Smar Jbeil located north of Byblos within the limits of the Crusader county of Tripoli. Martine Francis-Allouche and Nicolas Grimal present the preliminary results of their large-scale underwater survey located south of the ancient mound of Byblos, where a silted-in basin is possibly identified as the ancient Bronze and Iron Age port of the famed city. Laure Salloum, the head of the northern Bekaa district at the Directorate General of Antiquities of Lebanon (DGA), publishes, for the first time, the results of parts of the surveys she has been conducting in the region located outside of Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley. Very few people know of the existence of a major Roman temple dedicated to Jupiter at Deir el-Ahmar in the vicinity of Baalbek, and the wine presses found in this village nicely compliment a previous article in the series by Bettina Fisher-Genz on industrial installations (2016).The bulk of the articles in this double issue, however, are dedicated to a fascinating region in the northern part of Mount Lebanon. The Qadisha Valley (“Sacred Valley”) was an ideal refuge for many persecuted Christians communities after the Arab invasion. For hundreds of years, its remoteness and inaccessibility at the bottom of steep cliffs offered a nearly impregnable natural fortress, protecting Maronites, Greek Orthodox, Syriacs, and Ethiopians. All of these communities coexisted with one another and built many historical monasteries, churches, and hermitages along the valley or on the cliffs overlooking it. However, out of the different religious groups inhabiting the Qadisha, the Maronites are the ones whose history is most intimately linked to this valley. From the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries AD, the see of the Maronite patriarchy was located at the monastery of Qannubine, and, today, the Qadisha Valley is considered a Maronite stronghold. Here, Anis Chaaya presents a historical and archaeological overview of this valley that contextualizes the articles by Gaby Abousamra and May Hajj. Abousamra discusses the numerous Syriac and Karshuni inscriptions found in the many churches and monasteries of the Qadisha. Hajj attempts a stylistic overview of the mural paintings adorning various religious buildings, some of which have been destroyed by vandalism, poor restoration operations, or are fading due to exposure to the elements.The Qadisha Valley is one of five sites in Lebanon featured on the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites.1 In 1984, four sites (Tyre, Byblos, Anjar, and Baalbek) were placed on the list. While those properties (a term used by UNESCO to define cultural sites) are considered cultural heritage sites, the Qadisha and the Forest of the Cedars of God, listed in 1998, are regarded as cultural landscapes. These five sites are a testimony to the richness of the cultural heritage and landscape sites of a country only half the size of the state of Massachusetts.2 By comparison, the neighboring country of Syria is 19 times larger than Lebanon and has only six UNESCO World Heritage sites.Other Lebanese sites are vying for a spot on the coveted UNESCO list even though the qualifying conditions are strict and the process lengthy. In 1996, the Ministry of Culture and Higher Education and the DGA placed nine candidate sites on the UNESCO Tentative List, pending the completion of their nomination applications. These sites include the archaeological and historical centers of the cities of Tripoli (Fig. 1), Sidon (Fig. 2), and Batrun (Figs. 3–4). There is also the cultic complex dedicated to the Phoenician god Eshmun just north of Sidon (Fig. 5), the Palm Island Nature Reserve off the coast of Tripoli (Fig. 6), as well as the natural and cultural landscapes of the Orontes Valley, the Nahr Ibrahim Valley (Fig. 7), the Nahr el-Kalb Valley (Fig. 8), and the Chouf region in Mount Lebanon.3 All of these sites fulfill at least one of the ten selection criteria adopted in the revised “Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention” in 2004.Lebanon does not lack candidates for World Heritage sites. There are dozens of other places that have “outstanding universal values.”4 Unfortunately, placing a site on the UNESCO cultural and natural heritage lists in Lebanon does not guarantee its perennial preservation. The UNESCO-inscribed sites in Lebanon face the same challenges as any other place in the country. While they are continuously threatened by the instability prevailing in parts of the country, these sites have thankfully escaped, so far, the massive destructions recently witnessed at similar places in Syria and Iraq. During the Lebanese civil war and subsequent major conflicts (such as the events of 2006), these sites were spared from bombings. The consistent threat of looting does not seem to have impacted them dramatically.While hostilities did not do substantial damage to the Lebanese World Heritage sites and those on the Tentative List, a lack of funds and rampant urban development continuously threaten them. For example, Tyre and Byblos occupy vast areas in prime coastal locations and are regularly targeted by real-estate developers. In the summer of 2015, plans for a luxury sea resort south of the ancient mound of Byblos were leaked and exposed the intention to wipe out what could be the ancient harbor of the city (see Francis-Allouche and Grimal, this double issue). While this harbor is not included within the perimeter of the World Heritage site, its preservation would offer a more comprehensive understanding of the ancient city. Even though the UNESCO sites in Lebanon are in the public domain and cannot be built on, developers work tirelessly to encroach on the surrounding lands, thus doing irreparable damage to the cohesive environment of the ancient or natural sites. The tall modern buildings that surround Al-Bass in Tyre are an eyesore and distract from the full appreciation of the ancient hippodrome and necropolis. The advertising marquees on the walls of the promontory of Nahr el-Kalb defile a place that has witnessed the passage of many ancient armies, who left commemorative plaques and steles. The pristine and picturesque Nahr Ibrahim Valley is threatened by the construction of a dam that will have catastrophic consequences on the ecosystem and the historical remains therein.In summary, the majority of the Lebanese population repeatedly fails to comprehend that it is they who should adapt to the cultural and natural heritage sites, not the other way around. The relationships between the sites and local inhabitants have to be synergetic in order to bring about sustainable development that benefits both parties.Since a lack of governmental funds for cultural and natural centers is endemic in Lebanon, the preservation of these and other sites relies on the generosity of the international community, which regularly bankrolls restoration operations or gives loans to the Lebanese government at very low interest rates to carry out such activity. Tyre, Byblos, and Baalbek have all benefitted from loans given by the World Bank.While the official position of Lebanon in matters of cultural heritage has long been that of a resigned cry-baby defeatist or David fighting a lost battle against Goliath, the money giant (a position that was acceptable during the many wars and armed conflicts that the country has faced), it can no longer afford the luxury of burying its head in the sand in order to avoid dealing with the challenges and threats looming over its cultural and natural sites. Western-style makeovers of old towns and cities, such as the downtown area of Beirut, has stripped these places of their souls, and the cultural and natural sites in the country have been flooded with a generic type of phagocytic modernism. These two irresponsible trends have been frenetically adopted by the Lebanese since the end of the civil war. The issue is not development per se—that is an acknowledged reality and should not be foolishly demonized—but the lack of a visionary development that is sustainable and moves beyond the usual ad hoc bandage responses to crisis. Enhancing what is (as the native Lebanese writer, poet, and philosopher, Gibran Khalil Gibran, once said) does not lead to progress, but rather advancing with a concrete and cohesive national vision of proper management of the country's cultural and natural resources does. Such a plan will not only preserve these priceless remains for future generations but will consolidate their narrative importance for the current one. What Lebanon needs to recognize now is that its present policy of idling indefinitely—with its back turned to the past and its gaze poorly focused toward the future—is no longer a viable option.