After a series of Israeli airstrikes, the ancient Phoenician coastal city of Tyre in Lebanon, known for its pristine beaches, ancient harbour and Roman ruins, has become a ghost town.
At the end of October, Israel dropped several bombs between major heritage sites in the city, including the Hippodrome, a Unesco world heritage site, and a cluster of seaside sites associated with the Phoenicians and the Crusaders. The strikes came amid Israel’s escalating war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, which intensified after 17 September when hundreds of pagers used by the militant group’s members exploded across the country.
According to the Lebanese ministry of culture and Joanne Bajjaly, an archaeologist and founder and director of the Lebanese NGO Biladi, other heritage sites in Lebanon have also been affected.
They include the historic 19th-century Ottoman-style market of the city of Nabatieh, which include the Saraya and Midan neighbourhoods; ancient religious landmarks, including the Tayr Debba Mosque, Kfar Tebnit Mosque; the Dardghaya Church; and the Blida Mosque—all of which are designated as heritage buildings. Additionally, archaeological sites such as Tebnin Castle, a major Crusader castle, was directly hit by airstrikes.
According to the Lebanese culture minister, Israeli air strikes in eastern Lebanon yesterday seriously damaged an Ottoman-era building close to the Roman ruins in the city of Baalbek, which is a Unesco World Heritage site and home to some of the world’s greatest examples of Imperial Roman architecture. At least 40 people were killed in these recent attacks. A previous strike in the Baalbek area at the end of October killed 19 people, according to the country’s health ministry.
Due to the nearby bombing, Bajjaly says, one of the stones on the “Qube”, or “dome”, of Baalbek’s 1243 AD Qubbat Doris, the site of a Muslim shrine, fell to the ground. “The monument itself is still standing even though the strikes came very close to it,” she says.
“What we do not know yet is the level of impact from the continuous seismic movements and vibrations on the monuments due to the bombings,” she adds. “This damage is unforeseen. At present no one can go to assess the damage due to the war or measure the strength of the vibration on the soil. There’s also the damage of the continuous pollution of the air and the chemicals that are in the air. No one will know how they will affect the stones in the monuments,” Bajjaly says.
Unesco called an emergency session for 18 November to put in place urgent measures for the protection of Lebanese cultural sites, following a request from Lebanon’s minister of culture Mohammed Al-Murtada. The ministry of culture will be represented in this meeting by Moustapha Adib, Lebanon’s ambassador to the UN, and the director general of antiquities Sarkis Khoury.
In response to the situation in Lebanon, Aliph, a global Geneva-based fund dedicated to the protection and rehabilitation of heritage in conflict zones and post-conflict situations, has contributed $100,000 towards these emergency measures.
Additionally, Aliph, along with Lebanon’s directorate general of antiquities and Biladi, is working on safeguarding the collections of several Lebanese museums.
Zeina Arida, the director of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha, Qatar, and a former director of the Sursock Museum in Beirut, says: “This war marks the first time the Sursock has completely closed. All of the artworks are in storage.”
Valéry Freland, the executive director of Aliph, says: “We try and develop preventive measures for countries in conflict but often it is difficult to foresee when such measures will be needed. We still need to assess the level of damage.”
