Archaeology of Medieval Lebanon: An Overview

Abstract

This article will present an overview of the archaeological work done on medieval Lebanon from the 19th century to the present. The period under examination is the late medieval period, from the 11th to the 14th centuries, encompassing the time when the region was under the control of various Islamic dynasties and the Crusaders. The archaeology of Lebanon has been somewhat neglected over the years, despite its importance for our understanding of the region in the medieval period, mainly because of the civil war (1975-1990), which made excavations and surveys in the country impossible and led to the widespread looting of sites (Hakiman 1987; Seeden 1987; Seeden 1989; Fisk 1991; Hakiman 1991; Ward 1995; Hackmann 1998; Sader 2001. In general, see Fisk 1990). Furthermore, many collections within Lebanon itself could not be visited for the purpose of study and even collections outside Lebanon remained largely neglected. The end of the civil war, however, marked a time of renewed interest in the country's archaeology, particularly in the city of Beirut. Also, the identification of large numbers of Christian frescoes in the region meant that churches and their paintings were studied in detail for the first time. Although much had been lost during the civil war, it was clear the archaeological heritage of Lebanon remains critical to our understanding of the archaeology of the Levant. As a crossroads for Christians, Muslims, and Jews in the late medieval period, the region that is now Lebanon was of great importance in the 11th to 14th centuries. It provides us not only with valuable archaeological information, but also with a historical context for better understanding the monuments and their material culture. This study will first examine the historical background of medieval Lebanon, in order to place the archaeology in its context before looking at the cities, villages, smaller settlements, and surveys that have been conducted in the region. This article concentrates on published work; while much of the material that has been excavated remains to be published and sometimes in publications that are difficult to obtain, it is hoped that this article will provide a useful overview that will stimulate new areas of research and highlight the various archaeological projects that have been conducted in the country over the past hundred years.