MedSTACH Symposium: Heritage Management, Research and Tourism in Lebanon, Greece and Jordan

This session of the MedSTACH Symposium presents five papers on cultural heritage conservation, archaeological science, and tourism policy in Lebanon, Greece, and Jordan.

The first paper, joined in progress, examines the National Museum of Beirut. After surveying highlights including the tenth-century BC sarcophagus of King Ahiram from Byblos and statuettes from the temple of Eshmun near Sidon showing links with Cyprus, the speaker recounts the museum's wartime history from 1975 to 1991. Positioned on Beirut's green line, the building was occupied by militias. Director of Antiquities Maurice Chehab hid small objects in the walled basement and encased large monuments in concrete. Although saved from theft, the basement collections and the Tomb of Tyre frescoes suffered water damage. With Italian cooperation between 2010 and 2016, the basement was restored and reopened with funerary displays: 3D animations of the Tyre Al-Bass cemetery, a mirrored installation for the Ford Collection of anthropoid sarcophagi, thirteenth-century mummies from the Qadisha Valley, digital translations for Roman cippi, and a smartphone audio guide.

Nektarios Tavernarakis introduces the Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH) and its cultural heritage work within MedSTACH. He outlines the geophysical and remote sensing laboratory at the Institute of Mediterranean Studies in Rethymno directed by Apostolos Sarris, laser cleaning systems used on the Acropolis Museum Caryatids and in Beijing's Forbidden City, Crete University Press, and the ancient DNA laboratory at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, which analyses Hellenistic remains to study population history, kinship, traits, and pathogens.

George Tziallas of the Greek Ministry of Tourism presents Greece's tourism strategy since 2014 under Minister Elena Kountoura. He discusses extending the season to 365 days, developing cultural, maritime, sports, religious, wellness, and agri-food tourism, opening markets in China, India, and the Middle East, upgrading regional airports and destinations such as the Peloponnese, and cooperating with Cyprus's new tourism ministry.

Ziad Al-Saad of Yarmouk University, formerly Director General of Antiquities of Jordan, presents an analysis of Jordan's heritage sector. Citing 'Ain Ghazal, copper smelting at Faynan (4400 BC), Petra, the Decapolis, and the Baptism Site, he argues that Jordan's heritage is threatened by overlapping laws between the Department of Antiquities, the Ministry of Tourism, and the Petra Development Authority, poor conservation standards and funding, uncoordinated excavations, and illicit trafficking. He proposes legislative reform, clearer institutional roles, and a national governing body.

Finally, Fadi Bala'awi of the Queen Rania Faculty of Tourism and Heritage at the Hashemite University describes how the faculty combines conservation science, cultural resource management, and tourism management. He reviews student excavations at the Baptism Site, Iron Age and Early Bronze Age settlements, and the Cave of the Seven Sleepers, work at Qasr Shabib, rapid condition assessment at Petra, 3D documentation, participation in the NARNIA project led by the University of Cyprus, training for tourism police, and converting historic mosques into museums.