A cleanup is set to begin within days at the first of three ancient World Heritage sites damaged in the summer's Hezbollah-Israel war -- a crumbling old castle rising from the Mediterranean whose foundation stones are now coated with oil sludge.
Thousands of dollars from donors will go toward repairing the damage at the three sites -- first at the ancient Phoenician port city of Byblos whose history stretches back 7,000 years, and then to Roman ruins at Baalbek and Roman-era frescos in Tyre.
But officials say they also worry that many other historic sites, such as old souks, or markets, not listed by UNESCO as World Heritage sites, were also damaged and are getting less attention.
PHOTO: AP
In Byblos, once teeming with tourists, the famous ruins of the castle-fortress are now blackened at the base with scum from an oil spill. The oil spilled after Israeli airstrikes hit fuel storage tanks on Lebanon's coast in mid-July, during the war against Hezbollah.
"The stones of the two ancient towers at the port's entrance, and all the archaeological ruins, are very stained. The site is in immediate danger," said Mounir Bouchenaki, who headed a UNESCO team that traveled to Lebanon to inspect the sites after the Aug. 14 cease-fire.
The cost of the cleanup could be around US$100,000, and the work is expected to start within days after money arrives and coordination with Lebanese officials is completed, he said.
Byblos, one of the oldest inhabited cities of the world, is directly associated with the history and diffusion of the Phoenician alphabet.
The site must be cleaned before winter to prevent permanent damage, said Bouchenaki, who also is director-general of the International Center for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property.
Other challenges await.
Down the southern coast at Tyre, valuable frescoes in a Roman-era tomb were shaken to the ground. And inland, a block of stone at the Roman ruins of Baalbek was toppled. In addition, already existing cracks in the temples of Jupiter and Bacchus at Baalbek may have widened due to vibrations from bombings in the area, officials say.
Lebanon has five UNESCO World Heritage sites: Baalbek, Tyre and Byblos, plus Anjar and the Holy Valley of Qadisha and the Forest of the Cedars of God in northern Lebanon.
Across the country, dozens of other old traditional buildings, hilltop castles and ancient bridges were damaged.
"We are still taking stock of our losses," says Omar Halablab, director general of Lebanon's Culture Ministry.
Frederique Husseini, director general of Lebanon's antiquities department said Lebanon had asked for US$550,000 in aid from European donors to restore part of the souk in Baalbek and US$900,000 for the restoration of buildings and old castles that were damaged.
"We are still waiting for the money," he said.
BOMBARDMENT: Moscow sent more than 440 drones and 32 missiles, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, in ‘one of the most terrifying strikes’ on the capital in recent months A nighttime Russian missile and drone bombardment of Ukraine killed at least 15 people and injured 116 while they slept in their homes, local officials said yesterday, with the main barrage centering on the capital, Kyiv. Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said 14 people were killed and 99 were injured as explosions echoed across the city for hours during the night. The bombardment demolished a nine-story residential building, destroying dozens of apartments. Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble. Russia flung more than 440 drones and 32 missiles at Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
COMPETITION: The US and Russia make up about 90 percent of the world stockpile and are adding new versions, while China’s nuclear force is steadily rising, SIPRI said Most of the world’s nuclear-armed states continued to modernize their arsenals last year, setting the stage for a new nuclear arms race, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said yesterday. Nuclear powers including the US and Russia — which account for about 90 percent of the world’s stockpile — had spent time last year “upgrading existing weapons and adding newer versions,” researchers said. Since the end of the Cold War, old warheads have generally been dismantled quicker than new ones have been deployed, resulting in a decrease in the overall number of warheads. However, SIPRI said that the trend was likely
‘SHORTSIGHTED’: Using aid as leverage is punitive, would not be regarded well among Pacific Island nations and would further open the door for China, an academic said New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, it said yesterday, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group’s deepening ties with China. A spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said in a statement that New Zealand early this month decided to suspend payment of NZ$18.2 million (US$11 million) in core sector support funding for this year and next year as it “relies on a high trust bilateral relationship.” New Zealand and Australia have become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific
Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki yesterday erupted again with giant ash and smoke plumes after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5km into the sky on Tuesday evening to yesterday afternoon. An eruption on Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10km into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150km kilometers away. The eruption alert was raised on Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8km from the crater. Officers also
RSS