LAU Louis Cardahi Foundation

The Phoenician Route

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Summary  

The Phoenicians’ Route refers to the connection of the major nautical routes which, since the twelfth century BC, were used by the Phoenicians as essential routes for trade and cultural communication in the Mediterranean. Through these routes, the Phoenicians - genial sailors and merchants - gave origin to a great civilization, for some verses still little known, that asserted itself through an expansion towards the West, producing an intense exchange of manufactured articles, people and ideas and contributing in ancient times to the creation of a koine, a Mediterranean cultural community and to the circulation of this culture. But also, other great Mediterranean civilizations used these routes for the same purpose: Greeks, Romans, Etruscans, Iberians and many others. So, these routes have become an integral and essential part of the Mediterranean culture. 
 
Visit the Phoenicians’ Route - Lebanon:

Project Scope

The Phoenicians’ Route aims to foster Mediterranean intercultural dialogue, sharing the values of the Council of Europe, especially human rights and democracy. Established in many non-European countries, including several places of conflict, the routes help to promote freedom of expression, equality, freedom of conscience and religion, and the protection of minorities. This network is a way to work together for the development of peace and mutual respect in the Mediterranean. 

The LAU-Louis Cardahi Foundation, in its capacity as an active member of the scientific committee of the Phoenicians’ route with the Confederation of the Council of Europe. “The Phoenicians’ Route represents the Route of Intercultural Dialogue and crosses many countries of the Mediterranean, of Europe, of North Africa and Middle East, thus reinforcing the historical links created thanks to ancient civilizations”.

The Foundation will seek to sustain the development of cultural communication in the Mediterranean according to the project mission and protocols that include, but are not limited to, the following activities:

Scientific and creative role:

  • Mapping and defining the Phoenician Cultural Heritage Route within and among Lebanese cities and providing studies and descriptions of monuments (Assist Documentation according to the Hague Convention).
  • Academic and communicative role: training local communities and providing interdisciplinary expertise to:
  • Foster the preservation of cultural heritage by providing prevention know-how against damage to cultural heritage, in support of law enforcement agencies.
  • Provide training programs for cultural heritage awareness, offering specialized competencies and targeted curricula.
  • Increase public participation by means of the latest technologies and tools to enhance public involvement.
  • Promote intercultural dialogue.
  • Develop Information Technology centers and/or tourism centers within relevant municipalities that would cater to cultural tourism activities in Lebanon to promote the protection of archaeological sites and the preservation of historical buildings and monuments.

The International Confederation, Contact, How to Adhere

The interested bodies should:

– inspect the “Application Dossier”
– send the Application for membership (Annex A)
– complete and submit the Application form (Annex B)

This application will be verified by the International Scientific Committee that will express its opinion within 30 days from the transmission of the documents, specifying also witch Confederation Network (territorial network/thematic network) should be in charge of the candidate body.

Eligibility Criteria

Those who can adhere to the Cultural Route “The Phoenicians’ Route” are: public territorial subjects, private citizens, chamber of commerce and other entities that bring together territorial bodies that works for the valorization of cultural, tangible and intangible, natural heritage of the Mediterranean and linked to the Ancient Civilizations of the Mediterranean with their sites, or having historical-cultural relationships with these Mediterranean civilizations, with the Mediterranean Intercultural Dialogue and of sustainable and responsible tourism.

Brochures & Banner

Smart Ways

Smart Ways Lebanon by the Phoenicians’ Route

Cities under Studies

  • Introduction

Phoenician Route of the Lebanese cities:

  • Tyre
  • Qana
  • Sarafand
  • Sidon
  • Maghdouche
  • Beirut
  • Deir El-Qamar & Beiteddine
  • Jounieh
  • Byblos
  • Jabal Moussa & Adonis Valley
  • Batroun
  • Smar Jbeil
  • Anfeh
  • Tripoli
  • Bcharri &Wadi Qadisha
  • Menjez (Menjez Necropolis)
  • Baalbek
  • Anjar
  • Kamid Al-Lawz
  • Niha
  • Rashaya

The Phoenician Museum - Jounieh, Lebanon

The Municipality of Jounieh, as active member of the Phoenicians’ Route, donated a historical building in the old souk of Jounieh that will be transformed into a Phoenicians’ Route Museum. The architectural project was entrusted to Dr. Maroun Daccache, chair of the Department of Architecture and Design at LAU - American Lebanese University, who made a truly unique proposal. The historical palace is placed along the ancient commercial street of Jounieh. It is defined by a typical and traditional Lebanese building: a central hall with triple arcade in the upper floor, and vaulted structure that defines the space of the ground floor. The idea leading the restoration and transformation of the existing palace into a Museum is the exposure of the place’s history, “the typology of the existing building” as a collective memory of the city of Jounieh and its projection towards a new evolutionary cultural function for the community. It is a dialogue and reflection between “history and contemporaneity” to involve all generations in taking part in the museum space and in public activity. It is a dialogue of cultures and heterogeneous generations that could originate new spaces and ideas for our society. In fact, the museum path ends with a meditation belvedere, projected as an extension of the central hall and conceived as a lighthouse in the middle of Jounieh bay, describing the beginning of the history of both the Phoenician and the Mediterranean world.
Newsletter: The Phoenicians’ Route Newsletter (May, 2020) - English - French - Italian

High-Mountain Phoenician Center

It is the first High-Mountain Phoenician Center at Jabal Moussa Biosphere Reserve - Mchati.
The center will allow the visitor to explore centuries of sustainable interaction between man and nature, in the legendary Adonis Valley and Jabal Moussa Biosphere Reserve as part of CROSS-DEV Project.

The Phoenician International Research Center

The Phoenician International Research Center Inc. (PIRC) is a 501(c)(3) US-registered nonprofit, meaning it is a tax-exempt, charitable organization; it aims to promote science, education and peace through a study of the ancient world, and more particularly the Canaanite Phoenicians and Punic people’s contribution to today’s civilization. We are a group of international scholars, researchers and professionals who work to uncover, promote the study of, and disseminate information on our ancestors to the modern world, and to help fund archaeologists, scientists and researchers on the subject through tax deductible donations. The work of PIRC is published and branded by the trademark of the center. 

Phoenicians Before Columbus Podcast

Who were the Phoenicians? Interview (Part 1 of 2) with Dr. Habib Chamoun-Nicolas.

Research

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Newsletter

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Cultural Routes

Videos

Explore the Phoenicians’ relevant settlements and colonies: