The British Museum restores ancient vessels destroyed by the Beirut Port explosion

News Agencies

The British Museum in London announced on Tuesday that it will restore eight ancient glass vessels that were destroyed in the horrific explosion of the port of Beirut nearly a year ago, and will display them temporarily before returning them to Lebanon.

These artifacts from the Roman, Byzantine and Islamic eras were on display at the Archaeological Museum of the American University in Beirut at the time of the explosion that killed more than 200 people and wounded 6,500 on August 4, 2020.

Glass blowing technology in Lebanon
Although the museum is 3.2 kilometers from the site of the disaster, the blast destroyed the facade, which contained 74 precious glass vessels, “which are of great importance in introducing the development of glassblowing technology in Lebanon in the first century BC,” according to the British Museum. In a statement.

A wreck that cannot be repaired
He pointed out that most of the artifacts have been destroyed to the point of “impossible to repair”, but only 15 of them are recoverable, of which only 8 could have been safely transferred to the British Museum, which has the capabilities and expertise to recreate them.

Jamie Fraser of the British Museum noted that “these glassware survived several disasters and conflicts over two millennia, but was destroyed by the harbor explosion,” praising “the ability of the workers at the American University Museum to continue.”

After the explosion, the Lebanese Museum staff had to work very carefully to sort out thousands of pieces of broken glass, after the facade and windows were mixed with the glass of the broken pots, and they were able to collect the scattered remains of artifacts in July.

When the team came up with this, they identified the pieces that could be transported to London, and sent hundreds of shards of glass to be glued to the British Museum’s laboratories.

The restoration is expected to be “accurate”, according to Sandra Smith, head of the restoration department at the British Museum, who explained that “glass is a very difficult material to recreate.”

The British Museum will display the pots temporarily upon completion of their restoration, after which they will be returned to Beirut.

أ ف ب

لندن: أعلن متحف «بريتيش ميوزيوم» في لندن أمس أنه سيرمم ثمانية أوانٍ زجاجية أثرية تحطمت بفعل انفجار مرفأ بيروت المروع قبل نحو سنة، وسيعرضها مؤقتًا قبل إعادتها إلى لبنان.

وكانت هذه القطع التي تعود إلى العصور الرومانية والبيزنطية والإسلامية معروضة في المتحف الأثري التابع للجامعة الأمريكية في بيروت لدى حصول الانفجار. ومع أن المتحف يقع على بعد 3.2 كيلومتر من موقع الكارثة، أدى عصف الانفجار إلى تحطم الواجهة التي كانت تحوي 74 إناءً زجاجيًا ثمينًا.

وأشار إلى أن معظم القطع الأثرية تحطمت إلى درجة «يستحيل معها تصليحها»، وتم تحديد 15 منها فحسب قابلة للترميم، منها ثماني قطع فقط كان يمكن نقلها بأمان إلى المتحف البريطاني الذي يتمتع بالإمكانات والخبرة اللازمة لتولي مهمة إعادة تكوينها.