The American University of Beirut (AUB) Archaeological Museum, the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas (ALIPH) and the Institut National du Patrimoine (INP, French national institute for cultural heritage) have teamed up to salvage 74 archaeological glass objects broken in a showcase that toppled and fell onto the floor during the August 4^th, 2020 blast at the port of Beirut.

The showcase displayed 74 glass vessels dating mainly from the Roman, Byzantine and early Islamic eras as well as from the medieval period. Immediately after the blast, the museum team secured the gallery and made sure the broken objects could safely stay under the toppled showcase until they could be recovered.

An initial emergency recovery, organized by the INP and funded by ALIPH, took place in early September 2020. Over the course of four days, glass and ceramic objects conservator Claire Cuyaubère worked with the AUB Archaeological Museum team, volunteers, and AUB archaeology students to pick up all the fragments in a methodical and systematic manner that would allow to keep track of their location on the museum floor. Two objects were recovered unbroken and complete, and most of the 72 other vessels were identified. Claire Cuyaubère began sorting the fragments and undertook consolidation treatments on some of the most fragile ones.

AUB museum assistants continued to sort the fragments over the following months, and in June and July 2021 ALIPH and the INP partnered again with the AUB Archaeological Museum to set up a one-month conservation project with conservator Claire Cuyaubère and a two-month internship for 4^th-year INP student in conservation Cécile Rodier.

The conservation project consisted in fragment sorting, puzzle work, examination of the fragments and conservation treatment. This work allowed them to gather most of the fragments for several glass objects. Those found to be the most complete were selected for assembly. Claire Cuyaubère and Cécile Rodier were able to restore twelve glass objects which were re-installed in the showcase at the AUB Archaeological Museum for the first commemoration of the August 4 blast.

In collaboration with the British Museum, eight objects were selected to be subsequently restored in their conservation lab, thanks to a grant from The European Fine Art Foundation (TEFAF).

This project for the conservation of the glass objects from the Archaeological Museum of the AUB is a continuation of the missions in favour of heritage protection in Lebanon carried out in collaboration between Lebanese heritage professionals and the INP, a collaboration which was strengthened after the August 4 blast.

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http://www.inp.fr/en/About-Institut-national-du-patrimoine/News/Projects-in-Lebanon