The first museum for prehistory in the Middle East opened in the year 2000 and is nestled in Beirut, Monot Street inside Saint Joseph University. Don’t get me wrong, this museum is accessible to the public, but managed by the university!

The Lebanese Prehistoric Museum is a permanent exhibition based on scientific and educational aspects, with pieces that go back to the prehistoric age. We’re talking about pieces found from the archaeological excavations in Lebanon done by Jesuit scholars between the end of the 19th century and the year 1975.

The museum is made up of 2 floors, a ground floor, and an underground floor accessible through the staircases. All pieces are shown in glass display boxes and have a small explanation on them. You’ll start your journey on the ground floor, from the east to the west after buying a ticket at the ticketing booth. This floor focuses on topics like trimming using flint stone for several purposes and the change of the human skull through the ages. As you go to the underground floor, you’ll notice that the theme of pieces displayed is funerary, hunting, decorative artistic ornaments, and replicas of residential sites dating back to the Neolithic and Chalcolithic Age. Oh, and a room with a documentary on the journey of the Jesuits in discovering all of these pieces, and more on the life of the prehistoric human in Lebanon!

I do recommend you pay it a visit, as it is really eye-opening on this prehistoric age of the country!