Emir Maurice Chehab
Executive Board
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Hundred-and-twenty-first Session
121 EX/13
Paris, 4 April 1985
Original: French
Item 5.4.3. of the provisional agenda
Report by the Director General on the project to Saveguard the archaeological site of Tyre and its surrounding area, with a view to its promotion in the form of an International Campaign.
Summary
At its twenty-second session, the General Conference adopted resolution 11.7 in which it authorized the Director-General to undertake, within the limits of available funds, the technical studies needed in order to draw up a detailed plan of action for the project to safeguard the archaeological site of Tyre and its surrounding area, and to define procedures for its promotion in the form of an international campaign.
In pursuance of that resolution, this progress report is submitted to the Executive Board for information.
Proposed decision: paragraph 27.
1. The site of Tyre, in Lebanon, inhabited as long ago as the Neolithic period, is a remarkable example of a place where almost all the Mediterranean cultures have come together. Inhabited in turn by the Phoenicians, the, the Assyrians Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Arabs, the European Crusaders and the Ottomans, Tyre was enriched by these successive influences while yet maintaining its own identity and originality, and is now the proud possessor of relics from the past, representative of all these civilizations.
2. From 1980 onwards, at the request of the Lebanese Government, the Director-General took measures with a view to protecting the cultural property of Tyre. The Executive Board, informed of that action, adopted109 EX/Decision 7.2 requesting the Director-General to draw the attention of the General Conference, at its next session, to the need to safeguard the entire archaeological site of Tyre and its surroundings, the relics of which are of importance to the cultural heritage of mankind, so that it could decide on appropriate action.
3. Subsequently, the General Conference at its twenty-first session adopted resolution 4/13 authorizing the Director-General 'within the limits of the budgetary estimates, to appoint an adviser for the cultural heritage of the archaeological site of Tyre and its surrounding area, whose duty it will be to report to him on the situation and to assist all concerned to determine the emergency measures to be taken to protect and preserve the cultural heritage of all the civilizations concerned'.
4. In addition, the General Conference at its twenty-second session adopted resolution 11.7 authorizing 'the Director-General to undertake, within the limits of available funds, the technical studies needed in order to draw up a detailed plan of action for this project and to define procedures for its promotion in the form of an international campaign and inviting the Director-General to submit a progress report on the matter to the Executive Board during the forthcoming biennium.
5. In implementation of that resolution, a Unesco/International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) mission was sent to the site and proposed procedures for listing and selecting the cultural property to be preserved.
6. A working group for the safeguarding of Tyre was also set up. This working group, which has already held its first session, will be requested, like the other working groups set up in connection with international campaigns, to recommend to the Director-General and to the Lebanese Government measures which might be taken for the preservation and development of the cultural property of Tyre and for the collection, if necessary, of the funds required for implementing the projects and informing the public.
7. At national level, the archaeological sites of Tyre and the city itself are protected and their development is envisaged under the decrees or laws in force before the events of 1975.