Early Palaeolithic
Middle Palaeolithic
Upper Palaeolithic
Pre-pottery Neolithic
Pottery Neolithic
Chalcolithic
Bronze Age
Iron Age
Antiquity
Islamic Period
Ottoman Period
Early Palaeolithic

-1 000 000 / -250 000

~ -5500
Human occupation traces in Menjez territory

Middle Palaeolithic

-250 000 / -50 000

Homo sapiens

~ -100 000
Ksar Akil rock shelter

Upper Palaeolithic

-50 000 / -10 000

Ras el Kelb cave

Antelias cave

Nachcharini cave

Pre-pottery Neolithic

-10 000 / -7 000

Use of bow & arrow

~ -9000
Gobëkli Tepe
Jerf El-Armar
Tell Qaramel
Arslan Tepe

~ -7000
Tell Labwe

Pottery Neolithic

-7 000 / -4 500

~ 6000
Agriculture & farming

~ 5400
Human occupation traces in Menjez territory

~ -4700
Byblos

Chalcolithic

-4 500 / -3 500

~ 4000
Metallurgy

~ 3700
Menjez
Qattina
Jebel Mutawwaq
Teleilat Ghassul

Bronze Age

-3 500 / -1 200

~ -1200 / -3500
Construction and use of the megaliths in Menjez

~ 3300
Dakerman

~ -2200
Byblos
Tell Arqa

~ -1700
Kamid el-Loz

Iron Age

-1 200 / -300

~ -750 / -600
Re-occupation traces in the Menjez megaliths

~ -1200
Masafi el-Bithnah
Qusais-Rumeilah

~ -1100
Tyre

~ -1000
Byblos

Antiquity

-330 / 640

~ 50
The Iturian Arabs impose their cults

~ 260
Maqâm el-Rabb transformed in the Greco-Roman style

~ 430
Maqâm el-Rabb transformed into a church

Islamic Period

640 / 1550

~ 1142 
Qal`at el-Feliz sold to the Hospitallers

Ottoman Period

1550 / 1900

~ 1579 
Presence of the Maronite Fathers

The Heritage House of Menjez presents the exhibition “Memories in the rock, Mankind’s Memories” with an emphasis on prehistoric megaliths. Panels, movies, models and engraved rocks explain how, why and when men built dolmens for their dead. Artefacts discovered in prehistoric monuments are presented to show some activities of daily life of 6,000 years ago (the original artefacts are preserved at the Lebanese Prehistory Museum in Beirut).

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Entrance to Menjez Heritage House and its exhibition
Entrance to Menjez Heritage House and its exhibition
Open doorway leading into the Menjez Heritage House exhibition
Interpretation panels and a dolmen model in the heritage exhibition
Exhibition panels and a model of a dolmen at Menjez Heritage House
Archaeological objects displayed inside Menjez Heritage House
Dolmen model beside an exhibition panel at Menjez Heritage House
Stone artefacts and display cases in the heritage exhibition
Stone artefacts and exhibition panels at Menjez Heritage House
Exhibition room with archaeological objects and interpretation panels
Display cases and interpretation panels inside Menjez Heritage House

Valorization of the Menjez Dolmens

Presentation film of the project of valorization of the megaliths of Menjez. Three other films are screened at Menjez Heritage House:
  • “Menjez before Menjez, mankind within a territory”
  • “Reverend Father Maurice Tallon s.j.’s excavations: 1959-1969”
  • “Dolmens of Menjez, Lebanon”

3D view of Dolmen 11

Film of the restored cover by Yann Bernard (on a Tara Steimer and Florian Cousseau design).

Catalog of the Exhibition

The booklet is on sale at the Menjez Heritage House (10,000 L.L.). This catalog of the exhibition is about dolmens and uses texts of panels with a large number of illustrations and maps (texts in Arabic, English and French in the same book).
Cover of the Menjez Heritage House exhibition catalogue

Tour of the Dolmens

Discover 11 megalithic monuments of recent Prehistory and the Metal Ages (walking trail), admire the objects offered to the dead, and learn the history of these monuments, built and occupied by ancient societies.

Download the walking map (PDF, 13 MB) · Dolmen flyers : Français (ZIP) · العربية (ZIP)

Practical Info

Fares &
Guided Tours

Heritage House entry
  • 3,000 LL /person
Upon reservation
  • Guided Heritage House tour for groups: 5,000 LL /person
  • Guided Heritage House tour & guided walking tour for groups: 8,000 LL /person
  • School workshop & Guided tour of the Heritage House: 5,000 LL /student
School workshop themes
  • Flint engraving on basalt, pottery modeling, fire demonstration, making clay pearls, writing one’s name in Phoenician or Cuneiform alphabet, Shooting with a bow and a spear thrower.

Opening Hours

Menjez Heritage House
  • Sat. & Sun. 10AM – 6PM (Apr. to Oct.)
  • Wed. – Sun. (School Vacation)
  • All year, upon reservation
Discovery Trail
  • Accessible all year, 24/7

Partners & Credits

Initiator

Municipality of Menjez and Georges Youssef (Mayor)

Supervisor

Direction Générale des Antiquités du Liban

Funded by

British Council (Small Grant CPS 552-17)

Study and valorization project directed by

Tara Steimer-Herbet (University de Geneva – Switzerland)

Museum design and production

Valérie Porra-Kuteni (Château-Musée of Bélesta – France) and Tara Steimer-Herbet (University of Geneva)

Production of museum furniture

Okajian (Tripoli – Lebanon)

Graphic Design & Website

FABRIKA (Beirut – Lebanon)

Movies

Zeina Haddad (Beirut – Lebanon)

Drone Views

Directorate General of Antiquities

Scientific supervisor

Tara Steimer-Herbet, Florian Cousseau, Marie Besse (University of Geneva), V. Porra-Kuteni (Mus. Bélesta) et Maya Haïdar-Boustani (Museum of lebanese Prehistory – Beirut)

Carts, reconstitutions and models

V. Porra-Kuteni (Mus. Bélesta) and Thierry Blaise (Bélesta – France)

Ceramics copies

Jean-Marie Giorgio (Rasiguères – France)

British Council
University of Geneva
Saint Joseph University of Beirut
Château-Musée de Bélesta
Municipality of Menjez
Ministry of Culture, Lebanon