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Lebanon’s Tripoli Begins 2024 Celebrations as Arab Culture Capital

The flags of Arab countries flutter in Tripoli, Lebanon (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The flags of Arab countries flutter in Tripoli, Lebanon (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Lebanon’s Tripoli Begins 2024 Celebrations as Arab Culture Capital

The flags of Arab countries flutter in Tripoli, Lebanon (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The flags of Arab countries flutter in Tripoli, Lebanon (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Lebanon’s Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati kicked off the “Tripoli the Capital of Arab Culture” celebrations at a formal event held at the Rashid Karami International Fair in Tripoli.

Attendees included Mohamed Ould Amar, Director-General of ALECSO, and Mohammad Wissam Mortada, Minister of Culture.

Ministers, deputies, ambassadors, and other notable figures also were also present at the ceremony.

Mortada told Asharq Al-Awsat that he believes the celebrations to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Lebanon and Tripoli.

“This is our chance to uncover Tripoli’s treasures in terms of people and landmarks. I’m stunned by the human and natural potential here. You’ll witness what makes Tripoli unique, and we’re doing it all with no funding,” said the minister.

Despite no budget, workers are determined to succeed. Young volunteers are eager to overcome obstacles and make the event a hit. Some see the coming months as Tripoli’s big chance to shine, while others feel funding issues should have delayed the festivities.

“Tripoli has suffered, but now, with activities starting, people will see what they've missed out on for years,” Mortada affirmed.

This year promises a packed schedule of cultural activities, some already underway for months. Organizations are competing to host programs, but the highlight could be cultural weeks organized by several Arab countries.

Qatar, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq, Palestine, Morocco, Syria, and Oman have confirmed plans.

For Mortada, the aim is for more than just temporary celebrations; he wants to establish Tripoli as a permanent cultural capital of Lebanon.

The minister is not just dreaming; he's building on reality.

Tripoli boasts the Rashid Karami International Fair, a stunning architectural marvel. Spread across 70 hectares, it features unique conference halls, integrated buildings, and an experimental theater.

UNESCO recognizes its significance but also flags maintenance challenges and development threats.

Tripoli’s vibrant markets and river make it a unique destination. Its port is crucial for trade, with an economic zone stretching to Europe.

Mortada believes Tripoli could become Lebanon’s cultural tourism hub, generating revenue for the country.

“Tripoli is ready to play a vital role,” he asserted.

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Culture

‘Amazing’ Figurines Find in Egyptian Tomb Solves Mystery

This undated handout photograph released on November 25, 2025 by MFFT-EPHE/PSL shows funerary statuette, knonw as ouchbetis, found in the royal necropolis of Tanis (San el-Hagar). (Simone Nannucci / MFFT - EPHE/PSL / AFP)
This undated handout photograph released on November 25, 2025 by MFFT-EPHE/PSL shows funerary statuette, knonw as ouchbetis, found in the royal necropolis of Tanis (San el-Hagar). (Simone Nannucci / MFFT - EPHE/PSL / AFP)
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‘Amazing’ Figurines Find in Egyptian Tomb Solves Mystery

This undated handout photograph released on November 25, 2025 by MFFT-EPHE/PSL shows funerary statuette, knonw as ouchbetis, found in the royal necropolis of Tanis (San el-Hagar). (Simone Nannucci / MFFT - EPHE/PSL / AFP)
This undated handout photograph released on November 25, 2025 by MFFT-EPHE/PSL shows funerary statuette, knonw as ouchbetis, found in the royal necropolis of Tanis (San el-Hagar). (Simone Nannucci / MFFT - EPHE/PSL / AFP)

A treasure trove of 225 funerary figurines have been discovered inside a tomb in the ancient Egyptian capital of Tanis in the Nile Delta, a rare find that has also solved a long-running mystery.

"Finding figurines in place inside a royal tomb has not happened in the Tanis necropolis since 1946," French Egyptologist Frederic Payraudeau told reporters in Paris on Friday.

Such a find has also never happened before further south in Egypt's Valley of the Kings near modern Luxor -- apart from the tomb of the famous boy king Tutankhamun in 1922 -- because most such sites have been looted throughout history, he added.

Payraudeau, who leads the French Tanis excavation mission, said the remarkable discovery was made on the morning of October 9.

The team had already excavated the other three corners of a narrow tomb occupied by an imposing, unnamed sarcophagus.

"When we saw three or four figurines together, we knew right away it was going to be amazing," Payraudeau said.

"I ran out to tell my colleagues and the officials. After that it was a real struggle. It was the day before the weekend -- normally, we stop at 2 pm. We thought: 'This is not possible.'"

The team then set up lights to work through the night.

It took 10 days to carefully extract all of the 225 small green figurines.

They were "carefully arranged in a star shape around the sides of a trapezoidal pit and in horizontal rows at the bottom," Payraudeau said.

The funerary figurines, which are known as ushabti, were intended as servants to accompany the dead into the afterlife.

More than half the figurines are women, which is "quite exceptional", Payraudeau said.

Located in the Nile Delta, Tanis was founded around 1050 BC as the capital of the Egyptian kingdom during the 21st dynasty.

At the time, the Valley of the Kings -- which had been looted during the reign of pharaohs including Ramses -- was abandoned and the royal necropolis was moved to Tanis, Payraudeau said.

- One mystery leads to another -

The royal symbol on the newly discovered figurines also solves a long-standing mystery by identifying who was buried in the sarcophagus.

It was Pharaoh Shoshenq III, who reigned from 830 to 791 BC.

This was "astonishing" because the walls of a different tomb at the site -- and the largest sarcophagus there -- bear his name, Payraudeau said.

"Why isn't he buried in this tomb?" the expert asked.

"Obviously, for a pharaoh, building a tomb is a gamble because you can never be sure your successor will bury you there," he said.

"Clearly, we have new proof that these gambles are not always successful," Payraudeau said with a smile.

Shoshenq III's four-decade reign was turbulent, marred by a "very bloody civil war between upper and lower Egypt, with several pharaohs fighting for power," he said.

So it is possible that the royal succession did not go as planned and the pharaoh was not buried in his chosen tomb.

Another possibility is that his remains were moved later due to looting.

But it is "difficult to imagine that a 3.5 by 1.5-meter granite sarcophagus could have been reinstalled in such a small place," Payraudeau said.

After the figurines are studied, they will be displayed in an Egyptian museum, Payraudeau said.

Culture

Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission Launches Riyadh Int’l Philosophy Conference

The three-day event is organized by the Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission. SPA
The three-day event is organized by the Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission. SPA
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Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission Launches Riyadh Int’l Philosophy Conference

The three-day event is organized by the Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission. SPA
The three-day event is organized by the Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission. SPA

The fifth edition of the Riyadh International Philosophy Conference 2025 launched on Thursday at King Fahd National Library.

The three-day event is organized by the Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission under the theme “Philosophy Between East and West: Concepts, Origins, and Mutual Influences.”

This year’s conference continues the intellectual path it began five years ago, maintaining its role as a global platform that brings together thinkers, scholars, and experts from various countries and affirms the Kingdom’s position as an international center for knowledge production and cross-cultural dialogue.

The conference opened with remarks by CEO of the Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission Dr. Abdullatif Alwasel, who welcomed the guests and said the fifth edition builds on a project launched five years ago and has grown into a firmly established initiative that strengthens the presence of philosophy, enriches cultural dialogue, and reinforces the Kingdom’s standing as a global platform for knowledge and thought.

The conference features sixty speakers, including philosophers, thinkers, and researchers from different countries and philosophical traditions, giving the program intellectual diversity that strengthens its role as an international platform for dialogue and the exchange of expertise.

More than forty panel discussions will cover the foundations of Eastern and Western philosophy, modes of reasoning, and pathways of mutual influence between intellectual traditions. The sessions will also address contemporary issues related to human meaning, cultural shifts, and the role of philosophy in interpreting modern realities, offering varied perspectives and expanded approaches that deepen philosophical discussions.

The conference is expected to welcome around 7,000 visitors, reflecting the growing interest in philosophy and the humanities within the Kingdom.

Culture

New Exhibition in Saudi Arabia's AlUla Highlights Ancient City of Dadan

The new permanent exhibition, held at the Dadan archaeological site in AlUla, presents a wide collection of traditional crafts and customs, along with material evidence of cultural exchange between ancient civilizations. (SPA)
The new permanent exhibition, held at the Dadan archaeological site in AlUla, presents a wide collection of traditional crafts and customs, along with material evidence of cultural exchange between ancient civilizations. (SPA)
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New Exhibition in Saudi Arabia's AlUla Highlights Ancient City of Dadan

The new permanent exhibition, held at the Dadan archaeological site in AlUla, presents a wide collection of traditional crafts and customs, along with material evidence of cultural exchange between ancient civilizations. (SPA)
The new permanent exhibition, held at the Dadan archaeological site in AlUla, presents a wide collection of traditional crafts and customs, along with material evidence of cultural exchange between ancient civilizations. (SPA)

Saudi Arabia’s AlUla is preparing to open new chapters in the history of the ancient city of Dadan, the former capital of the Kingdoms of Dadan and Lihyan, through a new permanent exhibition titled “Illuminating Discoveries – Uncovering the Layers of Dadan’s History”, reported the Saudi Press Agency on Wednesday.

The exhibition offers an in-depth experience of the city’s archaeological heritage and its flourishing civilization across centuries. It guides visitors through the features of the past and demonstrates the importance of this historical site on regional and global heritage maps.

The new permanent exhibition, held at the Dadan archaeological site in AlUla, presents a wide collection of traditional crafts and customs, along with material evidence of cultural exchange between ancient civilizations. It highlights the historical role of Dadan as a political and commercial center on the Incense Road during the first millennium BCE and earlier.

The exhibition introduces a significant new chapter in the study of the Arabian Peninsula’s ancient history. It features more than one hundred artifacts carefully uncovered by international teams working at the Dadan site in AlUla and at the nearby mountain sanctuary of Umm Daraj over the past five years. These findings reveal the scale of ancient trade routes and confirm that AlUla once stood at the heart of a connected and sophisticated network.

Among the objects on display are small figurines linked to the Greek world, a bone hairpin from the Roman or Byzantine era, and rock inscriptions written in an ancient South Arabian script.

Dadan belongs to a line of advanced civilizations whose roots reach deep into the ancient world. Farming in the city is believed to date back to around the third millennium BCE, and archaeologists have found evidence of handcrafts from the second millennium BCE, long before the rise of the Roman Empire.

Material remains show that craftsmanship formed a central part of daily life and reflect the skill and ingenuity of the population. New discoveries include examples of complex metalwork and early evidence of textile production using weaving and spinning techniques. These traditional crafts, once essential to life in the city, are being revived today under the Royal Commission for AlUla’s cultural regeneration programs.

The exhibition also includes rare artifacts never before shown to the public. The material is organized into five main sections: Crafts and Daily Life in Ancient Dadan; Exchange and Trade; Ancient Beliefs and Rituals; Scripts in Stone; and Umm Daraj.

Among the findings is a copper-alloy spearhead dating to between 400 and 50 BCE. Field surveys along Dadan’s cliffs uncovered hundreds of inscriptions and striking rock art, including a battle scene showing four mounted warriors carrying long spears. Rock art in the nearby desert valley of Wadi Al-Naam depicts a rider using a spear to hunt an ostrich.

Another notable object is a terracotta head found in an urban neighborhood of Dadan and dating to the late fourth to first century BCE. Imported from the ancient Greek world, it is believed to have belonged to a Tanagra figurine, a type of small, finely crafted statue produced in central Greece and traded widely across the Mediterranean and as far as Babylon. The head reflects how Mediterranean artistic styles entered the region and circulated across northwest Arabia during the Lihyanite period.

Archaeologists also uncovered a striking statue from an ancient shrine at the foot of Dadan’s cliffs, dating to between 400 and 50 BCE, with one of its eye inlays still preserved. The statue reflects the high craftsmanship of symbolic objects produced during the Lihyanite period. Another figurine, marked by long hair and a belted garment, was found at the same site, with only one arm surviving. Its eyes were once inlaid with bone.

A unique part of the collection is a fragment of carved sandstone dating to the first millennium BCE. It preserves part of an inscription in the ancient South Arabian Minaic script. The relief carving likely came from a temple or public building. The preserved symbols probably refer to Wadd, the chief deity worshipped by the Minaean community at Dadan. Merchants from the Kingdom of Ma‘in established a trading presence in Dadan and left inscriptions documenting their cultural practices.

This inscription has a connection to the nearby “open-air library” at Jabal Ikmah. Inscribed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register, Jabal Ikmah contains nearly three hundred inscriptions, most dating to the Dadanite and Lihyanite periods.

The exhibition was organized through cooperation between the Royal Commission for AlUla, the French National Center for Scientific Research, and the French Agency for AlUla Development, which have jointly led recent Saudi-French archaeological missions in Dadan.

The launch of the 2025-2026 archaeological season in AlUla marks one of the region’s broadest heritage research efforts to date. More than one hundred archaeologists and specialists from leading Saudi and international institutions are participating across six major projects, ranging from new excavations at Hegra and Dadan to large-scale inscription surveys and environmental studies.

This program is the most ambitious undertaken in AlUla and contributes to advancing knowledge, developing national expertise, and strengthening the Kingdom’s position as a leader in cultural heritage research.