American University of Beirut

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​A third experiential mission, welcomed renowned  scholar Stephen Koob, who recently retired as chief conservator from the Corning Museum of Glass in New York. Together with Conservator Claire Cuyaubère from the INP, they graciously volunteered their time and expertise for a period of two weeks to restore six broken glass artifacts, taught an intensive hands-on course on glass restoration to specialist and non-specialists and participated in person at the international workshop "Through Shattered Glass" (January 2022).

​​Video​ by U.S. Embassy in Beirut on Stephen ​Koob and his help in restoring broken glass vessels.

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​​Academic significance:

​​​​The Archaeological Museum seeks to collaborate with a variety of working groups at the American University of Beirut and beyond, providing material culture for assessment, analysis, and publication with the clear goal of preserving, conserving, restoring, and disseminating the value and relevance of cultural heritage.

Therefore, the AUB Archaeological Museum in collaboration with the Science and Technology in Archaeology and Culture Research Center (STARC) of the Cyprus Institute, the Institute of Archaeology at the University of Trier, The Institut Français du Proche-Orient, the Center For Advanced Mathematical Sciences (CAMS), the DIgiTal Cultural Heritage (DITCH) center at the Maroun Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture (MSFEA), the Department of Physics, and the Department of History and Archeology at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) at AUB, has organized an international and multidisciplinary workshop inviting specialists to guide and support the field of experiential and multilayered glass study. ​

​​​​Building on the workshop, The AUB Archaeological Museum undertook interdisciplinary projects with various faculties in order to give the shattered glass fragments a chance to serve science.

In partnership with the DIgiTal Cultural Heritage (DITCH) center at AUB's Faculty of Engineering and Architecture (MSFEA), the mission focused on developing virtual 3D reconstructions of selected broken glass vessels. This eventually led to a 3D print of the original piece, providing them with a clone!!!​

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Glass bottle (Inv.# 4303)

  

Glass bottle (​​Inv.# 4288)

​In partnership with the AUB Department of Physics at FAS and the Science and Technology in Archaeology and Culture Research Center (STARC) at the Cyprus Institute, this mission is to conduct an analysis of the chemical composition of the fragments from the shattered glass objects. Emphasis will be put on non-invasive analysis, with invasive sampling restricted to those fragments that cannot be restored.​

​​​​​​Exhibition at the British Museum "Shattered gl​ass of Beirut​":

​​The eight glass vessels conserved at the British Museum Conservation Lab were displayed in "ROOM 3" at The British Museum (August 25, 2022 - October 23, 2022) They will be returning to Beirut in January 2023. The exhibition at the British Museum was cocurated by American University of Beirut Museum Curator Nadine Panayot, James Fraser, BM Curator for the Ancient Levant, and Zeina Klink-Hope, BM Curator for the Modern Middle East.

​According to British Museum analytics, the final visitor figures for Beirut Glass Exhibition at The British Museum were 43,287. This is the highest visitor figure since the BM started exhibitions in "Room 3".​

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​​​On September 6, 2022, the American University of Beirut Board of Trustees members who visited the Archaeological Museum were treated to an informal exhibition of the 16 reconstructed glass vessels.

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