Lebanese Military Museum
 Lebanese Military Museum
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| Established | 1974 |
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| Location | Yarze, Baabda District |
| Coordinates | 33°50′00″N 35°32′00″E / 33.833333°N 35.533333°E |
| Type | Military Museum |
| Website | http://www.lebarmy.gov.lb |
The Lebanese Military Museum (Arabic: المتحف العسكري Al Mathaf al-askari) is part of the Lebanese Armed Forces and dedicated for the preservation of old Lebanese military antiques. The museum is currently located at the Ministry of National Defense, in Yarze.
The idea of establishing a military museum dedicated to the Lebanese Army emerged during the post-independence period, after the Lebanese authorities had supported the Lebanese military units, who were formerly enlisted in the French Army. Following the evacuation of foreign troops stationed in Lebanon (August 1, 1945), the Army Command ordered, in 1974, the establishment of a committee responsible for documenting the history of the Lebanese army and the preservation of its heritage.
Since 1948, the Army Command began the collection and storage of old equipment, weapons and military uniforms. A year later, contacts between the Army Command and the directorate of antiques (of the Ministry of Education) enabled the Army Command forward the idea of establishing a military museum, with a view of assembling the military history in its possession. The proposal won approval and support of the Director of antiques, Emir Maurice Chehab. Thus, contacts were established between the parties concerned, namely the directorate of the antiques at the Ministry of Interior and the municipality of Beirut through the Ministry of Education to assign an area of 2600 m2 south of the current museum in the eastern part of Beirut racetrack. The new building, which was to be attached to the National Museum, was called "The Museum of the Middle Ages and the Army" and exhibited medieval and contemporary objects.
Contacts continued in the 1950s and early 1960s, until the Council of Ministers approved the construction of the museum, and entrusted the implementation of construction projects, in agreement with the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Education. As a result of numerous studies, construction began in the summer of 1968 and the structure was built with funds allocated to the museum (LBP 1,000,000). The work was interrupted a year later due to necessary appropriations for the Department of National Defense. In the 1970s, the site became under the stewardship of the Directorate General of the ruins.
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Wikipedia