In 1942, Lebanon’s National Museum opened in Beirut, celebrating the country’s golden age, and inside, it housed some of the region’s most important artifacts. So when the Lebanese war started in 1975, the museum staff came up with an elaborate scheme to save everything inside the museum. This week on Kerning Cultures, the story of how a small team of museum employees protect thousands of years’ worth of history.

This episode originally aired in December 2019, and was produced by Alex Atack and edited by Dana Ballout, with additional support from Tamara Rasamny and Hebah Fisher. Fact-checking by Zeina Dowidar and sound design by Mohamad Khreizat.

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