Fish fossil museum
Memory of Time
In Jbeil’s old souk is (09 540555, memoryoftime.com,) a fascinating fish fossil museum run by a family of fossil experts. “Our story with fossils started a long time ago, thanks to our grandfather George,” says Pierre Abi Saad. “One day, he accidentally discovered a fossil fish which led him to understand that his country and his mountains were favored by destiny.” Pierre’s father Mikhaël continued the family collection and his sons George, Joseph, Pierre and Albert connected the project with international museums and universities. Because of the disruptions of the Lebanese Civil War, Pierre was the only one able to continue to university with the family passion, doing a BA in archeology and MA in paleontology. The family behind Memory of Time look for fossils for eight months of the year and also organizes scientific excursions that the public can join from April to May and September to October. “We have found a huge variety of species. In fact, the quarries of Lebanon are the richest in the whole world,” says Pierre.