Lebanon opens Phoenician museum after joining Council of Europe's cultural routes

BEIRUT, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's tourism ministry inaugurated on Friday a Phoenician museum in the coastal city of Jounieh at a ceremony also held to celebrate Lebanon's membership in the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe, the National News Agency reported.

"The presence of a Phoenician museum in this particular city is not only a revival of our ancient past and our pioneering role in the Mediterranean basin, but it also reflects faith in our present and a positive view of our future because the essence of human existence is this communication between the past, the present and the future," said Michel Mawad, president of the Lebanese American University, during the ceremony.