A Temporally Accurate and Interactive Atlas of Lebanon's Coastline

This interactive atlas was built on a precise spatial framework: a 1,500-meter coastal buffer defining the zone of study, intersected with a 50-meter inland contour line to establish a consistent and reproducible territorial boundary along Lebanon's full coastal extent. Within this framework, advanced GIS technology was applied to collect and integrate multiple categories of evidence, producing a temporally accurate representation of the coastline and its evolution from the Bronze Age to the present. The platform structures data chronologically and spatially, allowing each layer to be queried across time while remaining anchored to the same defined territory.

The atlas brings together a layered dataset of aerial imagery, historical maps, contemporary visuals, and archaeological surveys. Their integration enables users to explore the historical development of the coast, identify patterns of change, and assess the potential impacts of future coastal dynamics. The intersection of cartographic, photographic, and archaeological records produces a reading of Lebanon's coastline as a territory shaped by centuries of interaction between human activity and environmental process, now traceable with a spatial and temporal granularity that no single source could provide alone.

This resource supports informed decision-making, conservation efforts, and a deeper understanding of Lebanon's maritime heritage across a broad range of disciplines and users. Researchers, urban planners, environmentalists, historians, and the general public can each engage with the platform at the scale and depth relevant to their needs. For maritime archaeology in particular, the atlas offers a methodologically grounded foundation for studying coastal processes, assessing site vulnerabilities, and developing strategies for sustainable coastal management. Developed with support from the Honor Frost Foundation, it represents a substantive contribution to how coastal heritage is documented, analyzed, and made accessible in a region where the relationship between land, sea, and human settlement has been continuously active for millennia.