Monday, 18 October 2010
arrived at the port of Beirut on Friday 15 October 2010, the sailing ship “Venice” and docked on Pier 6, after having made a journey that cut the Red Sea and ancient Phoenician harbours on the Mediterranean Sea along the lines of ancient Phoenician ships.
A ceremony on board the ship was held this afternoon under the patronage of Minister of Culture Salim Warda, representing the head of the Department of Cultural Affairs and Fine Arts Hanna Al-Minion and the presence of the world President of the Lebanese Cultural University in the world, Eid al-Shdrawi, a delegation from the university, representative of the World Research Organization The VNAQH George is curious and a crowd of culture, media and security apparatus in the harbor.
The ceremony began with a word of curiosity in which “the concerned are the port administration, customs and security services. “The Syrians in Arwad built the ship in 2008 with the desire of its captain Philip Neil, and the ship made a two-year journey through which it crossed Africa and defied the waves as the Phoenicians were making such journeys,” he said.
“The organization wanted the presence of this ship to show the world that the Phoenician flights of 2600 years ago were actually a reality which would do justice to the ancient Phoenician civilization,” he said.
For his part, the world president of the university delivered a memorial shield to the captain of the ship, and the Minister handed over the memorial shields to the ship’s crew. The ship’s captain Philip Neil spoke about the ship and its role, “what it has done and its future action program.”
“The custodian of this ship and the Lebanese Cultural University in the world through the voyage of the Phoenician sailing ship in the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea to the shores of Africa,” the client delivered the speech of his patron, Minister Warda.
He said: “This trip is only a scientific evidence that for about 2600 years the Phoenicians have made this journey many times by relying on their own traditional means and on the stars and planets in their maritime movements.”
“The Phoenicians moved between the shores of the western and eastern Mediterranean Sea crossing the Strait of Gibraltar to the shores of West Africa and built on these shores, communities and colonies without wars or violence, and they were transported with them to the people they met, adding their agricultural products and industrial science, knowledge, culture, dialogue and understanding. “