The Book Conservation Center (BCC), coordinator of the Manumed project, in collaboration with the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK), organized on November 3, 2011 a presentation ceremony for the Virtual Library of the Mediterranean Sea, within the framework of the Manumed project, “Manuscripts and Men”, in the presence of the Ambassador Angelina Eichhorst, Head of the European Union Delegation to Lebanon, H.E. Mr. Inan Ozyildiz, Turkey’s Ambassador to Lebanon, Mr. François Vinourd, BCC Vice-President, Rev. Fr. Karam Rizk, USEK Vice-President, Rev. Fr. Georges Hobeika, USEK Vice-President to International Relations, Rev. Fr. Jean Akiki, Vice-President for Research, Rev. Fr. Michel Abou Tacca, USEK Secretary General, Fr. Abbot Boulos Naaman, in addition to the University Council members, as well as eminent diplomatic, cultural and educational figures. The ceremony included the official signing of the cooperation agreement between the BCC and USEK, followed by a concert of Syriac and Arab hymns performed by Ghada Chbeir.

The ceremony, introduced by Ms. Lea Yahchouchi, began with the speech of Rev. Fr. Georges Hobeika who considered that “on the shores of the Mediterranean sea, Greek, Phoenician and Egyptian mythologies were born in an attempt to explain the phenomenon of conflict in the life of humans and gods through the love and hate binary opposition. When the Phoenicians invented the alphabet in Byblos, they made a qualitative leap in the communication among people and the protection of the individual and collective memory, as well as the memory of places and places of memory. Based on this alphabet, a vast network of communication and exchange was later on established among Indo-European and Semitic languages and civilizations. He added: “Not to forget the Phoenician philosopher Thales who founded the first school of philosophy in Miletus, in Asia Minor, and was known due the genius of Anaximander who brought back the whole existence to one element, the apeiron, and approached everything based on the principle of opposition. And with the advent of Heraclitus of Ephesus, this vague intuition was given a significant metaphysical dimension. For him, the apparent harmony of the world is based on the unity of opposites and war (polemos) is the principle on which relies everything. This theory was enriched during the XIX century due to Hegel’s dialectic based on the principle of negativity that the Absolute seeks to reach the happy Totality. Afterwards, the shores of the Mediterranean witnessed an unprecedented intellectual fertility with the arrival of three prominent figures of the ancient times who still represent today a reference: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Fr. Hobeika pointed out that “in opposition and parallel to these lines of thought, another vision of man and existence grew on the southern coast of the Mediterranean, brought by the Holy Bible, in its old and new testaments, and culminated with the coming of Jesus Christ, who reconciled in his being the human finitude with the divine absoluteness. A new civilization of love, forgiveness and hope emerged with Him and broke the vicious circle of violence and absurdity. All these historical milestones make out of this region inexhaustible riches of culture and intellect. This is what explains the increasing interest to preserve the intangible heritage embraced in millions of Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, Armenian, Coptic, Arab and Berber manuscripts”. Fr. Hobeika concluded: “For this reason, the Main Library at USEK, under the management of Rev. Fr. Joseph Moukarzel and a team of highly qualified specialists, constantly adopts the latest technologies to scan part of these manuscripts and old books, in order to establish a database accessible to internet users and researchers”.

Mr. Carol Giordano, project manager of Manumed, highlighted in his speech that “this project is funded by the European Union and is executed as part of the Euromed program for heritage”. He pointed out as well that “the Virtual Library of the Mediterranean, encompassing more than 700 000 documents, represents the biggest digital collection worldwide of written heritage in the Mediterranean”, specifying that the objective of the Manumed project is to contribute to the preservation of written heritage. Giordano also underlined that this project gives priority to training in the field of cultural heritage, by focusing primarily on involving the youth in finding modern solutions, by attaching more importance to national languages and languages of minorities in the region, by supporting craftsmen who continue to practice the techniques of their ancestors in the field of manuscripts.

In turn, the Ambassador Angelina Eichhorst, Head of the European Union Delegation to Lebanon, emphasized in her speech that “the European Union is seeking to help the Mediterranean people preserve their cultural heritage through education and deep knowledge about this heritage”, pointing out that “cultural heritage is a priority in the Mediterranean because it reflects the identity of each country and at the same time represents an indispensable tool of understanding among cultures and civilizations. This heritage reflects as well the bonds that link Europe with the southern shores of the Mediterranean”. Eichhorst stated that due to this Virtual Library, all internet users will be able to discover around 700 000 manuscripts, and therefore a large part of the region’s population will be able to discover their heritage online. The database will represent a platform of cooperation between researchers and academics”.

Last but not least, Deacon Youssef Dergham explained in his speech that “the Main Library at USEK has three missions that make out of it a Conservation Center of Oriental Heritage: collecting, conserving and promoting the heritage of Lebanon and the Middle East”. He added that “the Main Library has already worked on a number of significant projects, such as the archives of Maurice Gemayel, Gebran Khalil Gebran, Youssef As-Saouda, Sursock Palace, and many others, and this is what paved the way to the establishment of a partnership with the Manumed project, crowning all efforts that we have deployed to circulate our heritage”. Dcn. Dergham announced as well that the Main Library is preparing for another project with five national partners in order to preserve the newspapers and periodicals of Lebanon and the Middle East.

It is worth mentioning that this project is organized with the collaboration of the Embassy of Kingdom of Belgium, the Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium), Wallonia-Brussels International, the Library of the Maronite Patriarchate of Bkerkeh, the Library of the Charfeh Monastery, the Monastery of Notre-Dame of Balamand, the Syriac League, the Syriac Cultural Center, the Syriac Orthodox Archdiocese of Mount Lebanon, Francophone Book Fair of Beirut.