Welcome to the American University of Beirut Department of History and Archaeology! The Department is home to a community of distinguished scholars specializing in fields spanning the ancient to the modern Middle East, as well as an energetic group of graduate and undergraduate students actively working on archaeological excavations and surveys and engaged in textual and archival research. On our website, you will find relevant information on specific degrees and programs of study, as well as faculty profiles and upcoming events.
The department carries a distinguished archaeological legacy shaped by pioneers such as Harald Ingholt and Dimitri Baramki. Today, our archaeologists continue this tradition through international collaborations that explore, document, and preserve the civilizations of West Asia and the Mediterranean. From prehistoric societies to the Graeco-Roman and Islamic eras, our fieldwork spans Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey, and beyond, complemented by innovative initiatives such as the Marine Sciences and Culture minor with the Honor Frost Foundation. Research in the department is dynamic and interdisciplinary, engaging topics as diverse as Phoenician epigraphy, Bronze Age state formation, Roman economy and numismatics, human-environment interaction, ancient Egyptian settlement archaeology, and post-colonial and post-conflict archaeologies. This wide scope not only grounds students in the deep past but also connects archaeology to urgent questions about heritage, identity, and cultural resilience.
Rooted in the intellectual tradition of SPC's Ya'qub Sarruf and Faris Nimr, founders of Al-Muqtataf in 1876, the study of history at AUB has long been a channel for critical inquiry into the Arab past and its global connections. Building on the work of eminent historians such as As'ad Rustum, Constantine Zurayq, and Kamal Salibi, our faculty continue to push the boundaries of scholarship through diverse historiographical approaches. Coursework and research span early Islamic thought and law, the Abbasid court, Arab-Byzantine relations, the Mamluk-Ottoman transition, and the social and intellectual histories of Bilad al-Sham, extending into modern Arab nationalism and the contemporary history of Lebanon. By also situating these themes within broader European and U.S. histories, the department equips students to understand the region's entangled past and present, fostering nuanced perspectives on identity, politics, and culture in a rapidly changing world.