ABSTRACT
Toillustratethevalueofsuchcartographicdocumentation (andtodemonstratehowdifficultsuchrare,oftenunique,records aretotrace):theHSMfoundtwowatercolorsinViennaearlierthis yearwhichdepictTripoliinLebanonfromthenorthandfromthe south-about1634.ThesebeautifulimagesshowwithlowerRhine precision,theGreatSunniMosque,themightycastleoftheCountsof Toulouse,andmanyotherarchitecturalandgeographicfeatures fromtwoangles!Inbothaquarelles,afortresscanbediscernedvery clearlyrisingfromthewatersoffthepresent-dayshoreline.Forour Lebanesearchaeologicalcolleaguesandourselves,thismeansthat mediaevalTripolihada'castle-of-the-sea'ascanbefoundatSidon. ThelocationofTripoli'snewly-foundcastlecanbeplottedaccurately byreasonofthecarefuljuxtapositionofnaturalfeaturesandofthe otherbuildingsinthetwopictures.OncepeacereturnstoLebanonasweallpraysoon,wenowknowwheretoexcavatefortracesof Tripoli'snew-foundcastle-of-the-sea.
