MIM Museum

MIM Museum
Building where the museum is housed at Saint Joseph University
Established2013
LocationBeirut, Lebanon
Coordinates33°52′48″N 35°30′51″E / 33.88°N 35.5142°E / 33.88; 35.5142
TypeMineralogy museum
Websitewww.mim.museum
mim museum, Université Saint-Joseph Campus of the Innovation and Sport at Beyrouth

The MIM is a private museum in Beirut, Lebanon. The museum focuses on minerals and fossils. As of November 2025, the mineralogy section showcases over 2,300 mineral samples of 560 species, originating from 80 countries, and is considered one of the most significant private collections of minerals in the world. The fossil exhibition hosts marine and flying fossils from Lebanon. The museum opened in 2013.

History

The MIM mineral collection was put together from 1997 by Salim Eddé [fr], chemical engineer and co-founder of the computer company Murex. In 2004, he decided to make his collection accessible to the public and designed the first museum of its kind in Lebanon. Eddé presented the idea to Father René Chamussy, rector of the Saint Joseph University of Beirut, who adopted it and reserved for the collection 1,300 m2 in the basement of a building then under construction on the campus near the National Museum of Beirut. The inauguration of the museum, built on the personal funds of the collector, finally took place in October 2013.

The name “mim” is the 24th letter of the Arabic alphabet (corresponding to the letter M in the Latin alphabet). In Arabic, it is the first letter of the words “museum,” “minerals,” and “mines” (which is coincidentally also the case in English, French and German)."

Fossils

Catalogue number Taxon Age Unit Images
MIM F1 (holotype) Mimodactylus libanensis Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous Hjoula, Sannine Formation
MIM F49 (holotype) Eupodophis descouensi Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous Nammoura, Sannine Formation
MIM F63 (holotype) Libanoliupanshania mimi Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous Hjoula, Sannine Formation
MIM F64 (holotype) and F65 (paratype) Libanocordulia debiei Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous Hjoula, Sannine Formation
MIM F1001 (holotype) and F1002, F1003, F1008, F1009, F1016, F1017 (paratypes) Pinnichnus haqilensis Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous Haqel, Sannine Formation
MIM F1021 (holotype) Pinnichnus emmae Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous Nammoura, Sannine Formation

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lina, Kobeissi (11 May 2017). "The world's most exciting private collection of minerals hides in Beirut". Museeum. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  2. ↑ Lyckberg, Peter (16 October 2013). "The MIM Museum opening, Lebanon". www.mindat.org. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  3. ↑ "Salim Eddé, deux passions au service du Liban". L'Orient-Le Jour (in French). 24 October 2017. Archived from the original on 4 November 2023. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  4. 1 2 Kellner, A.W.A.; Caldwell, M.W.; Holgado, B.; Dalla Vecchia, F.M.; Nohra, R.; Sayão, J.M.; Currie, P.J. (2019). "First complete pterosaur from the Afro-Arabian continent: insight into pterodactyloid diversity". Scientific Reports. 9: 17875. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-54042-z. PMC 6884559.
  5. ↑ "mim museum". www.facebook.com. Archived from the original on 31 December 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  6. ↑ Zaher, H.; Augusta, B.G.; Rabinovich, R.; Polcyn, M.J.; Tafforeau, P. (2022). "A review of the skull anatomy and phylogenetic affinities of marine pachyophiid snakes". In Gower, D.J.; Zaher, H. (eds.). The Origin and Early Evolutionary History of Snakes. Systematics Association Special Volume. Vol. 90. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 180–206. doi:10.1017/9781108938891.012.
  7. 1 2 Azar, D.; Maksoud, S.; Huang, D.; Nel, A. (2019). "First Lebanese dragonflies (Insecta: Odonata, Aeshnoptera, Cavilabiata) from the Arabo-African mid-Cretaceous paleocontinent". Cretaceous Research. 93: 78–89. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2018.08.025.
  8. 1 2 Pokorný, R.; Nohra, R.; Abi Saad, P.; Vallon, L.H. (2025). "Death on "live broadcast" — fish mortichnia from the Upper Cretaceous plattenkalk of Lebanon". Paleobiology. 50 (4): 627–640. doi:10.1017/pab.2024.28.