Anthropology of the Middle East, Vol. 11, No. 2, Winter 2016: 1–17 © Berghahn Books doi:10.3167/ame.2016.110202 • ISSN 1746-0719 (Print) • ISSN 1746-0727 (Online) Death of a Statesman – Birth of a Martyr Martyrdom and Memorials in Post–Civil War Lebanon Are John Knudsen Abstract: Tis article furthers the study of post–civil war memorialisation in Lebanon by analysing the trajectory of the late Prime Minister Rafk Hariri from statesman to martyr. Tis transformative process ofers a window into the symbolism of Lebanese statehood, and demonstrates how the politicisation of confessional martyrs is used to decry injustice and stake out claims to the state. Tere is no tradition for prosecuting and punishing political murders in Lebanon, causing victims to be pronounced martyrs. Impunity is therefore the major reason why martyrs and memorialising are so widespread. To this end, the article ofers a semiotic reading of Hariri’s posthumous transformation from political patron to patron saint, and is a contribution towards the importance of martyr symbolism for understanding the purported weakness of Lebanese statehood. Keywords: Hariri, Lebanon, martyrdom, patronage, political anthropology, semiotics, statehood Lebanon is a country awash with martyrs and they are remembered in anni- versaries and memorials, revered in song and popular culture and, most visibly, reincarnated in larger-than-life posters lining roads, highways and thoroughfares demarcating popular neighbourhoods. All the Lebanese sects engage in the iconography memorialising slain leaders and cadres. Yet, none are bigger and more imposing than the images of the late Prime Minister Rafk Hariri. During the decade since his assassination in 2005, the Hariri billboards have grown even bigger and bear the inscription: ‘we will not forget [you]’ (la nansâ). Hariri is now commemorated at two memorial sites in downtown Beirut in addition to his tomb next to the imposing Mohammad al-Amin mosque he endowed. Te magnitude of Hariri’s posthumous commemoration