The Tripolis region around Tripoli was dominated first by the Phoenicians and later by Romans in ancient times. It’s called Tripolitania for the three major cities: Sabratha, Oea, and Leptis Magna.

The region around Benghazi is called Cyranaica. It was settled and dominated by the ancient Greeks. The picture above shows us in front of the Zeus temple in Cyrene.

We started our travels in Sabratha some 60 mi west of Tripoli. The Punic settlers arrived in the 4^th c. BCE from Carthage. Like the other cities of the Tripolis, Sabratha’s heyday was during the reigns of the four Roman emperors Antonius Pius (138-161), Marcus Aurelius Antonius (161-180), Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus (180-192), and Septimius Severus (193-211).

The most spectacular building in Sabratha is the theater (above, right, and below) which was begun in 190 CE under the reign of Commodus. It was used until 365 CE, when it was destroyed by an earthquake. It was restored in the 1920s by Italian archaeologists. The façade behind the stage is considered as one of the most exceptional in the Roman world.

The pictures above, left, and below give an impression of the extent of the archeological site and the number of buildings, all with the beautiful ocean as the background.

The mausoleum on the left is a rare sign of Punic Sabratha and dates from the 2^nd c. BCE.

This superb temple was built in the 1^st c. CE. Facing the Mediterranean, it was dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Isis, who was seen here as a protector of sailors.

Sign indicating the direction to a brothel – we saw many of these in Tunisia’s Roman ruins.

In the museum, we found this incredibly vivid theatre face.

Leptis Magna, some 80 mi east of Tripoli, was once the largest and greatest Roman city in Africa. The first city on this site was started by the Phoenicians in the 7^th c. BCE. After Carthage fell in 146 BCE, Leptis Magna came gradually under Roman influence and Roman settlers begun to arrive. Under emperor Augustus (27 BCE - 14 CE) Leptis became an important Roman city even minting its own coins. Successive Roman emperors decorated the city with exceptionally rich public buildings.

The arch of Septimius Severus is one of Leptis’ signature monuments. It was built in 203 CE to honor the emperor on the occasion of one visits to his native city. Lucius Septimius Severus was born here in 145 CE. He quickly rose through the military ranks and was declared governor of this far off province. After the assassination of two of his predecessors, he was declared emperor by his troops. He was the first Roman emperor from Africa. He spent the early years of his reign waging a ruthless campaign to extend the boundaries of Rome’s empire. By this time he was known as the “grim African.” The emperor won a further victory over the Parthians In 202-203 CE.

This is a view through the arch along the cardo maximus (main north-south oriented street in Roman cities). At some distance on the cardo is the arch of Trajan.

On the left is Trajan’s arch taken from the other side (i.e., looking south) on the cardo. This image adorns the 5 Libyan Dinar note.

This view is looking west through Severus’ arch along the decumanus (major east-west street in Roman cities). In the distance is the arch of Antonius Pius.

In the time of Hadrian (117-138 CE), the city secured a lasting water supply via aqueducts, which in turn enabled the construction of arguably Leptis’ greatest indulgence – the Hadrianic baths.

One of the walkways of the Hadrianic baths with perfectly fitting masonry. Below is an artist’s conception of what the Hadrianic baths must have looked like.

Roman public toilets were places of social contact and didn’t offer much privacy.

Part of the Severan Forum.

The aerial photo on the right gives an impression of the enormous extent and content of the Severan Forum.

Inside of the Severan Forum. It was once surrounded by colonnaded porticos.

On the facades between the arches were Gorgon heads, over 70 of which have been found. Juergen thinks Beethoven lived here in a former life and reincarnated in the 18^th c. in Germany.

The Severan basilica at the north-eastern side of the forum was originally a judicial basilica rather than a church. It was completed by Severus’ son Caracalla in 216 CE. Extravagantly sculpted pillars honor Dionysus and Hercules (left and below). Later it was converted into a Byzantine church under Justinian.

Our local guide pointing out the length-measuring standard (demonstrates: 1 foot).

The market.

The temple of the nymphs.

Looking south-west from the shore one can see the big theater and adjacent temples.

Looking north from the theater at the temples of Serapis, Dionysus, Augustus, and Hercules.

The theater is one of the oldest stone theaters in the entire Roman world. It was built right at the beginning of the common era.

The most striking feature of the theater is the stage with its façade of three semicircular recesses surrounded by three-tiered fluted columns dating from the era of Antonius Pius.

Note the solo performer (also in the picture above).

Adjacent temple.

The amphitheater about 1.5 mi east of Leptis once held 16,000 people.

Even further east is the circus or hippodrome dating from 162 BCE. The chariot races were attended by some 25,000 people.

Leptis Magna has a nice museum. We found this head of Isis fascinating.

Some 20 mi east of Leptis Magna is the Roman villa Dar Bu Kammara with beautiful and totally unprotected mosaics.

The nearby town of Zliten has the stunning mosque of Sidi Abdusalam.

Attached to the mosque is a madrassa (religious school). Our guide on the right explains the wooden boards with Koranic verses that are the main subject of learning.

Two students carrying their wooden tablets. Note the other tablets stored on the right and the left of the stairway.

Legend has it that the inhabitants of the Greek Island of Thera (Santorini) were told by the oracle of Apollo at Delphi to migrate to North Africa. In 631 BCE they established the city of Cyrene. Within 200 years the Greeks established four more cities: (Teuchira/Tocra; Ptolomais/Tolmeita; Eusperides/Benghazi; Apollonia/ (port of Cyrene). These semi-autonomous city states came to be known as the Pentapolis that became so important that by around 500 BCE the Greeks divided the world into three parts: Asia, Europe, and Libya.

We now flew from Tripoli to Benghazi and toured Cyranaica. Our first stop was Tocra, one of the five cities of the Greek Pentapolis located some 40 mi north-east of Benghazi. It was founded around 510 BCE. On the right is the Italian fort dating from the Turkish and Italian eras. .

We had an unbelievably dramatic and flamboyant local guide. He loved the place!

Not much is left from the ancient buildings.

In the museum of Tolmeita we found this mosaic. Fascinating what detail can be expressed with so few pixels. Mosaics are indeed digital images composed of individual picture elements (=pixels). The file extension of these mosaics is often given in the lower right-hand corner (unfortunately missing here) and is usually .isp (individual stone pieces). Color resolution is often limited to 8 bits.

Tolmeita was founded in the 4^th c. BCE and fell into decline with the Arab invasion in the 7^th c. CE. On the right are the remains of temples which are adjacent to huge underground cisterns.

Underground cisterns.

Remains of temples.

Byzantine church dating from the 5^th c.

rooster.isp

A - if not the - major export crop of Cyranaica was the indigenous plant silphium which was much sought after in the ancient world. Now extinct, this plant, which is similar to wild fennel, was harvested in the highlands of the plateau inland from Cyrene. The list of claimed properties for silphium is quite extravagant, but there is little doubt that its sap was used as a medicine (a purgative and antiseptic) and as a dressing added to food. There is also some suggestion was a highly effective aphrodisiac which may explain its almost mythical importance. It also may have been used as a contraceptive. The plant was so highly prized that it appeared on the city’s coinage. On the right is a modern drawing of silphium. The last silphium plant is said to have been given to Nero.

Near Al-Bayda is a 4^th c. BCE temple of Asklepios with large healing and sanatorium facilities (left).

The capitals of the temple show an extremely rare representation of silphium (right and below).

We visited the museum in Cyrene. Interesting are the faceless funerary statues, a typical Cyrenaican phenomenon. Their meaning is certainly religious; they were all found near tombs either in niches or on bases. They do not represent the dead people buried in the tombs but perhaps Persephone, the goddess of the underworld, or the personification of the soul, which is invisible and this may be the reason the face was not sculpted.

The 5^th c. BCE temple of Zeus is one of the highlights in Cyrene. Reflecting Cyrene’s importance in the ancient world, this temple was larger than the Parthenon in Athens. (It’s also the background for this webpage and the title picture).

This picture is also used for the background of this page.

The gymnasium dates from the 2^nd c. BCE. It became the Roman forum later.

A small theater outside the gymnasium/forum.

The road running along the southwestern perimeter of the forum was the Sykorta, the main road through the Greek city. It’s still lined with impressive columns bearing graven images of Hermes and Hercules (below).

Cyrene has vast areas of barely excavated archeological sites.

While we encountered very, very few tourists in the entire month we were in Libya, a cruise ship belched out some 500 people when we were in Cyrene. They were herded through in 11 groups of 45 people each. Fortunately, they went through so fast, that soon, we had the place for ourselves again. When one group was next to us, a younger French guy looked at us and said he’d like to trade places. When Juergen answered we wouldn’t understand anything since we don’t speak French, he said they didn’t understand anything either the guide told them (even though it was presumably in French).

Well, here we are back in tranquility.

The sanctuary of Demeter and Kore was the scene of a riotous, women only, annual celebration and feast. As part of the festivities, the women of Cyrene proceeded from here to the temple of Demeter. The statues represent goddesses of fertility.

When Juergen walked past the boy in the photo, Yvonne heard the boy nudge his mother and whisper “Omar Mukhtar.” We’d gotten used to this being a fun way to meet people, so Yvonne asked his mother if her son wanted a photo taken with Juergen. She laughed and said he would. He was shy.

The mother of the boy is the lady on the far right, her sister is in the middle (she is a neurologist from Benghazi). They wanted to know if Yvonne was Muslim because of the hijab. Yvonne told her she wore it out of respect for the local culture. They became very friendly and we had a long talk. The mother of the boy asked us if we had any children. When we answered: “Not yet,” she laughed so hard she almost fell over.

This small thermal complex at the outlet of a natural spring was built in 5^th c. CE.

Temple of Apollo.

The temple of Apollo was one earliest temples in Cyrene with foundations dating from 6^th c. BCE. The temple was rebuilt in the 4^th c. BCE.

It was destroyed during the Jewish revolt and what one sees today is a 2^nd c. CE Roman building in the Greek Doric style.

Temple of Artemis (4^th c. BCE).

Friendly local tourists, a mother and her three daughters, who wanted to talk to us.

Roman baths (heated from below).

Plaque of emperor Trajan referring to the Jewish revolt: TUMULTU IUDAICO (beginning at the 3^rd line from the bottom).

The theater was originally constructed by the Greeks in the 6^th c. BCE but later modified in Roman times.

Another group of local tourists. We initially thought they didn’t want to interact with us but they were friendly later.

A Byzantine church in a spectacular setting is near the town of L’Atrun (left and below).

We were greeted by this fellow in Apollonia.

Our local guide (Muhammad Muscherit) was a real character. He is the one who gave Juergen the brown vest for his Libyan outfit. He was very knowledgeable and opinioned. He explains his interpretation of the holes in the ground below. They were storage bins for exporting locally made fish sauce (fish, olive oil, spices).

The Greek theater in Apollonia. Note, again, the performer.

Two fine Byzantine churches are to be seen in Apollonia (left and below). Some of the columns are of Roman origin.

In Slonta are quite accomplished human faces and animals carved directly into the rock unlike anything else seen in Libya. It may stem from an indigenous culture of ancient Libyans. The animal and human figural patterns are not in conformity with Greek or Roman sculpture. However, we also heard that these sculptures date from much later times (1^st c. CE).

The curved snake-like pattern played an important role in the religions of ancient Libyans. These patterns may be connected to the reputation of ancient Libyans for being immune to snake bites and also their powers to cure snake bites in others.

Finally, there is a fine museum at Qasr Libya with one of the most extraordinary collection of Byzantine mosaics in North Africa. They were discovered in 1957 when dam workers unearthed it. They date from 529-40 CE during the reign of Justinian. On the right is the most famous of the mosaics with one of the few representations of the legendary Pharos (light house) of Alexandria. Atop the roof on the left is Helios with a downward-pointing sword in his right hand. The circular object at the tip of his sword is believed to be the famous mirror of the light house. Below are the river gods for the Euphrates and the Tigris.