bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Libyan Fazzān: a crossroads of routes and a thoroughfare of Arab and Berber tribes historically connected with the Murābiṭūn (Almoravids). A historical and tribal reassessment in the light of what is discoverable in the historical literature, both oral and recorded, of the Tuareg peoples of the Central Sahara and the Libyan Fazzān
Authors: Nortis H. T.
Published: February 2016

The subject of this paper is the presentation and argument of a case for the millennium old record of an apparent steady migration of Berber Saharan nomads, who, at a later stage in their history, have came to be recognized as the principal tribes, federations and Sultanates of the Tuareg people whom we know today. These Berber speakers, who are variosly mentioned as the Lamṭa, Lamtūna, Ilemtin, Dag Elemtei and Azgar (Ifoghas), were the acknowledged ancestors of the so-called ‘Sanhaja’ peoples in the Western, the Central and the Eastern Sahara.

The Fazzān contains the remains of the ancient city of Jarma (Garama) and from the evidence which has been found from Tifinagh inscriptions which have been discovered at that site, this ‘capital of the Garamantes’ played a significant role in shaping the linguistic and cultural identity of the Tuareg peoples. This identity is especially centered around the city of Ghāt, which borders both the Algerian and Libyan Sahara. This entire region, the Tassili -n- Ajjer and including Akakus, would appear to correspond to Jabal Ṭanṭāna, a toponym which finds a mention in the writings of a number of Arab geographers and historians. Its location made it pivotal for trans-Saharan trade.
A topographic research sample in the territory of Lepcis Magna: Sīlīn
Authors: Munzi Massimiliano , Felici Fabrizio , Cifani Gabriele , Citelli Enrico , Gaudiosi Eleonora , Lucarini Giulio , Matug Jabar
Published: February 2016

Working with the Libyan Department of Antiquity, the Mission of the University Roma Tre in Lepcis Magna undertook, in April-May 1997 and 1998, an intensive topographic research in a broad coastal sample of the Lepcis Magna territory, west of Khomsand around the Roman villa of Sīlīn(site 29)(Fig. 1). The survey, in an area of about 20 square Km Dounded to the East by wādī al-Ṭūra/al-Fānīand to the West on wādī Jabrūnwas conducted by a mixed Italian-Libyan team, consisting of five archaeologists on average; the sample depth was fixed to the South at 3 km from the coast line. The map S. 2190 III, Al-Quṣbat, on a scale of 1:50.000 was used as cartography.
Una postazione di miliari presso Abu Kammash (Tripolitania)
Authors: Munzi M. , Zennati M.
Published: February 2016

In 1998 a mile-station was discovered along the ancient coastal road 1400 m east of Abu Kammash, a centre identified with ancient Pisida on the basis of the Roman itineraries: the Itinerarium Antonini records a distance of 54 miles from Sabratha; the Tabula Peutingeriana of only 53. The Department of Antiquity of Sabratha in collaboration with the Archaeological Mission of the University Roma Tre recovered a milestone of Caracalla (216 AD) and another of Diocletian and Maximian (290-292 AD). Both bear the number of 54 miles, a distance evidently reckoned from the city of Sabratha, in perfect accordance with the figure of the Itinerarium Antonini.
A preliminary survey of Gasr Shibna, Benghazi
Authors: Bennett Paul , Buzaian Ahmed
Published: February 2016

This paper provides a preliminary record of a recently damaged Roman farm and late Roman fortified building (gasr) located in the eastern suburbs of Benghazi. The remains of the farm buildings are briefly described, together with the more substantial remains of thegasr. The site was truncated during the building of a new road, with further damage occurring during the construction of a major water main and the building of new houses. The plight of Gasr Shibna and other sites threatened by development in the outskirts of Benghazi is discussed, with the conclusion that these sites are representative of the ongoing, rapidly increasing and widespread destruction of Libyan cultural heritage by development across the country as a whole. The paper concludes with an appeal for the development of a stronger, well-resourced Department of Antiquities, the establishment of a National Sites and Monuments Record to assist with the curation and protection of ancient sites and improved planning legislation to ensure that future prosperity is not being secured at the cost of Libyan heritage.
Alan Rowe: archaeologist and excavator in Egypt, Palestine and Cyrenaica
Authors: Thorn James Copland
Published: February 2016

In the course of research on Alan Rowe's Cyrenaican expeditions, when he was Special Lecturer at Manchester University, Rowe's career as an Egyptologist came unexpectedly to light from his personal papers, national archives and the records of various museums. What emerged was a picture of a man who had an active life, not only in Egypt and Cyrenaica, but also in Australia, Palestine and Syria.
Preserving cultural heritage and developing a modern city: the difficult case of Euesperides
Authors: Marzano Annalisa
Published: February 2016

This note reports on a paper presented at the American Institute of Archaeology 107th Annual Meeting (Montreal January 2006). The theme of the American Institute of Archaeology Annual meeting was ‘Management and Preservation of Cultural Heritage’. The Euesperides Project presented a paper on Euesperides (Sidi Abeid, Benghazi), the Archaic Greek settlement founded in the sixth century BC. Although the site was declared a protected area for its historical and archaeological importance, it still lacks effective protection. The site, important also from a naturalistic point of view, is used as an illegal rubbish dumping area and is awaiting a long-promised wall to prevent indiscriminate access to it.

The paper stressed that many sites in Libya are in need of preservation and protection, even more so after the opening of the country to tourism. The need to develop new infrastructure, if not carefully planned in respect of the cultural heritage, may result in indiscriminate development, as witnessed at Apollonia, where a harbour was being built near the site, obliterating the ancient port. The paper discussed also the Project's proposal presented to the local authorities, concerning the realization of an archaeological park and museum of the history of Benghazi. These projects are important not only to attract tourists, but above all for the local schools and educational programmes directed to inform the younger generations about the importance of their past.
Euesperides 2006: Preliminary Report on the Spring 2006 season
Authors: Wilson Andrew , Bennett Paul , Buzaian Ahmed , Cherstich Luca , Found Ben , Göransson Kristian , Holman James , Lane Ross , Morley Geoffrey , Russell Ben , Swift Keith , Vaughan-Williams Alys , Zimi Eleni
Published: February 2016

This paper is a preliminary report on the eighth and final fieldwork (Spring 2006) season of the excavations at Euesperides (Benghazi). Work continued in Areas P and Q on the Sidi Abeid mound, in Area R in the lower city and on the processing of finds from the 2006 and previous seasons.

In Area P excavations continued below the primary floors of the antepenultimate phase in Room 5a where a series of inter-cutting pits beneath the primary floor provided a section through the stratigraphy to natural. The results of the work showed that occupation in the sixth to fourth centuries BC was less intensive and accumulated at a slower rate than in the Hellenistic period. Three phases of early activity were represented, with the earliest levels dated to the period c. 580–560 BC. A comparable picture emerged in Area R, but in Area Q a second-phase set of buildings laid out in or after the late sixth century BC, with houses flanking the street, persisted until late in the life of the city. Excavations in Area Q Extension revealed a large circular building with an internal floor of terracotta sherds set in cement, tentatively interpreted as part of a set of public baths. A late reuse of the building was indicated by a number of plaster-lined tanks formed over the terracotta floor. The presence of the building was taken to indicate that the building and an associated street, aligned over an in-filled quarry, may have been inter-mural, suggesting that the late city was of greater size than hitherto thought.

Selected finewares, coarsewares and amphorae from the excavations are presented, together with preliminary observations, resulting from the environmental sampling of occupation deposits.
Recent developments in Libya
Authors: Layden Anthony
Published: February 2016

As British Ambassador to Libya between 2002 and 2006 the author has been directly involved in many of the major changes and developments that have taken place between Libya and Britain in recent years. This paper, which was originally presented as a lecture to the Society for Libyan Studies in London on 8 February 2007, describes these recent developments and the role they have played in repairing relations between Libya and Britain and with the wider international community.
Recherche sur l'ancêtre des alphabets libyco-berbères
Authors: Kaci Par Ali Aït
Published: February 2016

Cet article traite de la question de l'origine de l'écriture libyco-berbère et de son développement. Après un aperçu sur les alphabets locaux du Nord et du Sud, une discussion sur les différentes opinions émises sur le sujet est donnée avec la mise en relief des arguments des tenants de la thèse locale et de ceux qui pensent que le libyco-berbère dérive du punique ou d'un prototype inconnu. L'important site inscrit d'Irlarlaren (Nord du Tadrart Akakus) est ensuite présenté. Plusieurs exemples graphiques sont empruntés à ce site ancien des Garamantes. Afin de déterminer leur origine et évolution et pour permettre de débattre de façon nouvelle la question de l'origine du libyco-berbère, deux graphies spiralées, très répandues dans le Sahara central et méridional sont examinées. Celles-ci sont en effet considérées ici comme des indices paléographiques permettant à la fois d'appuyer la thèse «classique» de l'origine du libyco-berbère à partir du (phénico-) punique et de soutenir l'antériorité du tifinagh ancien par rapport aux autres branches libyco-berbères. La même approche a été faite pour d'autres lettres libyco-berbères présentant des similitudes graphiques (et phonétiques) avec le (phénico-) punique. Après cela, le mode de formation des autres lettres est envisagé sous ses différents aspects: multiplication des traits et des points, barres à points, rotation, etc. En conclusion, l'hypothèse d'une écriture inspirée aux alentours du VIes. av. J.-C. par le monde punique et développée par les Garamantes est argumentée. Il s'agit là d'arguments divers sur les synchronismes entre les Carthaginois et les Garamantes, et le rôle de ces derniers, mis au centre de ce débat.
Recent developments in Cyrene's chora south of the Wadi bel Gadir
Authors: Kane Susan , White Donald
Published: February 2016

Recent work in the Wadi bel Gadir in the southern chora region of Cyrene, in particular the discovery of two temple precincts by the Italian Mission (Missione Archeologica a Cirene della Università degli Studi di Urbino) as well as an intensive topographic survey by the newly reconstituted University of Pennsylvania Expedition (now the Cyrenaica Archaeological Project) is providing important information about urban development to the west and southwest of the city of Cyrene. This paper offers an overview of the previous work in the area and some thoughts on the potential implications of the recent discoveries by the Italian Mission led by Professor Mario Luni and the Cyrenaican Archaeological Project (CAP) directed by Professor Susan Kane.
More light on Tripoli's Protestant Cemetery
Authors: Wright John
Published: February 2016

Tripoli's Protestant Cemetery is a place of some mystery. One of the most persistent of these mysteries is the whereabouts of the £200 Sterling that the former British Consul General in Tripoli, Colonel Hanmer Warrington, publicly claimed to have deposited in the Bank of England around 1841 to maintain his family mausoleum and the rest of the cemetery. Research at the Bank of England and in the National Archives in Kew, London, has thrown fresh, but not conclusive, light on this matter. Another of the cemetery's mysteries are the five graves, said to be those of some of the United States sailors killed in Tripoli harbour in 1804. In the 1950s and 1960s these graves were the focus of an annual American diplomatic and military commemoration ceremony. But were the graves really what they were supposed to be?
Transport, mobility and road traffic accidents in Benghazi
Authors: Salem Salem F.
Published: February 2016

As is the case in most Third World cities, Benghazi's urban growth has outpaced infrastructural development. The unexpected rapid growth has generated many typical urban problems particularly in the area of transportation and road accidents. The increase in vehicular traffic is affecting the entire fabric of urban life as the growing number of private cars begins to overwhelm Benghazi's road system. In 1999 12% of all deaths in Libya were caused by road traffic accidents and in 2000 the cost of road traffic accidents was put at more than 15 million LD. This paper argues that the existing public transport system could be better used through incorporation of small-scale services, like local taxis and minibuses, and new technology where feasible.

The author suggests that improvement and development in the transportation sector be devoted entirely to buses and intermediate public carriers because of their complementary nature: buses operate on fixed routes and schedules, while minibuses have the flexibility to reach areas inaccessible by buses. In addition to decreasing demand for parking spaces in the central area, minibuses might further bring about traffic reduction and decreases in congestion, minimising road traffic accidents and thus preventing delays for both private automobiles and bus riders.
The Haua Fteah, Cyrenaica (Northeast Libya): renewed investigations of the cave and its landscape, 2007
Authors: Barker Graeme , Hunt Chris , Reynolds Tim , Brooks Ian , el-Rishi Hwedi
Published: February 2016

The 1950s excavations by Charles McBurney in the great Haua Fteah cave in northeast Libya revealed a deep (14 m) sequence of human occupation going back at least 100,000 years, with evidence for the presence of both Neanderthals and Modern Humans in the Pleistocene, and for Neolithic farmers in the Holocene. In 2007 a renewed programme of archaeological and geomorphological investigation began with the objective of improving understanding of the cave's occupation sequence and, combined with fieldwork in the landscape, of the history of landscape change and human responses to it. The initial season of fieldwork removed the upper c. 4.5 m of backfill in the McBurney trench; established the robustness of the original faces and their suitability for analytical interventions; recorded detailed running sections spanning from the present day to (at least) the Last Glacial Maximum c. 20,000 years ago; and indicated the potential of the surviving archaeology to reveal not just sequence but also activities or ‘taskscapes’ at the site. The geomorphological fieldwork identified rich sequences of later Quaternary deposits (marine, colluvial, alluvial, aeolian) with the potential to provide significant results regarding the history of climate and environment in the region. Archaeological survey around the cave indicates that the variability of the surface lithic evidence appears to reflect real differences in past human behaviour and use of the landscape and not just post-depositional taphonomic processes. Fifty years after the extraordinary pioneering work of McBurney and his colleagues, the new work demonstrates the continued potential of the Haua Fteah's unique occupation sequence and the multi-period ‘human landscapes’ around it to transform understanding of early human societies in North Africa.
DMP VIII: Palaeohydrology and palaeoenvironment
Authors: Drake Nicholas , White Kevin , Salem Mustapha , Armitage Simon , El-Hawat Ahmed , Francke Jan , Hounslow Mark , Parker Adrian
Published: February 2016

The January 2009 fieldwork season conducted geomorphological and palaeoenviromental surveys in as yet unexplored parts of the Lake Megafazzan Basin, as well as continuing research in the Wadi al-Hayat and Ubari Sand Sea. Lake Megafazzan sediments were investigated at two sites on the eastern margin of the basin. At the first site, east of Tamessah, 24 m of stratigraphy was investigated and found to consist of a lacustrine carbonate unit at the base progressing into a fluvial unit and then an upper carbonate unit. The sediments were sampled for magnetostratigraphy and cosmogenic nucleide dating in order to determine their age. Similar studies were undertaken in the vicinity of the Arial Agricultural Project, where 31 m of section were logged and sampled. Here the sediments were quite different, being composed of a deltaic sequence consisting of stacked channels and palaeosols, thought to represent the outflow delta of the palaeolake. Many new Holocene lake sediment deposits were discovered and sampled in the Wadi al-Hayat and the Ubari Sand Sea, including a 5 m section through Jarma Playa that appears to record the last arid-humid cycle. Lake Gabr 'Awn and the moat round Old Jarma were cored in order to gather a detailed picture of recent palaeoenvironmental change. Finally, we implemented a pilot geophysical survey to test the ability of state-of-the-art Ground Penetrating Radar (UltraGPR) technology for detecting and mapping buried palaeolake sediments under the dunes of the Ubari Sand Sea. The UltraGPR was found to be very effective, detecting palaeolake sediments as much as 60 m beneath the surface. Preliminary results suggest such sediments underlie much of the region.
Rock-art, landscape and cultural transition in the Wadi al-Ajal, Fazzan
Authors: Barnett Tertia
Published: February 2016

Rock paintings and engravings form a significant component of the archaeological record in Libya. Working in tandem with other disciplines, the study of rock-art can help provide a perspective on the past that can not be derived from archaeology alone. Following on from the work of the Fazzan Archaeological Project, recent research in the Wadi al-Ajal has identified a number of previously unrecorded rock-art sites in relation to their physical context, and these are reported here. The engravings display distinct distribution patterns in relation to specific topographic features in the wadi, and these are discussed with particular reference to the Maknusa Pass. Finally, the relationship between the rock-art and the landscape in this region is implicated in cultural development and transition.
Quaternary environmental change in Cyrenaica evidenced by U-Th, ESR and OSL dating of coastal alluvial fan sequences
Authors: Rowan John S. , Black Stuart , Macklin Mark G. , Tabner Brian J. , Dore John
Published: February 2016

The coastal alluvial fan sequences of Cyrenaica are important archives of environmental change data, but hitherto relatively little has been known about their formative processes and rates. The Wadi Zewana coastal fan near Tolmeita was studied and a range of dating techniques (U-Th, ESR and OSL) applied to selected components of the stratigraphy. The sequence spans the last two global glacial periods separated by an Interglacial. Cemented alluvial fan gravel units yielded U-Th leachate-residue ages of 201 ± 18 ka, 179 ± 15 ka and 138 ± 8 ka respectively. The fan toe units are interdigitated with bioclastic beach rock deposits dated to 150 ± 10.9 ka corresponding to an Interglacial high stand in sea level and marine recession sequence featuring transgressive lag gravels, beach sand and cemented aeolian dunes dated to 121 ± 8 ka. Within the Wadi Zewana catchment a complex cut and fill history is evidenced. Aggradation phases dated to 76 ± 4 ka, 42.1 ± 5.1 ka and 12.5 ± 1.5 ka are broadly coincident with global glacials and stadials, whilst during the Last Interglacial and successive interstadials the drainage system underwent entrenchment, manifested on the coastal plain as telescopic fan segmentation and associated fan head trenching.
The Garamantes: A Fresh Approach
Authors: Liverani Mario
Published: February 2016

Traditional historiography views the Garamantes from the perspective of the Roman empire, as a peripheral people located in a remote desert. Recent field research is focussing on an inner Saharan perspective, locating the Garamantes at the very centre of trans-Saharan caravan networks. The emergence of the Garamantian state is explained in terms of the ‘longue durée’ and of ‘wide horizons’, in connection with the desertification process that precipitated changes in land use, settlement patterns, and technological availability. Toward the mid-first millennium BC the former pastoral exploitation of the environment changed to one based on oases and caravan traffic, with irrigation agriculture (supplied by foggaras) and long-distance trade (based on the dromedary). Summing up, the case of the Garamantes is presented as a clear case of tentative adaptation to climatic change: some features of the adaptation were short-lived, or required further improvement, while other features remained as definitive acquisitions in the exploitation of the arid environment.
Excavations at Tocra (1985-1992)
Authors: Buzaian Ahmed M.
Published: February 2016

This article presents a preliminary report on the post-excavation analysis of excavations conducted between 1985 and 1992 by the Department of Archaeology of the University of Garyunis (Benghazi) at the ancient city of Tocra. The construction and design of the buildings excavated are analysed, with particular emphasis on the late antique phases; and descriptions of pottery, other artefacts (including two early Islamic coins) are given. The area appears to have been an artisan district, as evidenced by the finds of a pottery kiln, ovens, vats and other structures associated with manufacturing activities. Mortar and plaster samples were analysed to help phase the structures, and to compare the excavated vats with their counterparts at another site within the city. A limited study of the faunal remains gives some insight into diet at the site in late antiquity.

The study shows clearly that Tocra remained inhabited after the Arab conquest (AD 640s), confirming suggestions of previous excavations at other sites within the city wall.
The Fezzan Project 2000: Preliminary report on the fourth season of work
Authors: Mattingly David J. , al-Mashai Mohammed , Balcombe Phil , Barnett Tertia , Brooks Nick , Cole Franca , Dore John , Drake Nick , Edwards David , Hawthorne John , Helm Richard , Leone Anna , McLaren Sue , Peiling Ruth , Preston James , Reynolds Tim , Townsend Andrew , Wilson Andrew I. , White Kevin
Published: February 2016

The fourth season of the Fezzan Project continued the interdisciplinary approaches of previous seasons. Geographical and environmental work focused principally in sampling sediments for scientific dating and with integrating ground observation with remote sensing data. Excavations continued at Old Germa, where the site has now reached Garamantian levels. In a separate development, the tentative identification has been made of an early mosque at the site, in an area adjacent to the G1 excavation trench. Substantial results were gained from work aimed at enhancing the important data recorded by Charles Daniels in his earlier excavations and survey in the Wadi al-Hayat. The enhancement of the Daniels' survey archive was integrated with completion of the wider prospection being undertaken by the new project. This survey included fieldwalking, standing building survey, analysis of the foggara irrigation systems and recording of rock art scenes. Finds work comprised the finalisation of a pottery type series for the Germa area, the study of small finds from the recent survey work, botanical analysis and completion of lithics recording. A programme of radiocarbon dating is now being undertaken to improve the phasing of sites and monuments. The first two volumes of final reports are now in preparation.
Siegecraft and spoliation,c.500 BC: a tale of two cities
Authors: Wright G. R. H. , White D.
Published: February 2016

At some date shortly after the Persian conquest of Egypt (525 BC) a Persian army dispatched by the satrap of Egypt, Aryandes, was encamped on the Lykaian Hill outside the city of Cyrene, threatening its capture. How far hostilities had advanced is not known, but very soon the army abandoned its position and marched off on the return way to Egypt (Herodotus IV, 16–67, 200–203). Herodotus' account is an involved story how the Persian force came to be in Cyrenaica, and it is not clear why it departed from Cyrene with little achieved there. The episode would be of limited substance except for the chance discovery of some antiquities in the region of the Persian camp. About 20 years later, in 498 BC, a Persian force was deployed in Cyprus to reduce the city of Paphos in the aftermath of the unsuccessful Cypriote uprising to support the Ionian revolt. A siege mound was raised against the city wall employing an unexpected variety of material. Latterly the mound has been excavated and afforded wide ranging information. Hitherto these archaeological facts have not been considered in conjunction, and an attempt to do so may be instructive.
Tripoli's musical soundscape: experiences and meanings
Authors: Ciantar Philip
Published: February 2016

Exploring the musical soundscape of a city like Tripoli is fascinating as much as it is challenging to retrieve meanings underlying the same soundscape. The fine blend between, for instance, ‘traditional’ and ‘modern’ musical practices and aesthetics, appertaining to this soundscape, presents the music researcher with a complex scenario to investigate. For this purpose, contemporary music research recognises music ethnography (superficially defined as the writing about the way people get involved in and make music) as a means by which such scenarios can be explored. In line with this, the present article explores Tripoli's musical soundscape by presenting vignettes of people listening to music, actively participating in musical events, as well as making music. Such depictions must shed light on the musical life in contemporary Libya with particular focus on the musical life in Tripoli. The commentary accompanying these vignettes links the sound not only with the people interacting with it, but also with the events that generate it, the place in which it evolves and the socio-cultural context that endows it with meaning.
Una colonna a Leptis Magna: alcune considerazioni sul marmor iassense
Authors: Baldoni Daniela
Published: February 2016

In the so-called ‘Ninfeo dell'Ercole’, located along the cardo maximus of Leptis Magna, there is a column made from the red marble that the Romans called Marmor Iassense or Carium, after the ancient town of Iasos in Caria (Asia Minor), where quarries have recently been identified. Although this marble began to be exploited probably in Hellenistic times, most experts believe that its extensive trade started only in the third century AD, and increased in the followings centuries, when its occurrence became conspicuous in Asia Minor and in other eastern and central Mediterranean regions. The fact that this column in Leptis Magna belongs to a monument dating from the second half of the second century AD now provides positive evidence for the circulation of marble Iassense in earlier times. Moreover, particularly interesting is the peculiar composition of the stone, in which both the veined and the breccia-like varieties are present. This feature is rather uncommon and particularly significant, for the two types have usually been considered quite distinct. Recent investigations conducted in the quarries of Iasos, however, have revealed that the two varieties can coexist in the same outcrops.
Euesperides 2005: Preliminary Report on the Spring 2005 season
Authors: Wilson Andrew , Bennett Paul , Buzaian Ahmed , Found Ben , Göransson Kristian , Guinness Abby , Hardy James , Holman James , Kattenberg Alette , Morley Geoffrey , al-Mugasbi Musbah , Swift Keith , Vaughan-Williams Alys , Wootton William , Zimi Eleni
Published: February 2016

This paper is a preliminary report on the Spring 2005 season of the excavations at Euesperides (Benghazi). Work continued in Areas P and Q, and on the processing of finds from the 2005 and previous seasons. In Area P a series of domestic deposits dated to the last quarter of the fourth or first quarter of the third century BC was excavated, including a hearth, a probable domestic altar and associated votive deposits, and a series of post-holes perhaps connected with furniture and a loom. Two small external yard areas seem to have been used for purple dye production. In Area Q late occupation to the west of the street is dated to the late fourth century BC; to the east of the street, the latest stratigraphy appears to have been truncated and the occupation levels so far excavated here date from 470 down to 300 BC.

Selected finewares from the excavations are presented, ranging in date from the sixth to the third centuries BC. Work on the coarse pottery and amphora assemblages has begun to distinguish products of different production centres within Cyrenaica. Besides demonstrating the quantities of imported coarsewares from Corinth, the Aegean and the Punic world, we can now recognise four classes of Cyrenaican amphorae, including exports present at Punic Sabratha. The study of the wall plaster, environmental remains and other finds are also briefly discussed.

Euesperides is a site both of archaeological importance and of considerable scientific interest for its rare wetland vegetation, but both of these aspects remain vulnerable to ongoing damage as a result of urban development, uncontrolled rubbish dumping and a lack of effective protection of the site.
A Statue of Dionysos from the Sanctuary of Apollo at Cyrene: a Recent Join
Authors: Adams Neil
Published: February 2016

This brief report presents the reunification of a hand in the British Museum to a marble statue of Dionysos now in Edinburgh and originally discovered in the sanctuary of Apollo at Cyrene by Robert Murdoch Smith and Edwin Porcher in August 1861.
Site d'un arc à Tocra et l'aménagement urbain de la ville
Authors: Bentaher Par Fuaad
Published: February 2016

This article concerns the discovery of traces of an arch in the middle of the main decumanus that extends between the east and west gates of Tocra. This discovery is of special interest because the site of the arch provides us with new information about the layout of the city during the Roman period. An inscription dated to the first quarter of the fourth century AD was found nearby and is believed to be related to the arch.
Thomas Ashby e la Libia
Authors: Fabbricotti Emanuela
Published: February 2016

Thomas Ashby was a very well-known British archaeologist of the beginning of last century. He travelled a lot and left to the British School at Rome, of which he was the first student, many albums of photographs. Some of them have been recently published. This article deals with the trip to Libya by sea made in May 1910. He took photographs of Derna, Benghazi and Tripoli with general views of them. Of course, the panorama is now changed, but it is interesting to note some features which are nowadays lost, like the Turkish castle at Benghazi, or the arch of Marcus Aurelius at Tripoli still obstructed by later buildings, or the ‘modern’ technology of the radio masts at Derna.
Euesperides (Benghazi): Preliminary report on the Spring 2001 season
Authors: Wilson Andrew , Bennett Paul , Buzaian Ahmed , Fell Vanessa , Göransson Kristian , Green Chris , Hall Cassian , Helm Richard , Kattenberg Alette , Swift Keith , Zimi Eleni
Published: February 2016

This article reports on the third season of the current project at Euesperides (Benghazi). A programme of geological augering has begun to investigate the presumed location of the ancient harbour and the process by which the harbour and neighbouring lagoon silted up during antiquity. Continued excavation in Area P has revealed two phases of buildings, with a plain pebble floor of the fourth century BC and mixed pebble and irregular tesserae floors of the late fourth/early third century BC. In Area Q work has identified buildings either side of a street, and two phases of city defences; outside the defences excavation has confirmed the continuation of a linear quarry ditch. In Area R the occupation sequence has been elucidated and it seems that the two main phases of purple dye manufacturing activity, using Murex trunculus shellfish, follow the abandonment of a courtyard house. Comprehensive study and quantification of coarsewares and transport amphorae has begun alongside continued study of the finewares, and confirms a wide range of trading contacts. The excavations have also produced evidence for the minting of silver coinage at Euesperides.
Apollonia's East Fort and the Strategic Deployment of Cut-Down Bedrock for Defensive Walls
Authors: White D. , Wright G. R. H.
Published: February 2016

Apollonia's East Fort, set on a promontory overlooking the sea east of the walled town, is part of a series of outlying fortresses guarding access to the port and Cyrene. Excavated by the University of Michigan in 1967, the fort is dated by coins and pottery to the second half of the fourth or first quarter of the third century BC. A striking design feature is its use of cut-down bedrock for the lower wall levels. The same technique is employed for Cyrene's Hellenistic defensive curtain north of the Caravanserai and later in the construction of Roman-period Gasr el-Haneia. It is furthermore utilised in a fairly broad range of tombs and cultic monuments throughout the province. Traceable as far back as the Neolithic period, rupestrian architecture first appears in Egypt by the Middle Kingdom. Betweenc. 1000 and 500 BC it spreads from thence to Syro-Palestine, western Asia Minor, Urartu and eventually as far east as India. Rather than owing its deployment in Cyrenaica to the building traditions of Egypt, it is more likely the result of the region's second wave of colonists arriving from Asia Minorc. 580 BC, given that Cyrene's Archaic rock-cut tombs bear comparison with the contemporary tomb architecture of SW Turkey.
The Hellenistic and Byzantine Defences of Tocra (Taucheira)
Authors: Smith David , Crow James
Published: February 2016

The fortifications of the Hellenistic and Roman city of Tocra are over 2 km long (including the sea-wall) and comprise a curtain wall up to 2 m wide flanked by 31 rectangular towers. Three main structural phases were noted in the survey carried out in 1966 by David Smith: (1) Hellenistic walls of isodomic ashlar, (2) later Hellenistic work of isodomic ashlar with bevelled edges, associated with the indented trace along the south rampart, and (3) an extensive rebuild of plain ashlar blocks including the towers and reconstruction to the East and West Gates, dateable, on the basis of Procopius, to the reign of Justinian. The general significance of the fortifications at Tocra is considered in the second part: these include the Hellenistic indented trace along the south side, later reinforced by towers in the sixth century AD. Also of wider importance was the use of an outer wall orproteichisma, and the pentagonal, pointed towers at the two main gates. Both these elements were unusual in Byzantine North Africa and they are discussed as part of the more general repertory of Byzantine fortifications. The unusual tower adjacent to the West Church is considered in the context of literary accounts. The article concludes by considering how the architecture and magnitude of the fortifications can allow a reassessment of the wider role of the city in the sixth and seventh century defences of Cyrenaica.
A Greek Price Inscription from Euesperides, Cyrenaica
Authors: Gill David W. J.
Published: February 2016

The price inscription on an Attic black-glossed lekanis is discussed. The lekanis was found during the excavations of one of the houses in the Greek colony of Euesperides. Its significance is considered alongside the small number of price inscriptions known from Cyrenaica. Price inscriptions draw attention to the low value of Attic pottery in antiquity, and the Euesperides graffito is considered against some of the literary and epigraphic evidence used in recent discussions.
Excavations at Euesperides (Benghazi): an interim report on the 1998 season
Authors: Lloyd J. A. , Bennett P. , Buttrey T. V. , Buzaian A. , Amin H. El , Fell V. , Kashbar G. , Morgan G. , Nasser Y. Ben , Roberts P. C. , Wilson A. I. , Zimi E.
Published: February 2016

A third season of excavation and finds analysis at Euesperides in March/April 1998 completed the fieldwork of the project begun in 1995.

Further examination of the city defences suggests that their first phase should be dated not later than the early sixth century BC. The earliest masonry buildings within (and abutting) the city wall seem to belong to the 580s/570s BC. Other discoveries included a plain pebble pavement and a decorated ‘mixed style’ mosaic which should pre-datec. 250 BC, as well as an enchytrismos burial of the fourth century BC. The preliminary results of detailed study of the coins, pottery and lamps, and of scientific analyses of wallplaster and metal, are also presented.
Material for the Investigation of the Seismicity of Libya
Authors: Ambraseys N. N.
Published: February 2016

A historical monument may be vulnerable to earthquakes but it will be at no risk unless there is a finite probability of such an event occurring at the site during the lifetime of the structure. We define earthquake risk as follows:

Equation (1) expresses earthquake risk as a function of the seismic hazard, that is of the probability of occurrence of a damaging earthquake, or earthquakes, during the lifetime of the structure and of the vulnerability of the structure to damage or destruction by an earthquake, or earthquakes, of damaging intensity.

Seismic hazard is obviously beyond human control, but an accurate knowledge of it from seismicity studies over a long period of time is possible.

The vulnerability of modern buildings to earthquake forces is the subject-matter of engineering; it is determined by the physical characteristics of structures and it can be assessed, controlled and reduced by appropriate action, though sometimes at a cost which must be justified by a diminished probability of loss.

The vulnerability of old buildings, non-engineered structures and of historical monuments, whose dynamic characteristics are unknown and cannot easily be discovered, is difficult and quite often impossible to assess without irrecoverable intervention in the fabric of the structure.

Let us first examine the practical implications of the earthquake hazard in Libya.
La dea con il silfio e l'iconografia di Panakeia a Cirene
Authors: Presicce Claudio Parisi
Published: February 2016

Molte città antiche utilizzarono come emblema dei primi tipi monetali prodotti vegetali o agricoli dellachorache consentivano una immediata associazione con le località di provenienza delle monete. A Cirene fin dai primi conii, datati dal Robinson intorno al 560 a.C., compare il silfio, che costituisce nei diversi modi di rappresentazione (pianta, frutto, foglia, radice) il tipo principale per tutto il periodo regio.

Secondo la tradizione letteraria l'apparizione della pianta era avvenuta in occasione di una pioggia abbondante e risaliva a sette anni prima della fondazione di Cirene. L'indicazione cronologica, che coincide con la data dell'arrivo in Cirenaica degliapoikoiguidati da Batto, si riferisce evidentemente al momento della scoperta del silfio da parte dei terei.

La proposta di Evans di riconoscere la raffigurazione della pianta su alcune tavolette iscritte di Cnosso di età minoica, rivalutata di recente in seguito ai rinvenimenti a Cirene di materiale dell'età del bronzo, induce a non escludere che le proprietà della pianta fossero già note in precedenza. Ma al momento una eventuale conoscenza del silfio in età precoloniale può essere attribuita solo ai cretesi e non ai terei, che per giungere in Libya si servirono di Corobios, un pescatore di murici proprio dell'isola di Creta.

Del resto Teofrasto e Plinio indicano che per gliapoikoiguidati da Batto si trattò di una vera e propria scoperta. E poichèl'inventionon può essere intesa come l'apparizione improvvisa di una nuova pianta, dobbiamo supporre che essa avvenne con la mediazione delle popolazioni locali, il cui ruolo nelle fasi dello sbarco e della ricerca del sito adatto allo stanziamento coloniale risulta ampiamente documentato.
Coins and Coinage at Euesperides
Authors: Buttrey T. V.
Published: February 2016

The coinage of Euesperides was always minor in comparison with that of Cyrene, or even of Barca. But its sporadic issues do have an interest of their own. At this session we are also concerned with the city, and I wish to suggest what we can learn from the numismatic evidence — not just from the coins struck there, but from the coins of other mints which have been found there.

It is preferable to speak generally of the ‘coinage’ of Euesperides rather than of its ‘mint’, for it seems certain that some of the issues bearing the city's name were actually produced at Cyrene, as indeed were also some issues of Barca. The coinage of Euesperides was always small in comparison with the older and much richer coinage of Cyrene. It is instructive that the catalogue proper of Robinson's BMC Cyrenaica requires 90 pages to list the autonomous and Ptolemaic coins struck at Cyrene, 18 for those of Barca, just 4 for Euesperides.

For Euesperides there are no archaic tetradrachms, the denomination so prominent in a variety of types at Cyrene. The earliest Euesperidean coin in BMC, a drachm of types silphium/dolphin, is assigned by Robinson to before 480 BC.
General Account of Recent Discoveries at Tocra
Authors: Bentaher Fuaad
Published: February 2016

Short seasons of excavation between 1985 and 1992 were conducted under the supervision of the writer in an open and almost featureless area near the center of the walled city of Tocra. The excavations were part of the Garyunis (Benghazi) University training program, arranged by the Department of Archaeology for undergraduate students.

The excavation uncovered the remains of seven buildings and produced a vast quantity of stratified material. Four periods of occupation, Hellenistic, Roman (early and late), Byzantine and Islamic, were encountered within the excavated area.

The uppermost levels of all buildings excavated are to be dated mainly in the Byzantine period, but show some structural additions and minor modifications probably undertaken during the Islamic period. The floor level of each building produced a large quantity of material which is confidently referred to the 6th and 7th centuries AD. The vast majority of the dateable finds consisted of coarse pottery, including flat-based jugs, some of which were nearly complete, a very distinctive type of cooking ware with a row of finger indentations on the top of the lug, pieces of broken amphorae, mostly necks, bases and handles; one of these handles is stamped with a bust of a Byzantine emperor in a style exactly similar to that of busts on the obverse of Byzantine coins. The legend, however, is not legible (Fig. 13a). Among the finds were also a large quantity of Byzantine lamps, of which more than thirty are either complete or nearly complete, and many Byzantine coins, of which a high proportion belongs to the reign of Heraclius (AD 610–641).
Quaternary Deposits of Northern Libya — Lithostratigraphy and Correlation
Authors: Anketell J. M.
Published: February 2016

In recent years basic regional geological mapping of northern Libya by the Industrial Research Centre, Tripoli, together with the UNESCO Libyan Valleys Survey of eastern Tripolitania and the work of the author and Dr S. M. Ghellali in the Jifarah Plain and Jabal Nafusah, have greatly added to our knowledge of Quaternary deposits in the region. This work is described and evaluated against the background of earlier studies. The succession of major depositional, soil forming and erosional events which characterise the fluvio-aeolian deposits of the Jifarah Formation can be recognised in, and thus used to subdivide, laterally equivalent aeolianite, fangravel and wadi gravel deposits in the Jifarah Plain. Comparisons of this succession with others from throughout the region indicate that the events are of regional significance and that the Jifarah sequence provides a sound framework for lithostratigraphic correlation and a basis for facies analysis and chronostratigraphic studies.

This review is largely limited to the northern margins of Libya north of the 30th parallel (Fig. 1). It is convenient to subdivide the zone into several regions. These are:

(a) The Jifarah Plain and foothills of the Jabal Nafusah.

(b) The Hammada Al Hamra Plateau and major valleys of eastern Tripolitania.

(c) The coastal region from Misratah to Ajdabiyah.

(d) Cyrenaica from Soluq to Al Bardia.
From Classification to Interpretation: Libyan Prehistory, 1969–1989
Authors: Barker G. W. W.
Published: February 2016

In the 15 years following the Second World War, the available data on the prehistory of North Africa were summarised in a series of major syntheses (notably Alimen 1955; Balout 1955; Ford-Johnston 1959; and Vaufrey 1955). With stratified sequences few and far between, radiometric techniques of absolute dating still at the developmental stage, and little detailed information on palaeoenvironments, it was inevitable that the emphasis of all these studies was on the description and classification of the archaeological record, and its organisation into regional cultural sequences. As far as Libya was concerned, the prehistoric rock carvings of the Fezzan were already well known, particularly from the studies by Graziosi before the war (Graziosi 1934; 1937; 1942), but in terms of artifact assemblages Libyan prehistory was much less understood than the prehistoric sequences of the Maghreb to the west and accordingly much less represented in the syntheses of the 1950s. In general, the prehistory of North Africa was described as a succession of ‘cultural groups’ that were correlated more or less with the better-documented palaeolithic, mesolithic, and neolithic sequences of Europe.

During the 1960s, two major studies of Libyan prehistory were published which have had a dominating influence on research in the following 20 years. The first was the publication by Charles McBurney (1967) of the deep stratigraphy of the Haua Fteah cave on the coast of Cyrenaica. McBurney began research on the Libyan Palaeolithic in the years immediately after the war, publishing a variety of surface collections (1947), trial excavations in the Hagfet ed Dabba cave (1950), and a joint study with C. W. Hey (1955) of the relationship between Pleistocene geological and archaeological sequences in Cyrenaica. His excavations in the Haua Fteah were conducted in 1951, 1952, and 1955, the deep sounding revealing a detailed sequence of layers spanning the middle and upper palaeolithic, epipalaeolithic (or mesolithic), and neolithic occupations of the cave (for initial reports: McBurney 1960; 1961; 1962). The full report was able not only to describe the remarkable sequence of assemblages, but also to correlate these with a palaeoenvironmental sequence established from faunal, molluscan, and sedimentary studies of the cave stratigraphy, the sequence also being tied to an absolute chronology based on 20 radiocarbon determinations. The Haua Fteah stratigraphy remains unique not only in Libya but in North Africa as a whole.