bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Work on the Early Ottoman Period and Qaramanlis
Authors: Pennell C. R. 
Published: February 2016

Research on Libya during the first Ottoman and Qaramanli periods has been handicapped by the lack of a theme. Much work on these periods has been done to a large extent as spin-off from other research contingent on Libya, and new publications in European languages have been few. Their effect has been to cast a bright light on some corners of the subject, but the rest has been left in deep shadow. What follows is a summary of what has been done, together with some suggestions about where concerned research might be directed.A starting point for any research is bibliography. Bono (1982) provides a general guide to western sources on Libya which includes material on the period, while his earlier article (Bono 1979) concentrates on scarce published sources, some of which come from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries.Another problem facing researchers is access to contemporary material. There is an immense quantity of consular material in archives in Britian, France and in particular Italy, some of which has been used. Individual longer accounts have been published as well, particularly of manuscript sources.Among the most interesting manuscripts are the longer, coherent accounts of people who stayed in Tripoli for extended periods. The journals of Thomas Baker, the English Consul in Tripoli between 1677 and 1685, fall into this category, and are discussed below. The guidebook written in 1767 by Anthony Knecht, British Vice-Consul, gives considerable information about the diplomatic, political and economic life of the city (Pennell 1982).Another way of dealing with these extensive sources is to write commentaries on them. In the first issue of Libyan Studies the works of James Bruce, the Scottish eighteenth century traveller, were discussed (Cumming 1970). This is also the approach adopted by ‘Imad al-Din Ghanim (1982), in his article in Arabic about an anonymous French account, translated into German in 1708 (Allerneuster Zustand der Afrikanischen Konigreiche Tripoli, Tunis and Algier, von einem gelehrten Jesuiten bey verricheter Skavelosung, Hamburg 1708).
Some Notes on the Donatist Schism
Authors: Birley A. R. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractRecent work on the highly significant Donatist religious schism in late Roman Africa is reviewed, supported by an Appendix tabulating a draft chronology of Donatism. Particular attention is paid to the controversy surrounding the date and origins of the schism. The ‘revolutionary fringe’ of the Donatist movement, the Circumcellions, is also discussed, with specific reference to arguments concerning the social status of this group. A third section outlines the participation of Tripolitanian bishops of both Catholic and Donatist persuasion at the great Conference of Carthage in AD 411. The social historical importance of the extensive documentation is illustrated at several points by reference to illuminating insights into life in late Roman Africa.
The Development of Libya's Air Links with Britain
Authors: Marghani A. B. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractThe development of air traffic between Britain and Libya is described, from its origins after World War II to the present day. Several key stages are analysed, notably the Air Services Agreements of 1953 and 1972. The changing terms of Anglo-Libyan air links reflect the broader political shifts of a period which has seen Libya transformed from a colonial territory to a prosperous independent nation state. In spite of the current hiatus in air traffic between Britain and Libya, the close links between Libyan aviation and Britain give hope for the future.
IRT895 and 896: Two inscriptions from Gheriat el-Garbia
Authors: Mattingly D. J. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractIRT895 refers to the construction of aburgusat Gheriat in the reign of Severus Alexander. From its location when first discovered it is clear that it related to the building of the circular tower about 1 km north-east of the fort and not to the fort itself. Up until now the tower has generally been considered of post-Roman date.IRT896 refers to repairs to the fort under Gordian III. A suggestion is made about the garrison of Gheriat at that date and the history of this unit, thecohors I Syrorum sagittariorum, is reviewed.
The Centenaria of Roman Tripolitania
Authors: Elmayer A. F. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractControversy surrounds the reason why the centenaria were introduced into the pre-desert area of Tripolitania. This paper examines two conflicting theories; that of Goodchild that they were military in origin and that of Brogan and the Unesco Libyan Valleys team that they were in the main merely substantial private dwellings. The main contribution of this study is to provide new evidence from Latino-Punic inscriptions that the centenaria were private dwellings on private land.
The French occupation of the western Jafara and the village of Dahibat, 1890-1891
Authors: Joffé E. G. H. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractThe creation of the Libyan-Tunisian border through the Jafara plain, in the wake of the French occupation of Tunisia in 1881, was to be codified in a formal treaty in 1910, just before the Italian occupation of Libya and the outbreak of the Italo-Libyan wars. However, the border, as then defined, had little to do with any prior social, political or economic reality – Muslim political theory is more concerned with communal sovereignty than with territorial control, while the Jafara plain had always been a region of local political autonomy. In reality, it represented the complex attempts by local military commanders, with the full support of the French administration in Tunis, to maximise French territorial control at the expense of the Turkish administration in Tripoli. The abandoned village of Dahibat, at the foot of the Jabal Nafusa, provided an ideal means of applying such control, particularly as the original population was anxious to return and the French were able to use their anxiety as a means of applying concepts of territorial sovereignty to the Jafara. However, in creating a rigid territorial division, the French authorities also created the grounds for resistance at a local level that eventually expressed itself first through the First World War jihad movement in the Jafara and later formed part of the Tunisian independence movement.
The Reinterpretation of the Latino-Punic Inscriptions IRT 889 and 893 from Tripolitania
Authors: Elmayer A. F. 
Published: February 2016

This inscription was found over the door of wadi el-Bir near Shemech (Wadi Soffegin) and is now in Lepcis Museum. It consists of three lines and it reads:The inscription has been treated previously by Goodchild (1950, 137), Sznycer (1965, 100–101), Vattioni (1966, 45–46; 1976, 550–555), Levi della Vida (1967, 263), Krahmalkov (1973, 61–64), Polselli (1976, 237–238) and Elmayer (1983, 90–91).A suggested translation is as follows:
‘Flavius Dasama and his son Macrinus, the chief (or: commander) of the district, have made (this) centenarium to guard and protect the whole zone’.
The Cyrenaican Expedition of Giuseppe Haimann
Authors: Wright J. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractIn 1881 the Italian explorer Giuseppe Haimann and his wife made a two-month journey through the Gebel Akhdar from Benghazi to Derna, travelling under the auspices of the Società d'Esplorazione Commerciale of Milan and Haimann's report first appeared in the Bollettino della Società Geografica in 1882. Haimann's sober assessment of Cyrenaica's potential contrasts favourably with the later accounts of Italian journalists and other visitors who in the early twentieth century had their own reasons for presenting Turkish North Africa to the Italian public as a veritable Paese di Bengodi – a Land of Cockaigne. But 30 years before the Italian intervention of 1911, Haimann had come to the conclusion that Cyrenaica – ‘in ancient times so civilised and prosperous’ – might be restored to new life if agriculture, industry and commerce ‘were to be given an effective impulse’.
The UNESCO Libyan Valleys Survey V: Sedimentological Properties of Holocene Wadi Floor and Plateau Deposits in Tripolitania, North-West Libya
Authors: Barker G. W. W. , Gilbertson D. D. , Griffin C. M. , Hayes P. P. , Jones D. A. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractThe sedimentological properties of samples collected from exposures in wadi floors are reported. These studies emphasise the natural variability of erosional and depositional processes in this environment. Some of the sedimentological changes observed appear to be of archaeological significance. They indicate that in the recent geological past, either increased flooding occurring as a result of natural environmental fluctuations, or irrigation practice, has caused the elevation of saline groundwaters in the wadi floor sediments to levels which might have had deleterious effects on the contemporary agricultural system. Sites at the margins of the wadis are more sensitive to such changes than those more centrally located on the wadi floor. No evidence for significant climatic change at the times of the extensive Romano-Libyan occupation of the pre-desert region has been detected. There is, however, evidence of much wetter periods in the more distant past, which have left a legacy of mature soils on the basalt plateaus, which may have been extensively used in the Romano-Libyan period.
Excavations at Tocra and Euhesperides, Cyrenaica 1968-1969
Authors: Jones G. D. B. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractPreliminary results of survey and limited excavations at Euhesperides (Benghazi) and Tocra are discussed. At Euhesperides part of one residential insula was excavated and a mosaic discovered. Evidence is presented that the insula and the city defences are contemporary, dating from the early fourth to the third centuries BC. The earliest stratified levels beneath the floors of the insula date to the early sixth century BC. The work at Tocra comprised a full survey of all visible archaeological remains. In particular, close study and limited excavation of the Byzantine Fortress suggest that the structure survived long beyond the Arab invasions of AD 642.
An Integrated Study of the Desert Grass, Panicum Turgidum Forsk, in a Fezzan Djebel System
Authors: Turner D. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractThe methodology of an on-going study of the desert grass, Panicum Turgidum Forsk, at Wadi Zigzah, near Brack, is described. The emphasis is on making an integrated study of the grass to establish its role in the local ecosystem.
Excavations at Sabratha, 1948–1951
Authors: Kenrick P. M. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractExtensive British excavations were carried out at Sabratha in 1948–51 under the joint direction of John Ward-Perkins and Kathleen Kenyon. No definitive report on the work done has since been published, and following the deaths of both directors this task has now been assigned to the writer. An interim account is given of the excavations which took place, drawing particular attention to the evidence for the development of the town as a whole, and of the forum area in particular. It is hoped that the surviving documentation will enable the completion of a substantial report.
Amphora Production in the Tripolitanian Gebel
Authors: Arthur P. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractThe paper presents the results of an examination of two Roman kiln sites located by the late R. G. Goodchild, at Tazzoli and Ain Scersciara in the Gebel. They produced amphorae of forms Tripolitana I-III together with coarse wares and tiles. The material is described and illustrated, and the fabrics are examined petrologically as a guide to identification.
A Glass Fishbeaker from Fezzan
Authors: Tagart C. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractA conch shell fragment from a colourless glass fishbeaker was found during excavations at the Garamantian site of Saniat Gebril in the Wadi el-Agial, Fezzan. Fishbeakers are blown vessels with separately made sea creatures added in rows to the external surface. Complete examples of such vessels come from Rome, Cologne and Trier, with fragments from the Lebanon, Egypt, Italy and ? Spain. A diatretum beaker from southern Hungary is decorated with similar marine creatures. When dated the beakers are ascribed to the fourth century AD. It seems likely that the fishbeaker originated in the eastern Mediterranean area and may be associated with some pagan cults, and Christianity for whom the fish was a popular image. Early Christianity flourished in Antioch and Alexandria, both cities in areas associated with glass making. Egypt is the most likely source for the Fezzan beaker. Not the only Roman luxury glass found in the area, it is however notable that such a sumptious and no doubt expensive vessel should be found in a relatively isolated, and desert part of the Roman world.
Islamic Wares from Ajdabiyah
Authors: Riley J. A. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractA provisional typology for the Islamic glazed and domestic pottery from the excavations of the Fatimid mosque at Ajdabiyah is presented. The bulk of this pottery is likely to belong to the eleventh and twelfth centuries A.D. In addition, attention is drawn to the results of a programme of petrological analysis of the fabrics. Functional and typological variation was found to relate to fabric variation.
Industrial Standardisation in Cyrenaica during the Second and Third Centuries A.D.: The Evidence from Locally Manufactured Pottery
Authors: Riley John 
Published: February 2016

A detailed study of the coarse pottery of Cyrenaica, and particularly Berenice, in the Hellenistic and Roman periods (Riley, in press) indicates that, with the exception of the total disappearance of locally made amphoras, the Romanisation of Cyrenaica made no impact on the local pottery industry until around the middle of the second century A.D. Indeed, at a time of rapidly increasing prosperity in Cyrenaica from the Augustan period, the local pottery industry continued to produce poor quality goods in general. These were generally of the poor, shell rich fabrics (for these and Cyrenaican fabrics in general, see Riley, 1979), and comprised a wide range of variation within broad type groupings, which were of the characteristic, elegantly curved Hellenistic tradition.When change came, around the middle of the second century, it was sweeping. The poorer quality shell rich fabric was superceded by the harder, sturdier, lime rich fabrics, and a completely new repertoire of angular and corrugated forms was introduced. This development appears to follow a similar pattern in the Aegean region during the early part of the second century, so that by the latter part of that century there is a striking typological similarity between the various coarse wares in Greece, Crete and Cyrenaica.
Resources and Development in the al Khalij Region of Libya
Authors: McLachlan Keith 
Published: February 2016

During 1979 and the early part of 1980 the Government of Libya was engaged in a review of the state of social and economic development of the country with a view to preparing a long-range strategy to the year 2000. The exercise involved assessment of the position in 1979 and examination of alternative courses of economic change for the country as a whole and for its constituent regions. While this was far from being a first essay in economic and social planning, it represented a new time horizon (twenty rather than five years) and a rather different approach from previous proposals. In particular, it had become apparent from 1980 that Libyan oil reserves, when set against probable production to reserves ratios for the 1980-2000 period, would be fast depleting by the turn of the century. The last two decades of the twentieth century could be the last years in which Libya could lay the basis for economic survival while still comparatively wealthy from the proceeds of bulk oil exports.This short article will set out to discuss the resource base of the al Khalij area which was the source of the largest part of Libyan crude oil and natural gas supply and which might be expected to be the region on which Libyan prosperity might be founded in the post-oil era.
A New Hand Mirror from Roman Libya
Authors: Lloyd-Morgan G. 
Published: February 2016

Although some examples of hand mirrors are known from older excavations in Libya, a rock cut tomb at Sidi Hussein, Benghazi, has recently produced a piece with radiate edging, the first example of this type to be recorded for the country.The mirror unfortunately lacks its handle. It has the usual standard form of disc, decorated on the back with two heavy series of concentric circles at edge and centre, with, between them, a single circle. The radius of the piece is about 5.6 cm measured to the tip of a perfect ray. There are fourteen surviving rays, though originally there were probably sixteen. At the back there are traces of the solder plate of the handle in the form of a fleshy stylised willow leaf.The origin of this type of mirror can be traced back to the hand mirrors represented on South Italian painted pottery of the fourth and third centuries B.C., as shown for example on a small Apulian oinochoe in Chester (pl.B). No actual examples have yet been found, though a mirror which may well be related was found during excavations at Locri Epizephyrii and is now in the Museo Nazionale, Reggio di Calabria (inv. no.5201).The Roman radiate mirror has a border with between ten and thirty rays, usually with a simple terminal knob giving the characteristic profile. As with all Roman hand mirrors, the handle was separately cast using a bronze with a slightly higher percentage of lead than was used in the disc, probably so as to give extra weight and balance to the piece, as well as to aid the casting process.
The Traditional House in the Oasis of Ghadames
Authors: Evans J. Martin 
Published: February 2016

The large scale housing programme of the Libyan Government is changing the appearance of many of the towns of Libya. As part of this programme, the National Housing Corporation have recently adopted new standards for housing design, in order to ensure that the houses are better suited to the needs of the population in different parts of the country. During the investigations to develop new standards, the traditional housing in a number of regions of the country was studied, with a special emphasis on the way it relates to the climate and the way of life of the inhabitants. One of the most interesting traditional house forms was found in the oasis of Ghadames. My interest in the houses of Ghadames is not only in their history, their location in Libya or the climatic extremes to which they are subjected, but in the unusual form developed to provide protection from the climate, and the way that this form relates to the social patterns.Ghadames lies on the western border of Libya, close to the junction with the borders of Algeria and Tunisia. It is located about 400 km from the coast, and about 450 km from Tripoli. The journey from Tripoli can be made in a few hours by the regular internal flight or in a day by car or bus. After leaving the green coastal strip the road crosses the Jafara plain and climbs the escarpment at Nalut. From Nalut the road runs south across the steppe and desert, past the oases of Sinawn and Derj to Ghadames.
A Survey of Islamifying Trends in Libyan Law since 1969
Authors: Mayer Ann 
Published: February 2016

The commitment to reinstatement of the sharī‘a, or traditional law of Islam, has been a striking feature of the programme of Libya's revolutionary government. Before 1969, legal development in Libya had conformed to the universally observable trend in Islamic societies of introducing secular laws on Western lines at the expense of the sharī‘a. True, the sharī‘a had not been superseded in Libya to as great an extent as in some countries, but its influence was largely restricted to matters of personal status and the regulation of certain traditional Islamic institutions. Civil and commercial codes on the French model had been introduced, and the Libyan Penal Code was inspired by the French and Italian versions. In 1971 the Revolutionary Command Council set up a commission to revise Libyan law in accordance with the sharī‘a, a task given renewed emphasis in 1975, when a law was passed reorganizing the commission. Since 1971 a number of laws modelled on the sharī‘a have been promulgated and, presumably, more are yet to come.An understanding of this remarkable development has been slow in coming. Information on Libyan law is regrettably difficult to obtain outside Libya, and many potentially illuminating sources remain unavailable to Western students. The impression one gleans from the incomplete materials presently available is that broad guidelines for the work of the commission revising the laws have been set. On a given legal issue the most lenient solution is to be selected from among the doctrines of the schools of Islamic jurisprudence, with consideration being given to the public welfare (maṣlaḥa) and Libya's traditional adherence to the Mālikī doctrine. However, one would like to know much more about the rationale underlying the specific enactments. Nonetheless, since this important trend has now been under way for several years, a tentative assessment, even if based on an inadequate range of sources, is long overdue.
Sidi Khrebish - A Note on the Coarse Pottery
Authors: Riley J. A. 
Published: February 2016

The quantity of stratified coarse pottery from Sidi Khrebish has been considerable and preliminary study has of necessity been concentrated on important groups from sealed contexts which span the period from the second century B.C. to the seventh century A.D.The earliest group is from a cistern of second century B.C. date; the next is from excavation underneath Roman period concrete floors which produced mid-first century A.D. material, while the largest group is from the infill of Roman period cisterns and destruction levels and can be dated to the mid-third century A.D. Information is somewhat scanty for the fourth and fifth centuries A.D. but groups of pottery representing the Byzantine period were recovered in some quantity from the destruction levels of the church and its cistern. A good group of Islamic glazed fine ware and coarse ware was associated with late occupation within the church.Space does not permit more than a brief survey of the most common and distinctive coarse ware forms from the excavation.In general, throughout the period of Berenice, the locally made coarse ware form shapes seem to have been influenced from the Eastern Mediterranean, especially in the second and third centuries A.D.The commonest form of second century B.C. cooking pot is rounded, having a short neck with two vertical ‘strap’ handles from the shoulder merging with the rim (fig. 1). Another distinguishing feature of pottery from this period is a semicircular handle from the body with an indentation at the top where it has been pressed to the rim (fig. 2). Both types are of the distinctive local ‘fossil gritted ware’, the fabric of which ranges from orange brown to dark pink. The clay contains fairly large roughly circular flat flakes of bluish-grey grit, which, when split open, reveal segmented spiral fossil remains. This fabric is very common in all periods.