Bulldozers and looting threaten Libya’s ancient treasures

Bulldozers
Bulldozers

The magnificent ruins of the ancient Greek city of Cyrene survived Libya’s 2011 revolt and the decade that followed, but they now face new threats: plunder and bulldozers.

A handful of visitors take advantage of the North African country’s months-old truce to stroll around the temple of Zeus, perched atop a wind-battered hill near the eastern end of Libya’s Mediterranean coast, under balmy spring sunshine.

There are no lines to speak about here.

The only tourists, all Libyans, stroll through the Apollo sanctuary and amphitheater before entering a museum containing faceless busts of Greek divinities and nude marble sculptures.

Cyrene, founded in the seventh century BC, “was one of the principal cities in the Hellenic world,” according to UNESCO, which added the site to its World Heritage List in 1992.

“A thousand years of history are etched in its remains,” it added.

 

Residents of modern-day Shahat, however, are taking ownership of lands kept in trust by the state and selling them to property developers outside the fence that demarcates the protected area of Cyrene.

Treasure hunters are digging up other places in order to smuggle stolen items to sell overseas.

“Some people are coming in and bulldozing areas containing artefacts, dividing them and selling them, then building housing blocks on top of these priceless sites,” said Adel Abu Fejra, of the Cyrene department of antiquities.

‘This is our land’

According to Abu Fejra, his department “can’t even estimate” how much money has been wasted because the plots “are beyond the fenced area under our protection.”

Cyrene is located between the Egyptian border and Benghazi, one of the main cities in the 2011 rebellion against longtime tyrant Moamer Kadhafi.

Since then, the world has devolved into chaos and terror, raising concerns about the country’s rich ancient heritage.

 

In 2016, UNESCO added Cyrene and four other Libyan sites to the List of World Heritage in Danger.

During the battle, the nation was split into fiefdoms dominated by a kaleidoscope of militias, including the Islamic State group, which retained a foothold in Derna, only 70 kilometers (45 miles) to the east.

Despite the signing of a peace agreement between Libya’s major forces and the formation of a unity government earlier this month, many people have more pressing issues than preserving ancient heritage.

“They want us to stop using our land around the ruins, saying there are still artifacts underneath them — but this is our land, and we have the right to exploit it,” said Saad Mahmoud, who owns farmland nearby.

“It’s up to the state to find solutions and pay landowners compensation that fits with the rising prices of real estate, which have made it hard for us to find alternatives.”

– Graffiti and looting –

Many of Shahat’s 50,000 inhabitants, including Mahmoud, see the urgent need for housing as more important than saving ancient ruins.

A town plan that was last revised in 1986 has largely gone unnoticed.

According to Ismail Dakhil, a museum official in eastern Libya, up to 30% of the ancient city may have been built on.

 

And it isn’t the only problem.

“There has been graffiti on the ancient ruins, and lots of informal digs, where antiquities are dug up and smuggled out of the country,” he said.

Libya does have legislation in order to preserve its ancient history, such as those regulating archaeological digging and penalizing violators.

However, Dakhil claims that they have no effect, with “derisory fines and jail terms” of up to a year.

Some are now hopeful that, after a decade of bloodshed, the current administration would strengthen the security of important historical sites.

 

“Policies on heritage protection must be checked,” says researcher and historian Ahmad Faraj. “I am optimistic that this government will build a new vision.”

MORE:

TRENDING

Related Posts