The Western Necropolis: the status of preservation to 2018 (E.Di Valerio)

During the last mission, in 2013 and more recently, according to the DoA Cyrene, surveys took part in the Western Necropolis, in the low course of the Wadi Belghadir and Haleg Stawat. The investigations have been important for identifying and quantifying all the damages caused by tomb raiders and their illegal excavations.

Surveys were possible due to collaboration with DoA officers. The isolated Western Necropolis was monitored and the conditions of the tombs in this area are actually quite good, except for the continuous deterioration caused by the environment.

This survey has identified damage caused by robbing attempts, as well as weathering of the rock-cut surfaces due to atmospheric phenomena and the constant action of the tree roots which, hanging from upper levels, destroy the rock-cut surfaces of tomb façades along the steep necropolis of Wadi Belghadir. There are also signs of vandalism like charcoal graffitos and black marks suggestive of smoke caused by fires started inside the tombs. The isolation of this steep necropolis certainly heightens the chances of vandalism. Furthermore, the area is often looted by robbers looking for statues, which they break in order to transport them more easily.

The following damages have been spotted from the photographs submitted by the DoA. Without geo-referenced positions it is impossible to locate all the damaged tombs in these pictures, but the images highlight the scale of the devastations.

1. 1) Statue of a funerary goddess found during illegal excavations (Figure 3).

2. 2) Writings over the inner frieze of Tomb W20 (Figure 4).

3. 3) Black smoke signs and charcoal graffiti on the inner frieze of Tomb W16 (Figure 5).

4. 4) Recent illegal excavations nearby Tomb W13 (Figure 6).

5. 5) Recentillegal excavations nearby Tomb W2 (Figure 7).

6. 6) Some traces of illegal excavations in front of the façade of this tomb. Fortunately, the architectural decoration on the façade of this tomb doesn't seem to have been damaged (Figure 8).

7. 7) The courtyard of this tomb has been illegally excavated almost completely, uncovering the façade of the tomb, the entrance of a loculus and part of a second loculus. The tomb raiders probably entered through the loculi, perhaps taking pottery sherds or other objects from the funerary assemblages. The architectural decoration on the façade of this tomb doesn't appear to be damaged (Figure 9).

8. 8) Unfortunately, this tomb has suffered many damages. Illegal excavations have been carried out inside the loculi, and sadly all the architectonic decoration of the façade has been completely removed, destroying the frieze and making it impossible to reconstruct the original ornamentation. The tomb raiders probably entered through the loculi, perhaps taking pottery sherds or other objects from the funerary assemblages. (Figure 10).

9. 9) The courtyard of this tomb has been illegally excavated, uncovering the top portion of the façade of the tomb and the entrance of three loculi. The tomb raiders probably entered through the loculi, perhaps taking pottery sherds or other objects from the funerary assemblages. The architectonic decoration on the façade of this tomb doesn't appear to have been damaged (Figure 11).

10. 10) The courtyard of this tomb has been illegally excavated, uncovering a portion of the façade of the tomb and the entrance of three loculi. The tomb raiders probably entered through the loculi, perhaps taking pottery sherds or other objects from the funerary assemblages. The architectural decoration on the façade of this tomb doesn't appear to have been damaged. In front of the façade our team has found a beautiful and interesting Greek inscription on marble (Figure 12).

Figure 3.

Cyrene, Western necropolis: the funerary statue which has been found during the survey of a tomb which has been excavated by clandestine robbers (by Eugenio di Valerio, Archive of the Archaeological Mission of Chieti University in Libya).

Figure 4.

Cyrene, Western necropolis: views of the tomb W20 with painted Doric frieze (by Eugenio di Valerio, Archive of the Archaeological Mission of Chieti University in Libya).

Figure 5.

Cyrene, Western necropolis: views of the tomb W16 with painted Doric frieze (by Eugenio di Valerio, Archive of the Archaeological Mission of Chieti University in Libya).

Figure 6.

Cyrene, Western necropolis: recent illegal excavations nearby Tomb W13 (by A.Abdalrahim Shariff Saad, Archive of the Archaeological Mission of Chieti University in Libya)

Figure 7.

Cyrene, Western necropolis: recent illegal excavations nearby Tomb W2 (by A.Abdalrahim Shariff Saad and Eugenio di Valerio, Archive of the Archaeological Mission of Chieti University in Libya).

Figure 8 and 9.

Cyrene, Western necropolis: Recent illegal excavations (by A.Abdalrahim Shariff Saad, Archive of the Archaeological Mission of Chieti University in Libya).

Figure 10 and 11.

Cyrene, Western necropolis: damaged and looted tomb (by A.Abdalrahim Shariff Saad, Archive of the Archaeological Mission of Chieti University in Libya).

Figure 12.

Cyrene, Western necropolis: the courtyard of this tomb has been illegally excavated, uncovering a portion of the façade of the tomb, the entrance of three loculi and in front of the façade a marble Greek inscription has been found (by A.Abdalrahim Shariff Saad, Archive of the Archaeological Mission of Chieti University in Libya).

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The Southern Necropolis: brief remarks on the tragic destructions up to 2018 (L. Cherstich)

The present author wrote a doctoral thesis on the Southern Necropolis of Cyrene (Cherstich L. Reference Cherstich2006a, Reference Cherstich2007, Reference Cherstich2008), stemming from research performed as part of the activities of the Italian Mission of Chieti University. The last visit to Cyrene for this research was in 2008. Since then, however, the Italian Mission of Chieti has been sent reports and photos by members of the DoA (in particular Farag Abdel Hati and Abdalrahim Sheriff Saad) and their work has been crucial in the writing of this paper.

This appendix provides a list of the most significant destructions in the Southern Necropolis over the last few years (there is not enough space here to include all the details or geo-referenced positions for each incident). Nevertheless, this list gives a sense of the scale of the problem in the Southern Necropolis today. All tomb names use the system established by Cassels (Reference Cassels1955) while GPS names refer to the codes in Cherstich Reference Cherstich2007.

To have a general sense of what has happened over the last 10 years, my research up to 2006 outlines the archaeological monuments present during that period (Figure 13). If you then check the satellite imagery, comparing photos from ten years ago (Figure 14) with the what is visible in 2018 (Figure 15) (using Google Earth Pro software, images © 2018 Digital Globe), the scale of the destructions becomes immediately clear.

Figure 13.

Survey of the Southern Necropolis up to 2006 (Cherstich Reference Cherstich2007; satellite image: University of Chieti).

Figure 14.

Google Earth satellite image of the Southern Necropolis, 29th March 2009 (© 2019 Digital Globe).

Figure 15.

Google Earth satellite image of the Southern Necropolis, 22nd June 2018 (© 2019 Digital Globe).

Without survey on the ground, it is impossible to evaluate the exact number of lost monuments, nevertheless it is clear that whole chunks of the ancient landscape, miraculously preserved for centuries, have been deleted by bulldozers in just a few years. The Southern Necropolis is one of the most tragedy episodes in the history of Libyan heritage.

The first images (Figures 13, 14) show a situation similar to my 2006 survey. Huge parts east of the Balagrae Road were already lost but, at least, the destructions did not stretch to the areas west of the ancient road, due to an apparent slowdown of expansion. In 2006 the modern presence was limited to a few houses, some temporary shacks and very rough, almost ineffective fences made of spiked wire and wooden poles. Many families used ancient tombs as storerooms, stables or even garages: the DoA was constantly trying to protect these tombs and limit the damage, but they had limited resources. Thus, in 2006 many tombs, especially along Balagrae Road, were empty.

The second image (Figure 15) shows a devastated landscape. The many new buildings in the 2018 satellite image seem to be expansions of the old shacks, while large concrete fences have replaced the iron wire ones. Many local landowners took advantage of the lawless situation following 2011 and enlarged areas they were already misusing and the number of vandalized and destroyed tombs dramatically increased. Members of the DoA report how whole areas in El-Baggara (the Southern Necropolis) have been cleared of antiquities by bulldozers, with the plots being sold for building. The regular shape of many of the new roads, visible in the photos, shows new plots for an illegal land development (Figure 15).

What follows now is a brief summary list of some of the possible damages, as registered by the photos and reports from the DoA technicians.

• • Tomb S2 (GPS 14 in Cherstich Reference Cherstich2007; Thorn and Thorn Reference Thorn and Thorn2009, 206) was an interesting monument: an isodomic-built tomb with a rock-cut loculus chamber with loculi opening off a central corridor. This monument possibly dated to the Late Hellenistic period. It has never been properly investigated and before 2006 drawings were made without proper cleaning. The fate of this monument is unknown since it looks like a large modern building has just been built nearby (Figure 16), possibly destroying all the ancient remains.

• • The modern cemetery with the old Marabout of BouBagiuda (now unfortunately destroyed, see Menozzi et al. Reference Menozzi, Di Valerio, Tamburrino, SalehShariff, d'Ercole and Di Antonio2017) has always been the site of the monumental Late Hellenistic Tomb S4 (GPS 16 in Cherstich Reference Cherstich2007; Cherstich Reference Cherstich2006b). There has been no construction at the cemetery but a small half-figure, possibly dating to the fifth century BC, was found during construction works nearby (see O. Menozzi, this article). The exact position of the find is unknown, although there are many new buildings west of the cemetery, as well as new structures to the south. I previously identified an Archaic/Early Classical land-division system with a sixth to fifth century BC tomb every 450–500 m (Cherstich L. Reference Cherstich2008, 75–8; Cherstich et al. Reference Cherstich, Menozzi, Antonelli and Cherstich2018, 124–6), a rare piece of evidence for land-divisions between the colonists of the first phase. The cemetery should have hosted Archaic/Early Classical tombs but none were known: this new find, potentially dating to the fifth century BC, could potentially fill that gap in our knowledge. Nevertheless, since the original context was recorded and the original tomb has probably been destroyed by the builders, the chance for further investigation is lost.

• • The asphalted road running parallel to the Balagrae Road probably sits on top of an ancient pathway, possibly Late Hellenistic (the ‘redoubling’ in Cherstich Reference Cherstich2007), with galleried-loculus chamber tombs along it – put to use when all the available space for tombs along the nearby Balagrae Road was full. In 2006 this was still a piece of ancient landscape which demonstrated the continuous competition for funerary ostentation in Cyrene. The western side of the asphalted road hosted a series of at least 12 different rock-cut with sunken courtyards, sometimes with fallen false façades: Tomb S7 (GPS 33), Tomlinson 1004 (GPS 32), S8 (GPS 31), S9 (GP 30), S10 (GPS 29), S11 (GPS 27), Beschi's S11bis (GPS 28), S12 (GPS 23), S13 (GPS 22), Tomlinson 1013 (GPS 24), GPS 25, GPS26 (Thorn and Thorn Reference Thorn and Thorn2009, 208–212). Today you can only see a concrete wall, standing exactly where the tombs should be (Figure 17). The fate of these tombs is unknown, as the available satellite imagery show a blurred view, although the presence of some buildings may attest the destruction of at least some of them.

• • On the other side, the ancient Balagrae Road, which used to be one of the most beautifully preserved ancient roads around Cyrene, has been perpendicularly cut by an imposing concrete wall (Figure 18), just north of Tomb S66 and S67 (GPS 40–41 in Cherstich Reference Cherstich2007; Thorn and Thorn Reference Thorn and Thorn2009, 221). The barrier is straight and dangerously close to a Roman milestone (Goodchild Reference Goodchild1950, 85), interfering with, covering or blocking the view of at least five tombs: S62 (GPS 34), S63 (GPS 35), S64(GPS 36), S65 (GPS 38) and GPS 39 (Thorn and Thorn Reference Thorn and Thorn2009, 220). It is impossible to know the fate of these monuments but the presence of many modern buildings within the wall clearly demonstrate that some serious damage has occurred. Tomb S64 (GPS 36) was particularly significant since it hosted unique Late Hellenistic illusionistic wall paintings (Cherstich and Santucci Reference Cherstich and Santucci2010), roughly comparable with the so-called Pompeian Second Style, but which clearly demonstrate the dialogue of the Cyrenaican funerary world with Alexandria. These wall paintings are unique in Cyrenaica, and are important within the wider perspective of the history of the Ancient Eastern Mediterranean. Given the old habit of vandalizing or white-washing tomb interiors there is a serious risk that this treasure is now lost.

We cannot know more without visiting the area, but the photos taken by members of the DoA include many modern buildings, heaps of blocks from destroyed monuments (Figure 19) and indications of plot division and sale.

Figure 16.

Modern building in the area of Tomb S2, facing south (Photo 2018: A.Abdalrahim Shariff Saad, S. Farag Abdel Hati).

Figure 17.

Modern buildings in the area of Tombs S11, S11 bis and S13, facing north (Photo 2018: A.Abdalrahim Shariff Saad, S. Farag Abdel Hati).

Figure 18.

Modern wall cutting Balagrae Road and Modern buildings in the area of Tombs S63 and S64, facing north (Photo 2018: A.Abdalrahim Shariff Saad, S. Farag Abdel Hati).

Figure 19.

Heap of isodomic blocks and orthostats from a destroyed tomb in Baggara (Southern Necropolis) (Photo 2018: A.Abdalrahim Shariff Saad, S. Farag Abdel Hati).

This article cannot show all the destructions, which are extremely numerous, as the satellite imagery demonstrates (Figures 13, 14, 15). New roads have been opened and buildings have appeared everywhere. The Southern Necropolis is clearly one of the main victims of the recent destructions. Furthermore, these destructions are not slowing down, even when member of the DoA try to stop them.

The main problem is that the Southern Necropolis is not only close to the modern city of Shahat, but is also flat and sited along a natural connection between Shahat and Al-Bayda, which means that it is an attractive place for potential developers. A solution must be found before this amazing archaeological landscape is lost forever: a tragedy not just for Libya, but for the whole world.

A small statue of a funerary goddess from Baggara (O. Menozzi, A.Abdalrahim Sheriff Saad and M. Belzic)

The small statue, found by Mohamed Salem Omar El Alhasi, is very interesting and representative of a very rare typology of Cyrenaican funerary goddesses (Figure 20). The type is known at Cyrene through examples from other necropoleis of the ancient site. The type was in origin a local chthonian/kata-chthonian deity, which must have been used originally as a marker of the tombs. It was probably very stylized in earlier periods, made from wooden and stone life-size stele. In the Late Archaic period these became female funerary busts, originally cut just below the shoulders and then slowly under the armpits and later under the hips. The local female goddess was then syncretised, with a gradual Hellenization, with Persephone/Kore, assuming the iconographic schemata of Demeter and Kore. The earliest types, according to the typology of Beschi, date back to the Late Archaic period and are characterized by a ‘lithic version’ of poles, dressed up with a simple vest, a chiton or peplum, without any himation (mantle) and wearing a wavy curly wig, to shoulder level. For a long period, a common feature for these statues was the ‘aprosopy’, that is the complete lack of a face, presented plain and without any indication of a mouth, nose and eyes.

Figure 20.

Views of the statuette: front and sides (photo by A.Abdalrahim Shariff Saad).

Looking at the typological groups, the first group, types A, B and C, seem to date to the sixth and fifth centuries BC and they represent variations of the same typology, without any substantial difference. Type A presents busts cut at the shoulders, with no arms and they are not veiled; according to the hair style, they can be dated to the Late Archaic period. Type B busts are a bit taller, cut below the armpits and arms, and the hands are, for the first time, represented, although still roughly. The type C statue goes from head to belt level and sometimes further, with similar iconographic schema, and wears, above a more pleated chiton (top), a short and plain himation (mantle). This type, according to the top and mantle, and the hair style and iconographic schema, seems to date to the fifth century BC. Type D represents a transitional step to the second group, though remaining in the first: the mantle is realized as a large himation, wrapping the body and presenting folds.

The second group of statues, types E, F, G and H, presents statues veiled with the himation, covering head, shoulders, and the lower part of the body, but leaving uncovered the upper part of the bust. The iconographic schema is very well known, because it is the typical attitude of weeping figures (Lullies and Hirmer Reference Lullies and Hirmer1957, 84–86, pls 207–209): one arm bent at the height of the belt and the second either raised to the cheek in a gesture of sadness (H),or holding a piece of the veil (E, F, G) as if to reveal the face, in a gesture of the anakalypsis. This second group seem to belong mainly to the fourth century, as attested by the rendering of the folds of dress and mantle and by the treatment of the hair.

The third group (types I, L, M, N, O, P) dates to the Hellenistic period, presenting a proliferation of new sub-types and variations. The figures are represented up to the hips, the head is veiled, the himation completely wraps the upper part of the figure with rich and soft folds and part of the face is visible. The statues also show features of the face, such as the mouth, nose and eyes, but without any specific physiognomic characterization.

The fourth and last group of Beschi (Q, R, S, T, U, V) is not a proper homogeneous group, but is mainly statues which are not easily fitted into groups1–3, being a sort of hybridization of types or simply different.

Within this typology, the small marble statue, the subject of this appendix, which was recently found at Baggara (Figure 20) belongs to Beschi type C and seem to date to the fifth century BC. It is just 8–9 cm tall (but originally taller) and 4 cm wide, and presents the figure from the hips. The head, the left forearm and hand are lost. The rest of the statue is well preserved, other than very recent damage to the frontal part and the neck. It is made of white marble, probably Penthelic, pure white, with thin crystal grains and an opaque patina, reddish in colour due to the oxidation of the local iron-rich earth. The female figure is presented, as usual, standing, with front-facing features, and is wearing a large chiton (top) with deep parallel folds in the lower part of the body, which seems quite rigid. A short, thick and plain mantle covers both shoulders and the upper part of the bust. The mantle is held onto the shoulders by little loops and the frontal part, on the breast, could be part of the mantle itself or a kolpos of the top (generally quite typical of the peplum and not of the chiton) or even a short apoptygma. What is left of the neck suggests that the head was not veiled and the neck was nude, so the statue was not wearing a long wig or hairstyle. The left hand was bent, but the forearm is lost and it is therefore difficult to understand the real meaning of the gesture. On the contrary the right arm is bent and the hand holds a pomegranate (Figure 21), which is a typical attribute of Kore and Demeter. It can be compared to bust no. 6 of Beschi's catalogue, bearing the same attribute, dated around the first half or the middle of the fifth century BC. Attributes are quite rare in this class; quite often, they only have snake-bracelets on the arms. But between the end of the sixth and the fifth centuries sculptors tried to develop the style of the first group of sculptures: alabastra (perfume vase, three sculptures), taenia (ribbon, only one) and pomegranates. A sculpture sold on the art market by Bonham's in London in October 2016 shows three of them between the hands (Figure 22).

Figure 21.

The right hand of the statuette with the pomegranate; back side of the statette (photo by A.Abdalrahim Shariff Saad).

Figure 22.

Funerary goddess sold by Bonhams, London, 28 October 2009, lot n°205 (photo after M. Belzic).

Returning to the small statue, the figure (Figure 21) is very roughly finished, probably because the back side was not visible when on display. However, it presents remains of two arms, as if the statuette was re-sculpted on an earlier small figure, reusing the back of the earlier figure, which was probably from the same category. A very particular feature of this statue is its size (when complete it was not more than 10/12 cm tall). It is a very small version of the typical funerary goddess from Cyrene and its location within the funerary monument explains why similar small statues are rarely found: most of the funerary goddesses currently found and published are much larger and thus more visible and are often found lying on the ground, but as very few archaeological investigations have been carried out in the necropolis, the small versions are rarely discovered. During Rowe's exactions in the 50s, (Rowe Reference Rowe1959), at least 16 sculptures, fragmentary, were discovered in the zone of sarcophagus and rock-cut tombs N.81–83; and with one exception (Beschi no. 15), they were all no more than 30 cm tall, in limestone or clay (Beschi Reference Beschi1972, fig. 6).We know only one other funerary goddess statuette of this size. Sadly, it was sold on the art market in Jerusalem by the gallery Biblical Artifacts, along with a funerary portrait stolen in Derna in 2005. Its measurements are 13.2 cm high, 12 cm wide. But the type is quite different, belonging to Beschi's third group, type P, probably dating to the Hellenistic Period (Figure 23).

Figure 23.

Funerary goddess from Cyrenaica, on sale in Jerusalem in 2016. H. 13.2 cm. Marble. Beschi's type P (photo after M.Belzic).

There are four possible locations for our statuette, which explain the size and the unfinished back. A first possibility is that it could have been located within the niche of a small free standing naiskos: in this case it could have been a small funerary monument along a road, but not specifically related to a tomb. At Cyrene these types of monuments are rarely attested, especially for the sixth and fifth centuries BC, and is therefore quite difficult to find parallels. However, the measurements of the statuette seem to belong to a naiskos rather than to the façade of a tomb. As a parallel, Beschi (Beschi Reference Beschi1972, 320–321 fig. 115) published a statue of Kore, quite similar to the Cyrenaican funerary statue, with the attribute of a pomegranate, as here, coming from Durres (now in Vienna), which was located within a funerary naiskos with a similar function to the statues in Cyrene.

A second possibility is a location within a niche, but on the façade of a tomb, for instance in a niche on a naiskos type façade of a rock-cut tomb, as attested for instance for larger funerary statues belonging to the Late Archaic and Classical periods. Tomb W152, in the Western Necropolis, presents a naiskos façade with a niche for a funerary statue within the pediment. In this case the statue of the funerary goddess is lost, but the shape of the niche suggests that the statue is type A or B: a bust cut at the shoulders or armpits. The dating of these typologies is Archaic/early Classical. Another rock-cut tomb with niches for funerary statues is the type with a false portico and lintels with acroteria (Thorn type C and see Di Valerio, this volume), for example tomb W22. In this case the shape of the niche (the statue is missing) suggests a funerary goddess type Beschi D, completely covered by a large himation, and therefore dating between the middle and the end of the fifth century BC. Similar niches can be observed on the facades of tombs W151, S193, N8 and on the Beschi Tomb near the N196. The size of the statuette, however, seems to be too small for a tomb façade and small niches are attested on the facades of the monumental tombs at Cyrene in Roman times, belonging to the Romano-Libyan funerary portraits.

A third possibility for the location of the statuette is on top of a sarcophagus, as suggested for the statuette (inv M 1185) found by Alan Rowe (Figure 24) and recently drawn and published by Thorn (Reference Thorn2005, fig. 6). This example comes from the Northern Necropolis (courtyard of N81, N81KK), and was found during the excavation by A. Rowe and represents an earlier version. It has a very frontal impact and the back is completely plain. It is wearing a top or mantle, which completely covers the arms. The face is very frontal, with a very curly hair style and a polos (a plain crown) on the head. According to Thorn it was located on a sarcophagus, maybe N81-RR, and was finished only on the frontal, visible part. The only problem in this case is the stratigraphy, related to an enclosure of sarcophagi dating to the fifth century BC, but also reused later, so the dating is little unclear. The small statue was partially published by Beschi (Reference Beschi1972, 220, no. 13, fig.6b). According to Beschi it dates to the end of the fifth century BC, but it could be earlier. It is characterized by a long himation, completely covering the body, including the hands but not the head, and is therefore an example of the Beschi's type D. Another example, now in Sousa Museum (Figure 25), comes from the courtyard N 83-S (Thorn Reference Thorn2005, fig. 333). A third is also in Soussa but without known provenance. The examples from the N81, N 83-S and in Soussa both date to the fifth century BC, but are still very Archaic in style, probably due to the conservative tradition of the local workshops. These statuettes measure between 24 and 30 cm, so a little taller than the example from Baggara.

Figure 24.

Statuette (inv M 1185) which has been found by Alan Rowe; Funerary Goddess from Cyrene, N 81 KK. Left: Drawing by J. Thorn. Right: reconstruction, after Beschi's illustration, by M.Belzic.

Figure 25.

Funerary goddess in Sousa Museum. Left: drawing by J. Thorn. Centre: photo by M. Belzic after S. Marini). Right: unknown provenance, Cyrene or Apollonia, (photo by M. Belzic after S. Marini).

A fourth possibility is that the statuette was a representation of Kore as part of a more complex representation, with a small Kore/Persephones on one hand of a larger Demeter, representing the anodos of Persephone coming back from Hades and helped by her mother. In this case the back of the statue was unfinished because it was not visible, and laid on the bust of Demeter. This kind of composition can be found for instance in the statue which was recently recovered from the black market and is at the moment in the British Museum (Figure 26), waiting to go back to Cyrene (see https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/11503807/Court-sits-at-British-Museum-for-first-time-as-judge-studies-looted-Libyan-sculpture.html – accessed June 2019). The statue is life-size, cut below the hips, as if emerging from the underworld and bringing with her a small statuette, possibly Persephones in her anodos. The representation is also quite evocative for the role of these funerary goddesses as supporting the souls on their journey, having a function similar to that of a psicopompos god. This statuette is in low relief and is not free standing. The iconographic schema, as well as the treatment of the himation suggest that it is slightly later than the one from Baggara and therefore this fourth possibility is less likely.

Figure 26.

Funerary goddess seized in 2013 in Great Britain (photo by M. Belzic).

It is quite difficult to say which of these possibilities is the most plausible, particularly as this statuette is rare, typologically. However, its casual discovery along the road suggest that there is a large quantity of funerary finds in the ancient suburb of the site, stressing the need for the necropolis to be monitored constantly. On the other hand, it is encouraging that the boy who found the statuette went directly to the DoA because he understood that it was an important part of his cultural heritage. Conferences, meetings and small exhibitions should be organized for schools in order to further improve this consciousness that their patrimony, currently in danger, could be lost for ever.

The Northern Necropolis: the status of damages up to 2018 (M.G. Di Antonio)

Cyrene offers one of the largest and most spectacular necropoleis of the Mediterranean, however, its size makes it difficult to monitor and protect. An extraordinary patrimony of rock-cut architecture was carved around the ancient site, but this has now becomes a zone at major risk of damage and destruction as a result of continuous looting and vandalism.

The Northern Necropolis is certainly the best-known area in Cyrene from an architectural point of view, since most of the monuments are rock-cut, with many tombs whose life spans extend from the sixth century BC until at least the fifth century AD. It embraced a wide range of structural types such as rock-cut chamber tombs, monumental built tombs and upstanding sarcophagi (Cassels Reference Cassels1955; Thorn Reference Thorn2005). Many tombs were excavated during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but others have been looted over a long period of time.

The vastness and the monumentality of the area made suggested the need for a systematic project: this was started by the Chieti University Team in 2004. Survey, excavation and GIS mapping were carried out in three seasons (2011, 2012 and 2013) by a joint team of the DoA and Chieti University to map and evaluate the damages. The results have already been presented in preliminary reports attesting the looting of many tombs (Mziene and Al Raeid Reference Mziene and Al Raeid2015; Al Raeid et al.Reference Al Raeid, Di Valerio, Di Antonio, Menozzi, AbdalgaderElMziene and Tamburrino2016).

The situation after 2011 changed rapidly: a lack of control increased these issues, which reached maximum intensity between 2014 and 2015. The situation is tragic, especially for the large necropoleis surrounding Cyrene. Due to its landscape, the Northern Necropolis is possibly less prone to the vast destructions which the Southern and Eastern cemeteries have suffered, but many tombs are located very close to modern Shahat, and are often vandalized, destroyed or heavily damaged.

Several damages have been mapped, mainly caused by looting in the remote sections of the necropolis. Robbery and damages in uncontrolled sites or monuments have always been a big problem in Libya, especially because the younger generations did not properly understand or care about their own past, and too often archaeology was seen by them as a problem for new buildings, or as a source for illegal earnings.

Vandalism is a real problem, and the phenomenon includes many different kinds of damage, from charcoal writing, graffiti and spray colours, to the partial or total destruction of a monument. The main cause of such problems is the asphalted road running through the Northern Necropolis directly towards Apollonia. During the week, many people coming from outside stop near the monuments to have picnics and light fires for tea, and they leave their rubbish when they go home.

Other kinds of damage arise from animal grazing (Figure 27) in the archaeological areas and the wild vegetation (Figure 28) that irreparably attacks the monuments from both the outside and the inside, especially in the case of painted tombs (Menozzi and Tamburrino Reference Menozzi and Tamburrino2012) or tombs with mosaics.

Figure 27.

Northern necropolis: uncontrolled animal grazing (Photo by author).

Figure 28.

Northern necropolis: Tomb N1 covered by wild vegetation (Image © 2019 Maxar Technologies - © Google 3/10/2019).

An important step forwards in the last few years has been the use of remote sensing and photo interpretation analysis to map the damages of urbanization and modern construction in the areas of the necropolis. This project is still ongoing and consists of surveys and remote sensing analyses based on numerous satellite images regularly taken over the past four years. During the last five years it has been impossible for the Italian Mission to work in Cyrene; nevertheless, the Libyan members of the joint team continued the fieldwork in close contact with their Italian colleagues. In fact, as a result of the continuous monitoring by remote sensing and photo-interpretation, new critical areas affected by uncontrolled urbanization, vandalism and looting were spotted, and our Libyan colleagues at the DoA were immediately informed (Menozzi and Di Antonio Reference Menozzi and Di Antonio2018). Thanks to this system of prompt notification, they were able to visit the sites at risk, to monitor the development of the situation, in several cases even to stop the bulldozers and, when appropriate, to excavate and document the site.Footnote ⁹

The long and systematic mapping and remote sensing of the necropoleis has already produced a series of reports, some of which have been published in Libyan Studies (Al Raeid et al. Reference Al Raeid, Di Valerio, Di Antonio, Menozzi, AbdalgaderElMziene and Tamburrino2016) and in Libya Antiqua (Menozzi, Di Antonio, Di Valerio Reference Di Valerio2015; Mziene and Al Raeid Reference Mziene and Al Raeid2015; Petraccia et al. Reference Petraccia, Abdalrahim and Abdel hati2015; Tamburrino Reference Tamburrino2015).

Development in and around Cyrene is now completely out of control and there is a great danger that this World Heritage Site (WHS), one of the great jewels of the Libyan heritage, will be irrevocably damaged (Abdulkariem and Bennett Reference Abdulkariem and Bennett2014), so for this reason the University of Chieti in collaboration with DoA have created a common protocol for the protection of Libyan Heritage, whose results were submitted to UNESCO. This work is shown in the first part of this paper.

In the last survey, carried out by Abdalrahim Sheriff Saad and Farag Abdel Hati in 2018, we see that the problems of the Necropolis are always the same: graffiti, rubbish dumping, illegal excavation and uncontrolled urbanization. Vandalism and tomb robbing has affected areas such as the Tomb of the Mnesiarchoi and the Archaic Complex of Largo Tassoni.

Tomb N171, or Tomb of the Mnesarchoi (Beschi Reference Beschi1972, 168–186), was vandalised because of its position along the road and also affected by the growth of the vegetation. This tomb is a very interesting example of an architectural façade tomb. During the activities of Chieti mission in 2009 the tomb was cleaned, the bases of the columns of the porch repositioned, and the eastern area of the courtyard excavated, while the collapse of the eastern Cyrenacan anta (half pilaster + half column) is finally visible again.

The technicians of the DoA now report in 2018 that many blocks have been destroyed and among the architectural remains there are burnt traces and rubbish everywhere. On one side of the complex there is an opening, usually closed by gates, inside which there were fragments of statues. Now the gates have been torn off and the interior is full of rubbish. Even if the bases and some fragments of statues are still in situ, they are in very bad condition. Moreover, there are many new black writings on the façadeand one gate has been removed. (Figure 29).

Figure 29.

Northern necropolis: Mnesiarchi's tomb and the free entry to the side room with fragments of statues (photo by A.S.Sheriff Saad).

The Archaic Complex at Largo Tassoni (Menozzi in Cherstich et al. Reference Cherstich, Menozzi, Antonelli and Cherstich2018, 132–133) was discovered in 2009 during a survey which demonstrated the existence of one of the few examples of an untouched Archaic chamber tomb with portico. The excavation demonstrated the long use of the complex, including phases with an early Classical sarcophagus chamber, three rock-cut sarcophagi dating to the Late Classical period, carved just above two loculi tombs dating to the Hellenistic period. There were also several Roman and Late Roman burials within the earlier tombs.Footnote ¹⁰ During last season in December 2013 rubbish deposited inside and outside the complex was removed.

The last pictures of September 2018 show the following situations: rubbish everywhere, wild grazing, new graffiti, the area in front of the complex being used as a parking and picnic space, while a new building grows on the terrace above, an area rich in sarcophagi (Figure 30).

Figure 30.

Northern necropolis: New building in sarcophagi area (photo by A.S.Sheriff Saad).

The other tombs along the road suffer from similar problems and many of them whose entrances were closed are now open, with the iron gates removed or torn off (Figure 31). Furthermore there were once large blocks of cement placed to stop illegal parking, but these blocks have now been removed (Figure 32).

Figure 31.

Northern necropolis: Tomb with Doric façade and the removal of most of the gates (photo by author).

Figure 32.

Northern necropolis: views of the tombs along the main road and the removal of the anti-parking blocks (photo by author).

It is worth remembering that the limits of the Northern Necropolis are not those classically published by Cassels (Reference Cassels1955). Below the Sanctuary of Apollo, in the bottom of the Wadi Bu Turchia there are many unrecorded tombs. These monuments are farther from the road, and therefore they are less at risk of being vandalized by casual visitors. Nevertheless, they still suffer damages since most of these rock-cut chambers are still inhabited, or used as stables or storerooms by locals.

Moreover, few months ago, (Figure 33) a large fire damaged some of the tombs and destroyed the vegetation which in turn revealed new tombs, previously not visible. This has caused new looting, which has been, luckily, stopped during last few weeks by the DoA.

Figure 33.

Northern necropolis: the recent fire affecting the area (photo by S.Allanabi).

In conclusion, the big problem at this Necropolis is the unorganised tourism by uneducated locals. There is a need to educate the locals, starting from the younger generation, about the history and treasures of this amazing country. A new sense of pride in their cultural patrimony must be created. This should include not only archaeological sites and finds, but also the architectural patrimony of every period, the natural resources, such as wild parks in the beautiful widian, as well as the finds and the anthropological patrimony. The aim should be the integration of the modern town within the ancient remains, spreading an awareness of the importance of these monuments to their cultural heritage.