Libya Antiqua is the journal of record of the Libyan Department of Antiquities and an essential publication for all interested in Libyan heritage. It has had a somewhat chequered history since its first edition in 1964, with progressive time lag in the appearance of volumes in the late 1970s and eventual disappearance in the 1980s. The last volume in the original series (volumes XV–XVI), ostensibly for 1978–79, actually appeared in 1987. The revival of the journal in a new series was launched in 1995 with L'Erma di Bretschneider. But after the appearance of the first four volumes from 1995 to 1998, that too ran into production delays by the late 1990s. Volume V appeared after a long gap in 2010, but then, with the Libyan civil war, there has been a further hiatus. The reasons for the various interruptions and delays have varied – financial, editorial direction, difficulties with printers and publishers and so on. One of the consequences of the gaps in the journal of record is that some major projects have not featured (or barely so), as with the UNESCO Libyan Valleys Survey of the 1980s or the Fazzan Project of the late 1990s (more than one submitted report on the latter was never published). However, quite remarkably, no fewer than four new volumes of the journal appeared in 2016 – like the proverbial convoy of long-awaited London buses. This short note is to advertise and celebrate news of this latest revival of Libya Antiqua to the Libyan Studies readership and to note a few highlights. There is a new publisher, Fabrizio Serra Editore, who should be thanked, though perhaps inevitably the high cover price set by L'Erma di Bretschneider remains.

The rich bounty of the four new volumes (totalling nearly 750 pages in English and 175 pages in Arabic) owes much to the diligence, resourcefulness and perseverance of the editors. The original journal was founded by Antonino Di Vita, Richard Goodchild and Aissa el-Aswed, and Di Vita was to have a crucial influence in its various phases of rebirth. His personal commitment to the journal must be acknowledged and in its revised format a critical role has now been played by his widow, Maria Antonietta Rizzo Di Vita. Alongside her, the other editors in chief have been president of the Department of Antiquities in Tripoli, Abdul Rahman Yakhlef and Nicola Bonacasa. Special mention must also be made of the contributions of Mustafa Turjman and Fatima Bahni. The new series has not attempted to cover all the missing time period, but has restarted the clock at 2009. Much of volumes VI–IX is inevitably taken up with field reports from various international missions covering their work in the period after 2009, though there is also a short summary on the Wilson/Bennett work on Euesperides from 1999 to 2006. Many of the reports are fairly concise, though very useful, summaries of this work, but more substantial or novel contributions include the work of the Macerata/Di Vita team at Lepcis and Sabratha (VI, 17–82), the Polish team at Ptolemais (VII, 117–28; IX, 11–40) or Sebastiano Tusa's underwater coastal survey (IX, 41–65). There are also some updates on older projects, such as the Italian investigation of the Flavian temple at Lepcis (VII, 131–56, including a fabulous reconstruction), a synthesis on Christian burials (including the catacomb) at Sabratha (IX, 125–62) and an epigraphic review for Cyrenaica by Dobias-Lalou (VII, 185–93). As well as the work of the foreign missions, the volumes feature important discoveries by staff of the Department of Antiquities, such as the Late Antique cemetery at Tripoli (VII, 157–72) or the coastal site of Pisida/Bu Khammash (IX, 87–96). Several contributions deal specifically with the dramatic increase in threats to heritage after 2011 (VI, 169–78; VII, 55–62, 111–15; VIII, 109–16, 169–75; IX, 67–81).

A particularly striking feature of the four volumes is the roll call of obituaries – a depressingly long list because of the time lag, but containing many giants of Libyan archaeology: Mahmoud Abu Hamed, Fadlallah Abdul Salam Abdul Hamid, Abdulgader Mzeini, Abdusalam Bazama, Antonino Di Vita, Fabrizio Mori, Andre Laronde, Mario Luni, Helmut Ziegert, Thomas Mikocki.

Overall, these volumes are valuable additions to the fundamental record of Libya's heritage, all the more precious in view of the country's current difficulties and its beleaguered Department of Antiquities, whose staff are to be congratulated on their continuing work to protect and promote the region's extraordinary heritage.