From Tripolitania to the Pyramids

Tripolitania was a Carthaginian, Roman and later Ottoman province (including ancient Oea, Leptis Magna and Sabratha – the latter two now UNESCO Heritage sites). Throughout the ages the seaways between Italy and North Africa served the ancient mariners as routes for trade, conquest and expansion. This complex overlay of Mediterranean, African and Arabic cultural infl uences resulted in a diverse rich archaeological and historical legacy bequeathed by the Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans. Until comparatively recently a visit to Libya was fraught with diffi culties and the ruins of once thriving and civilised cities such as Leptis Magna and Sabratha were not exposed to the same level of tourism and commercialisation as other parts of the Roman world, indeed had lain undisturbed for centuries. Leptis Magna is considered one of the greatest Roman ruins in the Mediterranean region and renowned for its spectacular architecture; monumental arches, huge marble and granite baths, shrines, forums, and amphitheatres.

The National Museum in Tripoli displays an incredible array of wellpreserved mosaics and ancient statuary from the sites.
The Pyramids need, of course, little introduction, being the only surviving ‘Ancient Wonder of the World’, but nobody should miss the opportunity of a closer examination by day and by night. Napoleon’s expedition to Egypt in 1798 allowed his ‘savants’ to start cataloguing the ancient sites leading to the deciphering of hieroglyphics by Champollion in 1821 and subsequent interest led to the extraction of many treasures to Europe until the establishment of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo in 1902 allowed the retention of many fi nds including Tutankhamun’s treasures (a small number of which are featured in the recent London exhibition).