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108-581: Traditionally, Al Wahat was the western part of Cyrenaica . With the division of Libya into ten governorates in 1963, Al Wahat became part of the Misrata Governorate. In the 1973 reorganization, it became part of Al Khalji Governorate. In 1983, Al Khalji was divided into a number of baladiyat (districts) , with what is now Al Wahat being included in the Ajdabiya baladiyah and the Jalu baladiyah. In

216-408: A Mediterranean climate of hot, dry summers and relatively mild and rainy winters. The plant communities of this portion of Cyrenaica include forest, woodland, maquis , garrigue , steppe and oak savanna . Garrigue shrublands occupy the non-agricultural portions coastal plain and coastal escarpments, with Sarcopoterium spinosum , along with Asphodelus ramosus and Artemisia herba-alba , as

324-574: A temple and theater complex, is located south of the Wadi Bil Ghadir ravine, outside the city walls. The Sanctuary comprised structures sprawled out over twenty miles and are divided into three terraces: the Lower, Middle and Upper Sanctuaries. The archaeological remains date from the late seventh century BC to the mid-third century AD. During the time of this sacred activity at the Sanctuary

432-521: A treasury at Delphi between 350 and 325 BC. When Alexander the Great conquered Egypt in 331 BC and marched west to visit the oracle at Siwah , the Cyreneans sent an embassy to declare their friendship; they did not come under Macedonian control. An inscription records that during a famine in the late 320s, Cyrene sent over 800,000 medimni of grain (ca. 40,000,000 litres ) to the cities of Greece and

540-606: A Greek original, which prompted them to restrict their base to the Acropolis. The statue was transported to Rome, where it remained until 2008, when it was returned to Libya. The village of Shahat grew up on the site as a result of the Italian presence. The Italians created an antiquities service and, after the discovery of the Venus of Cyrene, carried out excavations at Cyrene on a very large scale, which were closely connected with

648-470: A Hellenized Jew by the name of Jason of Cyrene who lived around 100 BC. After 96 BC, the Romans initially ignored the new territory. Plutarch mentions a tyrant of Cyrene, Nicocrates , who was deposed by his wife Aretaphila of Cyrene and succeeded by his brother Learchus, who was murdered in turn. Lucullus visited the city in 87 BC, suppressed the tyranny and granted Cyrene a new constitution. But it

756-717: A battle, after which the Cyrenean exiles and the followers of Ariston reconciled. The surviving Messenians settled at Euhesperides. There are some signs that civic conflict continued over the following century. During the fourth century BC, Cyrene clashed with Carthage over the Syrtis and the trans-Saharan trade routes that ended there. The border was established at the Altars of the Phileni . Cyrene may also have extended its control eastwards to Catabathmus Magnus . Cyrene constructed

864-600: A depression. This eastern region, known in ancient times as Marmarica , is much drier than the Jebel Akhdar and here the Sahara extends to the coast. Historically, salt-collecting and sponge fishing were more important than agriculture. Bomba and Tobruk have good harbors. South of the coastal highlands of Cyrenaica is a large east–west running depression, extending eastward from the Gulf of Sidra into Egypt. This region of

972-631: A disciple of Socrates . In the Hellenistic Age , the city alternated between being part of Ptolemaic Egypt and the capital of an independent kingdom. It was also an important Jewish hub. In 96 BC, it passed to the Roman Republic and became part of the province of Crete and Cyrenaica . The city was destroyed by Jewish fighters in AD 115 during the Diaspora revolt , and slowly rebuilt over

1080-684: A governor holding the modest rank of praeses . Both belonged to the Diocese of the Orient, with its capital at Antioch in Syria, and from 370, to the Diocese of Egypt , within the Praetorian prefecture of Oriens . Its western neighbor Tripolitania , the largest split-off from Africa proconsularis, became part of the Diocese of Africa , subordinate to the prefecture of Italia et Africa . Following

1188-468: A hurriedly built new defensive wall enclosed only the western half of the city. The civic hub shifted north from the street of Battus to the Valley street and many of the old public spaces were filled in with housing and shops. In the reforms of Diocletian , Cyrene became part of the new province of Libya Superior (also called Pentapolis). The Roman Martyrology mentions under 4 July a tradition that in

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1296-498: A later date. A Greek myth first recorded by Pindar in the early fifth century BC reports that the god Apollo fell in love with the huntress Cyrene and brought her to Libya, where she gave birth to a son Aristaeus . Greek historical traditions, reported in Herodotus ' Histories and in a fourth-century BC inscription found at Cyrene, say that a group of Cretan Greeks, who had been expelled from Sparta and settled on

1404-537: A length of 68.3 metres and a width of 30.4 metres, making it roughly the same size as the Temple of Zeus at Olympia and the Parthenon at Athens . The front porch ( pronaos ) was supported by two columns in antis ; the back porch ( opisthodomos ) by three columns in antis. The cella was two stories high and two rows of columns divided it into three aisles. The external colonnade ( peripteros ) has eight columns at

1512-540: A major Archiepiscopal Metropolis in the days of Pope John VI of Alexandria , it was held as a Titular See attached to another Diocese. After being repeatedly destroyed and restored during the Roman period Pentapolis became a mere borough, but was nevertheless the site of a diocese. Its bishop, Zopyrus , was present at the First Council of Nicaea in 325. The subscriptions at Ephesus (431) and Chalcedon (451) give

1620-628: A mass of Miocene limestone that tilts up steeply from the Mediterranean Sea and falls inland with a gradual descent to sea level again. This mass is divided into two blocks. The Jebel Akhdar extends parallel to the coast from the Gulf of Sidra to the Gulf of Bomba and reaches an elevation of 882 meters. There is no continuous coastal plain, the longest strip running from the recess of Gulf of Sidra past Benghazi to Tolmeita . Thereafter, except for deltaic patches at Susa and Derna ,

1728-514: A military expedition against Cyrene, but was decisively defeated at the Battle of Irasa. According to Herodotus, conflict with king Arcesilaus II "the Cruel" (ca. 560-550 BC) led his brothers to leave the city and found the city of Barca to the west. Archaeological evidence shows that Greek presence at Barca predates this foundation, going back to the seventh century. Arcesilaus was defeated by

1836-563: A military rebellion at Tobruk in 1980. In 2007, the Green Mountain Conservation and Development Authority, headed by Saif al-Islam Gaddafi , announced a regional plan for Cyrenaica, developed by the firm Foster and Partners . The plan, known as The Cyrene Declaration, aimed to revive Cyrenaica's agriculture, create a national park and develop the region as a cultural and eco-tourism destination. The announced pilot projects included plans for three hotels, including

1944-404: A minor Socratic school founded by Aristippus (perhaps the friend of Socrates , though according to some accounts a grandson of Aristippus with the same name). French Neo-Epicurean philosopher Michel Onfray has called Cyrene "a philosophical Atlantis" thanks to its huge importance in the birth and initial development of the ethics of pleasure. Known bishops of the town include No longer

2052-528: A result of the migration by Arab tribes, Cyrenaica became more Arab than any place in the Arab world except for the interior of Arabia . The Ayyubid emir Qaraqush marched into the Maghreb and according to al-Maqrizi had taken control of Cyrenaica on orders of Saladin who wanted to use the province as an agricultural base. The Mamluks were seemingly unable to exert any significant control and had to ally with

2160-447: A reward for remaining loyal. Ptolemy engaged in a wide-ranging construction project in the city, including the construction of a monumental gymnasium . He also had a will inscribed, promising Cyrene to the Roman Republic in the event that he died without heirs. However, he regained control of Egypt in 145 BC. In the dynastic conflicts that followed, Cyrene probably remained under the control of Ptolemy VIII and then of Ptolemy IX . It

2268-435: A special governor styled praefectus augustalis ) in 30 BC. Diocletian 's Tetrarchy reforms of 293 altered Cyrenaica's administrative structure. It was split into two provinces: Libya Superior or Libya Pentapolis , comprising the above-mentioned Pentapolis, with Cyrene as its capital, and Libya Inferior or Libya Sicca , comprising Marmarica, with the important port city of Paraetonium as its capital. Each came under

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2376-400: A temple to Demeter . There is a large necropolis approximately 10 km between Cyrene and its ancient port of Apollonia. The Temple of Zeus was the largest ancient Greek temple at Cyrene, and one of the largest Greek temples ever built. The original Doric octastyle peripteral temple was constructed around 500-480 BC, It faced east and stood atop a three-stepped crepidoma , with

2484-435: A voluminous amount of votive material was accumulated in its interior: pottery, lamps, coinage, stone sculpture, jewellery, inscriptions, glass, as well as bronze and terracotta figurines . The pottery excavated at the Sanctuary provides useful evidence concerning both the question of its foundation and type of religious activity. The necropolis consists of graves, rock-cut tombs, temple-tombs, and sarcophagi, dating from

2592-474: Is recorded in inscriptions and visible archaeologically; it was not completed until the reign of Commodus . The city was an early member of Hadrian's Panhellenion and a long inscription records its attempts to block membership for one of its neighbours. Cyrene was once again prosperous by the third quarter of the second century AD and several palaces date to this period, including the House of Jason Magnus . In

2700-534: Is surrounded by the Necropolis of Cyrene . Since 1982, it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site . The city's port was Apollonia (Marsa Sousa) , located about 16 kilometres (10 mi) to the north. The city was attributed to Apollo and the legendary etymon Cyrene by the Greeks themselves but it was probably actually colonized by settlers from Thera (modern Santorini ) in the late seventh century BC. It

2808-526: The Achaemenid governor of Egypt, Aryandes , who besieged and sacked Barca in 515 BC. According to Herodotus, Aryandes marched his troops through Cyrene and then, regretting that he had not taken the opportunity to conquer Cyrene, attempted to get back in, but was prevented. The story is strange; it may be that the city was actually conquered by the Persians. Remains of an extramural temple destroyed by

2916-742: The Crete earthquake of 365 , the capital was moved to Ptolemais . After the Empire's division, Cyrenaica became part of the East Roman Empire ( Byzantine Empire ), bordering Tripolitania. It was briefly part of the Vandal Kingdom to the west, until its reconquest by Belisarius in 533. The Tabula Peutingeriana shows Pentapolites to the east of Syrtes Maiores , indicating the cities of Bernice, Hadrianopolis, Taucheira, Ptolomaide, Callis, Cenopolis, Balacris and Cyrene. According to

3024-461: The Italian invasion of Libya in 1911. The tomb of the excavation's epigrapher, Herbert de Cou, who was shot in mysterious circumstances, is located on the site. The Italian colonial government established a military base at the site in 1913. In the course of building the base, Italian soldiers found the " Venus of Cyrene ", a headless marble statue representing the goddess Venus, a Roman copy of

3132-703: The Kingdom of Libya was established and granted independence. In 1949, Idris al-Senussi, with British backing, proclaimed the independent Emirate of Cyrenaica . This emirate became part of the Kingdom of Libya when it was established, and an independent kingdom on 24 December 1951, with Idris al-Senussi becoming King Idris. Since 1 September 1969, when the Senussi dynasty was overthrown by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi , Cyrenaica occasionally experienced nationalist activity against Gaddafi's military dictatorship , including

3240-786: The Marble Arch as a form of an imperial triumphal arch at the border between Cyrenaica and Tripolitani near the coast. There was heavy fighting in Cyrenaica during World War II on the part of the Allies against the Italian Army and the Nazi German Afrika Korps . In late 1942, Allied forces liberated Cyrenaica from Axis occupation and the United Kingdom administered most of Libya through 1951, when

3348-591: The Palaeolithic . There is some evidence for settlement in the caves below the Acropolis which may pre-date Greek settlement. It is possible that Minoans and Mycenaeans visited Cyrene in the Bronze Age , since it is on the easiest sea route from the Aegean to Egypt, but the only archaeological evidence for this are separate finds of a small Minoan altar and a Minoan seal, which might have been brought over at

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3456-490: The Robber Council of Ephesus in 449 and there was still a bishop of Cyrene, named Leontius, at the time of Patriarch Eulogius of Alexandria (580–607). The city fell under Arab conquest in 643. At some point thereafter it was abandoned, but the ancient name lived on as "Grennah" in the 19th century. The site was totally abandoned in the early modern period. Frederick and Richard Beechey visited and produced

3564-441: The Roman Republic . The Latin name Cyrenaica (or Kyrenika ) dates to the first century BC. Although some confusion exists as to the exact territory Rome inherited, by 78 BC it was organized as one administrative province together with Crete . It became a senatorial province in 20 BC, like its far more prominent western neighbor Africa proconsularis , and unlike Egypt itself, which became an imperial domain sui generis (under

3672-793: The Synoptic Gospels , Simon of Cyrene carried the cross of Jesus Christ to the crucifixion. According to one tradition, Mark the Evangelist was born in the Pentapolis, and later returned after preaching with Paul the Apostle in Colosse (Col 4:10) and Rome (Phil 24; 2 Tim 4:11); from Pentapolis he made his way to Alexandria . Early Christianity spread to Pentapolis from Egypt; Synesius of Cyrene (370–414), bishop of Ptolemais , received his instruction at Alexandria in both

3780-751: The Treaty of Triparadisus in 321 BC. Cyrenean rebels attempted to expel the Ptolemaic garrison in 313 BC, but Ptolemy sent reinforcements who suppressed the revolt. In 308 BC, Ophellas led Cyrenaean and Athenian troops west to join Agathocles of Syracuse 's attack on Carthage and was immediately murdered. Cyrene rebelled against Ptolemy again around 305 BC. Control was re-established in 300 BC by Ptolemy's step-son Magas . After Ptolemy's death in 282 BC, Magas refused to submit to his half-brother Ptolemy II and had crowned himself king by 276 BC. He married Apama

3888-622: The administrative divisions of Libya , since 1995. The 2011 Libyan Civil War started in Cyrenaica, which came largely under the control of the National Transitional Council (headquartered in Benghazi ) for most of the war. In 2012, a body known as the Cyrenaica Transitional Council unilaterally declared Cyrenaica to be an autonomous region of Libya. Geologically, Cyrenaica rests on

3996-714: The caravanserai until it reaches the gates of the city. Below the Acropolis to the north, the Springs of Apollo and Cyra emerge from the cliff-face onto a triangular plateau at the base of the Wadi Bu Turqiyah. This plateau contains the Greek Theatre , the Sanctuary of Apollo , and the Baths of Trajan . From the sanctuary, a road known as "Valley Street" leads southeast up the Wadi Bu Turqiyah, roughly parallel to

4104-530: The persecution of Diocletian a bishop Theodorus of Cyrene was scourged and had his tongue cut out. Earlier editions of the Martyrology mentioned what may be the same person also under 26 March. Another earthquake destroyed the city on 21 July 365. Skeletons crushed by falling masonry have been found and one tomb inscription mentions the earthquake. A contemporary historian, Ammianus Marcellinus , describes Cyrene as "an ancient but deserted city." However,

4212-540: The theater inside the Sanctuary of Apollo . In 2017 UNESCO added Cyrene to its List of World Heritage in Danger . Cyrene is now an archaeological site north of the village of Shahhat and east of Bayda , on a ridge of the Jabal Akhdar, about 600 metres above sea level. The southern edge of the ridge and the city is formed by the Wadi Bil Ghadir and the northern edge by the Wadi Bu Turqiyah. The Acropolis, at

4320-710: The "Street of Battus", lined by a stepped portico and the Aqua Augusta , past the Baths of Paris to the Market Theatre and the Central Quarter , which contains several public buildings and palatial residences. To the northeast, on another ridge, but still inside the city walls, is the largely unexcavated northeastern quarter, containing the Temple of Zeus, the hippodrome, and the East Church. Outside

4428-481: The 1988 reorganization, Jalu was subsumed within Ajdabiya baladiyah . The status of the area in the reorganization of 1995 which created thirteen districts is unclear; however, in the 1998 reorganization into twenty-six districts, the name "Al-Wahad" appears as a district for the first time. In 2001 the area was divided between Al Wahat and Ajdabiya districts. In 2007, the former Al Wahat district (area:108,670 km)

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4536-454: The Barcans and Libyans at the Battle of Leuco, killed by his brother and succeeded by his infant son Battus III (ca. 550-530 BC), under whom Cyrene continued to suffer from continued internal conflict. This was resolved through a reform of the city's laws by Demonax of Mantinea . These reforms appear to have limited the authority of the king to religious matters, vested political power in

4644-578: The Catechetical School and the Mouseion , and he entertained a great deal of reverence and affection for Hypatia , the last pagan Neoplatonist , whose classes he had attended. Synesius was raised to the episcopate by Theophilus , patriarch of Alexandria, in 410. Since the First Council of Nicaea in 325, Cyrenaica had been recognized as an ecclesiastical province of the See of Alexandria , per

4752-480: The Cyrenaean people, and divided the Cyreneans into three tribes . He may also have mediated a peace with Barca and introduced trial by combat . Battus III's son Arcesilaus III (ca. 530-515 BC) attempted to revoke Demonax's constitution and was driven into exile. He returned with an army from Samos and regained control but forced out once more and was assassinated at Barca. His mother Pheretime appealed to

4860-521: The Cyrene Grand Hotel near the ruins of Cyrene. For much of the Libyan civil war , Cyrenaica was largely under the control of the National Transitional Council while Tripolitania and Fezzan remained under Gaddafi's government control. Some proposed a "two-state solution" to the conflict, with Cyrenaica becoming an independent state, but this concept was strongly rejected by both sides, and

4968-884: The Fatimids to the Zirids . In the middle of the 11th century, several Arab tribes, including the Bedouin Banu Hilal confederation devastated the North African coast under Zirid control. Barqa was ravaged by the Hilalian invasion and left to be settled by the Banu Sulaym while the Banu Hilal marched westwards. The invasion contributed to the decline of the port cities and maritime trade. Up to 200,000 Hilalian families migrated into Cyrenaica from Egypt. As

5076-506: The Macedonian royal family. In 324 BC, a Spartan mercenary leader, Thibron , joined forces with Cyrenean and Barcan exiles on Crete and invaded Cyrenaica, capturing Cyrene's port and forcing Cyrene to accept his rule. However, one of his officers, Mnasicles, defected to the Cyreneans and helped them to expel Thibron's troops and recapture the port. Cyrene allied with the Libyans and Carthaginians, but Thibron returned in 322 BC and defeated them. A democratic revolution took place in Cyrene and

5184-467: The Persians at this time have been found. In the fifth century BC, perhaps as a consequence of the Persian intervention, Cyrene's influence over the other Greek cities in Cyrenaica seems to have solidified into institutionalised political control. The city was prosperous and construction of the Temple of Apollo, Temple of Zeus , Temple of Demeter , and structures in the Agora date to this time. Cyrene's chief local export through much of its early history

5292-436: The Roman authorities launched an extensive surveying campaign to reclaim the public land around Cyrene that had slipped into private control and stopped paying dividends to the fisc . Because of its large Jewish population, Cyrene was an early centre of Christianity . A Cyrenian named Simon carried the cross of Jesus . Acts claims that Jews from Cyrene heard the disciples speaking in their own language in Jerusalem on

5400-442: The Sahara is known as the Libyan Desert , and includes the Great Sand Sea and the Calanshio Sand Sea . The Libyan Desert is home to a few oases , including Awjila and Jaghbub . The Berbers were the earliest recorded inhabitants of Cyrenaica. Egyptian records mention that during the New Kingdom of Egypt (thirteenth century BC), the Libu and Meshwesh tribes of Cyrenaica made frequent incursions into Egypt. Cyrenaica

5508-502: The area came to be known as Barqa , after the city of Barca . Cyrenaica became an Italian colony in 1911 . After the 1934 formation of Italian Libya , the Cyrenaica province was designated as one of the three primary provinces of the country . During World War II, it fell under British military and civil administration from 1943 until 1951, and finally in the Kingdom of Libya from 1951 until 1963. The region that used to be Cyrenaica officially until 1963 has formed several shabiyat ,

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5616-427: The chariot race at the Pythian Games in 462 BC and at the Olympic Games in 460 BC, in celebration of which Pindar wrote the Fourth and Fifth Pythian Odes . Following this victory, he organised a new wave of Greek settlement at Euesperides. Some time after this however, the Cyreneans monarchy was abolished in obscure circumstances and the tomb of his ancestor Battus I was destroyed. In 454 BC, Cyrene gave refuge to

5724-410: The city of Cyrene ), is the eastern region of Libya . Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between the 16th and 25th meridians east, including the Kufra District . The coastal region, also known as Pentapolis ("Five Cities") in antiquity , was part of the Roman province of Crete and Cyrenaica , later divided into Libya Pentapolis and Libya Sicca . During the Islamic period,

5832-460: The city walls to the south is the Sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone . The necropolis of Cyrene covers about 20 km² to the south and north of the city. Archaeological finds are stored and displayed in a temporary museum in the eastern portion of the site. In 2005, Italian archaeologists from the University of Urbino discovered 76 intact Roman statues at Cyrene from the 2nd century AD. The statues remained undiscovered for so long because "during

5940-399: The city's buildings were destroyed. Literary sources claim that 220,000 people were killed before the revolt was quelled by Marcius Turbo . According to Eusebius of Caesarea , the Jewish rebellion left Libya depopulated to such an extent that a few years later new colonies had to be established there by the emperor Hadrian to maintain the viability of continued settlement. Restoration work

6048-482: The damage may have been over-emphasised. Archaeology shows that most buildings were damaged, but also that many were rebuilt, including many temples, which were only closed by the Theodosian decrees in 395. Settlement seems to have expanded east beyond Claudius Gothicus' fortification wall and a generation after the earthquake, Cyrene was a significant centre. Synesius , a wealthy magnate who became bishop of Ptolemais and whose letters are preserved, grew up in Cyrene in

6156-408: The daughter of the Seleucid king Antiochus I and assisted him in an unsuccessful invasion of Egypt during the First Syrian War . Inscribed accounts indicate severe inflation of food prices and a large fundraising campaign, possibly for repairs to the city walls. After his death, Apama invited a Macedonian prince, Demetrius the Fair , to marry her daughter Berenice and take the throne, but he

6264-412: The day of Pentecost and later says that Christians from Cyrene and Cyprus were among the assembled. According to the tradition of the Coptic Orthodox Church , its founder, Saint Mark was a native of Cyrene and ordained the first bishop of Cyrene. A massive Jewish revolt, the Diaspora revolt , broke out in Cyrenaica, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Cyprus and Judaea in 115 AD. Cyrene was sacked and almost all of

6372-423: The deceased. A common find are statues of the so-called "Goddess of Death", a female bust - often faceless - depicted in the process of unveiling herself. In October 2023, a flood exposed a water canal, possibly dating back to the Roman era. Cyrene contributed to the intellectual life of the Greeks, through renowned philosophers and mathematicians. The School of Cyrene, known as the Cyrenaics , developed here as

6480-453: The district. There were 20,225 government employees, 6,585 employers, 23,074 first level workers and 024 second level workers. There were 9,586 workers in state administration, 7,212 in agriculture, animal husbandry and forestry, 7,621 in agriculture & hunting, 8,715 in education, 8,517 in private enterprises, 1,820 in health & social work, 4,340 in production, 9,931 in technical work and 492 service workers. The total enrollment in schools

6588-447: The earthquake of 375 AD, a supporting wall of the temple fell on its side, burying all the statues. They remained hidden under stone, rubble and earth for 1,630 years. The other walls sheltered the statues, so we were able to recover all the pieces, even works that had been broken." One of its more significant features is the temple of Apollo , which was originally constructed as early as 7th century BC. Other ancient structures include

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6696-402: The end of the fifth century BC, one Ariston took control of the city, put five hundred leading Cyreneans to death and exiled others. It is possible that he attempted to establish a radical democracy on the Athenian model. A group of 3,000 Messenians who had been expelled from Naupactus by the Spartans arrived in Cyrene in 404 BC and joined forces with the exiles, but were almost all killed in

6804-403: The exiled aristocrats appealed to Ptolemy I Soter for help. Ptolemy sent his general Ophellas to occupy the city and established a new constitution for the city, which is recorded on a large inscription, which was heavily oligarchic and reserved a permanent role for himself in the city's administration. The city was accepted by the other Macedonian leaders as part of the Ptolemaic realm in

6912-534: The existing legend and name were adopted by the early Theran settlers for this specific location after some unattested but similar local name in the Libu or Garamantian language. Although both the Greek and Latin forms of the name were pronounced something like / k u ˈ r eɪ n eɪ / koo- RAY -nay , they are more often read in modern English as / k aɪ ˈ r iː n i / ky- REE -nee or, in its Latin form, / s aɪ ˈ r iː n i / sy- REE -nee . People have lived in Cyrenaica since

7020-464: The first site plans in 1821-1822. The French consul at Benghazi looted part of a tomb later in the century for the Louvre . The first systematic excavations were undertaken by Robert Murdoch Smith and E. A. Porcher in 1860 and 1861; their findings mostly went to the British Museum . They include the Apollo of Cyrene and a unique bronze head of an African man. The American Richard Norton began more scientific excavations in 1910, which were halted by

7128-430: The flocks and herds of the local Bedouins . Historically large areas of range were covered in forest. The forested area of the Jebel Akhdar has been shrinking in recent decades. A 1996 report to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimated that the forested area was reduced to 320,000 hectares from 500,000 hectares, mostly cleared to grow crops. The Green Mountain Conservation and Development Authority estimates that

7236-479: The following century. Earthquakes in 262 and 365 devastated the city, but some habitation continued through the early Byzantine period and the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb in 642, after which the site was abandoned until the establishment of an Italian military base on the site in 1913. Excavations have been ongoing since that time. Cyrene is the latinized form of the Greek name Kȳrḗnē ( Κυρήνη ) of uncertain origin. The Greeks themselves attributed

7344-422: The forested area decreased from 500,000 hectares in 1976 to 180,000 hectares in 2007. The southward slopes of the Jebel Akhdar are occupied by the Mediterranean dry woodlands and steppe , a transitional ecoregion lying between the Mediterranean climate regions of North Africa and the hyper-arid Sahara . The lower Jebel el-Akabah lies to the south and east of the Jebel Akhdar. The two highlands are separated by

7452-460: The front and rear and seventeen columns on each of the long sides. It was destroyed in 115 AD during the Jewish sack of the city. Around 172-175 AD it was partially rebuilt as a non-peripteral temple. Between 185 and 192 AD, a colossal cult statue, modelled on the Statue of Zeus at Olympia was installed. The temple was destroyed once more in 365 AD by an earthquake and then burnt by Christians. The sanctuary to Demeter and Persephone, which includes

7560-437: The generation after the earthquake. Letter 67 of Synesius tells of an irregular episcopal ordination carried out by a bishop Philo of Cyrene, which was condoned by Athanasius . The same letter mentions that a nephew of this Philo, who bore the same name, also became bishop of Cyrene. The Central and East Churches were built in the fifth or sixth century AD and renovated several times. A bishop of Cyrene name Rufus attended

7668-421: The greatest intellectual and artistic centers of the Greek world, famous for its medical school, learned academies and architecture, which included some of the finest examples of the Hellenistic style . The Cyrenaics , a school of thinkers who expounded a doctrine of moral cheerfulness that defined happiness as the sum of human pleasures, were founded by Aristippus of Cyrene. Other notable natives of Cyrene were

7776-412: The idea that Thera was Cyrene's sole "mother city." Relationships with other cities, such as Sparta and Samos, mentioned in the foundation narratives, are uncertain. Archaeological evidence from the site, especially ceramic finds, confirm that Greek settlement began in the mid-seventh century BC. This early pottery derves from Thera, Sparta, and Samos, but also Rhodes . The initial area of habitation

7884-459: The island of Thera , founded Cyrene in 631 BC, under the leadership of Battus I , at the prompting of the Oracle of Delphi . Some traditions say that the settlers left Thera because of a famine, others because of a civil war. Most say that the colonists first settled on an island at Aziris (east of Derna ) before relocating to Cyrene. The historicity of these narratives is uncertain, particularly

7992-461: The mid-third century AD, Cyrene's economy began to decline. This was hastened by an earthquake of 262, which destroyed much of the city. After the disaster, the city was raided by the Marmaritae , Libyan nomads, who were defeated in 269 by Tenagino Probus , prefect of Egypt. The emperor Claudius Gothicus restored Cyrene, naming it Claudiopolis . Many buildings were subsequently rebuilt, but

8100-589: The military and judicial affairs. The bureaucratic setup was similar to the one in Tripoli. The mutasarrifate existed until the Italian invasion. The Italians occupied Cyrenaica during the Italo-Turkish War in 1911 and declared it an Italian protectorate on 15 October 1912. Three days later, the Ottoman Empire officially ceded the province to the Kingdom of Italy . On 17 May 1919, Cyrenaica

8208-424: The name to the legendary Thessalian princess Cyrene who supposedly founded the city with help from the sun god Apollo . Some modern scholars sometimes attribute the name to its spring Cyra ( Κύρα , Kýra ), which was considered sacred to Apollo by the city's Greco-Roman inhabitants. The legend of Thessalian Cyrene seems to long predate attestation of the spring, however, and Janko instead suggests that

8316-552: The names of two other bishops, Zenobius and Theodorus. Although it retained the title "Pentapolis", the ecclesiastic province actually included all of the Cyrenaica, not just the five cities. Pentapolis is still included in the title of Popes of the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria . Cyrenaica was conquered by Muslim Arabs under command of Amr ibn al-As during

8424-575: The north. The district is located in Cyrenacia which is mostly semi arid in nature. The region receives an annual rainfall of 5 in (130 mm). There are no perennial rivers in the region, but the region is abundant with groundwater aquifers. The largest water course in Libya, Wadi Al Hamim, runs through northern Al Wahat and is thought to be the course of the ancestral Nile . Per 2006 census, there were totally 54,593 economically active people in

8532-552: The other a mixed maquis in which the endemic Arbutus pavarii is prominent, and forests of Cupressus sempervirens , Juniperus phoenicea, Olea europaea , Quercus coccifera, Ceratonia siliqua, and Pinus halepensis . Areas of red soil are found on the Marj Plain, which has borne abundant crops of wheat and barley from ancient times to the present day. Plenty of springs issue on the highlands. Wild olive trees are abundant, and large areas of oak savanna provide pasture to

8640-442: The poet Callimachus and the mathematicians Theodorus and Eratosthenes . In 525 BC, after conquering Egypt, the Achaemenid (Persian) army of Cambyses II seized the Pentapolis, and established a satrapy (Achaemenid Persian province) over parts of the region for about the next two centuries. The Persians were followed by Alexander the Great in 332 BC, who received tribute from the cities after taking Egypt. The Pentapolis

8748-403: The predominant species. Small areas of maquis are found on north-facing slopes near the sea, becoming more extensive on the lower plateau. Juniperus phoenicea , Pistacia lentiscus , Quercus coccifera and Ceratonia siliqua are common tree and large shrub species in the maquis. The upper plateau includes areas of garrigue, two maquis communities, one dominated by Pistacia lentiscus and

8856-400: The province, with no major population centers, was called Marmarica ; the more important western portion was known as the Pentapolis, as it comprised five cities: Cyrene (near the modern village of Shahat) with its port of Apollonia (Marsa Susa), Arsinoe or Taucheira (Tocra), Euesperides or Berenice (near modern Benghazi ), Balagrae ( Bayda ) and Barce ( Marj ) – of which the chief

8964-543: The regime's propaganda. The Italian archaeologists were expelled in 1943 when the Allies captured Cyrenaica. Richard Goodchild , controller of antiquities from 1955 to 1966 moved the village of Shahat off the site and re-established it to the south; it has since expanded over much of the southern necropolis. He also restored control of excavations at the site to the Italians, under Sandro Stucchi  [ it ] . Goodchild also The Italian mission has excavated much of

9072-665: The remnants of an Athenian army that had been defeated by the Persians in Egypt . In the following years, Barca seems to have become the dominant city in the region and Cyrene was regularly in conflict with the other Greek cities of Cyrenaica and with the Libyans. In 414 BC, during the Peloponnesian War , Spartan forces travelling to Sicily were driven to Cyrenaica by adverse winds and Cyrene provided them with two triremes and pilots to lead them to Sicily. Towards

9180-606: The resident Bedouins to accept their suzerainty indirectly while paying taxes. The Ottoman Empire later claimed suzerainty of Cyrenaica based on the Mamluk claim of suzerainty through alliance with the tribes. Cyrenaica was subsumed into Ottoman Libya . In 1879, Cyrenaica became a wilayah of the Ottoman Empire. In 1888, it became a mutasarrıfiyya under a mutasarrif and was further divided into five qadaas. The wali of Ottoman Tripolitania , however, looked after

9288-951: The ruling of the Nicaean Fathers. The patriarch of the Coptic Church to this day includes the Pentapolis in his title as an area within his jurisdiction. The Eparchy of the Western Pentapolis was part of the Coptic Orthodox Church , as the Pope of Alexandria was the Pope of Africa. The most senior position in The Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church after the Pope was the Metropolitan of Western Pentapolis, although, since its demise as

9396-573: The same time as Cyrene. After its foundation, the city was ruled by a series of monarchs descended from Battus I. Over the course of the sixth century BC, Cyrene grew to become the most powerful city in the region. In the first half of the sixth century BC, Battus II encouraged further Greek settlement in the city, especially from the Peloponnese and Crete. This sparked conflict with the indigenous Libyans, whose king Adicran appealed to Egypt for help around 570 BC. The pharaoh Apries launched

9504-480: The shore is all precipitous. A steep escarpment separates the coastal plain from a relatively level plateau, known as the Marj Plain, which lies at about 300 meters elevation. Above the Marj Plain lies a dissected plateau at about 700 meters elevation, which contains the highest peaks in the range. The Jebel Akhdar and its adjacent coast are part of the Mediterranean woodlands and forests ecoregion and have

9612-815: The site and restored several buildings through the process of anastylosis . The site was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982. Beginning in 2006, the Global Heritage Fund , in partnership with the Second University of Naples (SUN, Italy), the Libyan Department of Antiquities, and the Libyan Ministry of Culture, worked to preserve the ancient site through a combination of holistic conservation practices and training of local skilled and unskilled labor. The GHF -led team conducted ongoing emergency conservation on

9720-412: The sixth century BC until the fifth century AD. It covers about 20 km² to the south and north of the city, making it one of the largest known Greek necropoleis. The southern section has been encroached upon by the growing city of Shahat, especially after 2013, when many tombs were bulldozed. The northern portion is better preserved. Several of the tombs of the Roman period have niches for portrait busts of

9828-590: The tenure of the second caliph, Omar , in c.  642 , and became known as Barqah after its provincial capital, the ancient city of Barce . After the breakdown of the Ummayad caliphate it was essentially annexed to Egypt, although still under the same name, first under the Fatimid caliphs. The region became a base for piracy, and many of the pirates acted as privateers for the Fatimids. Around 1051/52, Jabbara, emir of Barqa, transferred his allegiance from

9936-588: The three regions were united again in October 2011, as rebel forces took Tripolitania and Fezzan and the government collapsed. Ancient episcopal sees of the Roman province of Libya Superior or Libya Pentapolitana listed in the Annuario Pontificio as titular sees : For the ancient sees of Libya Inferior, see Marmarica . For those of Creta, see Byzantine Crete . Cyrene, Libya Cyrene , also sometimes anglicized as Kyrene ,

10044-557: The western edge of the ridge, was the original centre of Greek occupation. From there, a road referred to by modern scholars as the "Street of Battus" or "Skyrotà" runs along the ridge to the southeast for around 1 kilometre, past the Agora , the House of Jason Magnus and a number of other palatial residences, the Stoa of Hermes and Heracles , the Caesareum , two theatres, a sacred area, and

10152-645: Was colonized by the Greeks beginning in the seventh century BC, when it was known as Kyrenaïka . The first and most important colony was that of Cyrene , established in about 631 BC by colonists from the Greek island of Thera , which they had abandoned because of a severe famine. Their commander, Aristoteles, took the Libyan name Battos. His descendants, known as the Battiadae , persisted despite severe conflict with Greeks in neighboring cities. The eastern portion of

10260-417: Was 61,849 and the number of people above secondary stage and less than graduation was 3,882. As per the report from World Health Organization (WHO), there were 2 communicable disease centres, 4 dental clinics, 2 general clinics, 0 in-patient clinics, 10 out-patient clinics, 27 pharmacies, 47 PHC centres, 1 polyclinics, 1 rural clinics and 0 specialized clinics. As of the 2007 reorganization, Al Wahat District

10368-430: Was a ridge stretching eastwards from the Acropolis to the Agora , but the city rapidly expanded eastwards. The sanctuary of Apollo to the north of the Acropolis, of Demeter to the south, and of Zeus to the east all go back to the seventh or sixth centuries BC. Archaeological evidence shows that several other sites in Cyrenaica, such as Apollonia, Euesperides , and Taucheira (modern Benghazi and Tocra ) were settled at

10476-666: Was an ancient Greek colony and Roman city near present-day Shahhat in northeastern Libya in North Africa . It was part of the Pentapolis , an important group of five cities in the region, and gave the area its classical and early modern name Cyrenaica . Cyrene lies on a ridge of the Jebel Akhdar uplands. The archaeological remains cover several hectares and include several monumental temples, stoas, theatres, bathhouses, churches, and palatial residences. The city

10584-474: Was apparently given to Ptolemy VIII's illegitimate son Ptolemy Apion as a separate kingdom ca. 105-101 BC. Apion made a similar will to that of his father and the territory passed to Rome when he died without heirs in 96 BC. The city became an important Jewish centre during the Hellenistic period. The deuterocanonical book 2 Maccabees , is said by its author to be an abridgment of a five-volume work by

10692-521: Was enlarged to include what had been the Ajdabiya District and part of Kufra District . It now has essentially the boundaries that the baladiyah (district) of Ajdabiya did from 1988 to 1995. Al Wahat has a short border with Egypt , and borders the following Libyan districts, namely, Butnan in east and northeast, Kufra in south, Jufra in southwest, Sirte in west, Benghazi in north, Marj in north, Jabal al Akhdar and Derna in

10800-467: Was established as an Italian colony , and, on 25 October 1920, the Italian government recognized Sheikh Sidi Idriss as the leader of the Senussi , who was granted the princely rank of emir until 1929. In that year, Italy withdrew recognition of him and the Senussi. On 1 January 1934, Tripolitania , Cyrenaica, and Fezzan were united as the Italian colony of Libya . The Italian fascists constructed

10908-544: Was formally annexed by Ptolemy I Soter , and through him passed to the diadoch dynasty of the Lagids, better known as the Ptolemaic dynasty . It briefly gained independence under Magas of Cyrene , stepson of Ptolemy I, but was reabsorbed into the Ptolemaic empire after his death. It was separated from the main kingdom by Ptolemy VIII and given to his son Ptolemy Apion , who, dying without heirs in 96 BC, bequeathed it to

11016-519: Was initially ruled by a dynasty of monarchs called the Battiads, who grew rich and powerful as a result of successive waves of immigration and the export of horses and silphium , a medicinal plant. By the fifth century BC, they had expanded their control over the other cities of Cyrenaica. It became the seat of the Cyrenaics , a school of philosophy in the fourth century BC, founded by Aristippus ,

11124-434: Was murdered after a short conflict with Berenice. She married Ptolemy III in 246 BC, bringing Cyrene back under Ptolemaic control. In the process, the city of Euesperides was destroyed and re-founded as Berenice and the cities of Cyrenaica formed a federation, called the Pentapolis, which minted its own coinage. Constitutional reforms by a pair of Arcadians , Ecdelus and Demophanes, may also belong in this period. Cyrene

11232-463: Was only in 74 BC that the Romans first sent a governor, Publius Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus. At some point between 67 and 30 BC, Cyrenaica became part of the Roman province of Crete and Cyrenaica . The provincial capital was on Crete, but Cyrene remained the chief city in Cyrenaica and enjoyed a highly prosperous period and much construction dates to the first century AD. In the mid-first century AD,

11340-428: Was reduced to subject status, a garrison was installed, and a succession of Ptolemaic courtiers were appointed to the city's priesthood of Apollo . Cyrene was established as a separate kingdom once more for Ptolemy VIII in 163 BC after his siblings expelled him from Egypt. The city rebelled against him but was defeated. It is possible that he granted Cyrene's port, Apollonia, independence from Cyrene at this time, as

11448-838: Was subdivided into seventeen Basic People's Congresses , namely, Zueitina, East Ajdabiya, West Ajdabiya, North Ajdabiya, Brega, Bashir, Sultan, al`Arqub, El Agheila, Albydan, Antalat, Marsa Brega, Alguenan, Awjila, Jalu, Jikharra and Maradah. The following major towns are located within Al Wahat District, as of 2007: Ajdabiya , Awjila , Labba , El Agheila , Jalu , Jikharra and Sultan . 30°N 22°E  /  30°N 22°E  / 30; 22 Cyrenaica Cyrenaica ( / ˌ s aɪ r ə ˈ n eɪ . ɪ k ə ˌ ˌ s ɪr -/ SY -rə- NAY -ik-ə-,- SIRR -ə ) or Kyrenaika ( Arabic : برقة , romanized :  Barqah , Koinē Greek : Κυρηναϊκή [ἐπαρχία] , romanized:  Kūrēnaïkḗ [eparkhíā] , after

11556-483: Was the eponymous Cyrene. The term "Pentapolis" continued to be used as a synonym for Cyrenaica. In the south, the Pentapolis faded into the Saharan tribal areas, including the pharaonic oracle of Ammonium . The region produced barley, wheat, olive oil, wine, figs, apples, wool, sheep, cattle and silphium , a herb that grew only in Cyrenaica and was regarded as a medicinal cure and aphrodisiac . Cyrene became one of

11664-507: Was the medicinal herb silphium , which may have been used as an abortifacient ; the herb was pictured on most Cyrenian coins. Silphium was in such demand that it was harvested to extinction by the end of the first century BC. Cyrene also made money from raising of horses and the transhipment trade between Egypt, the Aegean, and Carthage . It was a landing point for Greeks seeking to visit the oracle of Ammon at Siwah . Arcesilaus IV won

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