Misplaced Pages

#389610

129-629: Benghazi ( / b ɛ n ˈ ɡ ɑː z i / ) ( lit. Son of [the] Ghazi ) is the second-most-populous city in Libya as well as the largest city in Cyrenaica , with an estimated population of 859,000 in 2023. Located on the Gulf of Sidra in the Mediterranean , Benghazi is also a major seaport. A Greek colony named Euesperides had existed in the area from around 525 BC. In the 3rd century BC, it

258-458: 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 was initially ruled by a dynasty of monarchs called

387-453: A silphium plant, once the symbol of trade from Cyrenaica because of its use as a rich seasoning and as a medicine. The coinage suggests that the city must have enjoyed some autonomy from Cyrene in the early 5th century BC, when the issues of Euesperides had their own types with the legend EU (ES), distinct from those of Cyrene. The city was in hostile territory and was surrounded by inhospitable tribes. The Greek historian Thucydides mentions

516-574: 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

645-521: 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

774-606: 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

903-470: 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

1032-717: 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

1161-581: A board of chief magistrates ( ephors ) and a council of elders ( gerontes ). From 324 to 322 BC, the city supported the Spartan adventurer Thibron , who attempted to establish his own kingdom in Cyrenaica, but was defeated. The city came under the control of Ptolemy I and formed part of the breakaway kingdom of Magas of Cyrene after 276 BC. In 246 BC, during the power struggle following Magas' death, his daughter Berenice married Ptolemy III , bringing

1290-482: A capital city, including several national government buildings as well as the National Library of Libya . Archaeological evidence shows that ancient Greeks settled on the site of Benghazi in the late seventh century BC. They called the city Euesperides ( Ancient Greek : Εὐεσπερίδες ) and Hesperis ( Ancient Greek : Ἑσπερίς ). Euesperides was most likely founded by people from Cyrene or Barce , which

1419-642: A few Italian -related families, left from the colonial times before World War II . The overwhelming majority of Libyans in Benghazi were of Berber descent until the arrival of Bani Salim (Arabic tribe). In the 11th century, the Sa'adi tribes from the Banu Sulyam migrated to Cyrenaica; each sub-tribe from the Sa'adi historically controlled a section of Cyrenaica. Benghazi and its surrounding areas were controlled by Barghathi tribe. In modern times, Benghazi has seen

SECTION 10

#1732765116390

1548-468: 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

1677-498: 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

1806-537: 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

1935-819: A long steady retreat westward passing through Benghazi for the final time. On 20 November, Benghazi was captured by the British Eighth Army and thereafter held by the British. In August 1943 from Benina airport of Benghazi started the US attack on the Ploiești oil refineries with 178 B-24 bombers (called Operation Tidal Wave ), after an Italian " Arditi " paratroopers attack that destroyed some Allied aircraft in June 1943. Heavily bombed in World War II , Benghazi

2064-616: A lot of Libyans from different parts of the country move into the city, especially since the Kingdom era. Many came to Benghazi from Misrata . Thus Benghazi has always been seen as a welcoming city, a city which the local Bedouins refer to as ' Benghazi rabayit al thayih ' which can be translated as, 'Benghazi raises the lost', as many immigrants who arrived from the Western Maghreb or the former Al Andalus came with little money, clothes or food and were looked after very generously by

2193-514: 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

2322-404: 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

2451-510: 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

2580-485: A safe refuge for himself against the resentment of the people of Cyrene. This proved ineffective, since when the king fled to Euesperides during the anticipated revolution (around 440 BC), he was assassinated, thus terminating the almost 200-year rule of the Battiad dynasty . An inscription found there and dated around the middle of the 4th century BC states that the city had a constitution similar to that of Cyrene , with

2709-660: A siege of the city in 414 BC, by Libyans who were probably the Nasamones: Euesperides was saved by the unexpected arrival of the Spartan general Gylippus and his fleet, who were blown to Libya by contrary winds on their way to Sicily . One of the Cyrenean kings whose fate is connected with the city is Arcesilaus IV . The king used his chariot victory at the Pythian Games of 462 BC to attract new settlers to Euesperides, where Arcesilaus hoped to create

SECTION 20

#1732765116390

2838-943: A similar meaning to Mujahid or "one who struggles". The verbal noun of ġazā is ġazw or ġazawān , with the meaning 'raiding'. A derived singulative in ġazwah refers to a single battle or raid. The term ghāzī dates to at least the Samanid period , where he appears as a mercenary and frontier fighter in Khorasan and Transoxiana . Later, up to 20,000 of them took part in the Indian campaigns of Mahmud of Ghazni . Ghāzī warriors depended upon plunder for their livelihood, and were prone to brigandage and sedition in times of peace. The corporations into which they organized themselves attracted adventurers, zealots and religious and political dissidents of all ethnicities. In time, though, soldiers of Turkic ethnicity predominated, mirroring

2967-566: A strategic port location, one that was too useful to be ignored by the Ottomans. In 1578, the Turks conquered Benghazi and it was ruled from Tripoli by the Karamanlis from 1711 to 1835; it then passed under direct Ottoman rule until 1911. Greek and Italian sponge fishermen worked its coastal waters. In 1858, and again in 1874, Benghazi was devastated by bubonic plague . In 1911, Benghazi

3096-469: A strong sense of family life in the city; most teenagers and young adults live at home until they get married, though that is changing in recent years. Many Muslims in Benghazi adhere to the traditional Maliki school of religious law; however, it is much less so than in the past decades. Benghazi is said to be the most “liberal” city out of all Libya. The Senussi order from which the royal dynasty sprang has traditionally enjoyed strong support in Benghazi and

3225-400: 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

3354-435: 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

3483-497: Is a reasonable amount of ethnic diversity in Benghazi. The people of eastern Libya, Benghazi included, have in the past always been of predominantly Arab descent. In recent times, however, there has been an influx of African immigrants into Benghazi. There are also many Egyptian immigrants in Benghazi. A small Greek community also exists in Benghazi. The Greek island of Crete is a short distance from Benghazi, and many families in Benghazi today bear Cretan surnames. There are even

3612-549: Is also a decommissioned cathedral church (1929–1939; closed 1977; currently abandoned). For Egyptian Copts , there is a Coptic Orthodox church (which was formerly the grand synagogue) with two serving priests . Jews have lived in Benghazi, as they did elsewhere in Libya , from Roman times until 1967 when most were airlifted out after a series of riots in the years after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War . However, there are no Jews remaining in Libya today. The oldest university in Libya

3741-460: Is first mentioned by ancient sources in Herodotus ' account of the revolt of Barca and the Persian expedition to Cyrenaica in c. 515 BC, where it is stated that the punitive force sent by the satrap of Egypt conquered Cyrenaica as far west as Euesperides. The oldest coins minted in the city date back to 480 BC. One side of those coins has an engraving of Delphi. The other side is an engraving of

3870-474: 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

3999-583: Is the University of Libya , founded by royal decree in 1955. It was initially housed in the royal Al Manar Palace before receiving its own campus in 1968. It was later split and became known as University of Benghazi . There are some private universities such as Libyan International Medical University . Education in Benghazi, as throughout Libya, is compulsory and paid entirely by taxpayers. Compulsory education continues until ninth grade . There are many public primary and secondary schools scattered throughout

Benghazi - Misplaced Pages Continue

4128-402: Is to make raids on the enemy, on our neighbor and our own brother, in the event we find none to raid but a brother." William Montgomery Watt hypothesized that Muhammad found it useful to divert this continuous internecine warfare toward his enemies, making it the basis of his war strategy; according to Watt, the celebrated battle of Badr started as one such razzia . As a form of warfare,

4257-428: Is used to refer to veterans , and also as a title for Turkic Muslim champions such as Ertuğrul and Osman I . In pre-Islamic Bedouin culture, ghazw[a] was a form of limited warfare verging on brigandage that avoided head-on confrontations and instead emphasized raiding and looting, usually of livestock (see cattle raiding ). The Umayyad -period Bedouin poet al-Kutami wrote the oft-quoted verses: "Our business

4386-649: The razzia was then mimicked by the Christian states of Iberia in their relations with the taifa states; rough synonyms and similar tactics are the Iberian cavalgada and the Anglo-French chevauchée . The word razzia was used in French colonial context particularly for raids to plunder and capture slaves from among the people of Western and Central Africa , also known as rezzou when practiced by

4515-566: The 1969 coup d'état by Muammar Gaddafi , Benghazi lost its capital status and all government offices relocated to Tripoli . On 15 February 2011 , an uprising against the government of Muammar Gaddafi occurred in the city. The revolt spread by 17 February to Bayda , Tobruk , Ajdabya , Al Marj in the East and Zintan , Zawiya in the West, calling for the end of the Gaddafi regime. Benghazi

4644-526: 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

4773-614: The Battle of Manzikert these incursions intensified, and the region's people would see the ghāzī corporations coalesce into semi- chivalric fraternities, with the white cap and the club as their emblems. The height of the organizations would come during the Mongol conquest when many of them fled from Persia and Turkistan into Anatolia. As organizations, the ghazi corporations were fluid, reflecting their popular character, and individual ghāzī warriors would jump between them depending upon

4902-602: The German Africa Corps , on 4 April. It was taken again during Operation Crusader by the British on 24 December only to change hands again on 29 January 1942 in the Rommel Afrika Corps' push to Egypt. During the fateful Battle of El Alamein –106 kilometres (66 miles) from Alexandria , Egypt–British troops led by general Bernard Montgomery again defeated the Afrika Corps which then made

5031-474: The Gulf of Sidra , lies a little southwest of the site of the ancient Greek city of Berenice or Berenicis or Bernici . That city was traditionally founded in 446 BC (different sources give different dates like 347 BC or 249 BC), by a brother of the king of Cyrene , but got the name Berenice only when it was refounded in the 3rd century BC under the patronage of Berenice ( Berenike ), the daughter of Magas , king of Cyrene, and wife of Ptolemy III Euergetes ,

5160-461: 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

5289-591: 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

Benghazi - Misplaced Pages Continue

5418-490: 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

5547-751: 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

5676-454: The Tuareg . The word was adopted from ġaziya of Algerian Arabic vernacular and later became a figurative name for any act of pillage, with its verb form razzier . Ghazi ( Arabic : غازي , ġāzī ) is an Arabic word, the active participle of the verb ġazā , meaning 'to carry out a military expedition or raid'; the same verb can also mean 'to strive for' and Ghazi can thus share

5805-714: 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

5934-738: The ghazw' s function was to weaken the enemy's defenses in preparation for his eventual conquest and subjugation. Because the typical ghazw raiding party often did not have the size or strength to seize military or territorial objectives, this usually meant sudden attacks on weakly defended targets (e.g. villages) with the intent of demoralizing the enemy and destroying material which could support their military forces. Though Islam's rules of warfare offered protection to non-combatants such as women, monastics and peasants in that they could not be slain, their property could still be looted or destroyed, and they themselves could be abducted and enslaved ( Cambridge History of Islam , p. 269): A good source on

6063-530: 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,

6192-675: The terrorist attacks on Paris in November 2015 , the Islamic State group is said to have referred to its actions as "ghazwa". In modern Turkey, gazi is used to refer to veterans. 19 September is celebrated as Veterans Day in Turkey. Cyrene, Libya Cyrene , also sometimes anglicized as Kyrene , was an ancient Greek colony and Roman city near present-day Shahhat in northeastern Libya in North Africa . It

6321-540: 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

6450-710: 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

6579-466: The 3rd century AD and during the Persian attacks; in 642–643 -when was conquered by the Arabs and partially destroyed- it had dwindled to an insignificant village among magnificent historic ruins. In its more prosperous period, Berenice became a Christian bishopric . The first of its bishops whose name is recorded in extant documents is Ammon, to whom Dionysius of Alexandria wrote in about 260. Dathes

SECTION 50

#1732765116390

6708-484: The Arabian Peninsula, working with the local government to manage security in Benghazi. U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens , Foreign Service Information Management Officer (IMO) Sean Smith , and CIA contractors and former Navy SEALs Tyrone S. Woods and Glen Doherty were killed during a series of raids, commencing at nightfall and continuing into the next morning. Ten others were injured. Following

6837-454: 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

6966-583: 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 , a disciple of Socrates . In the Hellenistic Age ,

7095-480: 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

7224-404: The Cyrenaica. For Muslims, there are many mosques throughout Benghazi; the oldest and best known (such as the Atiq and Osman mosques) are located in and around the medina . There is also a small Christian community in the city. The Roman Catholic Apostolic Vicariate of Benghazi 's Franciscan Church of the Immaculate Conception serves Benghazi's Latin Catholic community of roughly 4,000; there

7353-406: The Libyan Government of National Unity: the eastern coast, Jabal Al-Akhdar, Al-Hizam, Benghazi , Al-Wahat, Al-Kufra, Al-Khaleej, Al-Margab, Tripoli, Al-Jafara, Al-Zawiya, West Coast, Gheryan, Zintan, Nalut, Sabha, Al-Wadi, and Murzuq Basin. Benghazi Baladiyah is divided into 32 Basic People's Congress administrative divisions, in which the responsibilities of the corresponding political units of

7482-506: 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

7611-467: 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

7740-422: The Prophet's journeys from Medina, whether to make peace treaties and preach Islam to the tribes, to go on ʽumrah , to pursue enemies who attacked Medina, or to engage in the nine battles. Muhammad participated in 27 Ghazwa. The first Ghazwa he participated in was the Invasion of Waddan in August 623, he ordered his followers to attack a Quraysh caravan. When performed within the context of Islamic warfare,

7869-436: 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

SECTION 60

#1732765116390

7998-468: The Russian military operations declared a gazawat (understood as holy war) against the Russian Orthodox invasion. Although it is not known for certain, it is believed that Dagestani Islamic scholar Muhammad al-Yaraghi was the ideologist of this holy war. In 1825, a congress of ulema in the village of Yarag declared gazawat against the Russians. Its first leader was Ghazi Muhammad ; after his death, Imam Shamil would eventually continue it. After

8127-438: The Tibesti was cordoned off. On 19 May 2012, residents of Benghazi voted in historic local elections ; this was the first time such elections have been held in the city since the 1960s, and turnout was high. On 11 September 2012, the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi was attacked by a heavily armed group of 125–150 gunmen, whose trucks bore the logo of Ansar al-Sharia , a group of Islamist militants, also known as Al Qaeda in

8256-416: The acquisition of Mamluks, Turkic slaves in the Mamluk retinues and guard corps of the caliphs and emirs and in the ranks of the ghazi corporation, some of whom would ultimately rise to military and later political dominance in various Muslim states. In the west, Turkic ghāzīs made continual incursions along the Byzantine frontier zone , finding in the akritai ( akritoi ) their Greek counterparts. After

8385-548: The beginnings of their state: Ottoman historian Ahmedi in his work explain the meaning of Ghazi: A Ghazi is the instrument of the religion of Allah, a servant of God who purifies the earth from the filth of polytheism. The Ghazi is the sword of God, he is the protector and the refuge of the believers. If he becomes a martyr in the ways of God, do not believe that he has died, he lives in beatitude with Allah, he has eternal life. The first nine Ottoman chiefs all used Ghazi as part of their full throne name (as with many other titles,

8514-427: 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

8643-410: 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 the following century. Earthquakes in 262 and 365 devastated

8772-408: The city of Benghazi in a major offensive , but were forced back the next day when NATO forces began implementing United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 . On 1 June, explosives were detonated in a car near the Tibesti Hotel , with a rebel spokesman calling the bombing a "cowardly act". It was suspected that an officer was killed, and many people started to shout out anti-Gaddafi chants while

8901-460: 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

9030-399: 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

9159-467: The city, as well as some private schools. Ghazi (warrior) In the context of the wars between Russia and the Muslim peoples of the Caucasus , starting as early as the late 18th century's Sheikh Mansur 's resistance to Russian expansion, the word usually appears in the form gazavat ( газават ). In English-language literature, the ghazw often appears as razzia , a borrowing through French from Maghrebi Arabic . In modern Turkish , gazi

9288-576: 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

9417-500: The city. Two local radio stations, operated by Voice of Free Libya , along with a newspaper, were also established. From 26 February to 26 August, Benghazi was the temporary headquarters of the National Transitional Council which is led by the former justice minister, Mustafa Abdul Jalil , until Tripoli was liberated. On 19 March, pro-Gaddafi forces almost defeated the rebellion when they began attacking

9546-636: The conduct of the traditional ghazw raid are the medieval Islamic jurists, whose discussions as to which conduct is allowed and which is forbidden in the course of warfare reveal some of the practices of this institution. One such source is Averroes ' Bidāyat al-Mujtahid wa-Nihāyat al-Muqtasid (translated in Peters, Jihad in Classical and Modern Islam: A Reader , Chapter 4). In the 19th century, Muslim fighters in North Caucasus who were resisting

9675-593: 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

9804-580: 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

9933-541: 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

10062-475: 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

10191-447: 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

10320-514: 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

10449-459: 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

10578-636: 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

10707-601: The field against non-Moslem enemies; thus it was conferred on Osman Pasha after his famous defence of Plevna in Bulgaria and on Mustafa Kemal Pasha (later known as Atatürk) for leading the victory in the Battle of the Sakarya . Some Muslim rulers (in Afghanistan) personally used the subsidiary style Padshah-i-Ghazi . Ghazwah , which literally means "campaigns", is typically used by biographers to refer to all

10836-632: 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

10965-565: 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

11094-437: 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

11223-432: The honorific title of ghāzī was assumed by those Muslim rulers who showed conspicuous success in extending the domains of Islam, and eventually the honorific became exclusive to them, much as the Roman title imperator became the exclusive property of the supreme ruler of the Roman state and his family. The Ottomans were probably the first to adopt this practice, and in any case the institution of ghazw reaches back to

11352-412: 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

11481-459: 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

11610-659: The last militant-held district in December 2017. On 23 October 2020, the 5+5 Joint Libyan Military Commission representing the LNA and the GNA reached a " permanent ceasefire agreement in all areas of Libya ". The agreement, effective immediately, required that all foreign fighters leave Libya within three months while a joint police force would patrol disputed areas. The first commercial flight between Tripoli and Benghazi took place that same day. On 10 March 2021, an interim unity government

11739-513: The leadership of Muammar Gaddafi staged a coup d'état in 1969, whereafter all government institutions were concentrated in Tripoli, Even though King Idris was forced into exile and the monarchy abolished, support for the Senussi dynasty remained strong in Cyrenaica. This was emphasized by real or perceived injustices from the government towards the people of Benghazi, including the demolition in

11868-524: The local Bedouin population as well as those arriving following the Italian war from western Libya. The predominant religion in Benghazi is Islam . Almost all of the city's inhabitants are Sunni Muslims. During Islamic holidays such as Ramadan, most abstain from food; restaurants are usually empty during the day, with the exception of some expatriates and tourists. Alcohol is banned by law in Benghazi and throughout Libya in accordance with government regulations. The often conservative nature of Benghazi creates

11997-461: 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

12126-424: 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

12255-543: The nomination was added even though it did not fit the office), and often afterwards. However, it never became a formal title within the ruler's formal style, unlike Sultan ul-Mujahidin , used by Sultan Murad Khan II Khoja-Ghazi, 6th Sovereign of the House of Osman (1421–1451), styled 'Abu'l Hayrat, Sultan ul-Mujahidin, Khan of Khans, Grand Sultan of Anatolia and Rumelia, and of the Cities of Adrianople and Philippolis. Because of

12384-560: The outbreak of the second Libyan Civil War in 2014, Benghazi became the subject of heavy fighting between the Libyan National Army -aligned House of Representatives government, and the Islamist Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries and ISIL -aligned Wilayat Barqa , which were entrenched in various pockets in the city. During the closing months of the battle, between late-2016 and mid-2017, much of

12513-529: The people to fight back and try to overthrow Gaddafi from power in The Libyan Revolution . At least 500 people were killed in the protests against the government. The former Libyan flag used in the Kingdom of Libya was used by many protesters as an opposition flag. Demonstrators were also seen carrying images of King Idris I. Benghazi and the Cyrenaica have been traditional strongholds of

12642-592: The political legitimacy that would accrue to those bearing this title, Muslim rulers vied amongst themselves for preeminence in the ghāziya , with the Ottoman Sultans generally acknowledged as excelling all others in this feat: Ghazi was also used as a title of honor in the Ottoman Empire, generally translated as the Victorious, for military officers of high rank, who distinguished themselves in

12771-399: The prestige and success of a particular emir , rather like the mercenary bands around western condottiere . It was from these Anatolian territories conquered during the ghazw that the Ottoman Empire emerged, and in its legendary traditions it is said that its founder, Osman I , came forward as a ghāzī thanks to the inspiration of Shaikh Ede Bali. In later periods of Islamic history

12900-582: The rebellion to continue. By 2014, a second civil war broke out in Libya between the House of Representatives and the Government of National Accord , with parts of Libya split between Tobruk- and Tripoli-based governance until a permanent ceasefire led by a unitary government in 2020. Benghazi remains a centre of Libyan commerce, industry, transport and culture, and one of the three largest cities in Libya with Tripoli and Misrata . It continues to hold institutions and organizations normally associated with

13029-595: 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

13158-438: The region back under Ptolemaic control. Euesperides was relocated to a new site underneath Benghazi's modern city centre and renamed Berenice . The move may have been due to the silting up of the lagoons, but there is no archaeological evidence for economic decline in the preceding period, and it is more likely that the refoundation was punishment for having opposed Berenice and Ptolemy's assumption of power. Modern Benghazi, on

13287-665: 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

13416-566: The rest of Tripolitania from the Ottoman Empire . Under Italian rule , Benghazi witnessed a period of extensive development and modernization, particularly in the second half of the 1930s under the Italian Libya colony. The city changed hands several times during World War II and was heavily damaged in the process. After the war Benghazi was rebuilt and became the co-capital of the newly independent Kingdom of Libya . Following

13545-499: The royal Senussi dynasty. By 21 February, the city was reported to be largely controlled by the opposition. The widely loathed mayor, Huda Ben Amer , nicknamed "the Executioner", had fled the city for Tripoli. Residents organised to direct traffic and collect refuse. By 24 February, a committee made up of lawyers, judges and respected local people had been formed in order to provide civic administration and public services within

13674-460: The ruler of Egypt. The new city was later given the name Hesperides , in reference to the Hesperides , the guardians of the mythic western paradise. The name may have also referred to green oases in low-lying areas in the nearby coastal plain. Benghazi later became a Roman city and greatly prospered for 600 years. The city superseded Cyrene and Barca as the chief center of Cyrenaica after

13803-815: The same name fall. The official 32 Basic People's Congresses of Benghazi are: 1 Al-Magroon 2 Al-Saahil al-Gharbi 3 Karkoora 4 Gimeenis 5 Suluq 6 Al-Khadhraa 7 Al-Nawagiya 8 Al-Magziha 9 Al-Keesh 10 Garyounis 11 Al-Fuwayhat 12 Al-Berka 13 Bu-Fakhra 14 Jarrutha 15 Al-Quwarsha 16 Bu Atni 17 Benina 18 Al-Kwayfiya 19 Sidi Khalifa 20 Al-Hawari 21 Al-Thawra al-Shabiyah 22 Shuhadaa al-Salawi 23 Madinat Benghazi 24 Sidi Hsayn 25 Al-Sabri 26 Sidi Abayd 27 Al-Salmani 28 Raas Abayda 29 Benghazi al-Jadida 30 Al-Uruba 31 Hay al-Mukhtar 32 Al-Hadaa'iq As with other cities in Libya, there

13932-573: 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

14061-815: 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

14190-412: 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

14319-645: The urban center in and around the remaining Shura Council pocket in the central coastal quarters of Suq Al-Hout and al-Sabri suffered heavy bombardment and war damage. Wilayat Barqa militants reportedly fled Benghazi in early January, while the LNA's General Khalifa Haftar declared the city cleared of the Shura Council on 5 July 2017. Despite Haftar's declaration of the liberation of the city, dozens of gunmen remained fortified and besieged in Sidi Akribesh, according to sources close to military. LNA captured

14448-557: 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

14577-663: The year 2000 of the arena of football club Alahly Benghazi S.C. , following anti-government protests. On 15 April 1986, U.S. Air Force and Navy planes bombed Benghazi and Tripoli . President Ronald Reagan justified the attacks by claiming Libya was responsible for terrorism directed at the United States, including the bombing of La Belle discothèque in West Berlin ten days before. In February 2011, peaceful protests erupted in Benghazi that were brutally suppressed by Gaddafi's armed forces and loyalists. The violence urged

14706-430: 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

14835-474: 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

14964-629: Was at the First Council of Nicaea in 325, and Probatius at a synod held in Constantinople in 394. No longer a residential bishopric, Berenice is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see . In the 13th century, the small settlement became an important player in the trade growing up between Genoese merchants and the tribes of the hinterland. In 16th century maps, the name of Marsa ibn Ghazi appears. Benghazi had

15093-415: Was formed, which was slated to remain in place until the next Libyan presidential election scheduled for 10 December. However, the election has been delayed several times since, effectively rendering the unity government in power indefinitely, causing tensions which threaten to reignite the war. Benghazi District is one of Libya's 22 shabiyahs (people's districts). In 2022, 18 provinces were declared by

15222-473: Was going to be connected in 1940 by a new railway to Tripoli, but in summer of that year war started between Italians and British and infrastructure development came to a standstill. In World War II Benghazi changed hands several times. During Operation Compass the city was captured from the Italians by Combe Force on 6 February 1941. Benghazi was recaptured by Axis powers , led by general Erwin Rommel of

15351-495: Was invaded and conquered by the Italians. Nearly half the local population of Cyrenaica under the leadership of Omar Mukhtar resisted the Italian occupation. In the early 1930s, the revolt was over and the Italians—under governor Italo Balbo —started attempts to assimilate the local population with pacifying policies: a number of new villages for Cyrenaicans were created with health services and schools. Additionally Cyrenaica

15480-478: Was later rebuilt with the country's newly found oil wealth as a gleaming showpiece of modern Libya . It became the capital city of Emirate of Cyrenaica (1949–1951) under Idris Senussi I . In 1951, Cyrenaica was merged with Tripolitania and Fezzan to form the independent Kingdom of Libya , of which both Benghazi and Tripoli were capital cities. Benghazi lost its capital status when the Free Officers under

15609-605: Was located on the edge of a lagoon which opened from the sea. At the time, this area may have been deep enough to receive small sailing vessels. The name was attributed to the fertility of the neighborhood, which gave rise to the mythological associations of the garden of the Hesperides . The ancient city existed on a raised piece of land opposite of what is now the Sidi-Abayd graveyard in the Northern Benghazi suburb of Sbikhat al-Salmani (al-Salmani Marsh ). The city

15738-493: 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

15867-463: 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,

15996-610: 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 is surrounded by the Necropolis of Cyrene . Since 1982, it has been

16125-456: Was populated by more than 20,000 Italian colonists in the late 1930s, mainly around the coast of Benghazi. Benghazi population was made up of more than 35 per cent of Italians in 1939. As a consequence, there was in Cyrenaica and mostly in Benghazi a huge economic development in the second half of the 1930s. Benghazi grew to be a modern city with a new airport, new railway station, new seaplane station, an enlarged port and many facilities. Benghazi

16254-428: 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

16383-482: Was relocated and refounded as the Ptolemaic city of Berenice. Berenice prospered under the Romans, and after the 3rd century AD it superseded Cyrene and Barca as the centre of Cyrenaica. The city went into decline during the Byzantine period and had already been reduced to a small town before its conquest by the Arabs . After around four centuries of peaceful Ottoman rule , in 1911, Italy captured Benghazi and

16512-679: Was seized by Gaddafi opponents on 21 February, who founded the National Transitional Council . On 19 March 2011, the city was the site of the turning point of the Libyan Civil War , when the Libyan Army attempted to score a decisive victory against the NTC by attacking Benghazi, but was forced back by local resistance and intervention from the French Air Force authorized by UNSC Resolution 1973 to protect civilians, allowing

16641-507: 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

#389610