Sabratha

Archaeological Site of Sabratha

Theatre, 2006

Sabratha has been the place of several excavation campaigns since 1921, mainly by Italian archaeologists. It was also excavated by a British team directed by Dame Kathleen Kenyon and John Ward-Perkins between 1948 and 1951.[13] Besides its Theater at Sabratha that retains its three-storey architectural backdrop, Sabratha has temples dedicated to Liber Pater, Serapis and Isis. There is a Christian basilica of the time of Justinian and also remnants of some of the mosaic floors that enriched elite dwellings of Roman North Africa (for example, at the Villa Sileen, near Khoms). However, these are most clearly preserved in the colored patterns of the seaward (or Forum) baths, directly overlooking the shore, and in the black and white floors of the theater baths. There is an adjacent museum containing some treasures from Sabratha, but others can be seen in the national museum in Tripoli.

In 1943, during the Second World War, archaeologist Max Mallowan, husband of novelist Agatha Christie, was based at Sabratha as an assistant to the Senior Civil Affairs Officer of the Western Province of Tripolitania. His main task was to oversee the allocation of grain rations, but it was, in the words of Christie's biographer, a "glorious attachment", during which Mallowan lived in an Italian villa with a patio overlooking the sea and dined on fresh tunny fish and olives.[14]

According to an April, 2016 report, due to soft soil composition and the nature of the coast of Sabratha, which is mostly made up of soft rock and sand, the Ruins of Sabratha are undergoing dangerous periods of coastal erosion. The public baths, olive press building and 'harbor' can be observed as being most damaged as the buildings have crumbled due to storms and unsettled seas. As the most common building material in Sabratah, calcarenite, is highly susceptible to physical, chemical and biological weathering (particularly marine spray), the long-term conservation of the monuments is endangered.[15] Rising sea levels can also compromise the integrity of the site.[16]

This erosion of the coast of Ancient Sabratha can be seen yearly with significant differences in beach layout and recent crumbled buildings. Breakwaters set in the vicinity of the harbor and olive press are inadequate and too small to efficiently protect the Ancient City of Sabratha.

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  Panoramic image of a part of the archaeological site
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  Panoramic image of the theater of the archaeological site

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  Theater in Sabratha city 2nd century CE
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  Theater
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  View of the Sabratha theater
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  Marble facing on the wall of theater
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  One of many ways inside of theater
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  Inside ways of theater
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  Ruins of theater
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  Theater
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  Theater
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  One of the few entries to theater
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  Theater
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  Bas-Relief (on bottom of stage), theater
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  Bas-Relief (on bottom of stage), theater
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  Bas-Relief (on bottom of stage), theater
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  Bas-Relief (on bottom of stage), theater
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  Bas-Relief (on bottom of stage), theater
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  Bas-Relief (on bottom of stage), theater
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  Bas-Relief (on bottom of stage), theater
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  Bas-Relief (on bottom of stage), theater
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  High relief, theater
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  High relief, theater
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  Theater
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  Plinth and capital of columns, theater
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  Capital of column, theater
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  Theater
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  Theater
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  Stairs to the stage, theater
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  Theater
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  The gate, theater
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  Architrave and capital, theater
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  Back side of theater
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  The gate decor element, theater
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  Nymphaeum
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  Nymphaeum
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  Seaside therms
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  Latrines
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  Latrines
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  Сouncil chamber
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  Curia 4 CE
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  Mosaic in the Peristyle house
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  Mosaic in the Peristyle house
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  Peristyle house
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  Peristyle house
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  Seawards bath mosaic
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  Inscription in front of the Capitolium, 2nd century BCE
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  Basilica of Apuleus, Byzantine baptistery
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  Basilica of Apuleus, Pylone
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  Fontain of Flavius Tullus at the Antonine Temple
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  Podium at the Antonine Temple
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  Antonine Temple
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  Podium at the Antonine Temple
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  Mausoleum of Bes, 2nd century BCE

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  Torso of the Emperor Vespasian, or his son Titus. 1st century Museum courtyard
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  Mosaic. Museum
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  Mosaic. Museum
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  Mosaic. Museum
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  Mosaic from theater baths. Museum."Salvom Lavisse" - "Washing it's well!"
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  Mosaic. Museum
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  Mosaic. Museum
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  Head. Museum
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  Marble figure of a satyr. From the Forum. Museum
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  Bust of Jupiter. From the Temple of Jupiter. Museum
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  Bust of Goddess Concordia from the Temple of Jupiter. Museum
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  Marble candelabrum showing Orpheus and the animals. From Theatre Baths 3rd century Museum
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  Head. Museum
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  Decor element of Insula (house). Museum
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  Mosaic. Museum
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  Basilica of Justinian reconstructed in the Site Museum

• Ghaki, Mansour (2015), "Toponymie et Onomastique Libyques: L'Apport de l'Écriture Punique/Néopunique" (PDF), La Lingua nella Vita e la Vita della Lingua: Itinerari e Percorsi degli Studi Berberi, Studi Africanistici: Quaderni di Studi Berberi e Libico-Berberi, vol. No. 4, Naples: Unior, pp. 65–71, ISBN 978-88-6719-125-3, ISSN 2283-5636. (in French)
• Head, Barclay; et al. (1911), "Syrtica", Historia Numorum (2nd ed.), Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 875.
• Rodríguez López, María Isabel (2017). "The Relief Decorations of the Ancient Roman Theater: The Case of Sabratha". Music in Art: International Journal for Music Iconography. 42 (1–2): 17–31. ISSN 1522-7464.