Save Libyan Archaeology Until Violence Eases and Fieldwork Can Resume, Fund Research in Labs, Museums and on Computers, Urges Savino Di Lernia

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Rock art thought to be about 4,000 years old in Libya’s Tadrart Acacus mountains was vandalized in 2009. Save Libyan archaeology Until violence eases and fieldwork can resume, fund research in labs, museums and on computers, urges Savino di Lernia.

ibya is a hotspot for research into the of the first Saharan state6 during the first of Murzuq. This, along with concerns about human past. The Sahara, the largest millennium bc. the illicit trafficking of cultural materials, hot desert in the world, was once green Archaeological fieldwork in Libya is at a led Irina Bokova, the director-general of Land hosted until a few thousand years ago standstill. Four years after the Arab Spring the United Nations Educational, Scientific the biggest freshwater lake on Earth1. Some and the February 2011 Libyan revolution and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), to depictions of crocodiles and cattle engraved that ended the regime of Muammar Gaddafi, call for greater protection of Libyan cultural and painted on the walls of rock shelters in violence remains rife. Recent escalations heritage in November last year. the Sahara date back 9,000 years. in fighting have injured and killed people The destruction of archaeological sites in The desert is also a laboratory for inves- and damaged the nation’s cultural heritage, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan — to name but tigating links between past climate changes infrastructure and free press. Libyan monu- a few other war-torn countries — are part of and developments in human history2,3. ments have been seriously damaged, includ- the same picture: what does not comply with These include the dispersal of modern ing the Karamanli mosque, built in 1738 in militant revolutionaries’ aims is expendable humans across Africa about 130,000 years the capital, Tripoli, and Islamic tombs that or must be destroyed. ago4, the oldest evidence5 of milking in date to between the tenth and twelfth cen- I have worked in Libya since 1990. My Africa around 5200 bc and the establishment turies at Zuwila, near the west-central town last field trip to the Messak plateau in the

THREATENED HERITAGE Violence and vandalism are destroying archaeological sites across Libya, from ancient cities to prehistoric rock art.

UNESCO World Heritage Site TUNISIA Tripoli Leptis Magna Sabratha Cyrene Zliten Benghazi Gunmen vandalized the Ghadames eighteenth-century A massive haul Karamanli mosque in 2014. of archaeological materials was stolen from a bank in 2011. Tractors have destroyed LIBYA tombs and prehistoric sites. Sabha castle was hit by rockets in 2014. Germa Sabha Murzuq

Tadrart Acacus ALGERIA

CHAD

The ancient Greek city of Cyrene is at risk because of nearby construction.

southwest ended abruptly in February Leptis Magna, once part of the Phoenician brings food, essential goods and first-aid 2011 with an emergency evacuation on a mil- city-state of Carthage, was incorporated in equipment). The tarred road between Ghat itary aircraft. Before the revolution, I spent 46 bc by the Romans into the province of and Ubari is broken up, and clashes between three months each year in the desert study- Africa; Sabratha, west of modern Tripoli, the Tebu and Tuareg tribes increasingly ing the prehistory of the Messak and nearby was a Phoenician trading post that became affect the area. Tadrart Acacus mountains, which lie close an influential Roman town during the sec- Perhaps the greatest threat to Libya’s to the border with Algeria, famous for their ond and third centuries ad; the old town diverse heritage is the trafficking of archaeo- GILLES MERMET/AKG-IMAGES GILLES 9,000-year-old rock art. Since then, scientific of Ghadames, known as the ‘pearl of the logical materials, for profit or to fund radical and cultural relations between Libya and the desert’, is noted for its outstanding tradi- groups. This has already been documented international community have stagnated. tional architecture and was earlier home to in Syria and Iraq7. No one has been able to Archaeological tourism — a major source of the Romans and Berbers; and the Tadrart fully assess the situation in Libya. Going to revenue and jobs for locals such as the Tuareg Acacus mountains are rich in prehistoric work among the black smoke of grenades, and Tebu people, the two major Saharan rock art. the men and women of the Libyan Depart- ethnic groups in Libya — has stopped. These fragile vestiges of the human ment of Antiquities are doing their best. But Even though a discussion of cultural her- past are vulnerable to natural and human museums are closed and the little activity left itage might seem out of place in a country threats. Harsh environmental conditions in the field is limited to the north. devastated by civil war, I argue that scientific — temperature variations and wind ero- research in the region must not be aban- sion — take a toll on rock art and open-air LOST OPPORTUNITY doned. As UNESCO recognizes, culture archaeological sites in the desert. These The Gaddafi regime neglected Libyan has a powerful role in “building social cohe- sites are threatened by infrastructure devel- prehistory and relegated it to folklore. Clas- sion and contributing to reconciliation and opment, reclamation of land for agricul- sical towns such as Sabratha, Cyrene and peace”. We must continue to nurture skills, ture, exploitation of underground resources Leptis Magna were viewed negatively as trust and knowledge about our shared past. such as oil, water and gas, and vandalism. links to a colonialist past. Until fieldwork in the region becomes possi- The same applies to sites in towns and vil- Among the hopes sparked by the revolu- ble again, archaeological grant agencies must lages, such as the classical cities along the tion was the idea of a more modern view of fund studies of materials in museum collec- Mediterranean coast and the late-first- the archaeological and cultural heritage — tions and encourage desk-based research in millennium bc Garamantian cemetery in as a gateway to a shared national identity, a collaboration with Libyan scientists. the ancient Wadi al-Ajal river valley near major revenue source and a focus for forg- the town of Germa. ing relationships with the rest of the world. MELTING POT Those hopes have been dashed. Stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to DYING DISCIPLINE The international community took actions the heart of the Sahara, Libya was a cross- The Tadrart Acacus is a place of unbelievable to safeguard Libyan heritage at a UNESCO roads for many ancient cultures, including beauty; it used to be a global tourist desti- meeting in Paris at the end of October 2011, the Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans. It nation. Some of its sites were vandalized in while the revolutionaries were still fight- hosts five UNESCO World Heritage Sites 2009; further damage — mostly graffiti — ing. I learned, in a small Parisian café, that that illustrate the country’s historical diver- has been reported. Gaddafi had been killed. The next day, hopes sity (see ‘Threatened heritage’): Cyrene, Today, the site is inaccessible: no com- for Libya’s future filled the meeting room. founded in about 630 bc by the Greeks, mercial flight connects Tripoli and Ghat, Participants unanimously decided to build was a principal town of the Hellenic world; a nearby town (a weekly military aircraft a shared programme for the training of

Ghadames (left), previously home to the Romans, suffered a rocket attack in 2011; tenth-century Islamic tombs at Zuwila (right) were damaged last year.

young Libyan archaeologists and scientists I strongly believe that scientific cooperation and foreign groups working in Libya must be in Cyrenaica — the region where the revolu- is an effective way to bring people closer, supported. Travel funding and visas for Lib- tion started — and Shahhat (modern Cyrene). increase confidence and make cultures more yan scientists to work temporarily overseas Partnerships between the Libyan govern- open to one other. should be found. And mobility programmes ment and UNESCO, with funding from Italy, for scientists such as the European Union’s were forged to strengthen Libya’s research REKINDLE RESEARCH Erasmus Mundus should be exploited — and stewardship capacity in archaeology. Fieldwork is vital to research and central Libya’s application numbers have been his- Particular attention was given to building to fundraising in archaeology. But in Libya torically low. Energy companies and others the national archive and training Libyan — and other violence-wracked countries — with commercial interests in Libya should be police, customs officers and workers in the archaeology as we have practised it has come encouraged to work with local stakeholders antiquities department in the fight against to an end. Lengthy excavation campaigns to help to train local personnel in scientific the trafficking of cultural property. will be impossible for years, if not genera- research. But few initiatives reached the field and tions. Researchers must imagine a different Without these steps, archaeological now all efforts have essentially stopped. The future based on other methods. research in Libya, already moribund, will escalation of hostilities in the past six months International funding and attention soon die. It would be gravely disappoint- LEFT: GEORGE STEINMETZ/CORBIS; RIGHT: JANE SWEENEY/GETTY SWEENEY/GETTY JANE RIGHT: STEINMETZ/CORBIS; GEORGE LEFT: has led many foreign embassies to close and must return to scientific studies of Libyan ing and paradoxical if after years of neglect international organi- heritage. Research should focus on exist- under the Gaddafi regime Libyan archaeo- zations to move to “Museum ing materials in museums and collections. logical heritage is once again be abandoned. neighbouring Tunisia. collections Granting bodies should give greater priority As well as a failure of the 2011 revolution, Large parts of North should be to research that can be carried out on com- it would be a missed opportunity for a Africa are cut off by digitized and puters or in the laboratory. Sample analyses generation of young Libyan archaeolo- the civil war in Libya, made freely of archaeological materials can be done in gists — and a tragedy for the safeguarding the Tuareg rebellion available international labs, where Libyan scientists of monuments and sites of universal and in Niger, insecurity to a global should work and be trained. outstanding value. ■ in Chad, Algeria and audience.” Building an online library of rock-art Mali, the presence of sites, with the involvement of Libyan stu- Savino di Lernia is director of The al-Qaeda and ISIS militants, and a large and dents and colleagues from other countries, Archaeological Mission in the Sahara, uncontrolled circulation of weapons. Inter- would help Libyan scientists to overcome Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. national granting bodies such as universities their isolation and regain a sense of iden- e-mail: [email protected] and European and US research agencies have tity. Museum collections that span from 1. Drake, N. A., Blench, R. M., Armitage, S. J., ceased to support field expeditions. remote prehistory to the Islamic cultures Bristow, C. S. & White, K. H. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. Being a Saharan archaeologist today is should be digitized and made freely avail- USA 108, 458–462 (2011). a difficult job. Researchers fear being kid- able to a global audience. Unpublished col- 2. deMenocal, P. B. & Tierney, J. E. Nature Edu. Knowl. 3, 12 (2012). napped or even killed. Insurance cover lections held by international teams should 3. Kuper, R. & Kröpelin, S. Science 313, 803–807 is hard to come by. We could transfer our also be digitized and shared online. Remote (2006). activities to another place, but this would analyses of satellite imagery, for example, 4. Balter, M. Science 331, 20–23 (2011). 5. Dunne, J. et al. Nature 486, 390–394 (2012). mean abandoning decades of ideas, invest- has been used to reveal lost Saharan cities 6. Mattingly, D. J. & Sterry, M. Antiquity 87, ment, and relations built with friends and (see go.nature.com/8y1gxh). 503–518 (2013). colleagues. It would be hypocritical and sad. International cooperation between local 7. Lawler, A. Science 346, 1162–1163 (2014).