About Sabratha (Libya)

Sabratha is the lesser-known city of the Roman Tripolitania after Oea (Tripoli) and Leptis Magna, but it is the only one that has remains from Punic occupations to show.

It is a strange and bizarre monument labeled as a Punic Mausoleum. I have never seen any building from that era and have nothing to compare it with. We owe this reconstruction to the Italians who worked here in the days of Mussolini. To recover the elements, they had to demolish a section of the Byzantine city wall and houses of a later date. The monument may be inspired by the Libyan-Numidian Mausoleum of Duga in modern Tunisia which is, however, a square building.

The Mausoleum of Sabratha stands 23 meters high and ends in a turret that is missing its tip. It is resting on a triangular base. The Punic construction collapsed during the earthquakes that occurred in the 4th century AD. The debris was then readily used by the Byzantines to build the city walls and reconstruct some houses.

How the Italian archaeologists have been able to sort out the parts belonging to the Punic Mausoleum seems a near-impossible task. To me, this monument is a jumbled mixture of Egyptian and Greek symbols (in the friezes above the columns) where the Egyptian god Bes is depicted taming the lions, while Heracles is attacking the lions in a very Greek fashion. Both gods are known for helping to overcome death in order to guarantee eternal life. The three consoles supposedly held 3-meter-high statues of Greek kouroi. Initially, the entire mausoleum was coated with a layer of red and blue stucco, making it an unmistakable landmark in the middle of the old city.

The eye-catcher in Sabratha nowadays is its imposing theater that is said to be the largest in Roman Africa. It was built in the 3rd century AD using local stone, and it was decorated with black and white marble columns as well as cipolin marble. The capitals were quite unique, often enhanced with masks or faces.

It is, however, exciting to access this theater through the artists' entrance for I had no idea such a thing existed in antiquity. These are large rooms with colorful marble floors and walls. From here, the artists could immediately enter the now wooden stage that is 40 meters wide. It is a treat to walk in their footsteps and to look into the theater from their point of view. The high skene is three stories tall. It is said that 96 of the original columns have been put back into place, but I am not exactly charmed by the quality of this restoration. 

The ledge of the first floor once held an inscription of which, strangely enough, only the word “lacuna” has survived. The theory goes that this is what remains of “lacunaria” referring to the wooden overhang that covered the podium to increase its acoustics. The edge of the podium facing the public is decorated with marble reliefs displaying theater masks for comedies and tragedies, two philosophers in an intimate discussion, and a dancing girl wrapped in a whirling tunica.

When the restoration work was completed in 1937, the theater was inaugurated with due pomp and circumstance by Mussolini, who personally attended the performance of Antigone by Sophocles. Walking through the vaults and corridors gives at least an inkling of the logistics involved. It is a unique way to sniff the atmosphere from times past. From the top tiers of seats, I am rewarded with a panoramic view of the ancient city and today’s harbor.

Like the theater, most buildings in Sabratha were constructed using the local yellow sandstone that is readily available. These stones were covered with stucco that was painted afterward. In the glory days of the Roman occupation, the stucco was replaced by more precious marble slabs.

Near the beach stands a temple dedicated to Isis, an eastern cult that was popular among the Romans. The goddess was depicted with a headdress of bent cow horns framing a solar disk. This temple was built under Emperor Augustus and was enlarged in 69-79 AD by Vespasian. The main entrance was facing east where an ample colonnaded space opened toward the sea. All we see today are the steps to this entrance and a few rooms in the back of the temple for the worship of other gods. Archaeologists have, however, managed to re-erect six columns that serve as a lonely beacon. Nothing much remains of the original cella that held the cult statue of Isis and the layout is otherwise rather puzzling.

Nearby is another temple from the 2nd century AD with no name. It may have been kept anonymous on purpose to serve the seafarers from the entire Mediterranean to worship their own gods. Most of the building stones have sadly been removed to be re-used elsewhere.

The Forum looks like a construction site with lots of rubble and piles of stones that seem to belong to different temples and other official buildings. A key position is occupied by the remains of a temple dedicated to Antoninus Pius and his family. Across lies a Basilica whose entrance is framed with pillars decorated with vines intertwined with the now-vanished silphium plant. It should be noted that silphium was by far the largest export product of North Africa - the only place in the world where this plant could be found and now disappeared entirely. It was a natural medicine, a contraceptive, and an aphrodisiac that was in high demand, especially in Rome. It was an efficient remedy against cough, fever, indigestion, wards, and all kinds of other ailments – in fact, the aspirin of antiquity. I find it quite exciting to see traces of this unique plant.

Also recognizable is the Curia from the 4th century AD, i.e., the meeting room for the state council in which the people of Sabratha with the highest incomes could have a seat and their say. Then as now, money meant power, and we should not forget that it was the rich who took care of the maintenance of the streets, water pipes and conduits, bathhouses, and other public facilities of the city.

Between this Curia and the sea, I find the well-known Basilica of Justinian, a Byzantine church from the 6th century AD, which unfortunately was entirely dismantled by the archaeologists in the 1920s simply because they underestimated its value. The mosaic floors, however, have been saved and were moved to the local museum (see: Sabratha, an old Phoenician colony in North Africa).

Strolling on further, I reach the street of the olive oil traders where several presses are still in situ. The inside of the successive basins was coated with waterproof stucco to make sure they saved the oil to the last drop.

Further down, are the Baths of Oceanus or Neptune displaying a significant number of mosaics. The most beautiful picture is that of Oceanus, now at the museum. That precaution is not exaggerated because these mosaics are not protected, and everybody can walk freely over them. What a shame! 

My travel experience through Libya dates from before the outbreak of the Arab Spring, and even then, I felt sorry that Libya had not taken better care of its archaeological heritage. The situation after the capture and execution of Muammar Gaddafi has gone from bad to worse. I honestly fear that many sites that have been unearthed so carefully are no longer cared for and are now left for grabs (see: Still hope, though scant, for Libya’s heritage).

Click here to see all the pictures of Sabratha