Egypt and Libya, March 19 - April 2, 2006 / 20060326a_SabrathaTheaterFlowers

Ruth Milner, rmilner plus web at bookofmarvels dot net

Our first view of the ruins at the ancient Roman city of Sabratha. The wildflowers here were spectacular. Tripoli, i.e. "tripolis", means "three cities", which were Sabratha, Leptis Magna, and Oea (now buried under modern Tripoli). Sabratha was originally a trading-post built by the same people who built Carthage. It was used by the Phoenicians and served as an outlet for African products long before it was Romanized and rebuilt in the 2nd & 3rd centuries BC. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. The excavated area covers about 500m x 600m and has a stunningly beautiful location on the shore of the Mediterranean. It must have been a magnificent place in its heyday. As in Egypt, much of the ancient ruins have been reassembled and partially restored, and there was no information available (that I heard or could find) about what things looked like when they were first excavated by the Italians beginning in the 1920's.

Text and images © Ruth Milner 2006.
May be reproduced only with author credit.