In the second part of an interview with antiquities chief Saleh Ageb, a look into the still undiscovered treasures, the development of an underwater excavation team and the looting of Libya’s antiquities.

by Saleh Ageb

People have recently constructed squatter settlements and taken possession of archaeological sites, such as ‘Balagrae’ – the famous site of the city of Bayda, which has a temple of the ancient Greeks god of war – which was controlled by a family on the pretext that it is located in their land. What is the role played by DoA to resolve such problems?

This happened immediately after liberation, but civil society activists, city’s residents, archeology workers, and professors and students of the University of Bayda staged demonstrations denouncing the act, which was actually stopped.

In 2008, rock art sites in Acacus were exposed to distortion by spray paint. What is the damage that may be caused by such an act, and how was the perpetrator punished?

This act was a crime against our country, culture and civilization; however, the sentence was light and incommensurate with the size of the damage caused.

We immediately reported the incident and I contacted a number of rock art experts who provided their reports in this regard. In January 2010, a UNESCO team visited the site and assessed the damage, searching for ways to correct the distortions. DoA ensured constant guarding through contracting a group of locals.

I would like to emphasize here that citizens’ cooperation and increased awareness regarding the value of this cultural heritage is a key to ensure that such irresponsible acts will not be repeated.

What about the news circulated by social networking websites that UNESCO has threatened to remove Cyrene from its World Heritage List, which contains 878 sites of cultural and natural characteristics?

Delisting, rather than removing Cyrene from the list is an old threat. When registering a site with UNESCO, a number of criteria should be met, such as providing relevant reports and identifying the paths of tourists and an external protection area called the upper zone.

Last month, DoA submitted a report on Cyrene, and we do not deny that the situation in the city is threatening because of building squatter settlements.

Are there any efforts to include other Libyan cities in the World Heritage List?

We are working on this. Certain procedures and criteria must be implemented in order to be included in the World Heritage List, and we have to put cities on the declaration list. Tolmeitha can be added as new world heritage site, so could Eastern Owaynat in Kufra. Red Palace can be registered as an individual building, while Marcus Aurelius Arc can only be registered individually when we meet other requirements.

To what extent has the Libyan state benefited from foreign university missions exploring historical sites in developing the Libyan staff working in archeology?

Our relationship with universities in other countries is good, and we have relationships with most of the world universities, starting from Japan to most European countries and ending with the United States. In the past, we tried to benefit from these missions though not optimally because provisions of the agreements under which we worked were not well designed.

We are now trying to benefit from these missions in training, study and publication, and want to develop this relationship with them to get to the point of partnership.

Are there currently programs with foreign missions to restore archaeological sites?

Yes, we now have a project with the ‘Roma Tre’ University to carry out repairs and maintenance in Leptis Magna, particularly in ‘Villa Céline.’ There is also a team from the Italian Higher Institute of Site Restoration, comprising 10 specialists with 10 Libyan young people training with them.

DoA also deals with the U.S. mission, and it has graduated more than 75 trainees from various Libyan cities on archaeological survey ‘GPS’, and a training course on documentation processes is going to be held on May 19.

What happened with the Cyrene Declaration announced by Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam?

The declaration was born dead. It sounded like a good idea since it provided for the protection of the eastern region and stopping construction works, but it was not connected with the people and they were afraid of it. We can only implement a project when it is popularly supported.

Will we discover new historical cities in Libya?

We might in the near future. The Phoenicians city of Abu Kammash was only discovered in 2006.

Has DoA visited the city of Msallata and documented its antiquities?

In fact, Msallata has agricultural areas. In the recent past, a researcher from the region discovered an archaeological site in the city of Allouss near Msallata, and he is planning to extensively study it in the near future.

Years ago, we heard that Jewish antiquities were found in the eastern region, but the matter was kept a secret.

I have no information on this subject despite the fact that Jews lived in Libya during the fourth century BC and there must be scripts and records. As a specialist, I have never found any Jewish antiquities in Libya.

Cyrene was mentioned in the Bible. What is your comment?

I do not know. Cyrene is an old name and the city was founded in the seventh century BC.

What about the submerged antiquities in Libya?

We seek to establish a DoA Submerged Antiquities Unit and we have appointed many young men interested in scuba diving and antiquities. We even sent one of them for training in Tunisia, and when he came back he performed field training in Libya. We will also send youth for training in Malta. I believe that submerged antiquities will become world heritage sites.

Will there be a media team to document discovered antiquities, especially the submerged ones?

We hope so. I personally know a team specialized in underwater photography in the eastern region and hope to deal with it.

What was the media role in introducing antiquities and cultural heritage? We have not seen documentaries about Libya’s ancient cities.

Foreigners benefited from our antiquities in producing many documentaries. Unfortunately, we lack skilled staff, and the media is important in raising awareness.

Last month, the Libya Museum showed, for the first time, the documentary “The Sign of the Stone: the Unknown Sahara of the People with No Name,” by Italians Lucio Rossa and Anna Ferrario, which was filmed in Acacus Mountains, Southern Libya. The film is very impressive, making the Libyans proud of their country. It talks about an old mummy aged more than 6,000 years – older than the Egyptian mummy – that was found in that area. The film was produced in 2006 and has won nine scientific prizes.