“Shall we wait until this great human treasure is completely destroyed?” asked Libyan archeologist Fadel Quraini when speaking about the extent of the damage and theft of Libya’s ancient objects.

Libya is home to the world’s largest Roman and Greek cities, namely Leptis and Cyrene. It also has the most precious mosaics in the world dating back to the Roman Era at the Tripoli Museum, in addition to the largest amphitheaters in North Africa and the Middle East; the two ancient theatres of Leptis and Sabratha, west of Tripoli.

“Shall we wait until this great human treasure is completely destroyed?” asked Libyan archeologist Fadel Quraini when speaking about the extent of the damage and theft of Libya’s ancient objects.

Libya is home to the world’s largest Roman and Greek cities, namely Leptis and Cyrene. It also has the most precious mosaics in the world dating back to the Roman Era at the Tripoli Museum, in addition to the largest amphitheaters in North Africa and the Middle East; the two ancient theatres of Leptis and Sabratha, west of Tripoli.

Libya also keeps the largest collection of paintings in North Africa and the Middle East dating back to 10,000 years before Christ in the Acacus Mountains south of Libya. Libya is also home to the ancient city of Ghadamis, which stands out as the oldest city in the world, built in the desert in the 8^th Century BC, southwest of Tripoli.

Despite that rich historical heritage, Libya is facing the threat of UNESCO’s revocation of certain ancient sites from the world heritage list including in Shahat, 240 km east of Benghazi, according to Saleh Aqab, director of the Libyan Archeology Authority. Large areas of unregulated buildings were constructed near the archeological sites and the concerned authorities were unable to provide appropriate protection for the ancient sites.

Huge antiquity theft

Archeologist Quraini said the largest acts of thefts and damage caused to Libya’s ancient ruins happened soon after the February 2011 revolution. Most notably, the ‘Benghazi Treasure,’ which has been kept with Libya’s Commercial Bank since the 1960s and consists of more than 6000 gold, silver and bronze items, in addition to a large number of rare and historical objects, was looted in mid-2011 under mysterious circumstances. A British newspaper described it as the largest theft in human history.

Quraini held the bank’s management directly responsible for the thefts as it failed to pursue the investigation action on the disappearance of the ancient treasure. “Why were the treasures looted at that time, and why was the investigation stopped?”

The main reason

Head of Libya’s Antiquities Authority Ahmad Husain said that based on verifiable information, the ancient coins are being sold in the markets of Britain, Malta and other countries.

“The Antiquities Authority held several meetings with the international organizations concerned with the protection of archeological sites in Austria at the end of April and currently in Tunisia. The meetings resulted in drafting the so-called ‘Red List’  in which the most important archeological objects were registered. It demanded to recover the stolen items legally through the INTERPOL.”

The Red List

The International Council of Museums (ICOM) released last December an ‘emergency red list’ on the Libyan archeological pieces that are threatened with destruction, theft or illicit trading, according to the ICOM’s website. The list aims to help specialists, as well as the security concerned with art and heritage to identify the threatened ancient objects and protect them through enforcement of the applicable legislations.

ICOM is comprised of more than 35,000 museums from across the world and is an international non-governmental organization located in Paris. It works with UNESCO, World Customs Organization and the International Police Organization (INTERPOL).

The Libyan list includes a number of archeological objects incorporating sculptures and coins that belong to the period from the 5^th millennium BC until the 16^th century. They cover the Greek, Punic, Roman and the Islamic civilizations in addition to the medieval times.

Among those objects are a marble bust of a woman that belongs to the Greek era (the 4^th millennium BC), a limestone obelisk which carries Latin inscriptions dating back to the Roman times (the first half of the 3^rd millennium BC) and a ceramic cave belonging to the Islamic times (the 9^th and 10^th centuries AD).

ICOM demands that museums, markets, traders and amateurs not to keep similar objects without verifying their sources. It also called upon all persons who suspect the sale, theft, looting or illicit export of ancient artifacts to immediately inform the local authorities.

The Blue Shield

Among the solutions suggested by archeologist and researcher Ahmad Faraj is that in case the state failed to protect its ancient heritage, it can seek the assistance of the ‘Blue Shield’ which is a cultural heritage protection organization founded under The Hague Convention of 1954, to protect cultural properties during armed conflicts. The Blue Shield is a cultural equivalent to the Red Cross. It acts as a protector of cultural heritage across the world through preparations and rapid response in emergencies.

In reference to seeking the help of the Blue Shield, the Head of the Antiquities Authority said the Libyan ambassadors abroad do not address these issues. He added that even the official agreements concluded to recover some ancient objects like the Athena Statue, which was stolen from Libya in the middle of the past century and is retained in Israel, were not followed up by any side. The Antiquity Authority approached Israel’s UNESCO representative in connection with the Athena Statue and assigned the Louvre Museum authority to receive it on its behalf some months ago, but no response has so far been received.

“These agreements are not worth the ink they are written with,” said archeologist Quarani. “No state can intervene during armed conflicts to protect human heritage, and UNESCO is helpless to act under such circumstances.”

Antiquities and Museums Day

At the Leptis and Cyrene archeological sites in Khoms, 120 km east of Tripoli, 32-year-old Muftah Mahmoud, accompanied by a number of volunteers carried out a large scale clean-up action. Mahmoud believes there must be intensive campaigns to make people more aware of the importance of this cultural heritage especially during international events such as the annual international archeology and museums day on 18 May every year.

According to 41-year-old Osama Hasan, a resident of Shahat, in which clean-up and protraction voluntary campaigns are held, believes that people’s awareness about the importance of archeology in international events does not contribute to stopping the recurrent aggressions on archeological sites.

“Had the government been strict and protected the archeological sites, the 15 archeological sites which were bulldozed and replaced by new unregulated houses in the city of Shahat would have been prevented.”

Hope and optimism

Amid this chaotic state at the archeological sites, academic researcher Ahmad Faraj appears to be optimistic and hopeful in 2016. During the excavation season, the tourism college students of Omar Al-Mukhtar University at Bayda were filled with awareness and enthusiasm. They were ready to promote that spirit within their community through voluntary campaigns even in the absence of the state, according to Faraj.

Quraini expressed hope that if the country was united under a single government, it would  contribute to recovering the stolen objects and protect the archeological places. He also stressed that Libya recovered the statue of Venus, which dates back to the 4^th century BC from Italy a hundred years after its theft. The recovery of that statue happened during Berlusconi’s visit to Libya in 2008. “Right will not be lost so long as demand for it exists,” he concluded.