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Urbanism and Economy at Euesperides (Benghazi): preliminary report on the 1999 season

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2015

Andrew Wilson ,
Paul Bennett ,
Ahmed Buzaian ,
Susanne Ebbinghaus ,
Kenneth Hamilton ,
Alette Kattenberg  and
Eleni Zimi
Andrew Wilson
Affiliation:
Magdalen College, Oxford
Paul Bennett
Affiliation:
Canterbury Archaeological Trust
Ahmed Buzaian
Affiliation:
Garyunis University, Benghazi
Susanne Ebbinghaus
Affiliation:
Freiburg
Kenneth Hamilton
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeological Sciences, Bradford University
Alette Kattenberg
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeological Sciences, Bradford University
Eleni Zimi
Affiliation:
Foundation of the Hellenic World, Athens
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Abstract

This paper reports on the first season of a new project at Euesperides (Benghazi) aimed at studying the urban development and economy of the city. Two area excavations were started, the first on the site of early Hellenistic pebble and tessellated mosaics discovered in 1998, and the second in what appears to be an area of houses and workshops built against the city wall on the east side of the mound of Sidi Abeid. Geophysical survey and surface prospection was also undertaken; it appears that the lower-lying extension to the city was much larger than previously thought, and several modifications are necessary to previously published plans of the site. Much of the lower city is covered with large spreads of deliberately crushed shells of Murex trunculus, indicating the production of purple dye on a significant scale. Other evidence of urban production was also recovered, notably metal-working, while study of the ceramic assemblage shows widespread trading connections, with significant imports of coarsewares besides the expected fineware and amphora imports.

Type
Archaeological Reports
Information
Libyan Studies , Volume 30 , 1999 , pp. 147 - 168
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Libyan Studies 1999

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