Between 2023 and 2024, the Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa (EAMENA) project and the Libyan Department of Antiquities (DoA) collaborated to apply the newly-developed EAMENA Machine Learning Automated Change Detection (MLACD) method to a series of case studies across Libya. The first of these case studies concerns the region of Lefakat, south of Benghazi, which is facing rapid urbanization, placing heritage sites under immediate threat. An initial desk-based assessment was conducted to identify archaeological sites and apply the MLACD method. Following the remote sensing analyses, a team of Libyan archaeologists from the DoA conducted fieldwork to verify and validate the results. The work involved archaeological and condition assessments of the sites. The remote sensing and fieldwork survey documented 30 archaeological sites, primarily dating from the Roman period, recording new information about these sites. The threats affecting them related primarily to urbanization and vegetation growth, looting and rubbish dumping. The approach highlighted in this article combines advanced remote sensing technologies with fieldwork validation, providing a robust framework for monitoring and safeguarding archaeological sites.

Libya, a country in North Africa with vast arid regions, faces a serious water crisis. With less than 7.5 mm of rainfall each year and evaporation rates over 3,000 mm, water scarcity is a constant challenge. The country relies heavily on fossil groundwater – non-renewable underground reserves – leading to the depletion of aquifers and making water increasingly scarce. As a result, Libya has some of the lowest per-person freshwater availability in the world, with less than 200 cubic metres annually. Population growth, expanding cities and industrial development put further pressure on limited water resources, while overuse, pollution and environmental degradation worsen the situation. Projects like the Man-Made River, which transports water from the south to the north, aim to help but have not fully solved the problem. To secure water for the future, Libya needs a comprehensive, sustainable strategy based on principles of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). This approach involves carefully planning and managing water, land and related resources in a way that considers social, economic and environmental factors. Such efforts can improve efficiency, reduce waste and pollution and boost resilience against climate change. Addressing water scarcity also requires adopting sustainable practices such as collecting rainwater, treating and reusing wastewater, desalinating seawater and promoting water- efficient technologies. Combining these strategies with infrastructure improvements can help make the most of Libya’s water resources, protect the environment, improve people’s lives and utilize concepts like virtual water and water footprinting to bridge gaps and foster better water management. A holistic, sustainable approach rooted in IWRM principles is essential for tackling the root causes of Libya’s water crisis and building a secure water future.

In this paper the Latinate gentilicia Flavius and Iulius, as well as the rank tribunus with its Punic equivalent, found in the Latino-Punic sub-corpus from the necropolis at Bir ed-Dreder are discussed. The texts date roughly to the mid fourth century AD, and attest to the continued survival of Punic in the Tripolitanian pre-desert, also in an official Roman context. While the inscriptions are difficult to understand, direct Latin influence is limited to these three nouns related to their service in the Roman army. The Roman military rank tribunus could, however, also be rendered in Punic. By all accounts, knowledge of Latin was still at best limited in this region during early Late Antiquity.

Between 2023 and 2024, the Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa (EAMENA) project, in collaboration with the Libyan Department of Antiquities (DoA), organised and conducted a series of training workshops and fieldwork campaigns in Libya, funded by the British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund (CPF). The workshops provided training to over 20 members of the DoA in a newly-developed Machine Learning Automated Change Detection (MLACD) tool. This remote sensing method was developed by the Leicester EAMENA team to detect landscape change and aid heritage monitoring efforts. The MLACD method was applied to four case studies in Libya: Lefakat (Cyrenaica), Bani Walid (Tripolitania), the region south of Derna (Cyrenaica) and Jarma (Fazzan). Each of these case studies was followed by a survey campaign by Libyan archaeologists to validate the results of the method, survey the archaeological sites identified, record their condition and assess the disturbances and threats affecting them. This article will provide an overview of the aims and successful outcomes of the EAMENA-CPF training programme, as well as an introduction to the MLACD method and its application to Libyan heritage, providing background and context for the individual case studies, which will be published more fully in separate articles.

This paper examines Cyrenaica’s capacity for cereal production, focusing on Cyrene’s wheat output supporting the Greek cities. It also explores the region’s favourable agricultural conditions and presents local Hellenistic inscriptions that document cereal cultivation over three centuries. The paper argues that the wheat sent from Cyrene to the Greeks during the Hellenistic period was offered as a donation rather than exported for profit. This argument is supported by three main points: first, the quantities mentioned represent only a quarter, or possibly less, of Cyrene’s annual wheat production; second, a Greek poetic inscription from Cyrene (second or early third century AD) praises the city for donating one hundred ships of grain to aid the Greeks; and, third, literary references describe Cyrenaica and Cyrene as renowned for cereal production, particularly wheat. Literary references, together with epigraphic evidence, also reflect the ongoing demand for wheat among both Greeks and Romans. It concludes that Cyrene was one of the important sources of wheat for these nations, and that it was widely known as a provider of free wheat shipments during times of hardship. It also suggests that Cyrene commemorated the Hellenistic wheat consignment because it was given as a gift.

In 2022, a Tunisian citizen was arrested in Oslo when he tried to sell 30 Carthaginian bronze coins to a local antiques dealer. The dealer had previously alerted the police after receiving an email inquiry asking him whether he was interested in buying a ‘large number’ of Punic coins from an alleged underwater find, presumably a hoard, off the coast of Tunisia. The University of Oslo’s Museum of Cultural History, which cooperates with law-enforcement agencies and the authorities in cases involving illicit cultural artefacts, assisted with the identification of the coins. Eventually, the latter were returned to Tunisia, and Norwegian prosecutors dropped the charges against the Tunisian national. This article discusses the relevant legal framework of the case and the process that unfolded from the time when an attempt was made to sell the coins until they were returned to their country of origin. The broader numismatic implications of this find are also examined.

This article revisits the concept of the ‘Christian city’ in Late Antique North Africa by shifting the focus from topography to the lived and perceived urban experience. While earlier scholarship has emphasized the accumulation of Christian buildings, this study argues that religious transformation is equally, if not more, visible through the evolving practices of city inhabitants. By analysing both Christian and continuing pagan traditions between the fourth and seventh centuries, the article explores how monuments and public religious practices shaped the perception and function of the city. Special attention is given to the volumetric presence of sacred architecture and to the role of public spaces, particularly streets, in hosting religious acts. Ultimately, the study offers a more nuanced understanding of the Christian city: one defined not solely by the presence of basilicas, but by the rhythms, gestures, and visibility of religious life within the broader civic landscape.

In 1926, Roberto Bartoccini excavated a late-antique tomb at Sirte, Libya. Fifty-three inscriptions in Latin, Greek and Latino-Punic have been recorded and used as evidence of a thriving Christian community. This article reassesses these inscriptions, paying particular attention to the Latino-Punic texts, and discusses the persistence of a Punic identity that can be placed in the context of the wider archaeological landscape.

In the region of Cyrenaica is located the rural sanctuary of Martuba, where two altars and a set of statues have been discovered that have traditionally been linked to the goddess Isis. However, through a comparison with other elements belonging both to the region and to Numidian and Phoenician-Punic areas, as well as Egypt, this paper defends their identification not with the Egyptian divinity, but with the one with which a process of hybridisation or religious bricolage took place at some point prior to Herodotus, the puissance divine called for convenience ‘Luna’ (Moon). This suggests the presence of two intertwined cultural traditions that have contributed to the formation of an innovative and distinct local reality. The resultant cultural artefact is characterised by a synthesis of influences from dominant cultures, such as Roman and Egyptian, while retaining distinctive elements that are unique to the Libyan-Phoenician tradition.

The production and circulation of common wares during the late antique period in North Africa has been largely overlooked by past scholarship, despite their potential to shed light on late antique production, workshop organisation and regional ceramic economies. This paper provides the first detailed study of a distinctive type of late antique, wheelmade common ware, the so-called African ‘painted ware’ (APW). It first presents a critical overview of the distribution of painted wares and their typology, decoration and chronology based on existing publications. It then develops a typology of vessel shapes, but also decoration patterns based on a large, well-preserved assemblage of painted ceramics recently excavated by the DAI, INP and UCL at the archaeological sites of Bulla Regia and Chimtou in the Medjerda valley, Tunisia. To understand the composition, technology and provenance of the wares, petrographic and chemical analysis was conducted on 57 painted sherds from the two sites. The results suggest the existence of a production centre in the Medjerda Valley, with potters using local calcareous clay tempered with sand, while the decoration was obtained using iron-based pigments. Comparison with published painted wares at other sites contributes to an initial insight into regional distribution patterns of the painted ware.

Although Greek was the dominant epigraphic language in Cyrenaica throughout the Classical period, Latin was introduced by Roman merchants and administrators at the time of the formation of the province of Crete and Cyrene c. 67 BC, and remained in use, albeit by a constant minority, until at least the fourth century AD, with the last well-dated Latin inscription dating from the Valentinian dynasty. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of Latin inscriptions in the region, based on the IR Cyrenaica 2020 corpus, which brings together hitherto scattered documents and also includes many texts published for the first time. After a general overview of the corpus in terms of geographical, typological and chronological distribution, we will look at the linguistic landscape of ancient Cyrenaica, focusing on the multilingualism of the region, the literacy of the populations, the borrowings from one language to another (Latinisms), and the influences of the western provinces on the Latin of the region, among other topics. Lastly, a series of Latin funerary inscriptions allow us to examine the multiple identities claimed by the populations, as well as the cultural influences between Greek-, Latin- and Libyan-speaking populations.

We know plenty of personal names from Cyrenaica and most of them are known to us through inscriptions. Although the bulk of them are Greek, with some local dialectal features, we also find already in the Classical period some Libyan names. Later on, two new influxes become clear in local onomastics: Jewish and Roman names which appear in great number. In 1987 (LGPN 1), these names were collected, with the main emphasis on Greek, and were studied both from a linguistic and a sociohistorical point of view. The publication of digital corpora in 2017 and 2020 and other digital resources now make it possible to update the corpus and to search it much more easily. Some new results are presented here with the stress on Libyan and Jewish names.