Sun, sea, sights
- and Colonel Gaddafi
Discovered by the
Phoenicians, developed by the Romans, adored by the Greeks - Libya
DON'T blame Colonel Gaddafi
for seeking attention. Stranded half- way between classy Tunis Cairo Libya Egypt North Africa was going to end up with a rock star for president, it had
to be this one.
But apart from Gaddafi, is there anything to
Libya Saudi Arabia Iran
On my visit a fortnight ago, I found no issue which excited the
Libyans more.
"Oh yes," they kept telling me. "We are going to
be a very big tourist country. But of course ... you must allow for the customs
of our people ..." In other words, I understood, no beer and no bonking.
Luckily I was there just for a tour of antiquities. This was
what Libya
"May your day accrue more benefit!" shouted the
immigration police. The first thing that struck me on the Libyan side of the
border were the high school girls in white socks and trainers, walking with
their boyfriends. A hard-line Islamic state? Hardly. Anyway the scenery was far
too benign for that, with golden wheat fields dotted by endless rows of olives.
This was no dour, desert environment. In the restaurants and
hotels of Tripoli Tripoli Crusader Castle new city
Never mind. I escaped into the old city. A gentleman with a
purple beret wobbled past on a bicycle; a youth in a gelabiyah held a mobile
phone to his ear. The heart of Tripoli
To be honest, some people looked as if they had landed here
unintentionally. And so in a way they had. Tripoli Spain
A mistake? Of course not. In Roman times this part of north
Africa was destined to become one of the wealthiest in the world. Along with sister
cities Sabratha to the west and Leptis Magna Tripoli Tripolitania : the Land of Three
Cities.
Mussolini, when he barged into Libya Tripolitania may have been
developed by Romans but it was a Semitic people, the Phoenicians, who got there
first.
I arrived at Sabratha in a sand-storm, under a sky black with
dust. The wind blew hot, and raindrops fell with the consistency of quicksand.
Who cared? I saw a schoolgirl in a Leonardo Di Caprio T-shirt dancing beside a
ghetto-blaster. Children laughed together under the pine trees. The Phoenician
goddess Tanit (in whose temple ritualised orgies once took place) would not
have been entirely displeased.
The first building I saw in Sabratha was a profoundly un-Roman
looking mausoleum, a tall spire decorated by seated lions; but that was the
extent of the Phoenician remains. I turned away and saw suntanned rocks,
towering arches and tiers of columns filling half the sky. Like it or not, the
Romans had left their mark.
Clearly this part of north Africa had not always been a
backwater. Only the world's wealthiest cities could have afforded such theatres
or temples, or decorated (say) their public latrines with statues of naked
goddesses.
And the best was yet to come. The next day I was taken along a
quiet road beside avenues of eucalyptus (Libya Leptis Magna Rome
The entrance to Leptis is still marked by a monumental arch of
Septimius Severus where winged goddesses high above the trees thrust out their
breasts in victory, and colossal cornices top florid vine tendrils carved in
stone. Open-jawed with amazement, I continued along the smooth paved street
into town.
Back in the third century AD Leptis had the luck to produce a
baby called Septimius Severus. Years later, as Roman Emperor, Severus would
channel prodigious wealth back to his native land. From today's perspective,
giganticism seems to be the theme: the public baths alone comprise dozens of 10-metre-high
archways, with superhuman door lintels and walls as wide as elephants.
But even now I had not quite seen it all. Nearby, through a
small back entrance down a sandy lane, I would step into the apocalypse itself.
Walking through the vast, dead square of the Severan Forum,
littered with upended columns, I found myself surrounded by monumental gateways
and loping arches. Staring faces of Medusa heads lay about amid the desolation.
Meanwhile, in the Severan Basilica next door, gigantic roof entablatures had
crashed to the ground, carrying their inscriptions with them, still awesomely
legible after 2,000 years. There were no tourists; the only sound was of
crashing waves on the beach outside.
Time for deep thoughts about the passage of time? Time for a visit
to the harbour. This had once been a perfect circular bay, surrounded by
breakwaters. Over the centuries the bay had silted up, until it became first
unusable, and then unrecognisable. Today, it is covered not by ships but by
long grass and rustling bamboo. Its entrance is a sandy beach.
After Leptis, it was hard to get up in the morning, let alone
continue with the tour. The strange thing was that I had still only seen half
of the country. The next stage was to drive across the great Gulf of Sirte
Not that the gulf was as empty as it used to be. This is now a
big area for petro-chemical complexes and for Gaddafi's Great Man-made River, which
passes through colossal pipes under the sand. One day, I was told, this land
would be green again. The historic desertification of north Africa, no less,
would be reversed.
East of here began that other Libya Cyrene
No wonder the Greeks liked it. The wonder is that more Libyans
have not discovered it. The land seems largely empty except for scattered
ancient cities, guarded by devoted old local archeologists who love their sea
and sandstone. The sites are miraculously picturesque, like dreams of
Provencale farmhouse gardens, with geraniums perched on Corinthian Capitols and
silver columns tumbling into blue waters.
In Cyrenaica , the old stones have never been
covered over by sand or forgotten. In fact, they have been picked over by
bemused Arab shepherds and their flocks for centuries. At Tolmeitha for example
- the ancient Ptolemis - I saw herds of goats under eucalyptus trees nibbling
on dry grass sprouting from the ancient theatre.
As for Cyrene Cretan Sea temple of Apollo
Getting there
The author's trip was arranged through the British Museum
Traveller (46 Bloomsbury St , London WC1B 3QQ Libya British Museum
Operators
British Museum Tours makes its arrangements through a Libyan
tour operator, Wings Travel and Tours Tripoli PO Box 1736Libya Cairo Egypt
Visas
If booking with British Museum Tours, it can arrange your visa
(pounds 20 + pounds 15 procurement fee). Otherwise contact the Libyan Interests
Section (0171 486 8387, or 486 8250 in the Saudi Arabian embassy). Note that
you will need authorisation from Libya Tunisia
Further information
The author's flight to Djerba was arranged through Tunis Air
(0171 7347644), which flies direct from Heathrow once a week on Thursdays, and
via Tunis
There is also useful material, especially on how to get into the
country, on the Sahara Travel Information website:
www.users.globalnet.co.uk/ckscott/libya.html.
