Cyrene, Libya
Encyclopedia
Cyrene icon was an ancient Greek
colony
and then a Roman city
in present-day Shahhat
, Libya
, the oldest and most important of the five Greek cities in the region. It gave eastern Libya the classical name Cyrenaica
that it has retained to modern times.
Cyrene lies in a lush valley
in the Jebel Akhdar
uplands. The city was named after a spring
, Kyre, which the Greeks consecrated to Apollo
. It was also the seat of the Cyrenaics
, a famous school of philosophy
in the 3rd century BC, founded by Aristippus
, a disciple of Socrates
. It has been nicknamed then as "Athens
of Africa"
of Thera
(commonly known as Santorini
, its Latin name), traditionally led by Battus I
, ten miles from its port, Apollonia
(Marsa Sousa). Details concerning the founding of the city are contained in Book IV of Histories
, by Herodotus
of Halicarnassus
. It promptly became the chief town of ancient Libya
and established commercial relations with all the Greek cities, reaching the height of its prosperity under its own kings in the 5th century BC. Soon after 460 BC
it became a republic
. In 413 BC
, during the Peloponnesian War
, Cyrene supplied Spartan
forces with two triremes and pilots
. After the death of Alexander III of Macedon
(323 BC
), the Cyrenian republic became subject to the Ptolemaic dynasty
.
Ophelas, the general who occupied the city in Ptolemy I's name, ruled the city almost independently until his death, when Ptolemy's son-in-law Magas
received governorship of the territory. In 276 BC
Magas crowned himself king and declared de facto independence, marrying the daughter of the Seleucid king and forming with him an alliance in order to invade Egypt. The invasion was unsuccessful and in 250 BC
, after Magas' death, the city was reabsorbed into Ptolemaic Egypt. Cyrenaica
became part of the Ptolemaic empire controlled from Alexandria, and became Roman
territory in 96 BC
when Ptolemy Apion
bequeathed Cyrenaica to Rome
. In 74 BC
the territory was formally transformed into a Roman province
.
(c. 85 BC
) were divided into four classes: citizens, farmers, resident aliens, and a minority population of Jews. The ruler of the town, Apion
, bequeathed it to the Romans, but it kept its self-government. In 74 BC
Cyrene was created a Roman province; but, whereas under the Ptolemies the Jewish inhabitants had enjoyed equal rights, they now found themselves increasingly oppressed by the now autonomous and much larger Greek population. Tensions came to a head in the insurrection of the Jews of Cyrene under Vespasian
(73 AD, the First Roman-Jewish War) and especially Trajan
(117 AD, the Kitos War
). This revolt was quelled by Marcius Turbo
, but not before huge numbers of people had been killed. According to Eusebius
of Caesarea the outbreak of violence left Libya depopulated to such an extent that a few years later new colonies had to be established there by the emperor Hadrian
just to maintain the viability of continued settlement.
Plutarch
in his work De mulierum virtutibus ("On the Virtues of Women") describes how the tyrant of Cyrene, Nicocrates, was deposed by his wife Aretaphila of Cyrene
around the year 50 BC
, an abortifacient
, which was pictured on most Cyrenian coin
s. Silphium was in such demand that it was harvested to extinction; this, in conjunction with commercial competition from Carthage
and Alexandria, resulted in a reduction in the city's trade. Cyrene, with its port of Apollonia (Marsa Susa), remained an important urban center until the earthquake
of 262. After the disaster, the emperor Claudius Gothicus
restored Cyrene, naming it Claudiopolis, but the restorations were poor and precarious. Natural catastrophes and a profound economic decline dictated its death, and in 365 another particularly devastating earthquake destroyed its already meager hopes of recovery. Ammianus Marcellinus
described it in the 4th century as a deserted city, and Synesius
, a native of Cyrene, described it in the following century as a vast ruin at the mercy of the nomads. Ultimately, the city fell under Arab conquest in 643, by which time little was left of the opulent Roman cities of Northern Africa; the ruins of Cyrene are located near the modern village of Shahhat
.
and there are a number of philosophers associated with the city including Aristippus
, the founder of the School of Cyrene
, and his successor daughter Arete
, Callimachus
, Carneades
, Ptolemais of Cyrene
, and Synesius, a bishop of Ptolemais
in the 4th century AD.
book 2 Maccabees
. The book of 2 Maccabees itself is said by its author to be an abridgment of a five-volume work by a Hellenized Jew by the name of Jason of Cyrene
who lived around 100 BC
.
Cyrene is also mentioned in the New Testament
. A Cyrenian named Simon
carried the cross of Christ (Mark
15:21 and parallels). See also Acts
2:10 where Jews from Cyrene heard the disciples speaking in their own language in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost
; 6:9 where some Cyrenian Jews disputed with a disciple named Stephen; 11:20 tells of Jewish Christians originally from Cyrene who (along with believers from Cyprus) first preached the Gospel to non-Jews; 13:1 names Lucius of Cyrene as one of several to whom the Holy Spirit spoke, instructing them to appoint Barnabas and Saul (later Paul) for missionary service.
. One of its more significant features is the temple
of Apollo
which was originally constructed as early as 7th century BC. Other ancient structures include a temple to Demeter
and a partially unexcavated temple to Zeus
There is a large necropolis
approximately 10 km between Cyrene and its ancient port of Apollonia.
In 2005, Italian
archaeologists from the University of Urbino
discovered 76 intact Roman statues at Cyrene from the 2nd century AD. The statues remained undiscovered for so long because “during the earthquake of 375 AD, a supporting wall of the temple fell on its side, burying all the statues. They remained hidden under stone, rubble and earth for 1,630 years. The other walls sheltered the statues, so we were able to recover all the pieces, even works that had been broken."
Beginning in 2006, Global Heritage Fund
, in partnership with the Second University of Naples (SUN, Italy), the Libya
n Department of Antiquities, and the Libyan Ministry of Culture, has been working to preserve the ancient site through a combination of holistic conservation practices and training of local skilled and unskilled labor.
Apart from conducting ongoing emergency conservation on a theater inside the Sanctuary of Apollo through the process of anastylosis
, the GHF
-lead team is in the process of developing a comprehensive master site management plan.
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
colony
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
and then a Roman city
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
in present-day Shahhat
Shahhat
Shahhat is a town in the District of Jabal al Akhdar in north-eastern Libya. Cyrene was located in the same area in ancient times. It is located east of Bayda....
, Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, the oldest and most important of the five Greek cities in the region. It gave eastern Libya the classical name Cyrenaica
Cyrenaica
Cyrenaica is the eastern coastal region of Libya.Also known as Pentapolis in antiquity, it was part of the Creta et Cyrenaica province during the Roman period, later divided in Libia Pentapolis and Libia Sicca...
that it has retained to modern times.
Cyrene lies in a lush valley
Valley
In geology, a valley or dale is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge.The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys...
in the Jebel Akhdar
Jebel Akhdar (Libya)
The Jebel Akhdar is a heavily forested, fertile upland area in northeastern Libya. It is located in the modern Shabiyahs or Districts of Derna, Jabal al Akhdar, and Marj.-Geography:...
uplands. The city was named after a spring
Spring (hydrosphere)
A spring—also known as a rising or resurgence—is a component of the hydrosphere. Specifically, it is any natural situation where water flows to the surface of the earth from underground...
, Kyre, which the Greeks consecrated to Apollo
Apollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
. It was also the seat of the Cyrenaics
Cyrenaics
The Cyrenaics were an ultra-hedonist Greek school of philosophy founded in the 4th century BC, supposedly by Aristippus of Cyrene, although many of the principles of the school are believed to have been formalized by his grandson of the same name, Aristippus the Younger. The school was so called...
, a famous school of philosophy
Greek philosophy
Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BCE and continued through the Hellenistic period, at which point Ancient Greece was incorporated in the Roman Empire...
in the 3rd century BC, founded by Aristippus
Aristippus
Aristippus of Cyrene, , was the founder of the Cyrenaic school of Philosophy. He was a pupil of Socrates, but adopted a very different philosophical outlook, teaching that the goal of life was to seek pleasure by adapting circumstances to oneself and by maintaining proper control over both...
, a disciple of Socrates
Socrates
Socrates was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary ...
. It has been nicknamed then as "Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
of Africa"
The Greek period
Cyrene was founded in 630 BC as a settlement of the Greeks from the Greek islandIsland
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
of Thera
Santorini
Santorini , officially Thira , is an island located in the southern Aegean Sea, about southeast from Greece's mainland. It is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago which bears the same name and is the remnant of a volcanic caldera...
(commonly known as Santorini
Santorini
Santorini , officially Thira , is an island located in the southern Aegean Sea, about southeast from Greece's mainland. It is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago which bears the same name and is the remnant of a volcanic caldera...
, its Latin name), traditionally led by Battus I
Battus I of Cyrene
Battus I of Cyrene was the founder of the Greek colony of Cyrenaica and its capital, Cyrene. He was the first king of Cyrenaica, the first Greek king in Africa, and the founder of the Battiad dynasty.-Background:...
, ten miles from its port, Apollonia
Apollonia, Cyrenaica
Apollonia in Cyrenaica was founded by Greek colonists and became a significant commercial centre in the southern Mediterranean. It served as the harbour of Cyrene, to the southwest...
(Marsa Sousa). Details concerning the founding of the city are contained in Book IV of Histories
Histories (Herodotus)
The Histories of Herodotus is considered one of the seminal works of history in Western literature. Written from the 450s to the 420s BC in the Ionic dialect of classical Greek, The Histories serves as a record of the ancient traditions, politics, geography, and clashes of various cultures that...
, by Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
of Halicarnassus
Halicarnassus
Halicarnassus was an ancient Greek city at the site of modern Bodrum in Turkey. It was located in southwest Caria on a picturesque, advantageous site on the Ceramic Gulf. The city was famous for the tomb of Mausolus, the origin of the word mausoleum, built between 353 BC and 350 BC, and...
. It promptly became the chief town of ancient Libya
Ancient Libya
The Latin name Libya referred to the region west of the Nile Valley, generally corresponding to modern Northwest Africa. Climate changes affected the locations of the settlements....
and established commercial relations with all the Greek cities, reaching the height of its prosperity under its own kings in the 5th century BC. Soon after 460 BC
460 BC
Year 460 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Poplicola and Sabinus...
it became a republic
Republic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...
. In 413 BC
413 BC
Year 413 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Cossus and Medullinus...
, during the Peloponnesian War
Peloponnesian War
The Peloponnesian War, 431 to 404 BC, was an ancient Greek war fought by Athens and its empire against the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta. Historians have traditionally divided the war into three phases...
, Cyrene supplied Spartan
Spartan Army
The Spartan army was the military force of Sparta, one of the leading city-states of ancient Greece. The army stood at the centre of the Spartan state, whose citizens' primary obligation was to be good soldiers. Subject to military drill from infancy, the Spartans were one of the most feared...
forces with two triremes and pilots
Maritime pilot
A pilot is a mariner who guides ships through dangerous or congested waters, such as harbours or river mouths. With the exception of the Panama Canal, the pilot is only an advisor, as the captain remains in legal, overriding command of the vessel....
. After the death of Alexander III of Macedon
Macedon
Macedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paeonia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south....
(323 BC
323 BC
Year 323 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Longus and Cerretanus...
), the Cyrenian republic became subject to the Ptolemaic dynasty
Ptolemaic dynasty
The Ptolemaic dynasty, was a Macedonian Greek royal family which ruled the Ptolemaic Empire in Egypt during the Hellenistic period. Their rule lasted for 275 years, from 305 BC to 30 BC...
.
Ophelas, the general who occupied the city in Ptolemy I's name, ruled the city almost independently until his death, when Ptolemy's son-in-law Magas
Magas of Cyrene
Magas of Cyrene was a Greek Macedonian nobleman. Through his mother’s second marriage he was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty. He became King of Cyrenaica and he managed to wrestle independence for Cyrenaica from the Greek Ptolemaic dynasty of Ancient Egypt.-Family Background & Early Life:Magas...
received governorship of the territory. In 276 BC
276 BC
Year 276 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Gurges and Clepsina...
Magas crowned himself king and declared de facto independence, marrying the daughter of the Seleucid king and forming with him an alliance in order to invade Egypt. The invasion was unsuccessful and in 250 BC
250 BC
Year 250 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Regulus and Longus...
, after Magas' death, the city was reabsorbed into Ptolemaic Egypt. Cyrenaica
Cyrenaica
Cyrenaica is the eastern coastal region of Libya.Also known as Pentapolis in antiquity, it was part of the Creta et Cyrenaica province during the Roman period, later divided in Libia Pentapolis and Libia Sicca...
became part of the Ptolemaic empire controlled from Alexandria, and became Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
territory in 96 BC
96 BC
Year 96 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Ahenobarbus and Longinus...
when Ptolemy Apion
Ptolemy Apion
Ptolemy Apion or simply known as Apion was the last Greek Cyrenaean King and was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty. Ptolemy was Greek Macedonian and native Egyptian in descent...
bequeathed Cyrenaica to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. In 74 BC
74 BC
Year 74 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lucullus and Cotta...
the territory was formally transformed into a Roman province
Roman province
In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and, until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of Italy...
.
Roman period
The inhabitants of Cyrene at the time of SullaLucius Cornelius Sulla
Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix , known commonly as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He had the rare distinction of holding the office of consul twice, as well as that of dictator...
(c. 85 BC
85 BC
Year 85 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Cinna and Carbo...
) were divided into four classes: citizens, farmers, resident aliens, and a minority population of Jews. The ruler of the town, Apion
Apion
Apion , Graeco-Egyptian grammarian, sophist and commentator on Homer, was born at the Siwa Oasis, and flourished in the first half of the 1st century AD....
, bequeathed it to the Romans, but it kept its self-government. In 74 BC
74 BC
Year 74 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lucullus and Cotta...
Cyrene was created a Roman province; but, whereas under the Ptolemies the Jewish inhabitants had enjoyed equal rights, they now found themselves increasingly oppressed by the now autonomous and much larger Greek population. Tensions came to a head in the insurrection of the Jews of Cyrene under Vespasian
Vespasian
Vespasian , was Roman Emperor from 69 AD to 79 AD. Vespasian was the founder of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for a quarter century. Vespasian was descended from a family of equestrians, who rose into the senatorial rank under the Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty...
(73 AD, the First Roman-Jewish War) and especially Trajan
Trajan
Trajan , was Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 AD. Born into a non-patrician family in the province of Hispania Baetica, in Spain Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a legatus legionis in Hispania Tarraconensis, in Spain, in 89 Trajan supported the emperor against...
(117 AD, the Kitos War
Kitos War
The Kitos War , translation: Rebellion of the exile) is the name given to the second of the Jewish–Roman wars. Major revolts by diasporic Jews in Cyrene , Cyprus, Mesopotamia and Aegyptus spiraled out of control resulting in a widespread slaughter of Roman citizens and others by the Jewish rebels...
). This revolt was quelled by Marcius Turbo
Marcius Turbo
Quintus Marcius Turbo was prefect of the Praetorian Guard and a close friend and military advisor to both emperor Trajan and Hadrian during the early 2nd century.- Early life :...
, but not before huge numbers of people had been killed. According to Eusebius
Eusebius of Caesarea
Eusebius of Caesarea also called Eusebius Pamphili, was a Roman historian, exegete and Christian polemicist. He became the Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine about the year 314. Together with Pamphilus, he was a scholar of the Biblical canon...
of Caesarea the outbreak of violence left Libya depopulated to such an extent that a few years later new colonies had to be established there by the emperor Hadrian
Hadrian
Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...
just to maintain the viability of continued settlement.
Plutarch
Plutarch
Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
in his work De mulierum virtutibus ("On the Virtues of Women") describes how the tyrant of Cyrene, Nicocrates, was deposed by his wife Aretaphila of Cyrene
Aretaphila of Cyrene
Aretaphila of Cyrene was a Cyrenean noble woman who according to Plutarch in his work De mulierum virtutes , deposed the tyrant Nicocrates....
around the year 50 BC
50 BC
Year 50 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Paullus and Marcellus...
Decline
Cyrene's chief local export through much of its early history was the medicinal herb silphiumSilphium
Silphium was a plant that was used in classical antiquity as a rich seasoning and as a medicine. It was the essential item of trade from the ancient North African city of Cyrene, and was so critical to the Cyrenian economy that most of their coins bore a picture of the plant...
, an abortifacient
Abortifacient
An abortifacient is a substance that induces abortion. Abortifacients for animals that have mated undesirably are known as mismating shots....
, which was pictured on most Cyrenian coin
Coin
A coin is a piece of hard material that is standardized in weight, is produced in large quantities in order to facilitate trade, and primarily can be used as a legal tender token for commerce in the designated country, region, or territory....
s. Silphium was in such demand that it was harvested to extinction; this, in conjunction with commercial competition from Carthage
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
and Alexandria, resulted in a reduction in the city's trade. Cyrene, with its port of Apollonia (Marsa Susa), remained an important urban center until the earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
of 262. After the disaster, the emperor Claudius Gothicus
Claudius II
Claudius II , commonly known as Claudius Gothicus, was Roman Emperor from 268 to 270. During his reign he fought successfully against the Alamanni and scored a crushing victory against the Goths at the Battle of Naissus. He died after succumbing to a smallpox plague that ravaged the provinces of...
restored Cyrene, naming it Claudiopolis, but the restorations were poor and precarious. Natural catastrophes and a profound economic decline dictated its death, and in 365 another particularly devastating earthquake destroyed its already meager hopes of recovery. Ammianus Marcellinus
Ammianus Marcellinus
Ammianus Marcellinus was a fourth-century Roman historian. He wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from Antiquity...
described it in the 4th century as a deserted city, and Synesius
Synesius
Synesius , a Greek bishop of Ptolemais in the Libyan Pentapolis after 410, was born of wealthy parents, who claimed descent from Spartan kings, at Balagrae near Cyrene between 370 and 375.-Life:...
, a native of Cyrene, described it in the following century as a vast ruin at the mercy of the nomads. Ultimately, the city fell under Arab conquest in 643, by which time little was left of the opulent Roman cities of Northern Africa; the ruins of Cyrene are located near the modern village of Shahhat
Shahhat
Shahhat is a town in the District of Jabal al Akhdar in north-eastern Libya. Cyrene was located in the same area in ancient times. It is located east of Bayda....
.
Philosophy
Cyrene was the birthplace of EratosthenesEratosthenes
Eratosthenes of Cyrene was a Greek mathematician, poet, athlete, geographer, astronomer, and music theorist.He was the first person to use the word "geography" and invented the discipline of geography as we understand it...
and there are a number of philosophers associated with the city including Aristippus
Aristippus
Aristippus of Cyrene, , was the founder of the Cyrenaic school of Philosophy. He was a pupil of Socrates, but adopted a very different philosophical outlook, teaching that the goal of life was to seek pleasure by adapting circumstances to oneself and by maintaining proper control over both...
, the founder of the School of Cyrene
Cyrenaics
The Cyrenaics were an ultra-hedonist Greek school of philosophy founded in the 4th century BC, supposedly by Aristippus of Cyrene, although many of the principles of the school are believed to have been formalized by his grandson of the same name, Aristippus the Younger. The school was so called...
, and his successor daughter Arete
Arete of Cyrene
Arete of Cyrene was a Cyrenaic philosopher, and the daughter of Aristippus of Cyrene.She learned philosophy from her father, Aristippus, who had himself learned philosophy from Socrates. Arete, in turn, taught philosophy to her son - Aristippus the Younger - hence her son was nicknamed...
, Callimachus
Callimachus
Callimachus was a native of the Greek colony of Cyrene, Libya. He was a noted poet, critic and scholar at the Library of Alexandria and enjoyed the patronage of the Egyptian–Greek Pharaohs Ptolemy II Philadelphus and Ptolemy III Euergetes...
, Carneades
Carneades
Carneades was an Academic skeptic born in Cyrene. By the year 159 BC, he had started to refute all previous dogmatic doctrines, especially Stoicism, and even the Epicureans whom previous skeptics had spared. As head of the Academy, he was one of three philosophers sent to Rome in 155 BC where his...
, Ptolemais of Cyrene
Ptolemais of Cyrene
Ptolemais of Cyrene was a harmonic theorist, author of Pythagorean Principles of Music . She lived perhaps in the 3rd century BC, and "certainly not after the first century AD."-Life:...
, and Synesius, a bishop of Ptolemais
Ptolemais (Cyrenaica)
Ptolemais or Ptolemaida was one of the ancient capitals of Cyrenaica. It was probably named after Ptolemy III Euergetes. Its Latin name in Roman times was Tolmeta, from which the modern Libyan town of Tolmeitha derives its name.The town was most probably founded in 7th or 6th century BC by...
in the 4th century AD.
Cyrene in the Bible
Cyrene is referred to in the deuterocanonicalDeuterocanonical books
Deuterocanonical books is a term used since the sixteenth century in the Catholic Church and Eastern Christianity to describe certain books and passages of the Christian Old Testament that are not part of the Hebrew Bible. The term is used in contrast to the protocanonical books, which are...
book 2 Maccabees
2 Maccabees
2 Maccabees is a deuterocanonical book of the Bible, which focuses on the Jews' revolt against Antiochus IV Epiphanes and concludes with the defeat of the Syrian general Nicanor in 161 BC by Judas Maccabeus, the hero of the work....
. The book of 2 Maccabees itself is said by its author to be an abridgment of a five-volume work by a Hellenized Jew by the name of Jason of Cyrene
Jason of Cyrene
Jason of Cyrene was a Hellenistic Jew who lived about 100 BC and wrote a history of the times of the Maccabees down to the victory over Nicanor . This work is said 2 Maccabees.-References:...
who lived around 100 BC
100 BC
Year 100 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Marius and Flaccus...
.
Cyrene is also mentioned in the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
. A Cyrenian named Simon
Simon of Cyrene
Simon of Cyrene was the man compelled by the Romans to carry the cross of Jesus as Jesus was taken to his crucifixion, according to all three Synoptic Gospels...
carried the cross of Christ (Mark
Gospel of Mark
The Gospel According to Mark , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Mark or simply Mark, is the second book of the New Testament. This canonical account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth is one of the three synoptic gospels. It was thought to be an epitome, which accounts for its place as the second...
15:21 and parallels). See also Acts
Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of the Apostles , usually referred to simply as Acts, is the fifth book of the New Testament; Acts outlines the history of the Apostolic Age...
2:10 where Jews from Cyrene heard the disciples speaking in their own language in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost
Pentecost
Pentecost is a prominent feast in the calendar of Ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sinai, and also later in the Christian liturgical year commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ after the Resurrection of Jesus...
; 6:9 where some Cyrenian Jews disputed with a disciple named Stephen; 11:20 tells of Jewish Christians originally from Cyrene who (along with believers from Cyprus) first preached the Gospel to non-Jews; 13:1 names Lucius of Cyrene as one of several to whom the Holy Spirit spoke, instructing them to appoint Barnabas and Saul (later Paul) for missionary service.
The present
Cyrene is now an archeological site near the village of ShahhatShahhat
Shahhat is a town in the District of Jabal al Akhdar in north-eastern Libya. Cyrene was located in the same area in ancient times. It is located east of Bayda....
. One of its more significant features is the temple
Greek temple
Greek temples were structures built to house deity statues within Greek sanctuaries in Greek paganism. The temples themselves did usually not directly serve a cult purpose, since the sacrifices and rituals dedicated to the respective deity took place outside them...
of Apollo
Apollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
which was originally constructed as early as 7th century BC. Other ancient structures include a temple to Demeter
Demeter
In Greek mythology, Demeter is the goddess of the harvest, who presided over grains, the fertility of the earth, and the seasons . Her common surnames are Sito as the giver of food or corn/grain and Thesmophoros as a mark of the civilized existence of agricultural society...
and a partially unexcavated temple to Zeus
Zeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
There is a large necropolis
Necropolis
A necropolis is a large cemetery or burial ground, usually including structural tombs. The word comes from the Greek νεκρόπολις - nekropolis, literally meaning "city of the dead"...
approximately 10 km between Cyrene and its ancient port of Apollonia.
In 2005, Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
archaeologists from the University of Urbino
University of Urbino
The University of Urbino "Carlo Bo" is an Italian university located in Urbino, a walled hill-town in the region of Marche, located in the north-eastern part of central Italy. The university was founded in 1506, and currently has about 20,000 students, many of whom are from overseas...
discovered 76 intact Roman statues at Cyrene from the 2nd century AD. The statues remained undiscovered for so long because “during the earthquake of 375 AD, a supporting wall of the temple fell on its side, burying all the statues. They remained hidden under stone, rubble and earth for 1,630 years. The other walls sheltered the statues, so we were able to recover all the pieces, even works that had been broken."
Beginning in 2006, Global Heritage Fund
Global Heritage Fund
Global Heritage Fund is a non-profit organization that operates internationally. Its mission statement says that it exists to protect and preserve significant and endangered cultural heritage sites in the developing world, through scientific excellence and community development...
, in partnership with the Second University of Naples (SUN, Italy), the Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
n Department of Antiquities, and the Libyan Ministry of Culture, has been working to preserve the ancient site through a combination of holistic conservation practices and training of local skilled and unskilled labor.
Apart from conducting ongoing emergency conservation on a theater inside the Sanctuary of Apollo through the process of anastylosis
Anastylosis
Anastylosis is an archaeological term for a reconstruction technique whereby a ruined building or monument is restored using the original architectural elements to the greatest degree possible...
, the GHF
Global Heritage Fund
Global Heritage Fund is a non-profit organization that operates internationally. Its mission statement says that it exists to protect and preserve significant and endangered cultural heritage sites in the developing world, through scientific excellence and community development...
-lead team is in the process of developing a comprehensive master site management plan.
External links
- Cyrene project summary at Global Heritage FundGlobal Heritage FundGlobal Heritage Fund is a non-profit organization that operates internationally. Its mission statement says that it exists to protect and preserve significant and endangered cultural heritage sites in the developing world, through scientific excellence and community development...
- Explore Cyrene with Google Earth on Global Heritage NetworkGlobal Heritage NetworkGlobal Heritage Network , established by Global Heritage Fund , is an early warning and threats monitoring system for cultural heritage sites in developing countries...
- Cyrene and the Cyrenaica by Jona Lendering
- University of Pennsylvania Museum excavations at Cyrene