Euesperides (Benghazi): preliminary report on the spring 2003 season

Abstract

This article reports on the fifth season of the ongoing project at Euesperides (Benghazi). Excavation in Area P'confirmed a date of 261-250 BC for the destruction of the penultimate phase and the construction of the final phase, with mosaics of mixed pebble and irregular tesserae. An inscription was discovered on the mosaic of the penultimate phase; and some rooms of the preceding phase were investigated. In Area Q the dismantling of the street sequence continued, together with the investigation of houses fronting the street, and the evidence for the lines of different phases of the city defences. Outside the line of the latest defences, excavation in an ancient quarry ditch revealed a refuse deposit rich in ceramics and organic materials. In Area R the rooms surrounding the courtyard were defined, and the latest phases of Murex purple dye production were investigated. At the request of the Municipality and the Department of Antiquities of Benghazi, evaluation trenches were cut to assess the impact of proposed developments on the archaeological remains south and east of the city.Study of the finds also continued. Work began on reconstructing the design of the final phase mosaic in Area P, the central motif of which was probably a dolphin, within a wave-crest surround. Analysis of the coarsewares demonstrated that between 40-60% of third-century BC coarsewares at the site were imported, many from areas of the Punic world; this suggests active and regular trading networks. Study of the amphorae revealed that forms of Corinthian B amphorae were produced at Euesperides.

Ceramics, clays and classification in Cyrenaica

“…Examples of fabrics with these inclusions were identified in Cyrenaican-type transport amphoras at Cyrene. A similar piece was identified at Euesperides (Swift in Wilson et al 2005), suggesting that it was a regional import produced from marl clays of Cyrenaica further to the east, plausibly from the area around Apollonia and Cyrene. As this example shows, the fossil inclusions in the source clays provide a promising means of intra-regional differentiation and sourcing of Cyrenaican marl clay fabrics through comparisons with the biostratigraphy.…”

“…This was initially based on clay sources in their environs of ancient Greek Euesperides, for production of late Archaic to early Hellenistic pottery (c. 530–250 BC; Swift 2005), and its successor Berenice for production of late Republican and Roman pottery (with contexts from the late second century BC onwards; Lloyd 1977; Riley 1979). Characterisation of the petrological groups is based on consistent features seen across a corpus of thousands of pieces from the Society for Libyan Studies’ excavation at Euesperides (Swift 2005; Swift in Wilson et al 2003; 2004; 2005), combined with first-hand observations at other sites in Cyrenaica and Tripolitania.…”

“…Petrographic analyses of fabrics from Euesperides provenanced imported cooking wares from Aegina, which appear in the assemblages from Euesperides in significant quantities: nearly one in four lopades are Aeginetan imports. Attic black-gloss pottery is present at Euesperides (Zimi in Wilson et al 2003), and it seems likely that these two wares were distributed together via the Saronic Gulf. Corinthian coroplastic ceramics in distinctive fabrics with argillaceous inclusions (Whitbread 1995) are also present at Euesperides, including louteria and mortaria (Swift 2005).…”

“…The catalyst for wider study of Cyrenaican and North African fabrics was the excavation at Euesperides, carried out by the Society for Libyan Studies (Wilson et al 2001; 2002; 2003; 2004; 2005), and studies of its Archaic to early Hellenistic ceramic assemblages. Comparatives from the excavations of Roman-period Berenice in the museum storerooms in Benghazi were also an essential point of reference, allowing for diachronic study using well-published material and important typologies of Roman pottery in Cyrenaica and the wider Mediterranean world (Riley 1979; Kenrick 1985).…”

I mosaici di Cirene di età ellenistica e romana: un secolo di scoperte. By Filippo Venturini . Cirene “Atene d'Africa” 5, Monografie di Archeologia Libica 34. “L'Erma” di Bretschneider, Roma, 2013. ISBN 978-88-313-0697-5, pp. 280, 330 b&w figs, 10 colour pls. Price: € 210.00.

“…This makes good sense of the very interesting series of third-century mosaic experiments found at Alexandria (Guimier-Sorbets 1998) and Euesperides (Wilson 2003;2004), as well as the early, probably fourth-century, use of cut cubes in and around Carthage (Dunbabin 1994). The problem, however, remains one of secure dates.…”