The Harbour at Ptolemais: Hellenistic City of the Libyan Pentapolis

Abstract

This article describes fieldwork undertaken in 1972 at the harbour of the Hellenistic city of Ptolemais at Tolmeita in Cyrenaica, Libya. This survey has shown that the city possessed a sophisticated Hellenistic harbour installation, now submerged by some 2 m. It consisted of a small fishing harbour and a larger commercial harbour protected by extensive stone breakwaters built around two offshore islands. Between the harbours, remains were found under water of an extensive block‐built quay connected to one island, where there was a system of submerged rock‐cut tanks. These are interpreted as the foundations of a fish‐processing factory. Changes in sea‐level are also discussed.

The impact of coastal erosion on the archaeology of the Cyrenaican coast of Eastern Libya

“…Consequently, in the study area late Holocene (within the last 2000 years) RSL change has been largely inferred from archaeological evidence, principally the now-submerged ancient harbours of Ptolemais and Apollonia. At Ptolemais, the submergence of structures formerly on dry land, such as quarries, the top of a slipway and a quay have been used to infer an RSL rise of 2–2.5 m [ 46 ]. Similarly, at Apollonia, submerged archaeological structures such as slipway bases, quays, a Roman fishtank (Piscina) and Lithophaga borings indicate RSL rise of up to 3.5 m [ 47 – 49 ].…”

“…Historical and archaeological data suggest that an earthquake struck Cyrenaica in AD 262, with several during the second half of the fourth century (AD 306–310, 361–363, 365) and another at the end of the fourth century [ 52 ]. It has been postulated that Ptolemais remained a working port until the fifth to seventh centuries AD and thus a more likely candidate was the AD 796 earthquake which was centred on Crete but caused damage on the Egyptian coast [ 46 ]. Moreover, the evidence from Apollonia further highlights that multiple tectonic events movements could have occurred.…”

“…Initially known as the ‘Harbour at Barca’, it became a named city in its own right in 252 BC under the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt [ 55 ]. Ptolemais was particularly famous in the Roman world for trading the medicinal herb silphium [ 46 ]. The city flourished over the centuries and, in the fourth century AD, was made the capital of the new province of Libya Superior .…”

“…In antiquity, the harbour included two offshore islands that were probably connected to the shore by a mole, creating a two-basin layout similar to Apollonia, but less complex. Also like Apollonia, the port and harbour installations are now submerged by RSL rise [ 3 , 46 , 56 ].…”

The Cyrenaica Coastal Survey Project: Documenting Endangered Maritime Heritage in Libya

“…Ancient writers mentioned over 25 sites along the coastline, although for some their exact location remains uncertain (Hesein 2015). The five largest ports in classical antiquity include Euesperides (which was later moved to Berenice), Taucheria, Ptolemais, and Apollonia (e.g., Jones and Little 1971;Bennett et al 2004;Bogacki 2012;Hesein 2015;Yorke and Davidson 2017). Smaller harbors, settlements, forts, farms, and industrial installation related to maritime and agricultural activities are scattered along the coast and shipwrecks found, for instance, at Apollonia and Ptolemais, speak of the strong connection this region once had with the wider Mediterranean world (Laronde 1990;Tusa 2010;Beltrame 2012;Hesein 2014Hesein , 2015Buzaian 2019;Tusa and Buccellato 2019).…”