Sabratha, in the Zawia district in the northwestern
corner of modern Libya, was the westernmost of the "three
cities" of Tripolis. It lies on the Mediterranean coast
about 65km (40 miles) west of Tripoli (ancient Oea). The
extant archaeological site was inscribed as a UNESCO World
Heritage Site in 1982.
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Libya & Tunisia Tour in 2007 April (利比亞及突尼西亞撒哈拉沙漠之旅)
旅遊景點簡介 (Description of Attraction)
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S abratha (薩伯 拉法古城)Ancient Sabratha
Sabratha's port was established, perhaps about 500 BC, as a
Phoenician trading-post that served as a coastal outlet
for the products of the African hinterland. Sabratha became
part of the short-lived
Numidian Kingdom of
Massinissa before being Romanized and rebuilt in the 2nd
and 3rd centuries AD. The Emperor
Septimus Severus was born nearby in
Leptis Magna, and Sabratha reached its monumental peak
during the rule of the Severans. The city was badly damaged
by earthquakes during the 4th century, particularly the
quake of AD 365. It was rebuilt on a more modest scale by
Byzantine governors. Within a hundred years of the Arab
conquest of the
maghreb, trade had shifted to other ports and Sabratha
dwindled to a village.
The archaeological site
Besides its magnificent late 3rd century
theatre, that retains its three-storey
architectural backdrop, Sabratha has temples
dedicated to Liber Pater,
Serapis and
Isis. There is a Christian
basilica of the time of
Justinian and remnants also of some of
the
mosaic floors that enriched elite
dwellings of Roman north Africa (for
example, at the
Villa Sileen, near
Al-Khoms), although these are most
clearly preserved in the coloured patterns
of the seaward (or Forum) baths, directly
overlooking the shore, and in the black and
white floors of the Theatre baths.
There is an adjacent museum containing some treasures from Sabratha, but others can be seen in the national museum in Tripoli. Max Mallowan at SabrathaIn 1943, during the Second World War, archaeologist Max Mallowan, husband of novelist Agatha Christie, was based at Sabratha as assistant to the Senior Civil Affairs Officer of the Western Province of Tripolitania. His main task was to oversee the allocation of grain rations, but it was, in the words of Christie's biographer, a "glorious attachment", during which Mallowan lived in an Italian villa with a patio overlooking the sea and dined on fresh tunnyfish and olives. Text from Free Wikipedia |
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