Cyrene Conservation Prospectus

In partnership with the University of Naples, the Libyan Department of Antiquities of Cirenica and the Ministry of Culture of the Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

Executive Summary

Global Heritage Fund (GHF) is raising funds over five (5) years in critically needed funding for emergency conservation, training and responsible development of Cyrene, an endangered UNESCO World Heritage site in Eastern Libya. Cyrene is considered one of, if not the most, important Classic Greek sites outside of Greece, second only to Leptis Magna. Its temples, tombs, agora, gymnasium and theatre were originally modeled on those at Delphi. Yet today, Cyrene is one of the most neglected and endangered UNESCO World Heritage sites in the Mediterranean.

GHF is seeking new key partners and funding to undertake urgently needed site conservation, training and protection, and to reverse decades of neglect and destruction. This program is being developed and implemented through a GHF-led partnership between the University of Naples, the Libyan Department of Antiquities of Cirenica, and the Libyan Ministry of Culture. This Program will be the first integrated project involving Libyans, Italians and Americans working together.

Based on past experiences with projects in other countries, GHF believes that it will be able to secure matching funding from Libyan sources. This support can come from local or national government, private individuals, in-country philanthropies, and the private sector. GHF hopes to secure funding from sources in Libya over the next five years to shape the long-term sustainability of Cyrene conservation.

This four-stage Cyrene Libya Conservation Program will provide critical expertise, training, technology and applications, structured Master Conservation Planning and immediate intervention to save many of Iraq’s most important and endangered archaeological and world heritage sites. GHF aims to implement the conservation work within a structured training program for site conservators, archaeologists, and site maintenance and park services personnel of the Libyan Department of Antiquities in Cireneca.

Cyrene, a colony of the Greeks of Thera founded in 632 BC, was one of the principal cities in the Hellenic world. Romanized in 74 BC, Cyrene remained a great city, with over one thousand years of rich history until the earthquake of 365. Cyrene, which was described by geographers from Herodotus to Synesius, its praises sung Pindar and Callimachus, is not only one of the cities of the Mediterranean around which myths, legends and stories have been woven over more than a thousand years, but it is also one of the most impressive ruin complexes in the entire world.

The region of Cirenica has been neglected in the development of Libya for the past forty years because of its geographic location within the country. In this period, Cyrene has had few resources for conservation or development in comparison of the relatively well-restored sites of Leptis Magna near Tripoli, Libya’s capital.

Despite efforts by Italian archaeological ‘summer’ missions in research, documentation and restoration over the past 60 years, Cyrene has fallen into disrepair and into the hands of nature’s and man’s destruction. With an annual budget for the entire site and staff salaries of less than $30,000 per year, and with only four trained conservation professionals on staff for a 160 acre site, Cyrene has fallen into the hands of nature’s and man’s destruction.

The most important ancient Greek site outside of Greece today lies nearly abandoned with no budget for even basic maintenance, staff to prevent looting, or for any kind of a sustained conservation program. Except for a new bunker warehouse to prevent looting of the last remaining Greek and Roman artifacts on the site, for the past ten years, average annual Libyan funding for Cyrene was less than $40,000 a year for staff and facilities. Cyrene is in a desperate state and urgently needs international and increased Libyan support for conservation.

Above: Temple of Zeus (BC600), the largest Greek pantheon outside of Athens, was restored for the world by the Italians under two missions since the 1960s. It now has been nearly abandoned with no maintenance or guardians, and is facing deterioration of its exposed rusting iron bars and aging reinforced concrete, which in itself has brought its own problems to this priceless archaeological treasure of the Classic world.

Cultural heritage sites in developing countries offer one of the best models for long-term economic growth. In 1988, UNDP administrator provided the first $1.8 million for the conservation of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Today, Angkor Wat, a proven example of the success of planned development, generates over $750 million per year for Cambodia and 40% of the country’s foreign exchange revenue.

While Libya is currently regarded as a somewhat unstable country, long-term, cultural tourism has the promise to be one of the largest industries after the oil. Iraq’s rich cultural heritage can be traced to the foundations of Greek History. Through responsible development of these national resources, Libya has the potential to be the one of the biggest destinations for Greek-based cultural tourism outside of Greece.

• World Heritage Infrastructure and Development: The World Bank last year provided Lebanon with over $50 million for 5 world heritage sites and surrounding cities for tourism infrastructure development. GHF’s Master Conservation Plan will provide the basis for similar investments in Cyrene World Heritage Site and the surrounding communities.
• Tourism Development: GHF believes that tourism can the major industry in Libya, and with the right environment, could expect more than 50,000 visitors within 5 years, generating millions of dollars in foreign exchange revenues. Within 10 years, Libya could generate more than $500 million in tourism revenues.

Above: The ‘sister’ site of Apollonia in nearby Susa on the Mediterranean was one of the most important sites of the ancient Greek Pentapolis. Its stunning seaside location and multiple ancient Greek and Roman ruins provide a priceless tourism opportunity and should be integrated into Cyrene’s UNESCO World Heritage designation.

• Economic Development: GHF estimates that hundreds of contract employees will be needed in the next four years to implement infrastructure and conservation projects at Cyrene. These jobs will not be concentrated in Tripoli, but have impact in the under-developed Northeast of Libya. Longer-term, thousands of tourism-related jobs are expected to be created, along with many new opportunities for the Libyan business community.

By helping to jump-start conservation and cultural tourism in Libya, GHF will provide an important economic stimulus for its people. The effect will be particularly strong within the communities around Cyrene, and promote cultural and educational exchange between Libyans and peoples of other countries.

Above: Excessive use of cement in monument reconstructions and sloppy workmanship on many rare and important archaeological structures has become a major issue for Cyrene. In many cases, modern reinforced concrete, bricks and cement – all foreign materials to the archaeological area- actually exceed the original stone and materials used by the Greeks and Romans.

Inappropriate Materials and Techniques Used in Restoration
While past Italian university-led archaeological missions have undertaken various restorations of archaeology throughout Cyrene since the 1930s, few have used international standards as outlined by the Venice and Burra Charters for conservation of ancient monuments. These missions have used primarily Italian archaeologists and students, and as a result, there has been little sustained training and integration of local Libyan conservators and archaeologists to help develop a lasting, skilled local conservation team at Cyrene.

Especially in the 1930s through the 1980s, most teams were lacking international conservation expertise and planning standards. Additionally, many previous restorations at Cyrene have actually contributed to the site’s current condition exposing monuments without proper conservation, and introducing excessive amounts of modern cement, steel bar, modern bricks and reinforced concrete to the ancient sites. In some cases, these reconstructions have caused irreversible damage to this priceless UNESCO World Heritage site.

Regular use of steel bar that rusts, expands and eventually cracks and explodes has caused destruction of Greek-era sculptured stone and structures, as well as mosaics. Extensive use of inauthentic and inappropiate materials within the site compromises the integrity of the site and set a terrible precedent for Libyans charged with undertaking repairs and maintenance of the site.

Left: Extensive dumping throughout the Core Archaeological Area has reached unprecedented levels without enforcement or clean-up. Right: Despite condemning many illegal settlement structures within Cyrene, the site administration has had no funding and little power for relocating squatter settlements.

The surrounding towns have continued to expand throughout the site, especially in the Eastern Necropolis, with only recent efforts to form a Committee and address this serious issue. The Wadi running through the center of Cyrene is being used as an open sewer. Garbage dumping on the site is uncontrolled and agricultural expansions into the Core Protected Area are damaging sensitive archaeological areas.

Lack of Master Conservation Planning

There are no current maps of the site, with Libyan archaeologists mostly resorting to British maps from the 1930s. Enforcement of the site’s borders against looting, urban encroachment and agriculture, as well as correct planning and prioritizing of the conservation of monuments and development of tourism facilities, pathways and site interpretation all require accurate maps and site inventory. Covering over 160 acres and 1,400 known Greek structures and six major settlement and temple areas, Cyrene is in dire need of a comprehensive and government-approved Site Management Plan with prioritized funding for conservation, training, interpretation and enforcement.

Lack of Training and International Standards

After twenty years of isolation, Libya has had little access to international expertise in classical Greek archaeological conservation. Years of learning and world-class conservation in Greece, Italy, Crete and the Mediterranean region have been unavailable to the Libyan archaeologists and the few conservators employed by the Department of Antiquities. Authentic restoration skills have disappeared and current contractors working in archaeological sites do not have experience in traditional materials and techniques.

Lack of Funding

For a world-class Greek site with the status of Cyrene, annual conservation budgets should typically range from $200-300,000, depending on the country. At the much smaller site of Corinthe in Greece, for example, it is estimated that the mission’s conservation budget has been over $200,000 per year for the last fifteen years. Even at the Roman site of Liptus Magnus in Tripolania in Libya, funding has been sustained at over $100-200,000 per year over the past 10 years. Today the total budget for Cyrene personnel, security, museum and management does not exceed $30,000 per year.

Left: Hundreds of world-class Classic Greek and Roman statues and mosaics are left unprotected and being lost to theft and the elements. Rain pours through the building roof deteriorating sculptures and vandals have destroyed many artifacts. Right: Thousands of artifacts are piled in poor and unsecured storage facilities with no inventory, conservation or cataloguing, an open invitation to looters.

There is no funding available or laboratory for artifact conservation, and no full-time conservation staff available. Recently a storage area building was constructed which now houses some of the most important pieces, but there remains many more storage sheds and buildings throughout the site with poor protection, no formal inventory, conservation or security.

Looting is rampant in broad daylight throughout the ancient city, the necropolises and the surrounding hillsides rich in ancient settlements, temples, tombs and artifacts. Organized gangs of looters move freely throughout the site shipping large qualities of busts, coins, ceramics and other artifacts through Egypt with no fear of arrest. There are almost no remaining heads on over 200 ancient Greek statues of quality not found anywhere in the world. Poorly-locked and unguarded storerooms have been ransacked; even as recently as 2002 where over 40 classic Greek busts were lost to the international illegal antiquities market.

Above: The Sanctuary of Apollo, one of five major archaeological areas within the critically endangered site of Cyrene that is facing rapidly deteriorating monuments, looting, urban encroachment, and damage from improper conservation materials and techniques.

Global Heritage Fund (GHF) and the Libyan Department of Antiquities will develop new programs and initiatives to support world-class scientific archaeological conservation, master conservation planning, site interpretation, artifact conservation, and training at the UNESCO World Heritage site of Cyrene and its sister site of Apollonia. Initial work will include Master Conservation Planning for the sancutary of Apollo, GIS mapping to determine the full extend of the site and encroachment, and restoration of the Amphitheatre. Additional conservation of buildings and monuments at the site will be undertaken by GHF and our Partners as more funding becomes available.

Global Heritage Fund will work closely with the Libyan Department of Antiquities and our Partners in Conservation in the coming years to improve available funding, and implement international standards, conservation science and techniques. The partnership will enable training and funding for Libyan conservators, labor and materials, and help to develop and obtain approvals for a world-class Master Conservation Plan to secure and protect Cyrene World Heritage Site.

Above: The Cyrene Amphitheatre is one of the most impressive monuments in Cyrene and will be a central monument in tourism development, cultural events and historical interpretation of Cyrene UNESCO World Heritage site

The Cyrene Amphitheatre was erected in the Sanctuary of Apollo at the extreme western side of the Terrace of Myrtousa by the Greek settlers of Cyrene in the 6th century BC. The Cyrene Amphitheatre was built in six different periods, including reconstruction during the Roman Age as late as the 2nd Century A.D. Externally it had semicircular shape and held rows of seats, cuts in the cliff around the semicircular orchestra that had a diameter of over 100 feet or 30 meters. In addition to the existing stone amphitheatre visible today, a number of large buildings were constructed in wood similar to other important Greek amphitheatres such as the first trapezoid theatre of Siracusa (Sicily), dated soon afterwards to 500 B.C.

The Cyrene Amphitheatre is one of the most significant monuments on the site of Cyrene that has not undergone improper past conservation measures. Past conservation of monuments at Cyrene, utilized concrete rebar as a material for conservation. The use of concrete is practically irreversible and unethical according to international scientific conservation techniques detailed in the Burra and Venice Charters.

GHF together with program partners will implement a multi-year conservation and training program focused on the authentic restoration of the Amphitheatre in the Sanctuary of Apollo. This is one of the world’s last remaining unpreserved Greek Amphitheatres outside of Greece – the Cyrene Amphitheatre. Authentic conservation of this monument will facilitate significant education transfer and capacity building to Libyian partners on international standards of conservation in accordance with the Burra and Venice Charters.

The Cyrene Amphitheatre is highly representative for the heritage of Cyrene and for Libya, and the Greek archaeological sites in the Mediterranean area. It is strategically important for the development of the site of Cyrene for tourism and represents the only area of the entire visible site of Cyrene which has not been spoiled by poor restoration practices in the past using cement and steel rods. To this day, the Cyrene Amphitheatre has miraculously remained untouched by previous restorations which have endangered the heritage and authenticity of Cyrene as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Above: The Cyrene Amphitheatre which is the focus of GHF funding for site conservation in the Apollo Sanctuary has miraculously remained untouched for centuries, and provides an ideal model conservation project for implementing world-class conservation science and techniques in Cyrene for the first time.

The Cyrene Amphitheatre will be conserved completely in a scientific manner according the Burra and Venice Charters and without the use of cement and steel which plagues the rest of Cyrene from previous restorations before the advent of modern scientific preservation techniques. Conservation of the Cyrene Amphitheatre will include an integrated program of excavation, restoration and anastilosi of the monument.

GHF Cyrene Conservation Program

The five-year conservation program for Cyrene is comprised of four primary areas of work by GHF and our partners:

1. Master Conservation Planning
2. Training of Cyrene Conservation Team
3. Site Conservation of Cyrene Amphitheatre and Sanctuary of Apollo
4. Artifact Conservation

1. Master Conservation Plan (MCP) (Sanctuary of Apollo )

In order to prepare this nomination for multi-year on-site conservation funding, GHF will provide 50-50% co-funding (to a set maximum) with the Libyan Department of Antiquities, for development of a Master Conservation Plan (MCP). This Plan will also include training of Cyrene Department of Antiquities personnel for planning Cyrene Archaeological Area. The MCP will be approved by the national and local government, in cooperation with current archaeological missions and the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. This Plan will detail and prioritize conservation, staff, training and budget requirements for Cyrene over the next ten years.

GHF will ensure development, approvals and implementation of a Master Conservation Plan for Cyrene, the first in the site’s history, based on world-class conservation science and restoration techniques, including a complete GIS and Mapping database of the site. This work includes:

• Preliminary surveys and planning for site excavation, restoration and anastilosi of the monument including photographic and photogrammetric documentation.
• Photogrammetry of the site and of the area where the architectural elements outside work lay
• Direct graphic surveys of the structures in the site and architectural elements
• Digital photographs and computerized filing of all the architectural elements outside work
• Cleaning and preparation of the site
• Petrographic examination for the resistance of the architectural elements in limestone and for the choice of the materials to be used in the restoration and the anastylosis.

2. Training of Cyrene Conservation Team

Conservation Team comprised of Libyan conservators, architects, planners, engineers and archaeologists working over the next ten years to bring Cyrene Archaeological Area up to international standards in conservation, staffing, funding and park services. GHF will provide co-funding for technical training of Cyrene personnel and Conservation Team members. As well, GHF and the Libyan Department of Antiquities will work with current archaeological missions to develop world-class Site Interpretation and an Artifact Conservation Laboratory.

One of the most critical initiatives is building long-term capacity in the site conservation and maintenance personal for sustainable development and protection of Cyrene. GHF will undertake extensive training of Libyan nationals in the latest conservation techniques and reinforce enforcement and protection of Cyrene UNESCO World Heritage site. This includes establishing a new multi-disciplined Cyrene Conservation Team under a long-term contract comprised of Libyan and international experts, Libyan archaeologists, architects, engineers and conservators, and new conservation leaders trained from the local university and the community.

3. Site Conservation of Cyrene Amphitheatre in the Sanctuary of Apollo

Based on the Master Plan for the Conservation of the Cyrene Amphitheatre in development, GHF will work with the Libyan Department of Antiquities to undertake a major conservation program to make both the Cyrene Amphitheatre and Sanctuary of Apollo a center for tourism development and conservation activities at Cyrene.

GHF is raising funds towards these authentic restoration efforts of the Greek Amphitheatre in the Apollo Sanctuary. This will require the largest funding component and will provide the main nucleus of GHF conservation work and a major draw for tourism and sustainable site development at Cyrene. The Cyrene Amphitheatre will be the first monument at Cyrene to be restored and conserved using world-class, modern conservation science and techniques.

Completion of the Cyrene Amphitheatre is expected to require 4 years work beginning in 2006 and ending in 2009.

4. Artifact Conservation

Cyrene possesses one of the most important collections of Greek and Roman-era artifacts in the world. Today, there are few resources or trained staff for conservation and no conservation laboratory. Looting of unsecured artifacts has been a disaster for the collections of Cyrene with sixteen major statues being looted in 2002 from the University of Pennsylvania storage area.

While a new secure bunker for storage has been constructed, thousands of priceless artifacts are left exposed to the elements and are experiencing irreversible damage. GHF will, if requested train a team of artifact conservators to analyze, conserve and prepare this wonderful collection.

1. Prof. Serenella Ensoli, Project Director
2. Mr. Abdulgader Mzeni, Superintendent of Cyrene - Site Director
3. Dr. Salvatore Giardina, Architect and Site Manager
4. Prof. Pietro Marescalchi, Photogrammetrist
5. Prof. Anna Pagnini, Manager of graphic, photographic and photogrammetric documentation
6. Dr. Andrea Buttarini, Structural Engineer
7. Mr. Gastone Buttarini and Mr. Santino Fabbri, Restoration experts on anastilosi in Cyrene and Leptis Magna
8. Cellura e Graziella Barozzi, Geologist for the petrographic and material resistance surveys
9. Libyan Field Team of sixteen persons includes two supervisors of the Department to the Antiquities of Cyrene and researchers from the University of Bendgasi
10. John Hurd, Head of Archaeological Conservation, Global Heritage Fund

Global Heritage Fund is a non-profit, international conservancy formed to preserve and protect humankind’s most important archaeological and cultural heritage sites in developing countries. Our timely investments, global network of experts, and advanced Preservation by Design methodology work together to create a ‘cycle of success’ for Global Heritage sites which have high potential for sustainable preservation, tourism and economic development.

Global Heritage sites in developing countries offer one of the most compelling foundations for national and regional economic growth. Angkor Wat, for example, now generates over 30% of Cambodia’s GNP through tourism revenues. GHF has current projects this year in eight (8) GHF Projects for planning, conservation and training. Our goal is to invest $10 million over the next ten years into 40-50 Global Heritage sites threatened by neglect, destruction, mass tourism, and urban sprawl.