Sabratha

Sabratha صبراتة
Town
Theater of Sabratha
Sabratha Location in Libya
Coordinates: 32°47′32″N 12°29′3″E
Country	Libya
Region	Tripolitania
District	Zawiya
Elevation	30 ft (10 m)
Population  (2004)
• Total	102,038
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
Website	sabratha.gov.ly
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name	Archaeological Site of Sabratha
Includes	Theater at Sabratha
Criteria	Cultural: (iii)
Reference	184
Inscription	1982 (6th Session)
Endangered	2016–...
Coordinates	32.8054017588935°N 12.485187948145375°E / 32.8054017588935; 12.485187948145375

Map of Sabratha

Sabratha (Arabic: صبراتة, romanized: Ṣabrāta; also Sabratah, Siburata), in the Zawiya District of Libya, was the westernmost of the ancient "three cities" of Roman Tripolis, alongside Oea and Leptis Magna. From 2001 to 2007 it was the capital of the former Sabratha wa Sorman District. It lies on the Mediterranean coast about 70 km (43 mi) west of modern Tripoli. The extant archaeological site was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982.

Ancient Sabratha

A coin of Sabratha with the Punic name ṣbrtʿn

Sabratha's port was established, perhaps about 500 BCE, as the Phoenician trading-post of Tsabratan (Punic: ‬𐤑𐤁‬‬𐤓𐤕‬𐤍, ṣbrtn, or ‬𐤑𐤁‬‬𐤓𐤕𐤏‬𐤍, ṣbrtʿn). This seems to have been a Berber name, suggesting a preëxisting native settlement. The port served as a Phoenician outlet for the products of the African hinterland. Greeks called it Sabrata (Ancient Greek: Σαβράτα), Sabaratha (Ancient Greek: Σαβαραθά), Sabratha (Ancient Greek: Σαβράθα) and also Abrotonon (Ancient Greek: Ἀβρότονον). After the demise of Phoenicia, Sabratha fell under the sphere of influence of Carthage.

Following the Punic Wars, Sabratha became part of the short-lived Numidian kingdom of Massinissa before this was annexed to the Roman Republic as the province of Africa Nova in the 1st century BC. It was subsequently romanized and rebuilt in the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE. The Emperor Septimius Severus was born nearby in Leptis Magna, and Sabratha reached its monumental peak during the rule of the Severans, when it nearly doubled in size. The city was badly damaged by earthquakes during the 4th century, particularly the quake of 365. It fell under control of the Vandal kingdom in the 5th century, with large parts of the city being abandoned. It enjoyed a small revival under Byzantine rule, when multiple churches and a defensive wall (although only enclosing a small portion of the city) were erected. The town was site of a bishopric. Within a hundred years of the Muslim invasion of the Maghreb, trade had shifted to other ports and Sabratha dwindled to a village.

Archaeological site

Archaeological Site of Sabratha

Theatre, 2006

Sabratha has been the place of several excavation campaigns since 1921, mainly by Italian archaeologists. It was also excavated by a British team directed by Dame Kathleen Kenyon and John Ward-Perkins between 1948 and 1951. Besides its Theater at Sabratha 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 also remnants of some of the mosaic floors that enriched elite dwellings of Roman North Africa (for example, at the Villa Sileen, near Khoms). However, these are most clearly preserved in the colored patterns of the seaward (or Forum) baths, directly overlooking the shore, and in the black and white floors of the theater baths. There is an adjacent museum containing some treasures from Sabratha, but others can be seen in the national museum in Tripoli.

In 1943, during the Second World War, archaeologist Max Mallowan, husband of novelist Agatha Christie, was based at Sabratha as an 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 tunny fish and olives.

Erosion and weathering damage

According to an April 2016 report, due to soft soil composition and the nature of the coast of Sabratha, which is mostly made up of soft rock and sand, the Ruins of Sabratha are undergoing dangerous periods of coastal erosion. The public baths, olive press building and 'harbor' can be observed as being most damaged as the buildings have crumbled due to storms and unsettled seas. As the most common building material in Sabratah, calcarenite, is highly susceptible to physical, chemical and biological weathering (particularly marine spray), the long-term conservation of the monuments is endangered. Rising sea levels can also compromise the integrity of the site.

This erosion of the coast of Ancient Sabratha can be seen yearly with significant differences in beach layout and recent crumbled buildings. Breakwaters set in the vicinity of the harbor and olive press are inadequate and too small to efficiently protect the Ancient City of Sabratha.

Modern Sabratha

The city is home to Sabratha University. Wefaq Sabratha is the football club, playing at Sabratha Stadium.

As noted in the 2021 documentary The Beatles: Get Back, directed by Peter Jackson, the Sabratha Theater was considered as a possible location where the Beatles could hold their final live concert as a group (they instead performed their last concert on the rooftop of their Apple Corps headquarters).

Climate

Sabratha has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification BSh).

Climate data for Sabratha
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	17.2 (63.0)	18.8 (65.8)	20.9 (69.6)	23.7 (74.7)	25.9 (78.6)	29.2 (84.6)	31.3 (88.3)	32.1 (89.8)	30.2 (86.4)	27.5 (81.5)	23.6 (74.5)	18.8 (65.8)	24.9 (76.9)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	6.8 (44.2)	7.9 (46.2)	9.9 (49.8)	13.1 (55.6)	15.4 (59.7)	19.0 (66.2)	20.0 (68.0)	21.1 (70.0)	20.3 (68.5)	17.0 (62.6)	12.2 (54.0)	8.1 (46.6)	14.2 (57.6)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	45 (1.8)	26 (1.0)	17 (0.7)	11 (0.4)	4 (0.2)	1 (0.0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	8 (0.3)	23 (0.9)	33 (1.3)	51 (2.0)	219 (8.6)
Source: Climate-data.org

Gallery

Part of the International Fairgrounds in Tripoli (under Italian rule)

Panorama

• 
  Panoramic image of a part of the archaeological site
• 
  Panoramic image of the theater of the archaeological site

Archaeological site

• 
  Nymphaeum
• 
  Nymphaeum
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  Seaside therms
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  Latrines
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  Latrines
• 
  Сouncil chamber
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  Curia 4 CE
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  Mosaic in the Peristyle house
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  Mosaic in the Peristyle house
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  Peristyle house
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  Peristyle house
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  Seawards bath mosaic
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  Inscription in front of the Capitolium, 2nd century BCE
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  Basilica of Apuleus, Byzantine baptistery
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  Basilica of Apuleus, Pylone
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  Fontain of Flavius Tullus at the Antonine Temple
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  Podium at the Antonine Temple
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  Antonine Temple
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  Podium at the Antonine Temple
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  Mausoleum of Bes, 2nd century BCE

The theater

• 
  Theater in Sabratha city 2nd century CE
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  Theater
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  View of the Sabratha theater
• 
  Marble facing on the wall of theater
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  One of many ways inside of theater
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  Inside ways of theater
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  Ruins of theater
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  Theater
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  Theater
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  One of the few entries to theater
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  Theater
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  Bas-Relief (on bottom of stage), theater
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  Bas-Relief (on bottom of stage), theater
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  Bas-Relief (on bottom of stage), theater
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  Bas-Relief (on bottom of stage), theater
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  Bas-Relief (on bottom of stage), theater
• 
  Bas-Relief (on bottom of stage), theater
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  Bas-Relief (on bottom of stage), theater
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  Bas-Relief (on bottom of stage), theater
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  High relief, theater
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  High relief, theater
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  Theater
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  Plinth and capital of columns, theater
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  Capital of column, theater
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  Theater
• 
  Theater
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  Stairs to the stage, theater
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  Theater
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  The gate, theater
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  Architrave and capital, theater
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  Back side of theater
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  The gate decor element, theater

Museum

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  Torso of the Emperor Vespasian, or his son Titus. 1st century Museum courtyard
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  Mosaic. Museum
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  Mosaic. Museum
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  Mosaic. Museum
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  Mosaic from theater baths. Museum."Salvom Lavisse" - "Washing it's well!"
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  Mosaic. Museum
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  Mosaic. Museum
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  Head. Museum
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  Marble figure of a satyr. From the Forum. Museum
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  Bust of Jupiter. From the Temple of Jupiter. Museum
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  Bust of Goddess Concordia from the Temple of Jupiter. Museum
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  Marble candelabrum showing Orpheus and the animals. From Theatre Baths 3rd century Museum
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  Head. Museum
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  Decor element of Insula (house). Museum
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  Mosaic. Museum
• 
  Basilica of Justinian reconstructed in the Site Museum

References

Bibliography

• Ghaki, Mansour (2015), "Toponymie et Onomastique Libyques: L'Apport de l'Écriture Punique/Néopunique" (PDF), La Lingua nella Vita e la Vita della Lingua: Itinerari e Percorsi degli Studi Berberi, Studi Africanistici: Quaderni di Studi Berberi e Libico-Berberi, Naples: Unior, pp. 65–71, ISBN 978-88-6719-125-3, ISSN 2283-5636. (in French)
• Head, Barclay; et al. (1911), "Syrtica", Historia Numorum (2nd ed.), Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 875.
• Rodríguez López, María Isabel (2017). "The Relief Decorations of the Ancient Roman Theater: The Case of Sabratha". Music in Art: International Journal for Music Iconography. 42 (1–2): 17–31. ISSN 1522-7464.

Further reading

• Kenrick, Philip (1986) Excavations at Sabratha 1948-1951 Malet Street: Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, ISBN 090776407X
• Matthews, Kenneth D. (1957) Cities in the Sand, Leptis Magna and Sabratha in Roman Africa University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, OCLC 414295
• Reynolds, Joyce M, et al. Inscriptions of Roman Tripolitania, first edition 1952 British School at Rome/second ed. 2009 King's College London.
• Ward, Philip (1970) Sabratha: A Guide for Visitors Oleander Press, Cambridge, UK, ISBN 0-902675-05-2

External links

• UNESCO archaeological site of Sabratha
• Complete photo coverage of the archeological site
• LookLex article
• IRT chapter on history and epigraphy of Sabratha
• Pleiades Gazetteer entry on ancient Abrotonum/Sabratha