Italian Libya - Archaeology and Tourism

Archaeology and Tourism

The Italian authorities used classical archaeology even as a propaganda tool in justifying Italian presence in the region. Before 1911, there was no archeological research done in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica: the Italian government funded in the late 1920s excavations in the main Roman cities of Leptis Magna and Sabratha (while Cyrenaica was left for later excavations, because there was a colonial war against moslem rebels in that province). However after the fascist takeover, all foreign archeological expeditions were forced out of Libya, and all archeological work was consolidated under a centralized governmental policy consisting of Italian excavations, Italian museums and Italian journals.

After Cyrenaica's full pacification, the Italian archaeological efforts in the 1930s were more focused on the former Greek colony of Cyrenaica than in Tripolitania, which was during the Greek period a Punic colony. The rejection of Phoenician research was partly because of anti-Semitic reasons. Of special interest were the Roman colonies of Leptis Magna and Sabratha, and the preparation of these sites for archaeological tourism.

Tourism was promoted even with the creation of the Tripoli Grand Prix, a racing car event with international importance.