In southern Tunisia and northwestern Libya, it is a type of building structure used mainly for grain storage. Ghurfas are long chambers with tube roof, which in hot climates, protect against climate, as well as animals, insects and human thieves.

“Ghurfa” is from Arabic, and the most commonly used word for “room”. In Tunisia and Libya ghurfas are single rooms in a larger structure known as ksar, kasr, ksour, qasr or (rare) qsar, all from the Arabic qasr, “palace”. Still, a ksar is a more general term, representing a fortified structure, which may well not be made up of ghurfas.

The ominously named Ras Al-Ghoul ( “The Demon’s Head” in Arabic) is a name applied to an ancient hilltop fortress commanding stunning views in the Libyan desert. It is here that the last hold-outs to Islam barricaded themselves in a stand-off with the Muslim forces that arrived from Ghadames. Because of a well located in the fortress, the beseiged were able to hold on, and eventually the Muslim forces allowed them to leave. It remains a popular spot with fantastic views of the desert.

It is said by the locals that events of a paranormal nature occur here regularly , including bizarre lights in the sky, glowing sand, voices, and other strange occurrence.

Tourists from Italy, France, Germany, Spain, and the UK have all been able to visit, and now the USA can be added to the list.

According to a statement released on Wednesday, May 25th, Libya Expeditions, Libya’s leading tour operator and travel adventure specialist, announced the groundbreaking trade and investment agreement inked between Libya and the U.S., saying that it has resulted in Libya lifting all visa restrictions on U.S. citizens traveling to the country.

“Effective immediately, visas are being approved for U.S. citizens for travel to Libya. We are pleased with the new developments and giving the opportunity to U.S. citizens to return to Libya and explore this magical and scenic land,” said Ryad Sunusi, Libya Expeditions Founder & CEO

Libya Expeditions describes itself as a full-service Libya tour operator that provides comprehensive Libya travel services, focusing on escorted Libya cultural, archaeological, and desert adventure tours and holidays; and has rapidly become the leading operator of escorted tours to Libya. Libya Expeditions is committed to promoting responsible tourism – supporting the local Libyan economy whilst retaining respect for traditional customs and way of life.

Although in the USA it’s mainly seen as the fiefdom of Colonel Muammar Al-Gaddafi Libya is also home to five UNESCO world heritage sites:

Archaeological Site of Cyrene (1982) – the oldest and most important of the five Greek cities in the region.
Archaeological Site of Leptis Magna (1982) – The site has been described as one of the most spectacular and unspoiled Roman ruins in the Mediterranean.
Archaeological Site of Sabratha (1982) – It has a 3rd century theatre that retains its three-storey architectural backdrop, temples and a Christian basilica, and a museum.
Rock-art Sites of Tadrart Acacus (1985) – this mountain range in the desert of western Libya is part of the Sahara. The area has a particularly rich array of prehistoric rock art.
Old Town of Ghadames (1986) – a small oasis town with unusual architecture.

It should be noted that according to Wikipedia, In response to 9/11 attacks Gaddafi condemned the attacks as an act of terrorism and urged Libyans to donate blood for the US victims. As it turned out, donating blood would do no good, but the condemnation of the attack is an indication that the country wants to rejoin the international community of nations.

In 2004 Bush had lifted the economic sanctions on Libya and official relations resumed between Libya and the United States. Libya then opened a Liaison office in Washington, DC and the United States opened an office in Tripoli.

Libya recently announced an ambitious strategy to attract 1.5 Million tourists annually by 2012; and to that effect, loosened tourist visa procedures so visas for most nationalities can be obtained on arrival.

Now citizens of the USA will be able to visit. This is an important step in both international relations and, well, our ability to travel to new and exciting places.

The historic Mahari Hotel, once a Libyan government run 5 star hotel in Tripoli, has been transformed and now is part of the Radisson family of hotels. Now called the Radisson Blue, the new management and facelift has taken what was once a grand but decaying hotel with a spectacular location on the corniche, to a truly 5-star experience and living up to the standards of the Radisson name. The re-branding has included substantial work on modernizing the hotel and all its rooms, adding decorations, new restaurants, facilities, a superb business lounge on the 15th floor overlooking the city, and better trained staff.Recreational amenities at Al Mahary Radisson Blu Hotel Tripoli include an outdoor pool, a health club, and a spa tub. Other amenities include a full-service health spa, a poolside bar, and a restaurant.

Guestrooms open to balconies with city, sea or pool views and feature complimentary wireless Internet access. Bathrooms come with bathrobes and designer toiletries. The Radisson Blu has aggressively targeted the high-end business traveler to Tripoli, competing directly with the Corinthia Hotel, what was once the only 5-star hotel in the city.

The Jamahiriya Museum in the heart of Tripoli, is an excellent museum in all respects. Both the exhibits and the presentation make this one of the finest museums in the world.

The museum ranges from Neolithic ages until the modern age, across 47 galleries on 4 floors. With such a size, and the apparent similarity between very different times and cultures, it may either be a swift run-through or a two or three day delight.

Did you know that Libyans ruled Egypt in the Late Period? That Libyans were a serious challenge and enemy of the Egyptians at the height of Pharaonic power? That Libya produced one of the emperors of the Roman Empire? That Libya was the corn chamber of Rome?

The ground level shows a quick journey through several periods, from 300,000 years back in time to the green VW Beetle of the young Gadhafi. The exhibits crosses through rock art and pottery up to 10,000 years old until Roman times.

Among the most impressive exhibits is the fantastic mausoleum from Ghirza (top photo), a state independent from Rome, yet culturally influenced. There are also exhibits from the Garamantian Empire (see Germa) and Slonta, everything of vital importance to a complete impression of Libyan culture and history.

In Gallery 6 is the Phoenician exhibition, which is particularly interesting because of this period’s importance and its near non-existence across Libyan sites. Phoenician culture rings more of a bell, telling that Carthage (now Tunisia) was part of this.

The most impressive gallery of the museum is probably the Roman. It is dominated by superb statues, most having been taken from Leptis Magna. Oea (same location as modern Tripoli) and Sabratha are also represented, then mainly with mosaics.

The 1st floor covers the transition from Roman, through the Christian Byzantine to the Islamic era. The 2nd floor shows Islamic culture. Passing on to the 3rd floor, exhibits become drastically less impressive than the ground floor, but instead you get great impressions of daily life for the average person, showing things like a Turkish kitchen, clothes and artefacts of the different peoples of Libya.

The 4th floor is mainly dedicated to modern Libyan history, including whole galleries showing nothing but pictures of Gadhafi.

Should not the first 38 galleries be enough for you, the last 9 are devoted to natural history. Actually not to be missed, animal life of Libya is quite elusive while you move around the country by yourself.

Prices and hours / Admission 3LD, camera permission 5LD and video permission 10LD. Open all days except Monday, 08.00-14.00, Fridays also 16.00-18.00. This also include entry into the Tripoli Castle

Republished courtesy of LookLex.

In Roman times the Tripolitania province had three cities, called Tripolis, Leptis Magna, Oea (now the modern Tripoli) and Sabratha. Sabratha was to a large extent the one with least wealth, yet it boasts one of the best preserved theatres of the Roman era.

Sabratha was constructed in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, but it did survive longer than its big brother, Leptis Magna. As is the case with many ancient cities in North Africa, it was the arrival of the Arabs, that resulted in the final decline.

The theatre is the main attraction, and it appears in excellent condition today. It is even used now as an arena for theatre and concerts. Sabratha has several public baths, temples, fountains and mosaics. The museum is a must, and has an extensive exhibition of everything from statues to small coins.

One of the more interesting architectural oddities found in Libya are the ‘Qasrs’; Berber constructions used as fortifications, dwellings and granaries. One of the most famous and unique is Qasr Haj, located in the breathtaking Nafousa mountains.

Qasr al Haj is a fortified storage location that has been in use by the local people of Barber for hundreds of years. It was built more than 800 years ago to store grain, olive oil or possessions of locals and nomadic people of the area. It is the only granary still in use. The granary is a hive of 114 cells hewn from the mud and rock walls. The structure has four levels; a basement level and 3 stories above ground. Steps have been formed from the mud and rock walls as well as primitive looking ladders, allowing access to the different levels.

Traditionally each family owns one cell – the sizes of which vary from tiny to roomy caverns. A caretaker of the Qasr would open the gates at certain times each day so that food stocks could be stored or withdrawn. These types of structures are found in other areas of Libya as well as the neighboring country, Tunisia.

Libya is known as a country of startling contrasts and magnificent scenery, with some of the most interesting antiquities in the world. It is one of the last unspoilt countries on the Mediterranean Sea, teaming with outstanding classical ruins, bustling markets, fertile oases, cultural diversity, and breathtakingly beautiful deserts.

Our North African country shelters some of the most interesting, best-preserved archaeological ruins from the Roman and Greek periods.

Among these ruins are three World Heritage sites, that along with a chequered history that goes back to the sea-faring Phoenicians and Carthaginians.

The fact that the country in modern times had been closed to the conventional tourist, combine to make Libya very popular among tourists who want to visit some of the world’s best Roman ruins. Libya is in fact home to the finest Roman ruins in the world.

The capital, Tripoli, is a stunning city that more than lives up to the moniker ‘The jewel of the Mediterranean.

It is a city that brims with history, starting with the Medina (Old City) and its narrow whitewashed streets and crammed with mosques (the highlights of which are the Gurgi and the Karamanli mosques) and private dwellings that date from the Ottoman period and are constructed around internal courtyards.

Inside the Medina are the bustling souks (markets), and the last traces of Roman occupation, foremost of which is the city’s castle, constructed over many centuries, that has the discernible Ottoman and Spanish influences, and is home to the National or Jamahiriya Museum.

Another trace of the Roman occupation and very well known is the Roman triumphal marble Arch of Marcus Aurelius, situated close to the Medina and the Green Square in the Libyan capital. Its marble was imported from Greece.

This surprisingly well-preserved arch of Roman co-Emperor Marcus Aurelius (Antoninus Augustus) dates from AD163. Marcus Aurelius lived for 59 years, between 121 and 180 AD.

The arch was built as a testament to the might of the Roman army. Its sturdy appearance may be easier to understand when you learn that the authorities relocated it from Leptis Magna.

Built in the Greek style this arch, that straddles the decumanus maximus and the cardo-maximus in the ancient Roman city of Oea, which is now Tripoli, testifies to the existence of the ancient Roman city.

Besides Roman columns re-used in newer buildings in the medina, this is the only existing Roman monument in the city.

Examining the engravings on the arch, one can see the goddess Ath-ena riding in a chariot towed by griffin and images of local people surrendering to the Roman forces.

Marcus Aurelius was the last of the “Five Good Emperors” who governed the Roman Empire from 96 to 180, and is also considered one of the most important stoic philosophers.

His tenure was marked by wars in Asia against a revitalized Par-thian Empire, and with Germanic tribes along the limes Germanicus into Gaul and across the Danube.

Marcus Aurelius was kown as an intelligent, serious-minded and hardworking young man. He was never very strong physically. But those close to him spoke with admiration of his devotion to duty in spite of the handicap of physical weakness.

He was very well loved and when he was going to be made emperor he refused unless equal powers were conferred simultaneously on his brother Lucius Commodus. They ruled jointly.

Two emperors thus ruled the Roman world for the first time, an innovation, but like most Roman innovations one for which there was ample precedence. It set an example that was followed with increasing frequency.

Marcus and Lucius were joint rules then, but Marcus had more authority. He had been consul once more than Lucius.

Most important still, Marcus Aurelius had shared in the imperial powers for nerly 14 years and he was ten years older than Lucius.

There was little doubt in men’s mi-nds whch emperor was the senior. But they were to work together for the good of the state.

Marcus Aurelius died on March 17, 180 in the city of Vindobona (modern Vienna).

He was immediately deified and his ashes were reutrned to Rome, and rested in Hadrian’s mausoleum (modern Castel Sant’Angelo).

Descended from Berbers and Saharan pastoralists, the Garamantes were likely present as a tribal people in the Fezzan by at least 1000 B.C. They first appeared in the historical record in the fifth century B.C., when Herodotus noted the Garamantes were an exceedingly numerous people who herded cattle (that grazed backward!) and who hunted “troglodyte Ethiopians” from four-horse chariots.

The success of the Garamantes was based on their subterranean water-extraction system, a network of tunnels known as foggaras in Berber. It not only allowed their part of the Sahara to bloom again–it also triggered a political and social process that led to population expansion, urbanism, and conquest. But in order to retain and extend their newfound prosperity, they needed above all to maintain and expand the water-extraction tunnel systems–and that necessitated the acquisition of many slaves.

Luckily for the Garamantes–but less so for their neighbors–Garamantian population growth gave the new Saharan power a demographic and military advantage over other peoples in Saharan and sub-Saharan Africa, enabling them to expand their territory, conquer other peoples, and acquire vast numbers of slaves.

By around A.D. 150 the slave-based Garamantian kingdom covered 70,000 square miles in present-day southern Libya. It was the first time in history that a nonriverine area of the Sahara (or indeed any other major desert) had produced an urban society. The largest town, Garama (in what is now called the Jarma Oasis), had a population of some four thousand. A further six thousand people probably lived in suburban satellite villages located within a three-mile radius of the urban center.

Thanks to their aggressive mentality and the slaves and water it produced, the Garamantes lived in planned towns and feasted on locally grown grapes, figs, sorghum, pulses, barley, and wheat, as well as on imported luxuries such as wine and olive oil. “The combination of their slave-acquisition activities and their mastery of foggara irrigation technology enabled the Garamantes to enjoy a standard of living far superior to that of any other ancient Saharan society,” says archaeologist Andrew Wilson of the University of Oxford, who has been surveying the foggara system. Without slaves, they would not have had a kingdom, let alone even a whiff of the good life. They would have survived–just–in conditions of relative poverty, as most desert dwellers have done before and since.

In the end, depletion of easily mined fossil water sounded the death knell of the Garamantian kingdom. After extracting at least 30 billion gallons of water over some 600 years, the fourth-century A.D. Garamantes discovered that the water was literally running out. To deal with the problem, they would have needed to add more man-made underground tributaries to existing tunnels and dig additional deeper, much longer water-extraction tunnels. For that, they would have needed vastly more slaves than they had. The water difficulties must have led to food shortages, population reductions, and political instability (local defensive structures from this era may be evidence for political fragmentation). Conquering more territories and pulling in more slaves was therefore simply not militarily feasible. The magic equation between population and military and economic power on the one hand and slave-acquisition capability and water extraction on the other no longer balanced.

The desert kingdom declined and fractured into small chiefdoms and was absorbed into the emerging Islamic world. Like its more famous Roman neighbor, the once-great Saharan kingdom became, little by little, simply a thing of myth and memory. Along with the rest of the world, Berbers living in the Fazzan today have all but forgotten their ancestors. The kingdom’s legacy has faded so dramatically that local residents believe the vast water-extraction system–the pride of the Garamantes–is the handiwork of Romans.

This abstract was taken from an article in Archaeology magazine, by David Keys, titled “Kingdom of the Sands.”