Archaeological Site of Sabratha
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How it came to be
Sabratha, on the coast of western Libya, began as a Phoenician trading post that shipped out goods from the African interior. After the Punic Wars it passed to the short-lived Numidian kingdom of Massinissa. In the 1st century BCE Rome annexed the area as the province of Africa Nova.
The city reached its height under the dynasty founded by Septimius Severus, who was born at nearby Leptis Magna, and it grew to nearly twice its earlier size. In 186 Commodus dedicated a temple to Hercules and to his father Marcus Aurelius. The theatre still keeps its three-storey stage backdrop.
A severe earthquake in 365 damaged the city, and under Vandal rule in the 5th century much of it was abandoned. A small revival under Justinian left a basilica that still stands. Italian archaeologists excavated from 1921 onward; the site was inscribed as a World Heritage site in 1982 and placed on the List in Danger in 2016.
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