Mohamed Arbi Nsiri: save the Libyan archaeological and cultural heritage!

In addition to the tragic loss of many human lives and the unprecedented political and political crisis that has been hitting Libya since the start of military conflicts that date from the beginning of 2011, Libyan cultural heritage is the subject of destruction deliberate with a stunning magnitude. The catastrophic situation we are confronted with today forces us to assume our responsibilities and to act. These destructive acts aim to erase all traces of the history of the country and the historical rooting of its people. These fatalities ravage for a few years now Libyan society, widens deep fractures there because of a political reality which, far from protecting the material and intangible heritage of the country, pushes it on the infernal slope of the terror. 'Recent history of the Maghreb have we witnessed such a violent destruction and also calculated by the archaeological heritage of a country in the region. These historical treasures are now used as war armes to tear Libyan society and propagate hatred. We must be perfectly clear and remain firm on the principles: we are not talking about stones and monuments here, but fundamental values ​​for humanity. The irreparable loss of this heritage does not only concern Libya, but the whole world. This is why we share the responsibility to protect this heritage especially in such a tragic context. Each Libyan site therefore embodies history, values, beliefs and intelligentsia of people who created it. When a site is destroyed, this represents a particularly devastating loss for all those who perceive this heritage as a reflection of their history, their culture and their identity. The deliberate destruction of the Libyan archaeological heritage affects much more than buildings or sculptures. It is a cultural cleaning, aimed at destroying the dignity of people who consider this heritage as an expression of their identity.

In a tribal country like Libya, constantly in the grip of different crises in a particularly unstable Maghreb since the Arab post-printemps era, the importance of cultural heritage can often be undervalued or be perceived as non-existent.In reality, this importance tends to increase in such circumstances, insofar as it constitutes a fundamental convergence factor for the different tribal groups.

This is precisely the current case of Libya at the end of 2018. In addition to its military fight, the country indeed delivers today a cultural battle, in the proper sense of the term. This is a struggle for existence, for which this nation has already paid a strong price and shows great sacrifices. In terms of self -knowledge, cultural heritage gives a story part of a story by teaching them where they come from and where they are today. Nevertheless, and despite this consciousness in the cultivated elite, the Libyan archaeological sites continue to pay a strong price following endless military confrontations and the instabilities that have shaken the country, by making Libya an object of looting and commerce illicit. Since 2011, after having engaged in land occupation, the massacre of innocents and the destruction of public monuments, some extremist military groups have undertaken a cultural cleaning by targeting archaeological sites and historic monuments. They also looted archaeological objects in order to finance their military acts. They bombed and destroyed archaeological sites in the Tripolitan, Fazzan and Cyrenaica region. They also destroyed statues and archaeological and artistic objects preserved in museums, and from archaeological sites which contained many treasures of Greco-Roman art. By means of this operating mode, they try to destroy this powerful unifying factor on which all Libyans depend, in order to divide more what is already divided, to reduce what is already rare and to weaken what is already weak. Already since the first phase of the conflict, which ends around the middle of 2015, the Libyan archaeological fabric is seriously damaged and several ancient monuments are completely or partially destroyed. For example, let us quote the latest intensive tripoli bombings and its region, where a large number of ancient and medieval sites is.

During the time going from 2011 to 2015, several traffickers took advantage of the absence of central state services to intensify clandestine dugs in archaeological sites (especially in the region of Leptis Magna, Oea and Sabratha) with the purposeto collect historical objects, intended mainly in the art market in Europe, in Turkey or in the Gulf countries. The photographs published on social networks clearly show the gravity of the situation. This is why regional institutions (likeAlesco) and international (such as UNESCO) must act in order to protect what remains of this Libyan archaeological and cultural heritage, a source of pride not only of the Libyan people but also of all Magrebins and the civilized world.

Mohamed Arbi Nsirihistorien