Sabrata

صبراتة Sabrata
Coordinates	32 ° 48 ′  N , 12 ° 29 ′  E Coordinates: 32 ° 48 ′  N , 12 ° 29 ′  E
Basic data
Country	Libya
Shaʿbiyya	an-Nuqat al-Chams
Residents	102,038 (2005)

Archaeological site of Sabrata
UNESCO world heritage
Forum area in Sabrata
National territory:	Libya
Type:	Culture
Criteria :	(iii)
Surface:	90,534 ha
Reference No .:	184
UNESCO region :	Arabic states
History of enrollment
Enrollment:	1982  ( session 6 )
Red list :	since 2016

Sabrata ( Arabic صبراتة, DMG Ṣabrāta , also Sabratha ) is a port city in Libya . It is located 70 kilometers west of Tripoli on the Mediterranean Sea, with 102,037 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2005). Administratively, the city and its immediate surroundings formed the former municipality of Sabrata wa-Surman . Since 2007 it belongs to the Munizip an-Nuqat al-Chams .

history

Along with Oea and Leptis Magna, Sabrata was one of the three cities after which the region of Tripolitania was named in ancient times . In Sabrata there are well-preserved and elaborately reconstructed ruins from the Roman era . a. the theater , the temple of Isis and the agora . In 1982 the excavation site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List .

The city was founded in the 7th century BC. Founded by the Phoenicians from Tire and quickly came under the control of Carthage . Sabrata quickly gained prosperity because it had one of the few natural harbors in Tripolitania and at the same time it was located at the intersection of the coastal road with a trade route leading south through the Sahara . The Carthaginians therefore judged here in the 5th century BC. A trading post and traded there with the locals. During the Roman rule (since 46 BC) the city experienced an economic boom as a trading center. Around the year 200 numerous public buildings were decorated with expensive marble; at that time up to 20,000 people lived in the city.

The decline began with the fall of the Roman Empire, when incursions by camel nomads affected agriculture and a severe earthquake shook the city in 365 . Eventually the Vandals took over the city. After the Muslim conquest in the 7th century, Sabrata quickly lost its importance; Oea became the new center of Tripolitania under the name of Tripoli.

Titular bishopric

Sabrata is now a titular bishopric of the Roman Catholic Church .

and display information about the image

Panoramic picture of part of the archaeological site

Center of the smuggling business

In the course of the refugee crisis in Europe , the Sabrata region became known as the starting point for the journey across the Mediterranean . Sabrata is 300 kilometers south of the Italian island of Lampedusa . In August 2017, Reuters reported for the first time about a militia that had captured the port of Sabratas, the logistical center of the smugglers. In Sabrata, the militia brigade of the martyr Anas al Dabbashi rules , the head of the militia is Ahmed Dabbashi. In January 2017, the Government of the National Unity stationed the 48th Infantry Battalion in Sabrata, which is working with the militia to combat smuggling.

literature

• Joachim Willeitner : Libya . Dumont Art Guide, 2001
• Erwin M. Ruprechtsberger : Sabratha - An ancient city in Tripolitania. In: Ancient World. Journal of Archeology and Cultural History. Vol. 32 (2001), Issue 1, pp. 35-46.
• Stefan Altekamp : Return to Africa. Italian colonial archeology in Libya 1911–1943. Böhlau, Cologne - Weimar - Vienna 2000 (works on archeology) ISBN 3-412-08099-3

Web links

Commons : Sabratha  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Entry on the UNESCO World Heritage Center website ( English and French ).

Footnotes

1. ↑ sueddeutsche.de August 28, 2017: Why suddenly fewer migrants are coming across the Mediterranean
2. ↑ Exclusive: Armed group stopping migrant boats leaving Libya
3. ↑ Mirco Keilberth: Libyan warlord stops refugees - taz
4. ↑ FAZ.net September 5, 2017: The electricity runs dry
5. ↑ ^{a b} Thomas Gutschker: The current dries up, in: FAS No. 35, September 3, 2017, p. 2.