Museo Archeologico di Tripoli, Libia

The Archaeologic Museum of Tripoli contains many masterpieces that belong to the different cultures that be lived in Lybia, during the time. The building consists to four floors. In the ground floor there is the Hall that contains many statues and mosaics that represent the roman heritage on the territory. Particulary, there is a beautiful mosaic called the Mosaic of Gladiator. The name is dated because the mosaic is ornated by a frieze in opus vermiculatum that show the Ludi Gladiatori, the games that were played in the Circus. The Hall of Museum keeps many others treasures, like the marble statue of Venere Capitolina, a roman copy of the famous Venere Cnidia that was sculptured by Fidia. The statue shows the goddes of Love and Beauty represented while is outing to the see and her name is dated because there is another copy of this model that is in Rome, and is kept in the Capitoline Museum. In the hall there are some others roman copies of Grek statues, like the statue of Diaudomenos that is a roman copy of a famous bronze statue of Policleto (VI Century B.C.) and shows a athlete that encircles his head with a victory band. In the same place there is a statue of Apollo with the face of Antinoo, the famous lover of Emperor Adriano. The Hall contains also a funerery mausolem that cames from Ghirza, a city in the desert, located near the Limen Tripolitanus. The mausolem is a stone temple ornated with a large frieze that shows the portraits of a family, flowers, a hunting scene and two feint doors.


Room I

The first room keeps many finds that represent the heritage of the many people which lived in this ground in the time. There are some stone arrows, two marble capitals and a beautiful cinerary urn, a marble Faun head and the first machine of Gheddafi, the famous Machine of Revolution.


Paleolithic Age

Room II
In the second room there are many fossil like stone arrows, petrified trunks and a copy of a rock painting that belong to Paleolithic Age.

Neolihic Age

Room III
In this room you can find some vase decorated that belong to Neolithic Age

Room IV

In the room there are many moulds of graffito and copies of rock paintings that come from Akakaus. In the centre of the room there is a skeleton of a boy and three millstones that dates to Neolithic Age. On the right wall there are rock graffiti that belong to the Libyan Desert.

The Libyan Tribes

Room V

In the room you can find many exhibits that belong to the heritage of the autochthonal popolation of Garamanti, which lived in libya for many time. They are an stone altar and an stone hand that was used for close the tomb and an statuette of the Goddess Isis with two snakes. Near to this there are some stone reliefs that comes from Ghirza, and they are parts of decorative frieze of a funerary mausoleum. On the wall of the room there are some moulds of reliefs of Slonta Temple, an ancien temple that was dedicated to Snake God.

The Phoenician Heritage

Room VI

The Phoenician people lived in Libyia in the VII Century B.C. when the cities of Oea (the first name of Tripoli), Sabratha and Leptis were colonized by the Phoenician merchants. The exhibits that are in this room, in fact, come from this cities. In the room you can find two lion statues and two big stone warriors. There are also two portraits of Baal Hammon and two stone cutlers that were used during the sacrifices. There are also two stone reliefs, a epigraph with Phoenician language and a relief with Tanit, that is the ancien goddes Tanit, the wife of Baal Hammon and the most famous female god in the Phoenician Pantheon

The Greek Domination

Room VII

A group of merchants of Santorini, a Greek isle, landed in Libya in the VI century B.C. and founded five cities called the pentapolis, between there was the city of Cirene. The great part of the exhibits that are kept in this room come from the archaeological sites of Cirene. There are many plates and vases decorated, a marble group of Dionysus and a satir and a ancien head of kore. In the centre of the room there is a large plastic of the Zeus Temple, one of greater temples of antiquity. In the end, there is a big statue of Cerere, the ancien goddes of fertility

Room VIII

The room VIII is a little room that contains many wonderful statues. In the centre of the room you can admire the marble group of Three Graces, which are sculptured like the traditional iconographic model. In the room tere are also a marble statuette of Serapide and a big statue of Athena, the goddes of wisdom and war. On the left wall there are two stone busts the represent Persefone, the goddes of the death and Pluto wife, the king of the Ade. Both come from Cirene .


The Great Roman Heritage

The Roman heritage is conspicuously represented. The roman exhibits come from Oea, Leptis Magna and Sabratha and consist of many wonderful statues and mosaics.

Room IX

This large room is dedicated to two famous archaeological site, Sabratha and Leptis Magna, which were two famous cities in the roman age. Especially, you can find many marble statues which come from Leptis Magna and decored the Adriano Thermal Bath, the Theatre and the Market. There are statues of deities, like Venere, Apollo, Dioniso and Artemide and the goddes Roma and Mercury . There are two statues of sea divinity, Neiade and Anfitrine and two staues of ancient womens represented like the goddes Cerere and a statue of Esculapio. There is also a statue of young herdsman, the moribund warrior and a beautiful marble group, that originary decorated a fountain that shows a Cupid which is sleeping on a little lion. There are also a statue of Hunting Diana, Ercules, Marsia and Calliope, the Muse which protecs the poets, and some medaillons of Gorgoneion which orned the New Severian Forum, with two large marble basis of columns decorated with reliefs. You can find also the statues of roman emperor and their wives and many marble portraits of Germanico and Druso and the stautes of two famous benefactors of Leptis city, Iddibal Caphata Emilius and Annobal Rufus. In the end, there are many marble portraits of deities and emperors.
The room shows also large mosaics floors, rickly decorated and realized in opus sectile and opus vermiculatum, that originally were the pavement of big houses that were finded near Leptis Magna, like Tajura and Dar Buck Ammera, house of Orpheus and Nyle house. There are also the Fourt Season mosaic, a masterpiece of mosaic art and a fragment of mosaic decorated with fruits, birthes and flowers. There are malso many mosaic panels and emblematas with Pidgins which fish or hunting. In this large room there are also funerary urns and reliefs.

Room X

In this room you can find others marble statues of deities like the statue of Victory or the Isis statue. There is also a statue of young emperor Caracalla, the son of Settimio Severo. There are also two relief of captives and a pretty statue of a boy with fruits. One part of the room is dedicated to marble portraits of roman and libyan charachters. In the centre of the room there many roman coins.

Room XI

In this room you can find the marble reliefs that come from the Triumph Arch of Emperor Septimio Severo that is located in the entrance of Leptis Magna, the natively city of this emperor, between the cardo and decumano. The relief shown the emperosr with his family, the wife Julia Domna and the sons Geta and Caracalla. In the centre of the room there is a plastic model of the arch. In the end of the room there are many cinerary urns

Bizanthine heritage

Room XII

In this room there are many architectonic exhibits that come from the first Cristhian Basilicas. There are column basis,marble and stone capitals decorated with reliefs with hunting scenes, a stone window and many window frames decorated with reliefs. There are also a marble coffin,ornated with acanthus leafs and stone panels decorated with reliefs

Islamic heritage

The third floor is dedicated to Islamic heritage and every room contains some aspect of this captivating and complex culture. There are marble epigrapy that commemorate the build of a Mosque, the traditional clothes, jewels and the equipment of entire houses in Tripoli and Gadames.

The last floor ospits the rooms dedicated of a Revolution, with many photographs of Gheddafi