Revival of a legendary site
Located in the region of Cyrenaica, Ptolemais was founded in the late 4th or 3rd century BCE under Egypt’s Ptolemaic rulers and persisted until the Arab conquest in the 7th century CE. Conflict in Libya forced Polish archaeologists to halt work for 13 years; they resumed their investigations in 2023.
Photo: Piotr Jaworski
“Our goal is to understand the past of this Hellenistic-Roman city and the lives of its inhabitants,” Dr. Piotr Jaworski, head of the Polish Archaeological Mission, told Polish Press Agency.
An advanced water system
During the 2024 excavation season, researchers uncovered part of a grand residence dating to the late 2nd–3rd century CE. Featuring a small peristyle (internal courtyard) connected to a kitchen and rooms decorated with mosaic floors, the house also boasted a highly engineered rainwater system. An impluvium in the courtyard directed water into two underground cisterns, reflecting Ptolemais’s urban sophistication.
Photo: Piotr Jaworski
Catastrophic earthquakes ravaged the building at least twice in the late 3rd century, but the owners rebuilt. Clues to this later phase include three large stone containers near the entrance—possibly for collecting taxes in kind or public donations, indicating the resident also conducted some official duties at home.
The mask in the cistern
The season’s most striking discovery is a life-sized face carved in hydraulic plaster on a cistern wall. Lacking any defining attributes, the mask’s function and significance remain uncertain. However, Dr. Jaworski notes a resemblance to relief-carved faces found at Slonta, a Libyan sanctuary south of Cyrene. This similarity hints at possible Libyan origins for the home’s owner or the artisans involved.
Photo: Anna Tomkowska
“From epigraphic sources, we know that by the 1st century BCE, Greek cities in Cyrenaica often granted citizenship to local Libyan elites—eager to assimilate,” Dr. Jaworski added. “While it’s just speculation, it offers a glimpse of the cultural blending that shaped this ancient city.”
With the current focus shifting to Ptolemais’s acropolis, archaeologists hope to shed more light on the city’s multifaceted heritage—once a powerful center bridging Hellenistic, Roman, and local Libyan traditions.
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Source: PAP, Uniwersytet Warszawski