On the list of names in the Cyrenaean inscription published by Fadel Ali Mohamed and Joyce Reynolds in Libyan Studies 25 (1994) 213f. Professor Habicht comments (1) that Aiglanor (1.1), Heniochus (1.2) and Polianthes (1.4) are specifically Cyrenaean names; (2) that Karneades Aiglanoros (1.1) can be identified with a Cyrenaean honoured at Sparta in c. 188 B.C.; (3) that Polianthes son of Kartisthenes in 1.4 may be a brother of Mnasarchos son of Kratisthenes listed at Delphi as a Cyrenaean host of sacred envoys in the late third or early second century B.C., and Kallimachos (1.5) may be identical with the Kallimachos who is another Cyrenaean host listed in the same document.

Is it possible to identify amphora stamps from Sabratha and Oea amongst those recorded from Tripolitanian Type III amphorae of the early third century AD? Number 7 in the list given by Manacorda and Mattingly begins with the letters SAB, and could be identified with a member of the family recorded in IRT2. A more dubious possibility is no. 6. It is also suggested that stamps beginning with the letter O (nos 17 and 19) might be products of Oea.

This is a short report on a selection of the small finds from the excavations of a Roman house which lies to the west of the theatre at Lepcis Magna. The pottery and coins from the current levels of excavation have been dated to the late 5th and early 6th centuries AD; however, many of the objects seem to be residual. One of the most interesting finds was a solid bronze ring, decorated with two female figures. The object seems to have been functional, with the ring and the bars on which the woman are seated being attached to a soft material such as leather. These characteristics, which can be found on parallel examples, along with other bronze artefacts from the site suggest that the former was part of the decoration of a horse drawn carriage. Several pieces of jewellery were found including two gemstones which were once part of a finger ring, dating from the 2nd century AD. The first is a garnet and shows the goddess Artemis/Diane in her role of huntress, holding a bow and arrow. The second, which is a cornelian, is decorated with a portrait of a youth and may well be a local copy of a type circulating at the time. Many pieces of locally crafted bone and ivory were also found, including a bone plaque with a floral decoration which was originally intended as a decorative inlay for a small object such as a box. A similar piece from Egypt has been dated to around the 3rd or 4th centuries AD.

This paper examines the intentions, successes and failures of remarkable Romano-Libyan floodwater farmers who settled the arid Libyan pre-desert and used complexes of walls to manage the occasional floodwater as well as the desert's soils, sediments and biota. The paper presents and analyses a near ‘total’ data-set on the determinable locational properties of these ancient walls within one wadi — the 10 km long Wadi Umm el-Kharab. The organisation of these wall systems is shown to alter along the wadi according to changes in topographic, geomorphic and hydrological factors, as well as in relation to what are regarded in this paper as design and settlement factors. The organisation of the walls changes at confluences and distinctive topographic features. An analysis of the shape of enclosed areas indicates that the wadi can be divided into three broad sectors, each of which can be identified by differences in the shapes of the areas enclosed by walls. The enclosed shapes, as well as the general properties of the walls themselves do not vary in any simple linear manner along the wadi. Precise field mapping, as well as statistical displays of wall-related data, indicate the presence of similar ‘gaps’ in both the frequencies of settlement and of walls along the wadi. These gaps are, in part, explicable as the secondary consequences of hypothesised past flood-management problems associated with the confluences within the wadi system. They are also interpreted in this paper as some type of land use or other territorial ‘break’ created between the ancient community groups who occupied the wadi. This study has demonstrated the existence of distinct ‘preferences’ in the distances between walls, the areas enclosed between walls, and the thicknesses of walls. Overall, the types of organisation, and presumed functions of walls in this wadi are similar to those established from elsewhere in the Libyan pre-desert, but the balance is different in the Wadi Umm el-Kharab. The emphasis of wall-design in the Wadi Umm el-Kharab appeared to be upon the containment and management of floodwater, rather than the maximisation of the input of waters to the wadi floor, as deduced elsewhere. The long-term robustness and the environmental sophistication of these wall-systems are evident.

The edict of the emperors Theodosius II and Valentinian III of AD 435 laid down the laws on the juridical dissolution of pagan sanctuaries and the annexation of the temple property. The probability of tallying such historically confirmed situations with archaeological finds always poses a difficult methodical question. A small number of interesting examples from the late antique Dioceses Africa and Ægyptus therefore deserve the author's closer attention: the temple of Apollo at Cyrene, the three-aisled Christian basilica at the ‘Vetus Forum’ of Lepcis Magna, the Jupiter Dolichenus Temple at the port of the same city (all in Libya), and the basilicas in Sbeitla (Sufetula), Djebel Oust (both in Tunisia) and Tipasa (Algeria).

Unfortunately, in none of these cases, could the exact date of rebuilding be established. But even so, it is obvious that the edict of Theodosius II cannot be considered as a definitive terminus ad quem. Archaeological as well as historical facts indicate that the process of destroying pagan cults and transforming temples into Christian sites lasted for almost a century (early fourth up to the mid-fifth). Theodosius Il's edict thus legalised a custom that had already been in practice for decades.

The Editor introduces the second of an occasional series for the reproduction of early photographs of Libya. The group of photographs selected were taken in the Cyrenaica in 1894 during a visit by Herbert Weld-Blundell to assess its suitability for excavation. Photographs of a similar nature are requested for future publication.

This article adopts a broad view of geography to examine some of the roles which geographical knowledges, of various kinds, played in constituting Libya in the Italian geographical imagination. After problematising geography as a situated form of knowledge with a long tradition of pro-imperial activities, it considers some of the ways in which geographical discourses laid the foundations for Italian imperialism in Libya. In particular the article considers how Italian geography played a crucial role in the ‘colonial science’ by which Fascist Italy attempted symbolically and intellectually to capture Libya and recast it as a controlled, knowable colonial domain.

Details of access to five institutes and libraries in Rome and Florence are given, with some indication of the relevance of their contents to Libyan studies.

The Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya has, since 1980, been involved in no fewer than three important judgments at the International Court of Justice at The Hague, dealing with Libya-Tunisia, the Libya-Malta and the Libya-Chad boundaries. The Government of Libya accepted all the judgments made at the ICJ without equivocation.

The settlement of the Mediterranean continental shelf issues with Tunisia (1982) and with Malta (1985) may be seen as technical adjustments leading to a fixing of boundaries in undemarcated areas. Both judgments were comparatively favourable to Libya and extended Libya's area of hydrocarbon activities off-shore.

In the matter of Libyan land claims to the Aouzou strip on the Chad borderlands, the situation was rather different. The international boundary between Libya and Chad was laid down under a 1955 convention. In 1972 the Libyan Government annexed the Aouzou strip. The ICJ gave its judgment on 3rd February 1994, by 16 votes to 1 finding that the boundary between the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and the Republic of Chad is defined by the Treaty of Friendship and Good Neighbourliness concluded on 10th August 1955 between the French Republic and the United Kingdom of Libya, thus restoring the Aouzou strip to Chad.

A select bibliography of sources dealing with Libya's international boundaries is attached, itemising key texts in Western languages.

This paper outlines the main features of the Libyan health care delivery system in general and the development of the primary health care system in particular. In spite of achieving tremendous success for extending health care coverage to meet continuous and mounting demand for health care services all over the country, health status levels in the country as a whole have not yet reached the required target that should make them comparable with the developed world. Three major reasons are thought to be responsible for this deficiency — the lack of appointment systems, a proper referral system and reliable health care information centres both locally and nationally. Moreover, despite the fact that a hierarchy of health care delivery system exists in the country, it is not well-defined with a fixed division of functions and strict referral routes between health care facilities as conceptualised in most parts of the developed world.

Excavation continued on the peristyle house encountered in the previous seasons, and new areas were opened. Late period walls of inferior workmanship were encountered in various places, many of which had collapsed on to the occupation levels. The water supply of the house was examined and consisted of a deep well and two very large cisterns; a small room appeared to be a private lavatory. Pottery and coins suggest a main occupation of the fourth and fifth centuries, with very little from later on. First- and possibly second-century pottery was found in one place, but the lack of definite second- and third-century pottery may indicate a gap in occupation. Detailed study of the pottery was made, and many artefacts, including coins, beads, glass, gems and bronzes were found. Environmental evidence was collected and an experimental trial was made of a 3D recording system, using EDM readings in conjunction with the project's CAD programme. The excavation of a substantial private house in a city known almost entirely for its public architecture is proving to be a very exciting and worthwhile project, and future work in earlier levels is anticipated with great interest.

Excavations by the Department of Antiquities, Benghazi, Garyunis University, Benghazi and the Society for Libyan Studies took place at the site of Euesperides for a total of seven weeks in 1995 and 1996. Work was concentrated on the northern margins of the city, where much new evidence for its topography and development came to light. The discoveries include successive fortification walls (the earlier of which may belong to c. 600 BC), part of a necropolis, and a large extramural kiln complex of the fourth/third centuries. Evidence bearing on the infrastructure, economy, diet and cultural life of this early Cyrenaican city, which was abandoned by the mid third century BC, was also recovered.