The translation of so-called ‘honorific’ titles from Punic to Latin, and their deployment in a number of public monumental inscriptions in Lepcis Magna, have often been promoted as evidence for successful Romanisation in the cities of Tripolitania. Titles such as amator concordiae and ornator patriae have been understood as affirmations that the local Lepcitan community had engaged with Augustan ideological concepts and were using them to demonstrate loyalty and support for the principate. This paper argues that a more likely influence on the translation of the titles into Latin came from the notions of philia exhibited by the Greek-speaking communities of the eastern Mediterranean in their interactions with Rome.

This article provides the edition and commentary of two Punic and one Latin funerary inscription of Roman imperial date from inland areas of Tripolitania. The first two texts were discovered at Al-Brahama village in the vicinity of Al-Rujban in the Western Jebel district of Libya. The first is neo-Punic, the second is Latin. The neo-Punic inscription consists of seven lines, of which the first four lines are legible and their translation is unproblematic. However, the rest are illegible as a result of damage to the stone. The Latin inscription consists of four lines that are easy to read and translate. Finally a reinterpretation of an already published text (HNPI Tarhuna N1) from the area between Tarhuna and Garyan is presented, and some observations on tombs in the Jefara plain.

This article studies the way in which certain Arab authors presented ancient African remains, using three examples (the arch of Marcus Aurelius in Tripoli, the Zaghouan-Carthage aqueduct and the amphitheatre of El-Djem). These testimonies, in addition to being very original within the region, give valuable information, both historically and culturally, including the history of attitudes, on the different periods preceding the arrival of Islam in the region.

This article deals with the question of the art of the flute in ancient Libya. First, reference is made to the way in which the Greek rulers of ancient Libya tried to impose the idea of the Greek origin of the art of flute on the Libyans. This is followed by an analysis of the indications of the continuous existence of the art of flute in ancient Libya. Finally, it is interesting to note that ancient Libya has such a long tradition in the art of flute, opening up the possible Libyan origin of the instrument.

The Sudan occupies a fairly complex place in archaeological enquiry. This is not a result of the archaeological record, rather it is due to a particular perception of the Sudan, its archaeology and history. The first excavators were archaeologists and anatomists who either worked in Egypt or in the Mediterranean, while the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium encouraged white-only scholars to both conduct research and to be active members of the newly formed political service in order to ‘know the natives’. In other words, archaeology from the outset was intimately connected to a particular political narrative and aim. This paper traces the historical context from the early 20th century to the development of archaeology south of beyond the Sixth Cataract south of the present-day capital of Khartoum, showing how it was created by Henry Wellcome. In particular, it focuses on the vast mortuary and habitation site of Jebel Moya, south-central Sudan, where new fieldwork is yielding fruitful results. Henry Wellcome's contribution to archaeology remains under-acknowledged. This long-overdue critical assessment traces and contextualizes the historical trajectories at play and situates them within the broader historical archaeology context.

Archival material on the Libyan revolution and the civil war that followed is very scarce. This article discusses two born digital collections – the Libya Uprising Archive of tweets collected during the rising against Qaddafi, and the collections of asylum appeal tribunals in several English-speaking liberal democracies. Neither collection has been extensively used. It describes how the collections were formed, and the difficulties of using them and, for each, provides a short case study to illustrate these points. For the Libya Uprising Archive the case study is of tweets put out on the day Qaddafi was killed (20 October 2011), for the asylum tribunals the case study is of evidence provided by claimants about the importance or otherwise of tribalism as a factor that put individuals in danger.

This paper aims to show a general panorama of the Palermitan ceramic products circulating from the end of the ninth to the eleventh century. During this period Palermo was the capital of Islamic Sicily and covered an important role in the Mediterranean from a political, economic and cultural point of view. This has also impacted on pottery production. A new morphologic, technologic and decorative panorama is present during this phase, to face the new needs of a crescent population. Palermo developed a proper pottery language which is the result in part of the previous traditions and in part of the new contributions from the Islamic lands. The volume of Palermitan ceramic production increased considerably, not only to meet the metropolitan demand but also for the growing extra-urban (insular and extra-insular) requests.

This research develops a much-needed approach to the study of glazed ware production in al-Andalus (Muslim Spain and Portugal) during the early Middle Ages. The introduction of glaze to the Iberian Peninsula was a long and complex process involving three waves of technology transfer arriving from the eastern Islamic regions between the ninth and eleventh centuries. In this paper, the main glaze workshops of each technological wave have been characterised in order to understand how the medieval technological transmission took place and how political and economic factors influenced this gradual dissemination.

This paper updates the present knowledge of ceramic productions in the Western Mediterranean in the early Middle Ages through the example of al-Andalus. The study of pottery production is a key element for recognizing the process of Islamization, the formation of al-Andalus, and the important social and economic changes that took placed in the Mediterranean between the seventh and ninth centuries. From a historical point of view, the early Middle Ages is a transcendental moment of change: patterns and socioeconomic models of the ancient world began to fade, and the evolution towards the development of feudal societies and, in parallel, the emergence of Islamic culture started. In the Iberian Peninsula, the arrival of the Arab-Berber army in AD 711 and its rapid conquest over a few years generated a process of social change know today as Islamization, which encompasses two centuries (eighth and ninth), and culminates in the tenth century with the standardization of a culture that is recognized from that moment on as Islamic culture. In this paper, the central elements of ceramic production in early al-Andalus are analysed, including the coexistence of diverse manufacturing techniques, the gradual disappearance of standardized productions, regionalization of production centres, and the incorporation of new forms and techniques such as glaze.

This report presents the latest data from ongoing excavations at Jebel Moya, Sudan. This year saw the opening of five new trenches and continued excavation of an archaeologically rich trench. We have recovered four individual burials, a mud brick wall and a number of animal and archaeobotanical remains. The excavations also yielded a longer pottery sequence, showing clearly that the site was in use by at least the sixth millennium BC. This season confirms the long and complex history of Jebel Moya and provides the material for future studies on population health and subsistence. This season also saw an increase in community engagement and a more detailed study of the various historical trajectories that make up the biography of Jebel Moya.

This paper presents the methodology and overall outcomes from the Training in Action project (TinA), funded by the British Council's Cultural Protection Fund between 2017 and 2019, which has built capacity among 72 employees of the Department of Antiquities of Libya (DoA) and the Institut National du Patrimoine de Tunisie (INP). It highlights the integrated and comprehensive nature of the training based on an innovative approach designed to increase value and impact. The integrated methodology, combining documentation, conservation and management, serves as a reproducible and sustainable model for other capacity-building projects. TinA was developed and carried out collaboratively by academics at Durham University, King's College London and University College London, and in partnership with the DoA and INP.

‘Notes from Libya’ is a new regular feature of Libyan Studies, and follows the reports of the Society's Head of Mission. These reports were previously concerned with the organization of fieldwork and administrative matters connected to obtaining permissions, visas and so on, and were recorded in the minutes of the Council meetings. However, they have recently taken on a new form, outlining the alarming developments in Libya, largely focusing on its heritage but also on the political and economic situation, which impacts on the management of Libya's ancient monuments and artefacts. The importance and historical interest of these reports now, however, merits a wider audience and a more formal record, so these accounts are now published in Libyan Studies.

The Society for Libyan Studies celebrated its 50th year in 2019 and it boasts a long record of promoting excellent research on Libya and its adjacent regions. Our second half-century will bring new challenges and opportunities. This note outlines our strategy to maintain our focus on Libya while acknowledging that Libya has always been embedded within wider networks of influence, trade and engagement across the Mediterranean and throughout North and Central Africa. We want to acknowledge this broader geographical remit more clearly with a new subtitle for this journal: Libyan Studies: a Journal of North African and Mediterranean Cultures. This subtitle also points to the benefits of engaging other academic communities beyond our traditional, core constituencies of archaeology, ancient history and history – not least because a broader engagement with contemporary research will help to maintain the Society's strength, relevance and sustainability. Likewise, we aim to engage more interest from the Libyan and North African diaspora in Britain. These initiatives will build upon our strong foundations to make us more able to respond to the challenges of our second 50 years.