Ancient city of Cyrene in Libya

The region known as Cyrenaica (and in Roman times also as the Pentapolis) comprised an important group of cities: notably Cyrene, Apollonia, Euesperides/Berenice, Barke, Ptolemais and Taucheira. It was successively a center for Greek colonization in Libya, a kingdom based around the power and wealth of Cyrene, a satellite of the Hellenistic kingdom in Egypt, and a Roman province for long governed jointly with Crete.

Cyrene was important Greek city in the North of Arica lying between Alexandria and Carthage. It was founded by Battus who led a colony form the Island of Thera, and he and his descendants rule over the city of 8 generations.

The founding of Cyrene by Thera is recorded at length by Herodotus. A pilgrimage to the oracle at Delphi resulted in the advice to found a new city in Libya. The advice was ignored for seven years during which time, according to Herodotus, “not a drop of rain fell in Thera.” The drought had worsened and the people were in great distress. A committee was appointed to go to the oracle, again. The priestess repeated the same message, that they must found a colony in Libya for their fortunes to mend.

The Greek conscripts sailed to the coast of North Africa, where they were eventually led to a place where “the sky leaked through a hole in the heavens.” It rained often – glorious to the Therans. They established their new city-state, Cyrene, on the fertile highland ground in 631 BC.

Son of Ptolemy VIII, Euergetes II (Physcin) (d, 116 BC), by a concubine he became ruler of Cyrene before the end of the second century. And when he died in 96 BC, he bequeathed his kingdom to Rome. Cyrene became subject to the Egyptian Ptolemies and was eventually formed with the Island of Crete, into a Roman province.
Ancient city of Cyrene in Libya

Ancient history of Tangier

Tangier, founded by the Phoenician, for millennia has been located on the edge of the Old World. The city extends its arms on the Mediterranean Sea towards the Atlantic Ocean, becoming the gate of North Africa from the Strait of Gibraltar.

The ancient city of Tangier is located at the western entrance of the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Mediterranean Sea.

Tingis, ancient name of Tangier becomes capital of the Roman province of Mauretania Tingitana in 42 CE. Tingis was an important Carthaginian, Mauretanian, and Roman port on the Atlantic Ocean. It was eventually granted the status of a Roman colony and made the capital of the province of Mauretania Tingitana and, after Diocletian's reforms, the diocese of Hispania.

Between the fourth and fifth centuries, Tangier was part of the Byzantine Emipire. The Arabs arrived in the early 700s.

During the 8th century, Tangier became an Arab military outpost supporting the invasion of Spain. After the discovery of the New World, the city became for centuries an important trading centre. Thus, the Medina, the commercial hub of Tangier, in this context maintained the Roman military structure.

It has been the birthplace of explorer and geographer Ibn Battuta (1304) from where he travelled during 28 years up to Beijing, Samarqand, and Timbuktu. During the 14th century, Tangier is a dynamic port city trading various commodities with Marseilles, Genoa, Venice and Barcelona.

Since the 15th century, under the domination of Portugal, United Kingdom, Spain and France the construction of the city walls, the bastions and the York Castle were completed. The British ruled the city until Sultan Moulay Ismail imposed a blockade which forced the British to withdraw. Upon leaving, the British destroyed the city and its port. Although partially reconstructed, the city declined to around 5000 people in early 1800s.
Ancient history of Tangier

City of Tripoli

Tripoli is a capital city and principle seaport on the North African coast of Libya. Tripoli was founded in 7th century BC, by Phoenician. The Phoenicians settled in Uiat, the ancient Tripoli, in a place than endured a deep harbor, well protected by a promontory to the northeast and guarded to the west by a low hill. It became one of the four Punic settlement of significance (the others being Carthage, Sabratha and Leptis Magna). Tripoli is Libya’s only ancient city to have been continuously occupied, since that time.

Following the fall of the Carthage in 146 BC, the city came briefly under the jurisdiction of the Nubian kingdom, before becoming a Roman protectorate. Under the Romans, who named the city Oea, Tripoli grew prosperous.

The first city wall may be attributed to the 4th century AD, when the attacks of nomads from the interior became a menace. When the Vandals overran North Africa in the 5th century the damage to the city was devastating.

In 643 AD Tripoli was conquered by Arabs headed by Amr Ibn al-As who entered the city from the sea, probably from the northwest, where there were no fortifications.

By 1000, Tripoli had become an important center of intercontinental trade between sub-Saharan Africa, southern Europe, Egypt, and the Middle East.

Peter of Navarre, who had conquered Oran in 1509 and Bougie in January 1510, reached Tripoli with his Spanish troops in July 1510; the city was much damaged by the attack and the looting of Spaniards, who however reconstructed the castle in the form it has preserved more or less up to this day.

The city was then occupied by the Ottomans in 1551. In 1771 the Ottoman governor of Tripoli established his own dynasty the Qaramanli dynasty which lasted until the Ottomans re-occupied the area in 1835.
City of Tripoli