Tripoli Markets

The pictures below were taken at Suq al Talat (Tuesday Market) and Suq el Jumaa (Friday Market) in Tripoli in 1974-76.

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Suq el Jumaa was a good place to buy a camel

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Note: The form of hobbling shown bottom right was normal. Much more cruel was the way camels were controlled on their way to and from markets. A wire was pushed through the tongue of each camel and tied to the tail of the animal in front of it.

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Charcoal processing is a hot and dirty business ...

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but the children seem to make the best of it.

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Suq al Talat was the place to buy pottery in Tripoli.

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Mustafa Gibril buying dishes

Most of the pots came from Tunisia

All of the markets sold herbs and spices.

The Tombs at Ghirza

Some of the most famous Roman ruins in Libya are the tombs at Ghirza. We were not able to locate these until my final year, 1977, when one of our students told me his father had agreed to lead us to them.

It was a very long rough journey and visibility at the site was not wonderful, because we were on the edge of a sandstorm. Also, our guide decided that he did not want to camp out for the night, as we had planned and agreed. So we had only an hour at the site before we had to take him home.

Ghirza in the late afternoon sun

The Roman settlement at Ghirza was founded when Emperor Septimius Severus settled a group of army veterans there as part of his plan to stabilize the southern frontier of Tripolitania. Dams were built to regulate the flash floods that are common in the dester, and the settlers were soon able to grow olives, figs, vines, almonds, dates and even cereals.

The settlement comprised 40 buildings, of which six were fortified farms.

A fortified farm at Ghirza

However, it is the tombs in the settlement's two cemeteries that are the main attraction to modern visitors.

The northern cemetery has several large tombs, many in good condition in spite of the effects of age and earthquakes.

Three mausolea

A tomb in excellent condition except for graffiti

One tomb had interesting carvings of war scenes, clearly showing that the occupant had served in the Roman army.

The tombs in the southern cemetery were more modest and were in the form of obelisks.

Note:

Several times on our drive to Ghirza, our guide seemed unsure of the way. I asked him about this later and he admitted that he had found it difficult to remember the route. It turned out that he hadn't been to Ghirza for 40 years, and all of his previous trips had been on horseback!

Ibn Tulun Mosque, Cairo

Most people who visit Egypt understandably spend all of their sightseeing time looking at the pyramids, tombs and temples from the Pharaonic period. However, Egypt also offers some fascinating Islamic monuments, the most imposing of which is the Ibn Tulun Mosque.

Situated in Cairo, this mosque is oldest and the largest (in area) in all of Egypt. It was built in 876-879 AD and its notable features include a minaret with an external spiral staircase.

The mosque's minaret is visible in the background

The domed serbil in the central courtyard was added in the late 13th century.



The mosque, built of red brick plastered over with white stucco, is surrounded by a wall whose top is decorated with what looks almost like a string of paper-cut-out soldiers.

Looking out from the top of the surrounding wall

The graceful lines of the mosque's arches are supplemented by intricate carvings.

Libyan Weddings

Libyan weddings were fairly exciting affairs. However, as they were strictly segregated, they involved one set of parties for the bride and another for the groom.


For the women's party, the guests would dress up in their best clothes and finest gold jewellery.





The bride would also dress in traditional finery, would have her hands decorated in elaborate patterns with henna, and would wear the gold jewellery provided as part of her dowry.




By contrast, the groom would wear western evening dress while the male guests normally wore traditional Libyan clothes.




The women's parties revolved around much dancing and singing. The men's parties tended to be quiet, no doubt partly because alcohol was banned in Libya. Men would sit around and chat in groups.





Sometimes they would play traditional instruments and sing. Occasionally, at a particularly wild party, some of the men would tie a scarf around their hips and pretend to be women doing a belly dance.




At the end of the celebrations, the bride and groom would be taken in caravans of cars to the house where they were to spend the first night of their honeymoon. The guests would then wait outside until the marriage had been consummated. At some point one of the older women would bring out and show to everyone a blood-marked sheet, proving that the bride had been a virgin! All the guests would cheer or ululate. Then the guests would go home, leaving the bride and groom alone at last.

Prehistoric Rock Art

Most of the archaeological remains in Libya date from the Roman or Islamic periods. However, there are some prehistoric rock carvings, usually in hard-to-reach parts of the desert.

The carvings shown below are virtually unique in that they are easy to reach and are near a modern town. They are near Tarhuna and are just above what people say is the only year-round river in Libya. When we visited, the river was merely a trickle but it is more impressive in the wetter months of the year.

The carvings appear to show some kind of cattle.

As the carvings are completely in the open and unprotected, it will be surprising if they remain in such good condition for much longer.

Special Events

Life in and around Tripoli was generally fairly uneventful, except for frequent minor emergencies: car breakdowns, brushes with the local police, hassles with bureaucracy, etc.

Much of our spare time was spent eating or drinking (tea) with Libyan friends.

Sue and Mustafa having dinner at Ali Gibril's house

Fatma, Ali's wife, making tea

Note:

When we lived there, Libya was still a totally male-female segregated society. Women did not mix with men who were not very close relatives. In public, all women wore the barrakan, a sheet that concealed the whole face and body except for one eye.

Being a foreign woman, Sue was able to mix with both the women (upstairs) and the men (downstairs) in Libyan houses. I was normally restricted to mixing with the men. However, we got to know the Gibril family so well that, after three years, I was allowed to meet Ali's wife and was even once allowed to drive their two teenage daughters to a relative's home.

Occasionally, a special event would provide some change and excitement. For example, the September 1st anniversary of the revolution would always be celebrated with parades and folk dancing in the main square of Tripoli.

Libya had a world famous folk dance team, seen here giving a performance in the Roman theatre at Sabratha.

The photos below show a horse parade and race held to honour the heroes of the long-lasting guerilla war waged against Italian occupation.



Note:
The Italian invasion and occupation were extremely brutal. The first air raid on a civilian target in history took place when an Italian plane dropped bombs on a Libyan oasis. Later, the Italians tried to force information from captured Libyan patriots by taking them up in planes and threatening to throw them out. In many cases, the Italians carried out their threats.

Sphinx

In prosperous countries, life tends to be fast and change comes quickly. In Egypt, the pace of life is slow and change comes extremely slowly, except in the cities of Cairo and Alexandria.

The pictures below were taken in the village near the Sphinx in 1970. If you visited Egypt today, you would see identical scenes in most villages.

A lot of time is spent sitting in or outside cafes

Animals share the streets with people


Here two goats mingle with shoppers


One way to bring home bread from the baker's is on your head