Apollonia of Cyrenaica – Submerged Harbour at Marsa Susa
Ἀπολλωνία · Apollonia Cyrenaica · Marsa Susa Apollonia · Sozousa
Archaic to Byzantine (631 BCE inland Cyrene; port 6th c. BCE – 7th c. CE Arab)·Dor Greek / Hellenistic / Roman / Byzantine·🇱🇾 Cyrenaica, Jabal Akhdar coast, Marsa Susa (ancient Apollonia), Libya
About
About Apollonia of Cyrenaica – Submerged Harbour at Marsa Susa
Port of Cyrene (631 BCE foundation) – major Classical-Hellenistic-Roman harbour on Cyrenaica limestone shelf. Quarries, agora, theatre, three Byzantine basilicas; harbour comprised eastern and western basins with moles, ship sheds, fish tanks, submerged Roman breakwaters 200 m offshore at –2 to –4 m. AD 365 Crete quake cracked harbour and drowned eastern mole. Excavated Goodchild Libya 1952–; Fleming 1961; Mishara 2009 underwater. Coinage Apollo. Complement Apollonia Pontica (Sozopol) already in DB but Cyrenaica distinct Ware Libya Pentapolis.
Why it mattersType-site for Pentapolis maritime Pentapolis and AD 365 quake shoreline displacement marker for Eastern Mediterranean paleoseismology.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Eastern mole two-phase? Ptolemaic vs AD 365 repair
- 02Silphium trade warehouse location
Theories
- 01Apollonia case shows along-strike variation: Cyrene plateau uplifted but harbour graben subsided on same quake
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- Theran colonists (Battus), Cyrenean harbour builders
- Period
- Archaic to Byzantine (631 BCE inland Cyrene; port 6th c. BCE – 7th c. CE Arab)
- Culture
- Dor Greek / Hellenistic / Roman / Byzantine
- Builders
- Dor Greek
- Purpose
- Mediterranean harbour for Cyrenaica silphium, horses, grain
- Abandoned
- Harbour quake faulting AD 365; abandoned 643 Arab conquest
- Rediscovered
- Jones & Little 1971; Goodchild 1952; Fleming 1961 air
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
631 BCE
Cyrene founded; Apollonia as anchorage
6th c. BCE
Harbour moles built
365 CE
AD 365 Crete quake cracks harbour – 2 m displacement
1961
Fleming aerial maps 2–4 m submerged moles
On the ground
Structures & features
32.9010° N · 21.9640° E · -2 m · 3 mapped features
Eastern submerged mole (Apollo harbour)
harbour200 m rubble mole at –2 to –4 m
32.9015° N · 21.9660° EWestern harbour and shipsheds
harbourRock-cut slips at sea level
32.9000° N · 21.9620° EByzantine basilica onshore (reference)
basilica5th c. basilica 30 m east of harbour
32.9020° N · 21.9650° E