Dr. Khaled Mohammed Al-Haddar, a professor of Archaeology at the Faculty of Arts, University of Benghazi, shared the latest scientific findings concerning the ancient harbour of Ptolemais (Tolmeita) in an article published on his personal page. These findings are based on an academic study released in 2017 in the International Journal of Nautical Archaeology (IJNA), which updated and re-analysed the original 1972 marine survey conducted under the supervision of the Society for Libyan Studies in London.
Through this scholarly presentation, Al-Haddar provides meticulous documentation of the harbour’s history, architectural structure, and its vital commercial and industrial role before it sank beneath the sea.
Al-Haddar explained that, according to the conclusions of the Little, Yorke, and Davidson team, the harbour capitalised on the natural formation of a prominent headland, integrating two islands and sand reefs to create a fully operational port system.
The harbour comprised a massive, protected main commercial basin, supported by breakwaters constructed around the island of Ilos, alongside a secondary fishing port. He pointed out that the harbour shares key structural characteristics with the nearby port of Apollonia, though it is considered architecturally less complex.
Crucially, the survey revealed distinct industrial installations found on the small western island. This discovery included the remains of an extensive quay and a brilliantly carved system of rock-cut tanks, interpreted as the foundations of an integrated fish processing factory.
Al-Haddar cited the use of the waterproof Roman cement, Opus Signinum, within one of these tanks as evidence of the factory’s flourishing activity during the 1st century AD. The study suggests the facility specialised in processing tuna, which aligns with a 5th-century reference by Bishop Synesius of the presence of a tuna watchtower (thynnoskopeion) in Ptolemais.
Al-Haddar confirmed that the headland, previously mistaken for containing “ship slips,” was in fact a large rock quarry used to extract building blocks for the city’s structures. The survey results also refuted the hypothesis that the open bay west of the headland was the harbour site, owing to its direct exposure to strong north-westerly winds. Furthermore, old theories regarding the “Beechey wall” behind the western beach were dismissed; it is now deemed part of the city’s Hellenistic fortifications rather than a harbour structure, particularly given its foundations rest 3.5 metres above the ancient sea level.
Based on geological and historical evidence, Dr. Al-Haddar concluded that the port continued its commercial and fishing functions even after the major earthquakes of the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, before eventually sinking entirely beneath the water. This total submersion was likely the result of a gradual process or a single, major seismic event, potentially the earthquake of 796 AD.
In closing, Al-Haddar noted a striking similarity in size and design between the harbours of Ptolemais and Susa, bolstering the hypothesis that the Cyrenaican cities adopted a single, shared architectural model for constructing their ancient ports.
