Libya’s Cultural Heritage Sites at Risk: Problems, Challenges and Risks After the 2011 Revolution

Abstract

Libya has numerous heritage sites dating back to different historical eras in many regions, of which five are included in the World Heritage List. These sites suffer from a wide range of human threats, which increased after the Libyan revolution in 2011. UNESCO urgently called for the protection of several sites in Libya. This paper will focus on the increased human risks to heritage sites in Libya after its liberation. We aim to determine the damage caused to Libyan heritage sites and to what extent the war contributed to the emergence of these risks. This research builds on first-hand data gathered from governmental and institutional reports concerned with Antiquities in Libya and published reports of international organisations that worked in Libya during and after the war. The paper concludes that the lack of authority, the weakness of its administrative institutions, and human dangers are some of the challenges facing heritage sites in Libya.