Attività della Missione archeologica dell’Università di Palermo a Sabratha e Cirene negli anni 2009-2014

Archaeological Reports of the University of Palermo mission at Sabratha and Cirene in the years 2009-2014 The onerous legacy left by N. Bonacasa it requires us to present the results of archaeological researches and restorations carried out at Sabratha and Cyrene. Sabratha. In the essay B, along the northern portico of the Temple of Serapis (beginning of the iii century), a pre-existent neo-Punic public building was recognized, diverging in orientation from the Roman buildings of the Forum, thus demonstrating the total rebuilding of the urban structure in Roman times. To protect this interesting discovery we have followed the restoration of the structures and the realization of the project for a covering with walkable glass sheets U.V. The defnitive publication of the results of the research and restorations has been personally treated by N. Bonacasa. The study of the Roman bath-buildings ended with the publication of the results. The restoration of the mosaic foor of the entrance corridor was also carried out in the Terme of Regio v. The more than satisfactory results allowed to save this important document of the history of the Sabrathensis mosaic. Thanks to the photogrammetric survey and the topographic study of the Insula 9 in the Regio ii, it was possible to develop an integrated planimetry of the “Terme a mare”. The fnal results and all the illustrative documentation are presented in this book. In the topographic survey of the Theater District (Regiones iii, iv, v) it was possible to anchor the plan of the buildings being studied: Casa dell’attore tragico, Casa del Peristilio, Terme of Regio v, Temple of Hercules, Christian Basilicas 3 and 4, Baths “of the Basilica 3”, Baths of Oceano, Temple of Isis, Paleochristian catacomb. We have recently published new data about the study of the catacomb and the Christian funerary areas in the Theater District. As regards the research on private residential constructions it is underway a new edition of the Roman wall paintings which were exhibited in the Museum after the restoration. Preliminary news on the Casa del Peristilio have recently been published in two studies, the fnal results of the surveys carried out in the domus will be presented in the book in preparation which concerns all the excavations conducted by the Mission in the Theater District. The presence of a public square in the area in front of the Temple of Hercules, beyond the decumanus, was hypothesized due to the absence of housing structures and the attendance of the spaces for funerary use in the Byzantine age. The same Temple of Hercules, dedicated to imperial worship, may have been the main building of a second Roman forum in Sabratha. It has also been suggested that the west portico had been reused as a place of Christian worship, connected with one of the funerary areas. Even the hypothesis that the Theater District had older structures than the second century expects to be confrmed by the fnal results of the numerous stratigraphic tests that will be presented in the same book in preparation. Cyrene. N. Bonacasa with the restoration and anastylosis works at the Temple of Zeus he intended to repropose the constructive unity and the architectural identity of the monument. The works were conducted from 1997 to 2013. North side. Five lintels have been restored: 4 relocated on the columns and a very fragmented one has been left on the ground; two triglyphs, two metopes and a frame block have also been relocated. East side. All the surviving blocks of the architrave containing the inscription with the dedication to iovi augusto have been restored and displayed on a long platform, in front of the east facade of the temple. West side. The interventions have been more lasting and demanding. With the systematic excava- * sergio.aiosa@unipa.it ** rosamaria.carra@unipa.it *** giuseppina_cipriano@virgilio.it **** antonella.mandruzzato@unipa.it ***** emma.vitale@unipa.it https://doi.org/10.19272/201810601002 · «libya antiqua», n.s., xi, 2018 12 n. bonacasa · s. aiosa · r. m. carra · g. cipriano · a. mandruzzato · e. vitale tion, the collapse in the NE sector of the stoa near the temple was removed. Large parts of the lintel have been recovered, numerous fragments of the pediment’s tympanum, and several fragments of crowning frames. A total of eight elements have been restored and relocated: the second architrave from the north and the middle of the third, the frieze with two metopes, two triglyphs and a frame block with mutuli, and fnally the architrave of the southern sector. At the SW corner of the temple in line with the west colonnade, 15 blocks of the base, 6 integral slabs and 2 fragments of the tympanum were relocated; on the two central slabs was also placed an element of the molded cornice arranged to accommodate the acroter. It is hoped that an Open Air Museum will be built next to the excavation area, for the shelter of the architectural fragments that could not be replaced, and consequently the defnitive arrangement of the archaeological area. These are essential interventions before resuming the archaeological investigations in front of the east and west sides of the temple. In the years 2010-2014 the study of the Eastern Basilica and the Central Basilica of Cyrene was deepened by comparing the published data with the new results emerged from the photogrammetric survey, which proved extremely useful for the interpretation of the phases and for the recognition of the metrology that underlies the original project of the two churches. Following an accurate inspection of the ruins of the Eastern Basilica at Gasr el-Lebia and the adjacent museum, we were able to propose an updated interpretation of the complex architecture and the well-known mosaic panels that decorated the quadratum populi and annexes of the cult. The results of the research have already been published. Keywords: Sabratha, Cyrene.