Archaeology and tourism Italian Libya

classical archaeology used italian authorities propaganda tool justify presence in region. before 1911, no archeological research done in tripolitania , cyrenaica. late 1920s italian government had started funding excavations in main roman cities of leptis magna , sabratha (cyrenaica left later excavations because of ongoing colonial war against muslim rebels in province). result of fascist takeover foreign archaeological expeditions forced out of libya, , archeological work consolidated under centralised italian excavation policy, exclusively benefitted italian museums , journals.

after cyrenaica s full pacification , italian archaeological efforts in 1930s more focused on former greek colony of cyrenaica in tripolitania, punic colony during greek period. rejection of phoenician research partly because of anti-semitic reasons (the phoenicians semitic people, distantly related arabs , hebrews). of special interest roman colonies of leptis magna , sabratha, , preparation of these sites archaeological tourism.

tourism further promoted creation of tripoli grand prix, racing car event of international importance.