キュレネの古代遺跡、洪水被害で影響懸念　リビア東部

【ベンガジ（リビア）ＡＦＰ＝時事】リビア東部デルナで多数の犠牲者を出した洪水では、国連教育科学文化機関（ユネスコ）世界遺産に登録されている古代ギリシャの植民都市キュレネの古代遺跡も被災し、悪影響が懸念されている。考古学者らが明らかにした。（写真は壊滅的な洪水に見舞われたリビア東部にある古代ギリシャの植民都市キュレネの遺跡）
　フランスのリビア考古学ミッションの責任者バンサン・ミシェル氏はＡＦＰに対し、現時点ではゼウスの神殿を含むキュレネの遺跡の被害は比較的軽微にとどまっているが、基礎の周囲を流れる水により将来的に崩壊する恐れがあると語った。
　キュレネは、紀元前６００年ごろにギリシャ・サントリーニ島に住んでいた人々が入植し、紀元前３６５年の大地震によりほぼ放棄されるまで、１０００年近くにわたって古代世界の中心地の一つとなった。キュレネの名前は、東リビアの歴史的な呼称であるキレナイカとして残っている。
　遺跡は１９８２年に世界遺産に指定された。故ムアマル・カダフィ大佐による独裁政権の崩壊とその後の混乱により、２０１６年には危機遺産リストに登録された。
　ガッツィーニ氏は、一部の場所では古代の壁が崩れ、遺跡からの排水路が塞がれていたと明らかにした。また、「遺跡の低い場所では、濁った水が絶えず湧き出ていた」という。
　その上で、「水が流れ続けて遺跡に溜まった場合、擁壁が崩れ、遺跡が大きく崩壊する可能性がある」と話した。
　■「基礎が緩む」
　洪水の後に撮影された写真を分析した前出のミシェル氏は、「現時点ではキュレネの遺跡に大きな被害はない」と語った。ただし、洪水による激しい水の流れによって遺跡に溝ができたほか、遺跡の広い範囲に水が染み込み基礎が緩んでいるため、大きな被害が今後生じる可能性があると指摘した。
　ミシェル氏は、盗掘が起きる可能性も懸念。ただ、リビアの文化遺産当局が迅速に動いていることから、この懸念は少し和らいだという。同当局はキュレネの遺跡保全に関して、フランスやイタリアの考古学ミッションに支援を要請した。
　同氏は協力の狙いについて、「ユネスコと連携して地元当局と協力し、遺跡の主な脆弱（ぜいじゃく）性を明らかにし、状況の悪化に関して記録を取ることだ」と説明。遺跡の排水を確保し、基礎を強化するための対策を講じる必要があると訴えた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/10/04-16:15）

Floods that killed thousands in the Libyan city of Derna also inundated one of the country's premier ancient sites, threatening its UNESCO-listed monuments with collapse, a recent visitor and a leading archaeologist said.
The immediate damage to the monuments of Cyrene, which include the second century AD Temple of Zeus, bigger than the Parthenon in Athens, is relatively minor but the water circulating around their foundations threatens future collapses, the head of the French archaeological mission in Libya, Vincent Michel, told AFP.
Settled from the Greek island of Santorini around 600 BC, Cyrene was one of the leading centres of the Classical world for nearly a millennium before being largely abandoned following a major earthquake in 365 AD.
Its name lives on in Cyrenaica, the historical name for eastern Libya.
UNESCO declared its surviving monuments a World Heritage Site in 1982. When the overthrow of longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi in a NATO-backed uprising ushered in years of conflict and neglect, UNESCO added the site to its World Heritage in Danger list in 2016.
According to Claudia Gazzini, Libya specialist at the International Crisis Group think tank, who recently visited the site, much of it remains waterlogged days after the torrential rains triggered by Storm Daniel on September 10 to 11.
In places, ancient walls have collapsed, blocking the water courses that would normally drain the sprawling site, which also boasts a necropolis outside its walls as large as the city itself.
There's a street lined by ancient walls that connects the upper and lower levels down which rainwater would normally escape but large boulders have fallen in, blocking the flow,, Gazzini told AFP by telephone from Libya's main eastern city of Benghazi.
On the lower level, there's also dirty water continuously bubbling out of the ground in the middle of the ruins, she said, adding that neither residents of the adjacent village of Shahat nor an official from local antiquities division that she met there, could tell her where it was coming from.
If water continues to flow in and remains trapped in the site, the retaining wall could collapse, taking with it a large chunk of the ruins, she said.
- Foundations weakened -
French archaeologist Michel, who knows the site well having worked 10 years in another part of the area, said he had been able to analyse pictures of the monuments taken after the floods.
For the moment, there's no major destruction at Cyrene -- the monuments are still standing, he said.
But the torrents of water, earth and rock have created gullies in the ancient streets, particularly the Royal Road, and the main damage is still to come as the water has spread over a wide area and has weakened the foundations of the monuments.
Since the stone in the region is of poor quality, the monuments risk falling apart due to lack of good foundations, he added.
The adjacent necropolis has been inundated by hundreds of cubic metres of water which has shifted and submerged some of the tombs, he added.
Michel said he was also concerned about the risks of looting in the aftermath of the floods, which killed more than 3,000 people and left tens of thousands homeless.
The site in the Jebel al-Ahkdar mountains, inland from the Mediterranean coast, is normally popular with visitors for its panoramic views. But Libyans have more pressing worries after the deadly floods.
Michel said his concerns had been partially allayed by the rapid mobilisation of Libya's antiquities department, which had already sought help from the Italian archaeological mission in protecting Cyrene and from the French mission he heads in protecting two nearby sites.
The aim is to join forces with the local authorities in coordination with UNESCO to raise the main points of weakness in the monuments and record any deterioration, Michel said.
Actions should then be taken to repair the drainage of the site and shore up the monuments' foundations.