Training "Monuments Men" for Libya

Today the cultural heritage of Libya faces significant threats and damage due to unmanaged, unregulated development and civil disorder. Since the Feb 2011 revolution, Libya has struggled with the challenge of building a new country. A major land-grab is underway that is causing more damage to archaeological sites than all the events of the 2011 revolution and its aftermath. During the Gaddafi regime, Libya's pre-Arab cultural heritage was not a priority. As Libya strives to reunify and to shed the vestiges of the former regime, the international community has been eager to provide assistance. Clandestine excavations and the export and sale of illicitly obtained antiquities from Libya has skyrocketed since the 2011 revolution. It was within this context of political uncertainty that the American Mission to Libya held a workshop: "Illicit Trafficking of Antiquities" in Rome (Feb 29, 2016 to Mar 2, 2016) funded by the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, US Department of State grant: "Libyan Heritage in Times of Crisis: Five Mitigation Workshops."