Tibuda ( تيبودا )

Tiboda, Libya.

A photo of   Tibuda: the stone structure on the beach, relentlessly worked by the restless waves of the sea, is part of the sunken city of Tibuda. The black heaps on the left were formed by the accumulation of seaweed, which the Berbers call talga. A truly breathtaking site.

Tibuda or Tiboda is situated only a few kilometres to the west of Zwara city (Zuwarah), and sits about seven to ten meters under water and about 200 meters from the coast. It is not yet fully explored nor properly catalogued, as it was discovered only recently. Its close proximity to Zuwarah city may shed more light about the ancient history of Zuwara, before its ancient coast was claimed by the sea. The disappearance of land under the sea is a common occurrence in nature and the Mediterranean sea had claimed many coastal cities in the past and it was predicted that it will continue to do so in the future, especially after the predicted melting of the arctic and antarctic ice. Scientists have warned that many coastal cities are at risk and that the sea level could rise by nine metres (9 m). If scientists are correct, then Zuwarah itself will join its sister Tibuda in the near future. Around Greenland and Iceland, there are already a number of cities and villages registered as "endangered places", some of which are being moved to other localities.

However, it has been already said that Tibuda was the ancient port of the city of Zuwarah during the Roman period, and that the port was used to export the main commodities produced by the Zuwaran communities, mainly salt, lime and gypsum. The evidence for this comes from its Roman name. D. Haynes, in his An Archaeological And Historical Guide To The Pre-Islamic Antiquities of Tripolitania (p. 136.), gives a list of the names of the towns and villages that formed the stations along the Roman road across the coastal Tripolitania. Based on the Roman pictorial road-map of the Roman Empire, the Tabula Peutingeriana, and on the evidence preserved by the road milestones along this road, he gives the following names: Sabratha, Ad Ammonem, Casas, and Gypsaria (Marset Tibuda). Casas has been identified with Zuwarah, and Gypsaria (or Tibuda) is clearly related to gypsum, which indicates that the area around Tibuda could have also produced gypsum, the reason of which the port may have been built in that locality. The name Marset Tibuda clearly indicates that it was a seaport (marsa), from marina, which survives today in the local language in another name: elmers (Zuwara Marina), the current seaport of Zuwara, a few miles east of the city. However, it is not known yet if the port, like many other sites along the Libyan coast, was in existence before the Romans had arrived; only archaeological analysis of sunken Tibuda would indicate if the Phoenicians had an earlier connection with the buried port.

Tiboda, Libya.

This is the view from the other side of the seaweed structure in the first photo. There was another stone structure on this side similar to the stone structure in the first photo, before it was bulldozed into a pile of stone by the beach for the seaweed to gradually cover. No archaeological studies have been taken so far to uncover what lays beneath this stone structure, nor were there any underwater studies to catalogue the actual city a few hundred yards into the sea!

 
Marine wildlife by the beach of Tiboda. The black strips are seaweed and grass that accumulate into those large black structures shown in the previous photos.

Libya ’ s 2000-kilometer-long coastline offers a unique opportunity to divers and underwater explorers to see what has never been seen before, including a large number of wrecks, sunken archaeological cities and sites (many of which are certainly to be discovered), and gold, supposedly lost to pirates and ships from the Second World War. Some tour operators offer cruises along the coast, with onboard diving facilities.   The most popular diving destinations include Janzour, Tajoura and Zwara or Zuwarah. Unfortunately Tiboda is currently closed to public viewing without a written permission from the Libyan Board of Tourism and Traditional Industries. We can arrange tours to the sunken site only if visitors can secure a written permit from the Libyan Board of Tourism. Please do not attempt to visit the site without written permission no matter what your guide tells you, as this could land you in trouble with the authorities.

The view of Tiboda beach facing the sunken city.

From what has been explored so far and from what has been released to the public, Tiboda looks like a small city with stone columns and building structures, thought to have been built thousands of years ago, probably dating back to the Carthaginian period, and may have been once more than a sea port, if not the ancient Casas or Zuwarah herself.

This conclusion is evidenced by the archaeological remains found south of Tibuda. These remains or ruins have always been there and were always part of Zuwarah's history. They are located about four kilometres (4 km) west of Zuwara, and the   local Berbers call them ighermawen , the plural form of   aghrem ('the castle'), from the fact that the remains constituted a number of ancient castles. As far as I know, the site is not catalogued nor fully studied by any academic authority. There is no doubt that the site is very ancient because among the finds were remains of Roman villas and buildings, mosaic pieces and pottery.