D.064 Leptis Magna - Basilica

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Creator

Denis Baly

Creation Year

January 1963

Image ID

D.064

Alternate Identifier

B04.064

Subcollection

D: North Africa

Abstract

Red granite columns in the Basilica of Leptis Magna. -MA

Description

"The large Basilica at the northeast end of the Forum, measuring 290 by 120 feet, stood with its long axis running northwest to southeast. The interior was divided into a central nave and two side aisles by two rows of red granite Corinthian columns which supported upper galleries. Each end of the nave ended in a great apse decorated with columns and having a raised floor for the seats of officials ... At each end of the side colonnades, both ground floor and gallery, a most ornate pilaster was affixed to the wall [see next two slides] ... Those on the main floor were carved with medallion-scrolls of acanthus interspersed with human, animal and flower forms, while the four pilasters from the upper galleries bore ornamentations portraying the stories of Liber Pater and Hercules, th two patron deities of Lepcis Magna" (Matthews, 44).

References

Matthews, Kenneth D. Cities in the Sand: Leptis Magna and Sabratah in Roman Africa. Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1957.

Image Notes

Photograph created April 1963. Photograph processed September 1963. Formerly cataloged as B.04.064. Notes written on the slide or index: Leptis Magna Basilica.

Curator Notes

Legacy Subcollection: "D: Leptis Magna"

Image Format

35 mm slide

Geographic Reference

Khoms, Libya