ENSOLI S. (2024). La testimonianza di un’esperienza quarantennale in Libia (1980-2023) e il progetto “Ptolemaica. Cirene e il Mediterraneo Orientale”. Prospettive future e obiettivi sostenibili. In (a cura di): S. Ensoli, M. Turjman, Centodieci anni di cooperazione archeologica tra Italia e Libia (1913-2023). Dalle prime scoperte agli scavi sistematici, dalla conservazione alla formazione. Libya Antiqua, N. S. XVII, p. 123-148, ISSN: 2038-6427.

Some highlights of the activities conducted by S. Ensoli in Cyrene since 1980 are overviewed, first as a student and member of Sandro Stucchi’s Mission (until 1991, then Lidiano Bacchielli’s until 1996 and Nicola Bonacasa’s from 1997 to 2004, serving as vice-director) and then, since 2005, as Director of the Italian Archaeological Mission in Cyrene of the “L. Vanvitelli” University (MAIC): from excavations and restoration/anastylosis of the buildings of the Sanctuary of Apollo and the study of sculptures in the Museum to metrological and reconstructive investigations of some monumental areas of Cyrene, Sabratha and Lepcis Magna (Forum Novum Severianum); from the excavations of the Sanctuary of Isis and Serapis on the Acropolis of Cyrene, to the discovery of the “Officinal Factory of Silphium” and the Restoration/Anastylosis Pilot Project of the Theater-Amphitheater; the latter also included the first Training School in Cyrene, which led, in 2008, to the International School of Archaeology Project. In 2011 the MAIC organized with UNESCO the International Conference “For the Preservation of the Cultural Heritage in Libya” (San Leucio, CE) and the “International Meeting of Experts on the Cultural Heritage of Libya” (Paris, UNESCO). Since then, searches on the so-called “Treasure of Benghazi” have begun with Carabinieri TPC and Interpol. Until 2013, at the request of UNESCO and DoA, the MAIC conducts dozens of missions dedicated to monitoring the archaeological heritage of Cyrene. In 2014, in agreement with MAECI, it created the Project “Ptolemaica. Cyrene and the Eastern Mediterranean” (Libya, Cyprus and Ancient Palestine). From 2022 the Mission resumes on-field work in Cyrene; conceives and curates the present Conference. It focuses future prospects for work in Cyrene on three ‘sustainable approaches’: National Inventory, Digitization and Training.