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 about the capital, and are in almost exclusive possession of Cyrenaica, Marmarica, and the Aujila oases. In Fezzan the Saharan Berbers (Tinylkum Tuareg) are dominant, but are here largely intermingled with Negro or Negroid intruders from the Sudan. But even in the uplands many of the Berbers have been Arabized, and Cowper describes the people of the Tarhona heights as “pure-bred Arabs.” Other early intruders are the Jews, some of whom arrived from Egypt in the time of the Ptolemies, and still lead the life of troglodytes in the limestone caves of the Ghurian escarpments. They are also numerous in the large towns, where there are also colonies of Turks, and Maltese, Italian, Cretan and other South European traders and artisans.

On the other hand, no trace can be now detected either of the Greeks who colonized Cyrenaica in the 7th century , or of the Phoenicians who at a still earlier date founded the three great cities of Oea, Sabrata and (q.v.), from which the western region projecting seawards between the two Syrtes took the name

of Tripolitana. Later, when Oea, which stood between the two others, was made the capital of the province it was called Tripolis, the “Three Cities,” as it were, rolled into one, and this name it has retained since Roman times, being now distinguished from the Tripolis of Syria as West Tripolis, the Tarabulus el-Gharb of the Turks and Arabs. (q.v.), the capital of the province, is thus one of the oldest places in the world, and no doubt owes its stability in large measure to its position over against Sicily at the northern terminus of three great historic caravan routes, one of which runs due south to Lake Chad through Fezzan and Bilma, that is, across the narrowest part of the Sahara; another runs south-west through Ghadames and Ghat to Timbuktu and Kano, and the third south by east through Sokna to Wadai and Darfur. East of Tripoli are the small seaports of Homs (Khoms) and Lebda.

In Barca the largest town is (q.v.), the ancient Berenice, at the southern extremity of a headland which formerly enclosed a spacious natural haven on the north-east side of the Gulf of Sidra. But the harbour has been partly filled up by the ruins of a large fortress, and is inaccessible to vessels drawing over 6 or 7 ft. East of Bengazi are Merj, the ancient (q.v.), and the exposed road stead of (q.v.). Marsa-Susa, the ancient Apollonia, lies under the Ras Sem headland, and was the emporium of the neighbouring city of Cyrene (Ain Shahat-Grenna). The Turkish government displayed much activity in this fertile and healthy district in the period 1897–1903. To it were removed many of the Moslem inhabitants of Crete dissatisfied with the autonomous régime established in that island in 1898.

History.—The early history of Cyrenaica and Tripoli is distinct though similar. Cyrenaica was first colonized by Greeks, afterwards it fell under the sway of the Ptolemies and from them passed to the Romans (see ). Tripoli, on the other hand, was originally a Phoenician colony (vide ante, Towns). Later it was dependent on Carthage and followed its fortunes. From the Romans the province received its present name. In the 5th century both Tripoli and Cyrenaica were conquered' by the Vandals, whose power was destroyed by the Byzantine general Belisarius in the following century. In the middle of the 7th century the whole country was overrun by the Arabs, and Christianity gave place to Islam. From this period, for many centuries, Tripoli was subject to the successive rulers of Tunisia. It was pillaged in 1146 by the Normans of Sicily. In 1321 the Beni Ammar established an independent dynasty, which lasted with an interval (1354–1369), during which two sovereigns of the Beni Mekki reigned, until 1401 when Tripoli was reconquered by the Tunisians. In 1510 Ferdinand the Catholic of Spain took Tripoli, and in 1528 it was given to the knights of St John, who were expelled in 1553 by the Turkish corsairs Dragut and Sinan. Dragut, who afterwards fell in Malta, lies buried in a much venerated kubba close to one of the mosques. After his decease the Connexion between Tripoli and Constantinople seems to have been considerably weakened. But the Tripolitan pirates soon became the terror and scourge of the Mediterranean; half the states of Europe seem at one time or other to have sent their fleets to bombard the capital. In 1714 Ahmed Pasha Caramanli achieved practical independence and he and his descendants