The port of Tolmeitha or Tholmeitha (طلميثة) is generally
know as Ptolemais — after Ptolemy III. The village is located
in a beautiful area between the Green Mountain and the sea,
about 30 km east of Almerj (Berqa). In Google Map this location
is marked as Ad Dirsiyah. It was founded as port to serve Almerj,
after it became a busy commercial centre during the sixth century
BC, with goods arriving from the nearby ports, such as Alexandria
port in Egypt, as well as to export the main produce of the
region, like silphium, honey, butter and grains.
Tolmeitha rose to fame so quickly and became the capital
of Cyrenaica during the 4th and 5th centuries AD. Historical records show that
the port was originally called "Berqa Port", which also indicates the
existence of the site before the Greek invasions, after which it became known
as Ptolemais. It was thought that the city was founded during the reign of Ptolemy
III, after his marriage to the local princess Berenice, who gave her name to
ancient Berenice (Benghazi).
Places of interest include the two gate towers of Tocra
Gate, the theatre, the stadium, the Basilica, the Roman Villa of Columns, and
the museum
of Tolmeita , which houses a number of statues, stones, and a small collection
of mosaics. Also there are several marble tablets showing various records of
the main historical events of the town, as well as some price lists. Ptolemais
also provides a unique experience to tourists, namely the underground complex
of cisterns under the agora. The capacity of this system of cisterns was said
to be 6 million litres of water, originally maintained via a 25 kilometre long
aqueduct.
Tolmeita Coin Treasure
A Polish archaeological delegation discovered a
large Roman coin treasure, found buried among the rubbles of Tolmeita.
The Polish experts, who exhibited the
treasure
in Poland,
have deduced from the coins that the area was hit by two earthquakes
in the years 262 (or 251) and 365 AD. They say they have documents
which confirm the existence of the earthquakes in those years. The
treasure was found in a small house which was destroyed by the earthquake,
and contained 568 coins, of which 553 were bronze, and 15
silver.
