Archives Hub feature for March 2025
The British Institute for Libyan and Northern African Studies [BILNAS] Archive houses a historically significant collection of materials, offering a unique glimpse into the archaeology, history, environment, and culture of Libya and the wider Northern African Region.
On its shelves can be found a rich assortment of documents, photographs, drawings, maps and plans that primarily document British-led archaeological projects from World War II onwards. These include excavations at Hellenistic and Roman sites in Libya like Euesperides (Benghazi), Sidi Khrebish (Berenice), Cyrene, Lepcis Magna, and Sabratha. The archive also holds valuable material from ground-breaking multi-disciplinary surveys in the pre-desert valleys of Tripolitania and the Saharan oases of Fazzan, as well as excavations at Islamic Barca (El Merj) and Medinet Sultan.
To mark International Women’s Day, BILNAS is celebrating two influential archaeologists whose important work in North Africa forms part of its archive: Dame Kathleen Kenyon and Lady Olwen Brogan.
Dame Kathleen Kenyon
Dame Kathleen Mary Kenyon (b. 1906 – d. 1978), was a leading British archaeologist known for her significant work at Jericho (Tell es-Sultan) and the Jewry Wall in Leicester, as well as her contribution to the development of excavation and recording techniques along with Sir Mortimer Wheeler.
The BILNAS Archive holds the records of Kenyon’s work at the site of Sabratha, a key Punic and Roman trading port on the Libyan Coast. There, alongside John Bryan Ward-Perkins, she refined stratigraphic excavation techniques to establish a chronological framework for the site.
By developing a typology of pottery corresponding to different strata, Kenyon successfully reconstructed the site’s occupational history. This approach allowed her to trace the evolution of Sabratha’s central area, from its earliest Phoenician trading encampments to the emergence of a more permanent settlement around the fifth century B.C.E. This work not only demonstrated the effectiveness of stratigraphic dating but also provided a crucial training ground for students, many of whom had been unable to gain hands-on experience in the field since the 1930s.
Kenyon was deeply committed to archaeological education, the training of women in particular, as reflected in the composition of the expedition team at Sabratha. Many of the 25 students working at the Sabratha site did so under Kenyon’s direct guidance, and would later work with her again in Jericho. Kenyon’s emphasis on rigorous training and stratigraphic methods was shared by her colleague Olwen Brogan, who worked alongside her at Sabratha.
Lady Olwen Brogan
Lady Olwen Phillis Frances Brogan (later Hackett) (b. 1900 – d. 1989), was a pioneering British archaeologist whose meticulous field work reshaped the study of classical sites in Libya. Renowned for her contributions to excavation methodology and historical interpretation, she played a pivotal role in documenting North Africa’s rich archaeological heritage. She was also instrumental in establishing and managing the Society for Libyan Studies (now BILNAS).
Brogan’s first expedition to North Africa was in 1948 with the British School at Rome. Under the direction of Kathleen Kenyon, she supervised the excavation of a residential block behind the East Forum Temple at Sabratha. Applying the stratigraphic techniques, she had learned under the direction of Sir Mortimer Wheeler at St. Albans (Verulamium) and alongside Kenyon – Brogan produced some of the most well-dated sequences on the site. The ‘Casa Brogan’, as it came to be known, remains one of the finest examples of meticulous excavation from its time, setting a benchmark for future excavations in the region.
Building on her work at Sabratha, Brogan returned to Libya in the 1950s, conducting work at the Roman city of Lepcis Magna alongside John Bryan Ward-Perkins. However, it was in the less-explored frontier regions of Tripolitania, rather than its great coastal cities, that Brogan would make her most enduring scholarly contribution.
Shifting her focus to the pre-desert region in 1953, Brogan dedicated considerable time to surveying, excavating and documenting the Romano-Libyan settlement at Ghirza. Her meticulous stratigraphic work provided ground-breaking evidence that challenged prevailing scholarly assumptions. She successfully argued that Ghirza was a Libyan settlement during the Roman Period, identifying earlier phases of construction and emphasising the contribution of the local Libyan population in shaping this site. Her research continues to inform contemporary studies of Libya’s classical and indigenous heritage.
Throughout the 1960s, Brogan was instrumental in advocating for a society that would encourage and coordinate the work of British Scholars in Libya. Her efforts culminated in the establishment of the Society for Libyan Studies in 1969, where she served as its first Secretary. The Society’s mission was to ‘‘encourage, support and undertake the study of, and research relating to, the history, antiquities, cultural and natural history of Libya and fields connected therewith’. This commitment to fostering scholarship on Libya and the wider Northern African region continues today under the society’s new name, BILNAS.
Exploring the Archives
The BILNAS Archive is located within the School of Archaeology and Ancient History, at the University of Leicester. To access physical collections, please contact the BILNAS Archivist, Dr Anne Marie Williamson, at amw67@leicester.ac.uk. You can explore the archive catalogue via the University of Leicester here.
Digitised Collections
Kenyon’s Sabratha papers are now available online and open-access through the Archaeology Data Service, making these invaluable resources accessible not only to UK researchers, but also North African heritage professionals, academics, students and anyone interested in the region’s rich history. Brogan’s papers from Ghirza will be added to the online collection soon, and the digitisation of further collections is underway.
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Dr Anne Marie Williamson, Archivist
British Institute for Libyan and Northern African Studies
School of Archaeology and Ancient History
University of Leicester
Related
Kathleen Kenyon and John Ward Perkins Papers on Sabratha, 1932-1992
Olwen Brogan Papers, 19th cent-1989
Libyan Studies – The Journal of BILNAS, 1969-2011
Papers of the British Institute for Libyan and Northern African Studies (BILNAS), 1968-2008
Descriptions of other collections held by BILNAS can be found on Archives Hub here:
https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/locations/f79a64aa-8226-3d06-9dcf-6329c351546a
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All images copyright The British Institute for Libyan and Northern African Studies [BILNAS] Archive, except the first image which is copyright University of Leicester. Reproduced with the kind permission of the copyright holders.