[ti:Foreign Visitors Avoiding Libya’s Ancient Ruins] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]Graffiti markings cover the walls of a Greek amphitheater [00:06.64]in the ancient city of Cyrene in eastern Libya. [00:13.60]The city is now struggling with attacks on historic buildings [00:18.52]and failure to care for national treasures. [00:23.12]Some local people have slowly - and illegally [00:27.32]-- taken control of the land that surrounds these structures. [00:34.08]Years ago, visitors from around the world went to Cyrene [00:40.02]to see the Greek temples and other ancient structures. [00:44.40]Now there are only empty businesses and eateries [00:49.08]along the road that leads to the 2,600-year-old city. [00:56.55]Looting has hit Libya's archaeological treasures [01:01.64]since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. [01:07.46]That was when the country entered into a period of unrest, [01:13.16]with opposing administrations competing for control in different areas. [01:20.00]Cyrene is one of five United Nations World Heritage sites [01:26.14]in the country listed for their value. [01:30.73]Greek tradition says the city was founded [01:35.18]as a settlement about 2,750 years ago. [01:41.01]Nearby ruins include Leptis Magna, [01:45.90]which is considered by many historians [01:48.91]to be the best preserved Roman ruins in the world. [01:53.95]Cyrene sits some 200 kilometers east of Benghazi. [02:01.14]The Apollina, another ancient ruin, is just 20 kilometers away. [02:07.66]With foreign visitors gone and the government's [02:11.30]antiquities department suffering budget shortages, [02:15.64]vandals have painted graffiti on ruins and stolen artifacts. [02:21.85]Some treasures such as statues listed in guidebooks [02:26.94]from before 2011 are no longer there. [02:32.22]Many artifacts have been taken overseas, says Ahmad Hussein. [02:39.09]He heads the antiquities department [02:41.61]of an administration in control of eastern Libya. [02:46.61]Unable to stop the stealing, his office has been registering artifacts. [02:53.45]This has helped to recover some national treasures in Europe, he said. [03:00.33]There was better protection of antiquities before 2011. [03:07.03]Some of the discoveries date back to Italian colonial rule in Libya. [03:12.85]Parts of the colonists' equipment are still there. [03:18.28]In 2005, archaeologists discovered 76 perfect Roman statues at Cyrene. [03:29.40]They were hidden deep in the ground. [03:32.40]Romans built the statues between the years 100 and 200 AD. [03:38.98]After an earthquake covered them up in 375 AD, [03:45.68]they remained hidden for 1,630 years. [03:51.48]Now the area is visited only by local militiamen, [03:56.64]who use the ruins as battle cover. [04:00.38]"There has been a lot of destruction in recent years," [04:04.72]said Ismail Miftah, a farmer living next to Cyrene. " [04:10.33]Ordinary people don't appreciate the ancient heritage." [04:15.80]I'm Susan Shand. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM