City
Cyrene
sy-REE-nee · Modern Shahhat, Libya
Cyrene is a city of the biblical world, known today as Shahhat, Libya.
What is known
History
- Founded
- An ancient Greek colony in North Africa
- Population
- Estimated 10,000–20,000 residents in the 1st century AD, including a substantial Jewish community
- Coordinates
- 32.8250° N, 21.8581° E
Archaeology
A UNESCO World Heritage Site with an active excavation history since 1860. The Temple of Zeus and the Sanctuary of Apollo are the site's major standing monuments. In 2005 Italian archaeologists from the University of Urbino uncovered 76 intact Roman statues (mostly 2nd century AD) near Cyrene's Sanctuary of Apollo. A temple retaining wall toppled onto them in a late 4th-century earthquake — most likely the great quake and tsunami of 21 July AD 365 that also devastated Crete and Alexandria — sealing them under rubble and earth for over 1,600 years.
Scripture references
- Matthew 27:32
- Acts 2:10
- Acts 11:20
- Acts 13:1
On a modern map
Further reading
Capstone Bible is a free interactive study app — a map of every place in this library, a zoomable timeline of biblical and church history, the Bible text with every name in it linked to its article, reading plans and personal notes.
Open Capstone Bible