Ghirza: Mausoleum South-G

Ghirza: Roman town in Libya, one of the main archaeological sites of the country.

General	North-A	South A	Gh 82
	North-B	South C
	North-C	South F
	North D-G	South G
		South NN

The cemetery recorded as Gh128 in Graeme Barker e.a., Farming the Desert. The UNESCO Libyan Valleys Archaeological Survey (1996) is better known as Ghirza's South Cemetery. It is less well-preserved than the northern cemetery. Mausoleum-A and Mausoleum-NN are best preserved; of the other mausoleums, only the foundations have survived.

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However, the main monument, Mausoleum G, has been transported to the Museum of the Jamahirjia in Tripoli in 1958. On top of the tetrapylon, which resembled Mausoleum F, we can discern the same motif as we saw here: two predators -in this case a lioness and a lion- and a ram's head, which may or may not be a symbol of the Libyan god Ammon.

The spandrels are decorated with vines and grapes, sun flowers, and fish (also on Mausoleum F). It may seem strange to find pictures of fishes in the desert, because they can not have lived in the wadis. However, even in small desert lakes, little fishes can be found, although the ones represented here appear to be larger than those.

General	North-A	South A	Gh 82
	North-B	South C
	North-C	South F
	North D-G	South G
		South NN