The American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR) is pleased to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Libyan Department of Antiquities (DoA) for the protection, preservation, and promotion of Libyan history and heritage. This MOU formalizes more than a decade of cooperation between ASOR and DoA in Libya.

Through the framework of the MOU, ASOR and DoA will continue to work together on conservation and heritage education projects in Libya, expand the technical capacities of DoA’s employees, and strengthen relationships between Libyan heritage professionals and the global community.

This agreement builds upon collaborative work by ASOR since 2015 in the fields of history, archaeology, cultural heritage, and cultural property protection in Libya. Among its diverse work during this time, ASOR has supported (among others) the following activities and programs:

• Supported community-led heritage protection efforts
• Raised awareness among youth about the importance of heritage and how they can preserve it
• Sponsored the participation of Libyan heritage professionals at ASOR’s Annual Meeting
• Fought against the illicit trafficking of Libyan cultural property
• Documented threats to cultural heritage in the Cyrene region

Through this Memorandum of Understanding, ASOR and DoA will expand their shared commitment to the conservation of Libya’s heritage for present and future generations. Their recently announced partnership to address damage caused by Storm Daniel to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Cyrene represents a new step in this collaboration by expanding the cooperation beyond anti-trafficking and education programs to include the stabilization and restoration of built heritage.

ASOR and DOA signed the MOU at the culmination of the four-day U.S.–Libya Cultural Heritage Protection Workshop in Tunis that focused on building legal and prosecutorial capacity in Libya in order to counter the multi-faceted problem of illicit antiquities trafficking. To that end, the workshop brought together Libyan and American legal, law enforcement, and heritage professionals. The workshop strengthened their cooperation in supporting the current U.S.-Libya Cultural Property Agreement, through which Libya and the United States are working together to advance efforts to protect heritage sites and combat cultural property trafficking.

Media Release