Extramural Sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone at Cyrene, Shahhat

The Extramural Sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone at Cyrene, Libya is located on a coastal plateau of Libya, beyond the boundaries of the city. In approximately 630 BC Greeks from the island of Thera colonized Cyrene. Other Greek colonists not long after increased the population, thus transforming Cyrene into what was regarded as both the largest and wealthiest Greek colony of North Africa. Archaeological excavations of Cyrene's Extramural Sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone, also known as Kore, daughter of Demeter and legendary Queen of the Underworld and consort of Hades, began in 1969 under the sponsorship of the University of Michigan. Between 1973 and 1981 the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology continued the excavations at Cyrene under the direction of Professor Donald White. Following the renewal of relations between Libya and the United States in 2004, the Cyrenaica Archaeological Project, under the direction of Professor Susan Kane of Oberlin College, was granted permission to resume the work of its predecessors. ()