Talk:Cyrene, Libya

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Untitled[edit]

Hello,

I would like to propose some changes to this article in order to make it easier to read.

I thought it might be beneficial if the article had a brief introduction paragraph, like most Wikipedia articles. then subsections (ex: Early History, Geography, Religion, Modern Times, etc..). There is a lot of very interesting information in the article, but the lack of structural organization makes it choppy and difficult to read.

Also, the syntax and grammar of some sentences should be revised. Here are some sentences that should be revised/discussed about and then edited:

"Cyrene, the ancient Greek city (in present-day Libya) was the oldest and most important of the five Greek cities in the region and gave eastern Libya the classical name 'Cyrenaica' that it has retained to modern times."

"Cyrene was founded as a colony of the Greeks of Thera, traditionally led by Aristotle (later called Battus) of Thera, about 630 BC, ten miles from its port, Apollonia (Marsa Sousa). "

"Cyrene was the birthplace of Eratosthenes and there are a number of philosophers associated with the city including Callimachus, Carneades, Aristippus and Arete, and Synesius, bishop of Ptolemais in the 4th century CE."

"In 74 BC Cyrene was created a Roman province; but, whereas under the Ptolemies the Jewish inhabitants had enjoyed equal rights, they now found themselves increasingly oppressed by the now autonomous and much larger Greek population."

"Tensions came to a head in the insurrection of the Jews of Cyrene under Vespasian (AD 73) and especially Trajan (AD 117). "

"The names of six Christian bishops are known: according to Byzantine legend the first was St. Lucius (Acts 13:1); St. Theodorus suffered martyrdom under Diocletian; about 370 Philo dared to consecrate by himself a bishop for Hydra, and was succeeded by his own nephew, Philo; Rufus sided with Dioscorus at the so-called Robber Synod (Latrocinium) of Ephesus in 449; Leontius lived about 600."

"Other ancient structures include a Temple to Demeter and a partially unexcavated Temple to Zeus (the latter was intentionally damaged under orders of Moammar Al Qadhafi in the summer of 1978). " [source needed for "intentionally damaged"]

Davelapo555 05:33, 4 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Scholars today consider most of the near east and certainly Eastern North African violence described formerly as Greek-Jewish strife, to actually be more a case of strife between Orthodox Jews and/or Jews committed to a separate community vs Hellenized Jews. see for example "Jews and Greeks in ancient Cyrene", Volume 28 By Shimon Applebaum pp 201-202. Stae2 (talk) 01:03, 27 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Earliest Mention of Cyrene[edit]

I would like to suggest that the author could have been more thorough when researching the early mention of Cyrene, as well as where it appears in the Bible. Cyrene appears in Amos 9:7 as the place to which the Arameans were exiled. The Aramaic translation by Jonathan, as heard from the latter prophets, who lived before the destruction of the 2nd Jewish Holy Temple (Jesus allegedly died before that event), as documented in the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Megillah folio 3a, translates "Kir" as "Kirnai", which is the Aramaic word for Cyrene. Barryfadams (talk) 20:12, 30 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Can you suggest a proposed edit that includes references? Ckruschke (talk) 19:30, 1 May 2012 (UTC)Ckruschke[reply]

The New Testament refers (once) to Cyrene. The Old Testament doesn't at all, although Arab geographers liked to play games with where to slot various Berber groups into the lines of descent from Adam. — LlywelynII 04:43, 30 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Earthquake[edit]

In the decline section it lists an earthquake as being in 365 whilst in the section about it in modern times an earthquake is listed as being in 375. Are these different earthquakes or a discrepancy in dates? If the latter one should be chosen for consistency. 220.239.179.73 (talk) 06:02, 23 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Meaning/Etymology[edit]

There are actual cites for the derivation from the spring and a few for the idea that it meant "supremacy of the bridle", probably a fanciful 19th-century joke based on misapplied roots and Herodotus's mention of the local population being handy with 4-horse chariots. There's also random internet nonsense—previously amplified by Cyrene (mythology)—that it meant "sovereign queen", presumably some mangling of the idea of a queen regnant, instead of that Cyrene herself was supposedly a queen regnant. Janko's correct that it's uncertain and probably correct that it was a mix of an existing Greek name being used to calque a local one. — LlywelynII 04:50, 30 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]