STORY: Libya’s National Museum reopened on Friday (December 12) in Tripoli after being closed for more than a decade, giving the public the chance to view some of the country’s most remarkable historical treasures for the first time since the revolution that toppled Muammar Gaddafi.

The National Museum, formerly known as As-Saraya Al-Hamra, or the Red Castle, was closed in 2011 amid a NATO-backed uprising against the longtime ruler, who appeared on the castle's ramparts to deliver a notoriously fiery speech shortly after the revolt began.

Renovations were started in March 2023 by the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity (GNU), which came to power in 2021 in a U.N.-backed political process.

Built in the 1980s, the museum has 10,000 square metres of gallery space spread over four floors, featuring mosaics and murals, historical sculptures, coins, and artifacts dating back to prehistoric times and stretching through Libya's Roman, Greek and Islamic periods.

The collection also includes millennia-old mummies from the ancient settlements of Uan Muhuggiag in Libya's deep south, and Jaghbub near its eastern border with Egypt.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: TRIPOLI, LIBYA (DECEMBER 12, 2025) (HAKOMITNA – Music Not Cleared for Use. Please Check with the Applicable Collecting Society or Relevant Rights Holders in Your Territory Regarding Clearance of Any Sound Recordings) (NIGHT SHOTS)

1. VARIOUS OF DRONE FOOTAGE SHOWING FIREWORKS AT CELEBRATION OF OPENING OF LIBYAN NATIONAL MUSEUM

TRIPOLI, LIBYA (DECEMBER 12, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all) (NIGHT SHOTS)

2. SCREEN READING (Arabic/English): “THE NATIONAL MUSEUM”

TRIPOLI, LIBYA (DECEMBER 12, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

3. LIBYAN PRIME MINISTER ABDULHAMID DBEIBAH (MIDDLE) WALKING WITH OTHERS DURING THE OPENING

4. VARIOUS OF DBEIBAH AND OFFICIALS VIEWING EXHIBITS AT THE MUSEUM

5. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM, FATHIYA ABDULLAH AHMED, SAYING:

“The process began in 2023 with maintenance work, followed by rehabilitation and development.”

6. VARIOUS OF EXHIBITS AT THE MUSEUM

7. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM, FATHIYA ABDULLAH AHMED, SAYING:

“The current program focuses on enabling schools to visit the museum during this period, until it is officially opened to the public at the beginning of the year, God willing.”

8. VARIOUS OF EXHIBITS AT THE MUSEUM

TRIPOLI, LIBYA (DECEMBER 12, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all) (NIGHT SHOTS)

9. VARIOUS OF FIREWORKS WITH CELEBRATION OF OPENING OF LIBYAN NATIONAL MUSEUM