(http://www.theinfostride.com/cdn/img/5643279956429779.jpg)
One day, in the not too distant future, visitors may flock to see the giant white marble statues of the Roman emperors, Claudius and Augustus, that grace Tripoli's National Museum.
Today the galleries that house them, and the ornate mosaics from the vast Roman site of Leptis Magna 120 km (75 miles) east of Tripoli, are completely deserted.
Outside the museum, at the edge of Martyr's Square, a stall sells revolutionary souvenirs - necklaces and wristbands in the black, red and green of the new Libya.
But the arched wooden door to the museum, now festooned with graffiti proclaiming Libya "free", is firmly shut.
"We don't feel it's safe enough yet to re-open," says Mustafa Turjman, head of research at the national department of archaeology, as he shows me around.
"We prefer to be patient rather than to open early and expose our precious things to any risk."
"We are not sure if our borders are safe and professional criminals could take advantage of this instability," he says.
The new authorities are now working with Unesco and Interpol to try to recover a collection of priceless coins, jewellery and small statues which was reported stolen in May from a bank vault in the eastern city.
The "treasure of Benghazi" spans Libya's Roman, Greek and Islamic past.
Libyan archaeologist Hafed Walda of King's College, London, says that a pneumatic drill appears to have been used to reach the artefacts through a concrete ceiling.
BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15557403)