The Garamantes were a Saharan Berber-speaking people who used an elaborate underground irrigation system, and founded a kingdom in the Fezzan area of modern-day Libya, in the Sahara desert. They were a local power in the Sahara between 500 BC and 500. Satellite image The Sahara is the worlds largest hot desert, over 9,000,000 km² (3,500,000 mi²), almost as large as the United States. ... The Berbers (also called Imazighen, free men, singular Amazigh) are an ethnic group indigenous to Northwest Africa, speaking the Berber languages of the Afroasiatic family. ... High-altitude aerial view of irrigation in the Heart of the Sahara Irrigation (in agriculture) is the replacement or supplementation of rainfall with water from another source in order to grow crops. ... Fezzan is a desert region in south-western Libya. ... Desert view in Saudi Arabia. ... Centuries: 7th century BC - 6th century BC - 5th century BC Decades: 550s BC - 540s BC - 530s BC - 520s BC - 510s BC - 500s BC - 490s BC - 480s BC - 470s BC - 460s BC - 450s BC Events and Trends 509 BC - Foundation of the Roman Republic 508 BC - Office of pontifex maximus created... Events Possible date for the Battle of Mons Badonicus: Romano-British and Celts defeat an Anglo-Saxon army that may have been led by the bretwalda Aelle of Sussex (approximate date; suggested dates range from 490 to 510) Note: This battle may have influenced the legend of King Arthur. ...

There is not much information about the Garamantes, not even the name they used to call themselves; Garamantes was a Greek name which the Romans later adopted. Most of what we know comes from Greek and Roman sources, and recent archaeological excavations in the area, though large areas in ruins are still unexcavated. Another important source of information are the abundant rock paintings, many of which depict life prior to the rise of the realm. For other senses of this name, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ...

Garamantian life

In the 1960's, archaeologists excavated part of the Garamantes' capital (modern Germa, about 150 km west of modern-day Sebha) named it Garama (An earlier capital, Zinchecra, was located not far from the later Garama.). Current research indicates that the Garamantes had about eight major towns, three of which have been examined as of 2004. In addition they had a large number of other settlements. Garama had population of some four thousand and another six thousand living in villages within a 5 km radius. 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The Garamantes were farmers, engineers and merchants. Their religion was based on Egyptian models, and some of their dead were buried in small pyramids. They used the Libyco-Berber script for writing. The discovery of the "Black Mummy" by Professor Fabrizio Mori at the Uan Muhuggiag suggests that there may even have been a long tradition of mummification in the region. Tifinagh, or ⵜⵉⴼⵉⵏⴰⵖ (pronounced ) is an alphabetic script used by the Tuareg, a Berber people of northern Africa, to write their Tuareg languages. ... Uan Muhuggiag is a place in the central Sahara, and the name of the mummy of a small boy found there in 1958 by Professor Fabrizio Mori. ...

The Garamantes' diet consisted of grapes, figs, barley and wheat. They traded wheat, salt and slaves in exchange of imported wine and olive oil, oil lamps and Roman tableware. According to Strabo and Pliny, the Garamantes quarried amazonite in the Tibesti Mountains. Species T. boeoticum T. compactum T. dicoccoides T. dicoccon T. durum T. monococcum T. spelta T. sphaerococcum References:   ITIS 42236 2002-09-22 Wheat (Triticum spp. ... A magnified crystal of a salt (halite/sodium chloride) In chemistry, a salt is any ionic compound composed of positively charged cations and negatively charged anions, so that the product is neutral and without a net charge. ... It has been suggested that Chattel slavery be merged into this article or section. ... Wine is an alcoholic beverage produced by the fermentation of grapes and grape juice. ... For the cartoon character, see Olive Oyl. ... Antique bronze oil lamp with Christian symbol (replica) An oil lamp is a device used for lighting or for preserving a flame that is fueled by animal, vegetable or mineral oil. ... the Greek georgapher Strabo, in a 16th‑century engraving. ... Pliny the Elder: an imaginative 19c portrait. ... Feldspar (Amazonite) Feldspar (Amazonite) from Jefferson, Colorado Amazonite (sometimes called Amazon stone) is a green variety of microcline feldspar. ... Categories: Africa geography stubs | Mountain ranges | Stratovolcanoes | Hotspot volcanoes | Mountains of Chad | Volcanoes of Chad ...

Archeological remains

The ruins include numerous tombs, forts, and cemeteries. The Garamantes constructed a network of underground tunnels and shafts to mine the fossil water from under the limestone layer under the desert sand. It was built around 200 BC to 200. The network of tunnels is known to berbers as foggaras. The network allowed agriculture to flourish, but it required the use of slaves to maintain. A fossil Ammonite Fossils (from Latin fossus, literally having been dug up) are the mineralized or otherwise preserved remains or traces (such as footprints) of animals, plants, and other organisms. ... Centuries: 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC - 1st century BC Decades: 250s BC 240s BC 230s BC 220s BC 210s BC - 200s BC - 190s BC 180s BC 170s BC 160s BC 150s BC Years: 205 BC 204 BC 203 BC 202 BC 201 BC - 200 BC - 199 BC 198 BC... For other uses, see number 200. ... The Berbers (also called Imazighen, free men, singular Amazigh) are a predominantly Muslim ethnic group indigenous to the Maghreb, speaking the Berber languages of the Afroasiatic family. ...

History

The Garamantes were probably present as tribal people in the Fezzan by 1000 BC They appear in the written record for the first time in the 5th century BC; according to Herodotus, they were a numerous people who herded cattle and hunted the "Ethiopian Troglodytes", or "cave-dwellers" who lived in the desert, from four-horse chariots. Roman depictions describe them as bearing ritual scars and tattoos. Tacitus wrote that they assisted the rebel Tacfarinas and raided Roman coastal settlements. (Redirected from 1000 BC) Centuries: 12th century BC - 11th century BC - 10th century BC Decades: 1050s BC 1040s BC 1030s BC 1020s BC 1010s BC - 1000s BC - 990s BC 980s BC 970s BC 960s BC 950s BC Events and Trends 1006 BC - David becomes king of the ancient Israelites (traditional... (6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC - other centuries) (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium AD) The 5th and 6th centuries BC are a period of philosophical brilliance among advanced civilizations. ... Bust of Herodotus at Naples Herodotus of Halicarnassus (Greek: , Herodotos) was a historian who lived in the 5th century BC (484 BC-ca. ... Hittite chariot (drawing of an Egyptian relief) Approximate historical map of the spread of the chariot, 2000 –500 BC. A chariot is a two-wheeled, horse-drawn vehicle. ... Gaius Cornelius Tacitus Publius (or: Gaius) Cornelius Tacitus (c. ...

The Romans kept close trade contacts with Garamantes; archaeologists have even found a Roman bathhouse in Garama. The Roman chronicler Maternus accompanied a Garamantian ruler on a four-month military expedition to what is now the border area of Nigeria. Still, despite of the trade relations, Romans did not really consider them civilized. Maternus was the first Christian bishop of Cologne, Germany (in the 4th century) who comissioned a Roman temple where the Cologne Cathedral would later be built. ...

The Garamantians represented a challenge to Rome, never giving in to Roman power, while the coastal zones of today's Libya did. Despite this, Herodotus reported that they had no weapons of war, and did not know how to defend themselves.

In the 1st century BC, the Garamantes raided North Africa and clashed with Roman forces. According to Pliny the Elder, Romans eventually grew tired of Garamantian raiding and Lucius Cornelius Balbus captured 15 of their settlements in 19 BC. After a Roman punitive expedition in 70, the Garamantes were forced into an official relationship with Rome and might have become one of the Roman client states. (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium) The 1st century BC started on January 1, 100 BC and ended on December 31, 1 BC. An alternative name for this century is the last century BC. The AD/BC notation does not use a year zero. ... Pliny the Elder: an imaginative 19c portrait. ... Lucius Cornelius Balbus (called Minor to distinguish from his uncle), received the Roman citizenship at the same time as his uncle. ... Centuries: 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - 1st century Decades: 60s BC 50s BC 40s BC 30s BC 20s BC - 10s BC - 0s 10s 20s 30s 40s Years: 24 BC 23 BC 22 BC 21 BC 20 BC 19 BC 18 BC 17 BC 16 BC 15 BC 14 BC... Centuries: 1st century BC - 1st century - 2nd century Decades: 20s 30s 40s 50s 60s - 70s - 80s 90s 100s 110s 120s Years: 65 66 67 68 69 - 70 - 71 72 73 74 75 Events The building of the Colosseum starts (approximate date). ... According to the notion of client states, just as a client of a corporation remains dependent on the corporation for a continued supply of products, and just as it is in the companys interest to make expendable products which need to be replaced regularly, client states of the two...

By around 150 the Garamantian kingdom (in today's central Libya (Fezzan), principally along the still existing Wadi l-Ajal), covered 180,000 square kilometres in modern-day southern Libya. It lasted from about 400 BC to 600. For other uses, see number 150. ... Centuries: 5th century BC - 4th century BC - 3rd century BC Decades: 450s BC 440s BC 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC - 400s BC - 390s BC 380s BC 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC Years: 405 BC 404 BC 403 BC 402 BC 401 BC - 400 BC - 399 BC 398 BC... For other uses, see number 600. ...

The decline of the Garamantian civilization is said to be connected to worsening climatic conditions. What is desert today, was fairly good agricultural land and enhanced through irrigation 1,500 years ago. As the fossil water does not replenish itself quickly, over the six centuries of the Garamantian kingdom, the ground water level fell. The kingdom declined and fragmented. Its competitor, the Ghanian kingdom in the western Sudan, became its successor. Groundwater is any water found below the land surface. ... The Ghana Empire in Africa The Empire of Ghana (existed c. ...

Byzantine records claim that the king of Garamantes made a peace treaty with Byzantium in 569 and accepted Christianity. Later Muslim records say that in 668 the king of Garamantes was imprisoned and dragged off in chains. The area was eventually absorbed into the Muslim sphere of influence. Byzantine Empire (Greek: ), is the term conventionally used since the 19th century to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered at its capital in Constantinople. ... Events The Nubian kingdom of Alodia is converted to Christianity, according to John of Ephesus. ... Christianity is a monotheistic religion centered on Jesus of Nazareth, whom Christians call Jesus Christ, and New Testament accounts of his life and teachings. ... A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم) is an adherent of Islam. ... Events Childeric II succeeds Clotaire III as Frankish king Constantine IV becomes Byzantine Emperor, succeeding Constans II Theodore of Tarsus made archbishop of Canterbury. ...

External links

• "Kingdom of the Sands"
• Encyclopaedia of the Orient - article about Garamantian empire