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I Found this in another forum.it's really interesting,i think everyone should read this. all of it.
the Garamantes a ancient african civilization in the sahara.
The Garamantes were a kingdom of the Sahara in North Africa, just as the Songhai empire, Ghana Empire ,Nubian Kush civilization ,and Mali empires were . And yes the Garamantes were Berbers just as the Zaghawa and Tebu. The Garamantes may have been part of the Sao-civilization some researchers have speculated,and the Garamantian civilization indeed extended their influence into the interior of the Sahara desert all the towards the Sahelian regions.The Garamantes civilization spanned from 900 BC TO 600 AD In this post I would like to evaluate the knowledge of the Garamantes and their effect on Roman life.
The Garamantes neighbors included the Nasamones who were towards the North, the Augilaes lying further south than the Nasomenes, Marmarideans who border Cyrenae all the way to Ammon. (Strabo Geographica Book XVII verse 23). Towards the north were tribes called the Numidians, the Massaeylians which where scattered from Cephalae to Carthage, lying right next to them west would be the Maurusians. The Garamantes country bore a splendid wonder for the covetous Romans, it yielded the plant called silphium, which was used for multiple medicinal purposes. The Gaetulians were exactly westward of the Garamantes in the Sahara past the Hoggar (Ahaggar)mountains ,a collection of bandit tribes that at times may have been pseudo allies of Romans. Other times a nuisance embarking on capers to plunder Roman towns or victimize traveling Roman merchant caravans across the desert. Gaetulians meant dweller of the south or southerner of the ‘’Atlas mountains’’ according to scholars. Gaetulians were denoted as a tribe, confederation of tribes, or a nation itself depending on the prescribed context. Their description and ethnic make varied from place to place, periodical time to periodical time, as they are later referred to as Melangaetulians in the later roman eras.
The Garamantes marital life was not cohesive , the men were promiscuous refusing to marry in some instances ,and when spouses did, the men would have multiple wives. Some say the Garamantian empire dates to 900BCE they built Zinchecra in the area of Wadi- al Hayat which was their first capital. Garamantes would later build ‘’Garama’’(Germa,Garma, or Jerma) which was to become their capital.
The name Garamantes is a greek name, it was first mentioned by Herodotus, but although the Greek coined the term for people Living in Southern Libya and what is now the country of Niger we cannot be certain of what the Garamantes actually called themselves. Scholars have been searching to uncover the actual etymology of the term, but it was relatively an umbrella term for the array of tribes situated in or around Fezzan , but undoubtedly it was mainly pertaining to the people of Southern Libya modern day ‘’Niger’ and areas of Algeria and Chad’ . A Garamantian king that accompanied Julius Martinus also claimed that his domain was also the country Agisymba, which would be the part of the Sahara that entails the Lake Chad region The ‘’Garamantum Defile’’ as Ptolemy records it was a vast amount of territory, as the Melanogaetulians inhabited the Western part of the Great Desert so did the Garamantes. The boundary for the territory would be drawn at Bagradas and Usargala mountain. . The Garamantes guesstimated extended area of control, was from South to East to near Lake Nuba(Lake Nasser in the Sudan ) both banks of the river Gir(Niger) as far as the mountains called Garamantica PHARANX ,East of Mount Thala and North of mount Arangas . The Garamantes .
Pliny The Elder proposes in the ''Natural History'' Book V chapter 5 to say that Amantes were a tribe surrounded by sands in every direction, drew water under the desert sand ,and built house with blocks of salt. What is certain that the Garamantes reserved water in their underground water system called foggaras, that was supplied from aquifer resources laying beneath the deserts of the Sahara. New archeological evidence indicates that the Garamantes fished in Lakes for shrimp and other delicacies. What Pliny the Elder describes as the ‘’Amantes’’ might be a particular tribe in the Garamantian kingdom , as they were many tribes listed such as the , Niteris and Bubelium. One would ponder the etymology of the term Garamantes. It may be a conjecture of Amantes and Garama, or another variant of etymological origination being a combination of the names for the river Gir and Amante, Ptolemy seems to extend into the Kingdoms territory. Archaeologist have uncovered over 50,000 tombs of the Garamantes. some being made of pyramid styles.
Pliny the Elder makes a mention of the ‘’Nation of Trogolodyta’’, Romans nominal reason for interacting with this group was for obtaining the precious stone called carbuncle. Pliny the Elder must be referring to the Tibesti mountains. In modern times the tribe called the Tebu (Tibbu,or Toubou) also used to hunt a primitive people called Rock Tibbouu. This may have also been the Ethiopian Troglodyte that Herodotus recorded the Garamantes hunting in four horse chariots. In the region of Phazania resided the Nation of Phazanii (another contradiction on the scholars behalf since this is one of the Royal Seats of The Garamantes) , they were cities called Cydamus , Garama, the town of Tabudium, the nation of Niteris, town of Nigligemella, the town of Bubeium, the nation of Enipi, and the Black Mountains. The empire of the Garamantes was subsequently classified in a simple categorization called the one of the two Aethiopias. One Aethiopia comprising of Pharussi, Perorsi,and Gymnetes in the west,and in the east the nations of the Augylae, Trogolodytae, and the Garamantes. Pliny the Elder cites Homer in regarding the location of the Two Major Aethiopia nations. He also makes note of LibycoEgyptians and then the Leucaethipians. Pliny most likely uses this connotation Libyco Egyptian for the culture of Libyans who lived West of Ammon such as the Marimadaeans and Nasomanes who also emulated Egyptian style of clothing and aspired to other aspects of the Egyptian culture. The Leucaethiopians may have also be a pejorative term for the white berbers living the Aethiopian style of culture in the interior of Africa. Ancient roman authors were meticulous in classifying tribes on foreign lands , for countless memorandum purposes of safety . One of these tenants was that Roman armies traversed these regions with gloomy perilous dangers . It was a proponent to be cognizant of the allied tribes, neutral standing tribes, hostile but not aggressive tribes, and tribes that often engaged in ambuscades against any foreign traveling army on foreign soil. Many wild untamed beast were captured for coliseum or gladiator games, along with stones and plants that were a rarity and inaccessible to the Mediterranean World. Therefore classifying each tribe correctly was imperative for ensuring the safety for travelers and campaigning events in the Deserts of the Sahara. (Pliny The Elder ''Natural History'' Book V Chapter 8:1)
The Garamantes were an empire and very advance one at that. The Ancient Romans slandered their name calling them Barbarians when all the while knowing they were one of the most powerful confederations of tribes in the Sahara. Contrary to roman texts about this civilization, archeological has altered the perception of the level of technological sophistication of the Garamantes. Some inhabitants of the Garamantum were skillful agriculturist livings in villages,these villages sparsely populated the landscape The Garamantian civilization were also skilled and equipped in technologies such as metallurgy, glass making, salt refining, and production of precious stones. The society had a written indigenous script called ‘’Tifnaq’’. Supplementary discoveries have been recently such as textiles , leather according to Mattingly. The most interesting technological attribute of the Garamantes were their capability of harnessing water in the desert through the Foggaras, the foggaras was also utilized to irrigate farms were it was climatically feasible for agrarian work . Foggaras were a 3,000 mile network of underground irrigation canals. The soil of the Fezzan consisted of black shining sand stone, according to Pliny there was also an area called the Black Mountains either because it was scorched with fire or was blackened from the heating from the sun. This unbearable heat played a very pivotal role in giving the Garamantian Empire an upper hand, Romans were very cautious to invade the Garamantum country due to the undying treacherous desert temperature. The Garamantes were very astute of this, thus villages and towns were located in deep in the desert or very remote areas that were heard to capture. The Romans were very eager to capture the Garamantes since they often attacked the Romans shores and pillaged and plundered the roman provinces of Africa , Maurantenia, Tripolitania , and other Roman provinces in the interior.
However they were percolating fertile areas in the Garamantes domain, in the north the Wadi ash-Shati ,the Wadi az-Zaliaf, where the main town Adri is located. In the center the Wadi Irawan and Wadi-Al Ajal also known as Wadi-al-Hayat where the Great city Germa, or Garama(thought to be the capital city),and in the south east the Wadi Tanezzuft where the towns Ghat( presently still frequented by the Tuaregs),Barkat, and Fewet are located . The South East the Wadi Barjujm, towards Zuwayiah, Murzuq and Ghadduwah.
The city of Garama was one of the most important cities of Garama, it contained temples, a market , houses, and baths with some of them crafted in natural stone. Garama was surrounded by a wall with a dug out ditch. The center of city had forts used to control roads to Lake Chad region, but was also used as defense for barbarous desert tribes roaming the barren desert scouting for prey. The city was estimated to hold 10,000 people which was comparable to the city of Pompeii. Ptolemy also speaks of a sister city called the Gir metropolis that may have been in and around the Garamantes domain.
Despite the Garamantes living in adequate cities, many Garamantes endured as nomads against Roman towns. According to Lucan (Pharsalia 4.669),it was said that Juba, the king of the Numidians enlisted the assistance of the Garamantes against the foreign intruding Roman commanders , Julius Caesar and Curio. Juba’s army was victorious against Curio briefly , but it was only short lived when later on, he would ironically be defeated by Julius Caesar. The Romans by then earned a new profound fear for the Garamantes. A general from the city of Gades in the Roman province of Hispania was sent on an expedition into the country of the Phazanii and Garamanticum. The war against the Garamantes took a great toil on the Roman Army campaigning into Fezzan. According to Pliny the Elder, Lucius Cornelius Balbus returned to Rome successful, strangely he would be the first Non-Roman citizen to have a chariot Triumph festivity in Rome and be granted to construct a theater on the ‘’Field of Mars’’ on his behalf . Speculatively from a historical standpoint Balbus was not entirely successful , he may have sacked some of Garamantian cities like that of ,Alele ,Cilliba, Cydamus (located within Sabarta) and the former capital Zincherca. This may be true as archaeology supports that the transfer of power from Zincherca was endowed to the later city Garama(Garma or Jarma.) But this may be entirely hearsay as it was known that the Roman merchants still were plagued by dangers of being robbed as Pliny later writes , ‘’it has been impossible to keep open the roads leading to the country of the Garamantes’’. Thus ‘’the Road Past The Head of Broken Stones( iter praeter caput saxi) or sometimes called the Black Narrows leading toward Agisymba(Lake Chad region) were always vulnerable to attacks by the Garamantian tribes. The Garamantes region was very mountainous and was sustained by many castles and forts built adjacent to the pathways of travel.
Another brief interlude account of a war with the Garamantes is recorded by Florus in Epitome where he states that Publius Sulpicius Quirinius campaigned against the Marmarides which had allied themselves with the Garamantes in 15CE. In the following years Tacfarinas, lead a war against Rome. In the time Tacfarinas campaigned against the Romans in Libyan Provinces, he prepared an escape plan to retreat into the country of Garamantum to either regroup with other tribes for retaliation or to dwell there as sanctum of refuge . Later on the Garamantes in 69 CE attacked the city of Oea ,located Leptis Magna. In 400CE the Numidian rebel Gildo recruited the Garamantes in his war against the Romans so the conflicts were everlasting.
However the Garamantes were not always sworn enemies against the Romans, in the duration of different Roman periods they were expedient trade relations on both parts. Like many African kingdoms the Garamantes traded slaves, salt, and wheat for olive oil, wine, oil lamps and Roman tableware. The Garamantes also would procure the precious stone amazonite in the Tibesti Mountains as stated previously before by the author.
The decline of the Garamantes is disputable, but some postulate that the water being supplied by foggaras was literally running out. It was possible they could of prolong their survival but that would of required a supplement of slaves to reconstruct the networking system. To obtains more slaves would of required more territory to conquer which was not plausible. It is said that the Garamantes adopted Christianity from the Byzantine empire and may have established a church at Zuila. However when Uqba ibn Nafi entered the region the church of the Garamantes had be dismantled and communication with the Byzantines ceased later on .
The Neighboring of the Garamantes in The Sahara
In the early references The Gaetullians were also neighbored by Aeithiopic or black tribes who were called the Autolale and the Lixitoe , the latter tribe accompanied Hanno in his voyage around Africa.Going further into the interior of the province Mauritania Tingita ,we have the river of Salsus, proceeding further in we come to the black Perorsi who also inhabited the mount Atlas region(Pliny The Elder Book V Chap 1:2), at the back are the Pharusii, who were right next to the Gaetullian Darae. Upon the coast again you find the black tribe of Daratatitae, and the river Bambotus. (Pliny The Elder Book V Chap 1). Other tribes were called the Maurusii or Maurii who had been brutally ravaged by Romans and other tribes and reduced to a scarce number.Lucan (M.Annaeus Lucanus, Pharasalia 4.669) description of the Moors who were formerly known as the Mauriis as Swarthy and the Dark Garamantes who helped campaigned against the Romans in the Jugarthine Wars.
The Pharusians and Nigretes who live above these people Maurusians) near the western Aethiopians also use bows, like the Aethiopians; and they also use scythe-bearing chariots The scythe –bearing chariots used by the Garamantes were not exclusive to the territory of ‘’Fezzan’’(Southern Libya), chariots were also used by other Aethiopic tribes across the treacherous Sahara desert known as ,they were called the Pharusians and Nigretes (Strabo Geographica Book XVII, Chapter 3, Verse 7). One can surmise that the Aethiopic peoples of the Sahara did share this common chariot driving capability amongst one another. The Pharusians were even said to roam, and occupy the vicinity of the city called ‘’Cirta’’,(Numidia)and would briefly occupy other Roman provinces.(Strabo Geographica Book XVII,Chapter 3 verse ).Strabo stated the Pharusians were mound builders or retreated built of mud huts ,and to have even hunted snakes like other Troglodytes or Ethiopic Troglodytes. The Pharusians were distinctly different from the Maurusians of the Roman Province of Maurutania.
World as Known to the Ancients and Ptolemys World
Ethnography of The Garamantes.
According to Herodotus and many other Greco-Roman writers The Garamantes used scythe bearing chariots just as the Aethiopian Pharusii and Aethiopian Nigritae other charioteers of the western Sahara.Ghraham Connah who wrote a book for the Cambridge press also states that these chariots can be found all along the Niger River bend to Libya and Morrocco.It is known that chariots have been used in the Sahara since 3700BP. According to many anthropologist and archeaologist the Equidians and Bovidians used chariots and were the progenitors of the chariot traveling across the Sahara.
The Garamantian kingdom also had extensive trade relations with the kingdom of Meroe , the Goddess Tanit has been shown on temple walls of Meroe and may have been transmitted from relations with Garamantes.The Garamantes were a ten days journey from the Nubian Aethiopians and a 15 days journey from Ammon. The Garamantes regularly procured sheep from the Nubian Aethiopians(Strabo Geographica Book XVII verse 19)
According to Leo Africanus, the legacy of Garamntes was transferred during the Islamic Era of the Fifth division of Berber tribes. The Gumeri(Garamantes) and Bardaei or Bardoa , which translates as the Teda of the Bardai oasis otherwise known as Teda of the Tebu or Toubou tribes) were the Garamantes direct descendants.
Even today the people of Fezzan are mainly inhabited by 80,000 inhabitants , mainly comprising of Tuareg and Teda (Tebu) tribes. The people of the area are believed to be the Berauna who are of Western Sudanese or Negro origin. Duveyrier assigns the Garamantes to the be of an Sudanic origin also.The Teda of the Tebu tribe also inhabit the Tibesti mountains a once uncontested territory of the Garamantes.
Many anthropologist and archaeologist believe the Tebu are possibly to be one of the candidates for being descendants of the Garamantes. But the undisputed torch carriers of the Garamantes legacy is unquestionably the Tuareg. The Tuareg possess the ancient script of Tifnaq the same writing system of the Garamantes that is found as inscriptions Garamantian tombs and business bookkeeping records. Fate would declare that the Tuareg still roam the land the Garamantes once controlled. Tuaregs arguably have been the most resistant tribe of the Sahara keeping the culture of the past intact. Most of the Berber languages have disintegrated while the Tuaregs still retain their on called tamajeq or Tamasheq fluently . Contrary to popular belief Tuareg is not what they actually call themselves. The self proclaimed name of the Tuaregs is Kel Tamasheq which means speakers of Tamasheq and People Of The Veil. The Tuareg are probably one of the most well enigmatic Berber tribes existing. The Modern name Amazigh is another obscure name that seems to be distorted through out its inception , understanding that M Z GH does not mean the Free people in any term or connotation of the Berber language. The Term Amazigh may be pseudonym for the Libyan king Igmazen or even the Mazices that some how became a synonymous with Berber name. The name Tuareg may come from the Arabic name Tarawik which means God’s Forsaken. The Tuareg were very hostile to the Zenata muslim tribes also
The Kel Tamashaq have even made an impact on the Hausa Nigerians as many loanwords have been borrowed from the Tuareg language into the Hausa language.( Series: Berber Studies Volume 12).Hausa is spoken by 35 million in Northern Nigeria, which is odd ,since their territory (Northern Nigeria) is nowhere near the Tuareg country. But the Hasua’s former kinsmen, the Kanuri people of Lake Chad both cohabited the regions of Northern Chad and Niger with the Tuareg, this could have been the focal point of linguistic exchange between intermediary allied tribes or former territories of both tribes that over stretched their bounds disintegrating long ago being forgotten in a long distant time. Hausa language is a Afro-Asiatic language like the language of the Tuareg.The speakers of Tamasheq or Tuareg occupy the regions of Algeria,Libya,Chad,Niger and Burkina Faso.
When a male becomes full grown man in the Tuareg society it is required that he must wear a veil The Garamantes . The Tuareg society is still made of a slave system. And the titles of nobility are inherited from generation to generation as with the title of being a slave. It is very hard for the lower class slave to intermarry with a noble. The Tuareg or Tamasheq name for slave is eklan and the descendants of those slaves are called Bella up onto this day. Due to the Tuareg being notoriously hostile and very tenacious it is safe to say the Tuareg still possess the same genealogy and reserve the same customs as their Garamantian forefather did in the past. One Garamantian name still used among the Tuareg name today is ‘’Konja’’.
Genetics has also concluded that little intermingling to entail miscegenation is not nearly visible in the Tuareg genetic data. According to Cavalli-Sfrorza the Tuareg show the greatest genetic affinities with the Beja tribe in the Eastern Sudan and Eritrea. In ancient times the Beja (Bedja) were called the Blemmyes ,another Bedouin tribe who roamed the desert as an outlaw band of plaguing the Nubians, and were often called Saracens long before the name was to be given to the Muslims or Arabs by scholars during the Medieval Era. Some Beja are still known to be nomadic. The Blemmyae or Beja may be the forefathers of the Tuareg henceforth the Garamantes. Archaeological evidence may support this as the Garamantes culture is believe to originate in the oases of the Eastern Sahara.
New evidence points to the Garamantes culture dominated the Fezzan since 3000 BP to 700 AD. From a society to civilization the Garamantes faced climatic disaster and local improvisation, being the proponents for the rise of this great civilization according to Mattingly. The Sahara the Garamantes roamed in the 3000 was lush fertile area but as desiccation took its toil it might have caused them to be constricted to a harsh environment as they migrated for better fertile pastures nonetheless taking the necessary prerequisites to enhance their social being. Also new evidence of the black mummy of Uan Muhuggiag and Negroid people of Uan Tamauat in Algeria may give a few indicators on how this indigenous civilization of Libya made arose .
Ptolemy’s Geography Book IV
These two rivers unite in 42 The Thala mountain range, the middle part of which is located in 38,10 and the Garamantica defile 50 ,10 the Arulates mountains 47 30, 1 30. There are two great rivers in the interior; one of these is the Gir uniting as it were, the Garamantica defile and the Usargala mountains. There is a turning of the river in 42, 16 Into the Gir a river empties flowing from the Chelonitides marshes, the middle of which is in 49, 20 Moreover joining the Gir, ceasing as the say, but running under ground, is another, the western terminus of which is in 46,16 the eastern terminus of which forms the Nuba lake the position of which is 50,15 The other large river is the the Niger flowing from the Mandrus mountains and the Thala mountains which form the Nigritis lake which is in 15,18 from the north two rivers flow into the same from the Sagapola and the Usargala mountains, a deflection toward the east forms the Libyan lake the location of which is in 35, 16 30 and toward the south moreover there is a turn toward the Darbus river but in two locations 21 17 and 21 ,13 30 Ptolemy Gaetulia is located below Mauritania,the Desert of Libya below Africa and Cyreniaca, The great races which inhabit Libya are the Garamantes extending from the sources of Bagradas river to the Nubas lake, and the race of the Melanogaetuli, who occupy the land which is between the Sagapola mountains and the Usargala mountains, and the AETHOPIAN race of Gireiwho dwall toward the Gir, and the AETHOPIAN race of the Nigritae who are north of the Niger river,and the Daradi who dwell along the river of the name (Daradas) where it empties into the sea, and the Perorsi who are more to eastward and more remote from the sea as far as the mountains which are called the Theon Ochema, and the land of the AETHIOPIAN ODREANGIDIAN located between the Caphas and ''Thala Mountains'', and the Mamacos who are below the Thala mountainsm and the Nubae dwelling on the Western Side of the Garamantica defile, and the Derbiccae who are towards the west from the Arancas mountains. These are the minor races" the Sirangae, the Mausoli, and the Autolalae occupying the region which is in on the sea below Gaetulia extending as far as the Mandrus mountains,Next to the same mountains are the Babi, the Malcoae and the Mandori extending as far as the Daradi,next to these are the Sophucaei , and blow the Rysadius mountains are the Leucaethiopes,between whom and Perorsi stretches the Campus Rufus: then from the Sagapola mountains toward the north the Pharusi,from the Usargala mountains toward the north are the Natembes, and along the Girgiri mountains are the Lynxamintae, also the Zamazi, the Aroccae, the Getiani extending as far as the Nigritas AETHIOPES, below the Usargala mountains are the Suburpores, and below the Girgiri mountains toward the Garamantes are the Maccoi,the Dauchitae, and the Caletae, and the Caletae extending as far as the Nuba lake , and from the Daradi toward the east are the Machurebi, and next to rge Spochucaeis are the Solenti, from these toward the east are the Anaticoli or Pharuausi, the Churitae and the Stachirae extending as far as the Caphas mountains,between whom and Theon Ochema mountains are the Orphes,below these are the Tarueliae, the Climatitae, also the ''Africerones'' a great race, and back from Odrangides Aethiopes, but toward the south Achaemae, and south of the Mimcaes are the Gongalae, next to these are the Nanosbes then the Nabathrae extending as far as the Arualtes mountains, and between the Libyan lake and the Thala Mountains are the Aliltambi and the Maurali"between these and Nuba lake the Harmiae, the Thalae, the Dolopes, also the Astacuri up to the Garamantica defile, and the Aroccae to the north from the Aranca mountains, the Asaracae to the east,between the Derbiecenses and the Arualtes mountains are the Dermones, and the below the Africerones almost to south wind are the Aganginae Aethiopes,to the east of these below the same Arualten mountains,up to rhe Arancas mountains are the Xylicces Aethiopes, and next to these Achalicces Aethiopes.
Would anyone like to share their knowledge of the Garamantes, and what effect they took on Rome.
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the garamantes the blackcivlization in the sahara
Posted By: Sopdet Date: 10, August 02, at 1:42 p.m.
Desert Hides Ancient Civilization [Original headline: Britons find ancient empire that made Sahara bloom ] An ancient civilisation, lost for 1,500 years in the middle of the Sahara Desert, has been found and investigated by British archaeologists. Research by the Universities of Leicester, Newcastle and Reading is revealing how a long-forgotten Saharan people made the desert bloom, built impressive cities and controlled an empire of 70,000 square miles.
Nearly all scholars had thought this ancient people, known as the Garamantes, had been little more than desert barbarians living in one small town, a couple of villages and scattered, nomadic encampments.
But the researchers, led by David Mattingly, an archaeologist at Leicester University, found the Garamantes had at least three big cities and 20other important settlements in the middle of the world's largest desert.
Their investigations showed how the desert, where rainfall averages only half an inch each year, was successfully cultivated. A 3,000-mile network of underground irrigation canals was built by the Garamantes, which tapped into natural fossil water supplies laid down more than 40,000 years ago when rain last fell plentifully in the area.
The archaeologists believe the Sahara became much more arid after 1200BC and thisforced local populations to move from pastoral stock-rearing to oases-based agriculture.
Oases in large depressions had easier access to fossil groundwater – and in one large depression, now known as the Wadi al-Agial, the inhabitants built underground canals to channel water from the fossil aquifers to irrigate up to 300 square miles of land.
With the subterranean canals, food production rose and the population expanded, so by 500BC the Garamantes were able to create their first towns and to start expanding their area of political control.
The archaeological research, funded by the British Academy and the Leverhulme Trust, shows that by around 100BC they had become a major political force, and they remained a 50,000-strong state until easily accessible fossil water supplies ran out.
When the groundwater level fell below that of the underground canal complex, the irrigation system simply dried up, and the Garamantes had to dig hundreds of wells to reach the lowered water table. This water crisis, as well as a reduction in trade caused by the lesser volume of slavery in the Mediterranean and the decline of the Roman Empire, seems to have reduced the power of the Garamantian civilisation by the sixth century AD.
By the end of the following century, the kingdom had come under Islamic domination.
The Garamantian civilisation reached its peak in the second and third centuries AD, when the new archaeological evidence suggests it became one of the Roman Empire's main trading partners.
Archaeologists believe large quantities of African gold, ivory, salt, semi-precious stones and slaves were supplied to the empire via the Garamantian kingdom.
Professor Mattingly said: "Our research is revealing that, with human ingenuity and against all the odds, the people of the world's largest desert were able to create a prosperous and successful civilisation in one of the driest and hottest wildernesses on earth. The Romans liked to think of the Garamantes as simple barbarians. The new archaeological evidence is now putting the record straight and showing they were brilliant farmers, resourceful engineers and enterprising merchants who produced a remarkable civilisation."
• Story originally published by • Independent / London | By David Keys - July 15 2000
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"According to Herodotus and many other Greco-Roman writers The Garamantes used scythe bearing chariots just as the Aethiopian Pharusii and Aethiopian Nigritae other charioteers of the western Sahara..."
I was under the impression that the Garamantes and the Nigritae were one and the same. Also it states that Tanit the goddess of Carthage was Garamante as well. How true is this? I'm really interested in the ethnic identity of the Garamantes. I get conflicting reports. Some say they were Berber speakers while others say they are Nilotic.
By the way Kenndo, your mailbox is full and I'm unable to respond to your p.m.
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The Akan are the garamantes. According to their oral tradition, the people who founded the great Akan States in Ghana formerly lived along the Niger Bend roughly near Timbuktu. They fought and lost against invading Moslems and were forced to move further south. The Akan say that their ancestors lived once in the “White Desert” or Sarem, which they also refer to as ‘the country of the sand’, which we call the Sahara.
The Oasis of Djado
They have within their oral traditions a place name, variously it is represented as Djadu, Djadom or Diadom, which has been identified by modern researchers as the Oasis of Djado situated in the Eastern Sahara. The modern day Tuaregs of Ayir, Fezzan and Tebu call this place Agwas, Gua and Braun, respectively. All three of these names, are names of tribes of peoples found among the Akan. The ancestors of the Akan were of Eastern Libyan Berber stock, and known as the Garamantes or Moors in Europe. Their Akan descendents have preserved customs and traditions from their Berber ancestry. Reseachers who have studied the Akan believe their culture is essentially pre-Arab North African in character.
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^^^ Nana Banchie Darkwah argued the Akan were the ancient Egyptians. Another Akan royal, Akanba, recently wrote a book entitled "The Movement of the Akan People from Kanaan to Ghana", where obviously he believes the Akan were the original Caanites.
Now the Akan were the Garamantes too? Well, it actually sounds more plausible than Egyptian or Caanite.
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^ LOL Indeed. Some Africanists want to make West African groups as everyone else but West Africans.
As for Winters, he loves to repeat the mantra that there were no such thing as ancient Berbers who were actually white foreigners when the Berber is as much African as its Egyptian sister.
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quote:Originally posted by Djehuti: ^ LOL Indeed. Some Africanists want to make West African groups as everyone else but West Africans.
As for Winters, he loves to repeat the mantra that there were no such thing as ancient Berbers who were actually white foreigners when the Berber is as much African as its Egyptian sister.
Well since you seem to be a expert on things can you please tell me the origins of the akan?
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quote:Originally posted by HERU: ^^^ Nana Banchie Darkwah argued the Akan were the ancient Egyptians. Another Akan royal, Akanba, recently wrote a book entitled "The Movement of the Akan People from Kanaan to Ghana", where obviously he believes the Akan were the original Caanites.
Now the Akan were the Garamantes too? Well, it actually sounds more plausible than Egyptian or Caanite.
They are just trying to find the origins of our people.Our traditions tell us that we migrated from the north. I do not believe that the akan were the ancient egyptians or the canaanites they may of been in those areas but i dont think they were the actual people.
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^ If your traditions say your people (I presume Akan) came from the north then, it matches with linguistics and even archaeology of Akan and many other Niger-Congo speakers having former residence in the Western Sahara when the Sahara was fertile. Again, the problem comes when people attribute these origins on the other side of the continent or worse, in Asia! I see a disturbing trend among West African Muslims claiming that their peoples ancestry originated among indigenous black Arabs of Arabia instead of their region of West Africa!
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quote:Originally posted by Djehuti: ^ If your traditions say your people (I presume Akan) came from the north then, it matches with linguistics and even archaeology of Akan and many other Niger-Congo speakers having former residence in the Western Sahara when the Sahara was fertile. Again, the problem comes when people attribute these origins on the other side of the continent or worse, in Asia! I see a disturbing trend among West African Muslims claiming that their peoples ancestry originated among indigenous black Arabs of Arabia instead of their region of West Africa!
Yeah and the garamantees were a saharan civilisation werent they so why is it so hard to believe they were the akans ancestors? The akan only arrived in modern day ghana at around 1200AD, both the tuareg and the akan are matrilineal tribes the only ones in africa. The goddess neith that the berbers in north africa worshiped and nyame of the akan are almost identical so why not?
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^ Because the Garamantes inhabited a different part of the Sahara, specifically Libya. This area was and still is predominantly inhabited by Berber speakers and perhaps some Nilo-Saharan speakers but not Niger-Congo speakers who lived further west. Not only the language but the culture was entirely different. It takes more than being African and matrilineal to be Akan.
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quote:Originally posted by Djehuti: ^ Because the Garamantes inhabited a different part of the Sahara, specifically Libya. This area was and still is predominantly inhabited by Berber speakers and perhaps some Nilo-Saharan speakers but not Niger-Congo speakers who lived further west. Not only the language but the culture was entirely different. It takes more than being African and matrilineal to be Akan.
Different culture?? Some west african tribes have more cultural relationships with ancient egypt then some north african groups dont they?
And what do you mean it takes more to be matrilineal and african to be akan?
Where in africa are you from if you dont mind me asking?
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