"White nomads" in ancient times called the Garamantes - a mysterious tribe that owned lands on the territory of today's Libya and Western Egypt. Living in the depths of the Libyan desert, the garamantes fed their oases with water from Lake Merida (now Karun), erected palaces and sanctuaries, conquered and held in fear half of Africa.
Perhaps the very first among historians to mention them is Herodotus, respectfully calling the Garamantes "a very great people", and Tacitus much later supports this opinion, describing the "white nomads" as "a fierce tribe that terrified its neighbors with its raids."
Children of Apollo
According to one version, garamantes descend from the surviving inhabitants of Atlantis. However, most researchers believe that the Garamans are the descendants of the "peoples of the sea" (Cretans, Sardians, Etruscans), who suffered greatly in the II millennium BC, when a series of monstrous volcanic eruptions and earthquakes swept across the Mediterranean, and cities. Fleeing from the rampant elements, the "peoples of the sea" found refuge on the shores of Libya and entrenched themselves here, creating the only civilization in the world that flourished in the middle of endless sands.
According to a Cretan legend, the daughter of King Minos Akakallis, settled by her father in Libya (Libya at that time was called the whole of Africa), gave birth to a son from Apollo, named Garamant. So the people of the same name went from him …
Roman mosaics convey well the appearance of the Garamantes - tall, fair-haired and blue-eyed people. Their images can also be found on the famous Tassili rocks, located in present-day Libya - they are tall, long-legged warriors in white robes and red cloaks. On the feet - sandals, on the heads - ostrich feathers, in the hands - bows, shields, swords. The frescoes depicting the Garamant chariots are impressive: the four horses sprawled in the run, the charioteers whipping them with whips, both wheels of the rapidly picking up speed of the cart are lifted off the ground …
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Heirs of Carthage
Before our era, camels in Africa were not known, they used only horses and mules. Horse caravans crossed the entire Sahara, reaching the forests of Cameroon and Sudan, from where slaves, ivory, gold, ostrich feathers, valuable timber and animals for circus arenas were exported to the north - the Romans paid big money for the delivery of elephants, crocodiles or rhinos (only 55 BC Pompeii, celebrating his victories, released 600 lions into the arena!). It was this delivery that the garamants provided, riding the most important communications. All wells and oases where the "white nomads" built fortresses were under their control.
And no enemy could escape from the chariots of the Garamantes, harnessed by four fast horses - neither the cave Ethiopians, nor the advanced Egyptians.
These chariots (known to the Cretans, the possible ancestors of the Garamantes) have always been the envy of the Hellenes, and when they did borrow them, they called them in their own way - tetripps, that is, fours. To get an idea of the tetrippa, just look at the 100 ruble banknote, which depicts the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, decorated with the very four ruled by Apollo. Later, the Romans adopted the "technology" of chariots from the Greeks, calling them quadrigas - all the same fours, only in Latin.
The Garamantes lived primarily in the strip of oases beyond the Black Mountains, a relatively fertile place protected by sand dunes - and ideally located to control trade routes. The Garamantes' trading empire stretched far to the south, reaching Lake Chad and the Niger River.
In addition to military and trade campaigns, the population of Garamantida was engaged in cattle breeding and agriculture based on the use of Foggars - underground water channels laid from the mountains to the center of the plain (by the way, the Minoans from Crete built exactly the same ones). The construction of the Foggar required precise engineering calculations and no less precise execution: along the entire length of the Foggar, it was necessary to maintain a uniform and very insignificant difference in height - a millimeter (or even less) per linear meter! And this with the help of hoes and baskets for carrying the earth! But the Foggars stretched in a network for hundreds of miles …
The capital of the kingdom of the Garamantes was similarly called Garama. It was a large city, "glorious" in the opinion of Pliny the Elder. Its mighty walls stretched five kilometers from west to east and nearly four kilometers from north to south. From the west and south, Garamu was surrounded by plantations of date palms in a green half-ring, and from the north a large, now disappeared lake approached the city.
Four gates oriented to the cardinal points led to the city. The eastern ones were called “Big”, the southern ones were called “Righteous”, and the western ones were called “Teacher's Gate”. Outside the city walls, large houses towered, there were baths, bazaars were noisy, in the temples the Sun in the form of the bull Gurzil was worshiped, and the Moon. The city was surrounded by green gardens, cobbled streets were lined with trees and, to top it off, there was running water.
In the northwestern part of Garama there was a citadel, where the architects from Carthage, devastated by the legionaries, rebuilt the royal palace. Generally speaking, it was these eternal opponents - the Romans and the Carthaginians - that caused the flourishing of Garamantida. The fact is that the Garamantes had an ancient custom - to provide refuge to any fugitive, without asking what he was hiding from, and not being interested in his past. Thousands and thousands of refugees from the colonies of Carthage, stretching along the entire coast, fled to the lands of the Garamantes, and these were not only ordinary people, but also scientists, engineers, architects. They made progress vividly!
And the Romans needed African goods, which were supplied by the Garamans. Salt, which was mined on the shores of dry lakes in the Sahara, was in special demand - it was sold at the price of copper and silver.
Desert warriors
But Rome would not be Rome if it did not try to extend its power to Garamantida. There are even indications that in 19 BC the Romans succeeded. Allegedly. In any case, the triumph on the occasion of the victory over the Garamant was celebrated in Rome, as expected, and on special tablets a list of the captured cities was given - Tsidam, Alasi, Balsu, Dazibari, Telgi … But there are also questions. The punitive expedition was led by the proconsul of Africa, Lucius Cornelius Balbus the younger, one of Caesar's most loyal henchmen. His legionnaires managed to walk 800 kilometers across the desert, win numerous skirmishes, lead sieges, capture trophies and return. Allegedly. Yes, just to go so far, doing 20 miles a day in the unthinkable heat, it will take 90 days! And the battles? And the assaults? Hence the question is brewing:where did the legionnaires get their water? There were only three free wells on their way, and to drink even one legion (and this is 5-6 thousand people!), Their brackish water simply would not be enough. The oases and the main sources of life-giving moisture were well guarded by the garamant, each well was protected by a real fort. So was there a reason for Balba to celebrate a triumph? Undoubtedly, the campaign against the Garamantes took place, but did the valiant Romans win a victory? Doubtful. In any case, the Garamantes continued to raid the Roman provinces of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania, until at the end of the 1st century Rome made peace with the king of Garamantida.each well was protected by a real fort. So was there a reason for Balba to celebrate a triumph? Undoubtedly, the campaign against the Garamantes took place, but did the valiant Romans win a victory? Doubtful. In any case, the Garamantes continued to raid the Roman provinces of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania, until at the end of the 1st century Rome made peace with the king of Garamantida.each well was protected by a real fort. So was there a reason for Balba to celebrate a triumph? Undoubtedly, the campaign against the Garamantes took place, but did the valiant Romans win a victory? Doubtful. In any case, the Garamantes continued to raid the Roman provinces of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania, until at the end of the 1st century Rome made peace with the king of Garamantida.
But even the fiercest tribe doesn't last forever. The decline of Rome, the invasion of the Vandals, the Arab expansion - all this undermined the forces of the Garamantes, depriving them of their former passionarity. And about 669, the Arab army of Uqba ibn Nafi defeated the Garamantes and captured Garama.
Rejected by God
It would be strange to believe that a large nation is capable of disappearing. The author joins those experts who believe that after the 7th century garamantes simply began to fully live up to their nickname - "white nomads".
They left their hometowns occupied by the Arabs and went into the desert, and their descendants are now called Tuaregs. This tribe is no less proud than the Garamans, and the Arabs not in vain gave them the nickname "Tuaregs", which translates as "rejected by God" - for a long and stubborn unwillingness to accept Islam. The self-name of the Tuaregs is different - imoshag, which means “free”.
It seems that it is not very soon that we will be able to unravel all the secrets of the garamantes. In Akakus, however, there are inscriptions in the Garamant language made in the ancient Libyan alphabet - Tifinar. The Tuaregs still use it, they can read these inscriptions, but do not understand their meaning - so far no one has been able to decipher the Garamant language.
The Great Desert knows how to keep its secrets …
Felix SOROKIN