What is the most famous ancient civilization in Africa? Ancient Egypt, of course. But were there other civilizations unknown to modern science on the territory of the Sahara Desert? Apparently - yes.
In the 21st century, archaeologists from the University of Leicester, located in the UK, discovered the ruins of ancient buildings in the Sahara Desert. According to the researchers, the age of these buildings is more than three thousand years.
Researchers believe that the buildings could not belong to the civilization of Ancient Egypt - they were left behind by another ancient civilization, which for some reason ceased to exist.
Initially, these ruins were discovered during the study of satellite images of the area. The images were analyzed as part of the TRANS-SAHARA project.
The tasks of this project included the study of the formation processes of ancient states, as well as the routes of migration and trade in the territory of central Sahara in the first millennium BC.
These ruins were found in the Libyan part of the desert. They were found during the reign of Muammar Gaddafi. Archaeologists have discovered here several hundred fortified farms and settlements with structures very similar to castles, as well as the ruins of several cities.
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Some researchers believe that all of this was built by the Garamant people - the ancient indigenous people of North Africa. If this is true, then such finds indicate that the Garamantes were a much more advanced civilization than previously thought.
According to the researchers, these castles were surrounded by high walls (up to 4 meters in height) and they were made of adobe bricks.
Together with the castles, scientists have found many ruins of individual residential buildings, burials with pyramids of stone, fields for agriculture (was it really possible to conduct agriculture in the Sahara desert at that time), wells and remnants of an ancient system of irrigation of fields.
Archaeological excavations began before the famous military conflict in Libya, which began in 2011. Researchers have made sure that these finds really exist and could have existed here during the pre-Islamic era.
Archaeologists believe that since that moment the nature of these places has changed very little - already in ancient times the climate here was the same arid and harsh. However, despite such difficulties, agriculture could flourish here and the whole area was densely populated.
Until recently, researchers considered the Garamante people to be nomadic and at a very low level of technological and cultural development.
Scientists believed that the maximum that this people was capable of was to attack the border regions of the Roman Empire. But, if these ruins really belong to the Garamants, then it turns out that they not only possessed writing and technology, but were also able to create a strong state here.
Researchers also believe that it was the garamantes who were among the first to create blooming oases in the desert.