Garamantes: 3,000-Year-Old Sophisticated North African Society Built 3,000-Mile Network Of Underground Irrigation Canals

A. Sutherland  – AncientPages.com – Many legends surround the mysterious Kingdom of Garamantes that was once situated in the oases of the Fezzan, Libya.

This indigenous Saharan society had towns, flourishing oasis agriculture, technological achievements, and trading contacts with the Mediterranean and Sub-Saharan Africa. During the Neolithic period in Africa (ca 1000 BC) and until about the time of the Arab Conquest dated to the 7^th century AD, the Garamantes developed the sophisticated society with the fortified capital city Garama and other cities.

Left: Ancient Libyan, possibly Garamante, depicted in the tomb of Pharaoh Seti I. Image credit: Unknown (original) Heinrich Menu von Minutoli (1772–1846) (drawing) – Public Domain: Right: Ruins of Garama, the central city of the Garamantes. Image credit: Franzfoto  – CC BY-SA 3.0

Politically organized in confederation, the Garamantes were governed by a king. The Garamantes were not desert barbarians living in one or two small towns and some settlements scattered across the vast realm of the Sahara Desert.

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