Archaeological culture · c. 1000 BCE – 7th century CE
Garamantes
A Saharan people of the Fezzan in southern Libya who built the first urban society in a major desert not centred on a river; their largest town, Garama, had around 4,000 people. They farmed the desert using foggaras, underground channels that tapped groundwater, which supported a large population.
They traded across the Sahara and dealt, sometimes violently, with the Roman province on the coast. Herodotus called them 'a very great nation'.
See Garamantes on the map in 1000 BCE
- On the map
- 1000 BCE – 700 CE
How we know
Herodotus and later Greek and Roman writers describe the Garamantes, and excavations in the Fezzan confirm their towns and farms.